The best way to make
Valentine’s Day
a
l i f e s t y l e
of being an ongoing
Caring Catalyst
is summed up with
JUST 4 WORDS
l e t
y o u r
l o v e
f l o w
Who Cares - What Matters
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The best way to make
Valentine’s Day
a
l i f e s t y l e
of being an ongoing
Caring Catalyst
is summed up with
JUST 4 WORDS
l e t
y o u r
l o v e
f l o w
Have you actually ever
had a
D R E A M
come true?
Did it unroll before you
just as you scripted?
Was it better than you expected. . .
Greater than you imagined. . .
A Disaster ?
What would happen if
Y O U R D R E A M
actually
emphatically
unbelievably
inevitably
came true. . . ?
Would it fit under the
PHYSIC EQUATION:
FOR EVERY ACTION
THERE’S A REACTION ?
I F
Your every Dream
actually came true
at what cost
would
it
be
?
Emma Stone poses these kind of questions
p o w e r f u l l y
in her
Audition Song:
H E R E ‘ S T O T H E F O O L S
from La La Land
an Academy Award Nominated Movie
for the Best Picture of the Year
Here’s to rebels
the ripples from pebbles
The Painters
The Poets
The Plays
Here’s to the Fools who Dream
Crazy as they may seem
Here’s to the Hearts
that Break,
Here’s to the Mess
W E
m a k e. . .
L I V E
your life in such a way that
s m i l i n g
through
you’d pledge to do it
a g a i n
. . .a life full of dreams
realized
and not so
c o m p l e t e d. . .
A Caring Catalyst Life
fulfilled
and
intentionally
purposely
painfully
F U L F I L L I N G
I’ve got to
H A N D I T
to you. . .
no pun intended!
Really. . .
It’s never the Hand
you’ve been dealt. . .
Go ahead. . .
finish the cliche. . .
it’s the way you play it!
W R O N G !
When I do my presentation:
DID YOU HEAR WHAT I DIDN’T SAY,
I always H A N D
everyone a card as they walk in
and then I let them choose one on their own. . .
Most ask,
“Am I allowed to look ?” or
“What’s this for ?”
Then I forget about it. . .
almost until the middle to end of my talk;
I tell them to take their cards and ask:
“W H O W O N ?”
It’s amazing to me how many people
tell me that they have won and why. . .
. . .Say’s Who ?
“Why did you win?”
I ask,
don’t we know what game we’re playing and more. . .
here’s the clincher:
W H A T A R E T H E R U L E S ?
We play
U N A N N O U N C E D
G a m e s
e v e r y d a y
and as if that’s bad enough,
what’s worse,
we’re trying to F I G U R E
out the rules
let alone being willing to play by them;
Each person,
friend,
family,
stranger
deals up a set of cards for us
and the Game is O N !
The most important Language you’ll ever Speak
or Hear
is the one you’ll never utter or detect by sound,
but begging to be understood. . .
Pssssssssst of the Day:
It’s never the Hand you’ve been dealt,
or the Hand you’ve had
or are currently holding right now. . .
It’s Not the Hand you’re playing—
It’s the Hand you are Extending. . .
the hand you are Sharing. . .
the Hand you’re Giving. . .
and yes, most importantly,
the Hand you’re holding
(THAT’S ATTACHED TO ANOTHER ARM)!
NEVER let the hand you’re dealt
interfere with the
H a n d y o u E x t e n d. . .
Well. . .
What was your favorite Superbowl Advertisement?
Mine?
The one that
W A S N ‘ T
Isn’t that really the case with so much of our
L I V E S ?
We get so hyped up on the hype that we miss the real
h y p e
T H I S ?
A very, overly simply
Public Service Reminder:
It’s what you don’t see you need to keep your eyes open for
Now . . .
THAT’S worth the paper it’s printed on!
This Advertisement didn’t cost $5 million or $166,666 per second. . .
Cost me just a little bit of time–
Y O U, T O O
Pssssssssst of the Day:
P R I C E L E S S
The best kind of jingle in your pocket ?
the s i l e n t one. . .
T h e N e w L E S S
r e a l l y i s
M O R E !
Sadly,
we don’t have to be Mathematicians
to know about Percentages, do we?
It makes us ask some fairly significant
UN-Mathematic Questions:
Is “G O O D E N O U G H,”
g o o d e n o u g h ?
O U C H
of the day just might be to actually take the time to consider the
99.9%’s of our lives and how
T H E Y J U S T A R E N ‘ T G O O D E N O U G H:
* The IRS would lose 2 million documents this year
* 22,000 checks will be deducted from the wrong bank account in the next hour
* Telecommunications companies will misdirect 1, 314 telephone calls every minute
* 2,4800 books will be shipped with the wrong covers on them each day
* More than 5.5 million cases of soft drinks in the next year will be flat
* 20,000 incorrect drug prescriptions will be written each year
* 12 babies will be given to the wrong parents each day
Uhhhhh, being GOOD ENOUGH
is just not being GOOD ENOUGH
any way you add, subtract, multiply or divide the percentages.
How about we switch it up a little.
IF ALL OF THOSE NEGATIVE THINGS COULD HAPPEN
by not giving our 99.9%
What ONE POSITIVE THING could possibly happen if
F O R E V E R
we actually just gave our .1% of Compassion–FULLY–
U N D I L U T E D ?
Seriously, if a little bad can destroy a lot of good. . .
CAN’T A LITTLE GOOD OBLITERATE A LOT OF TERRIBLE?
Pssssssst: Here’s the things about Percentages–
They’re meant to be challenged and yes, surpassed;
When it comes to DOING GOOD, the numbers seldom add up. . .
Most Compassionate Acts of Kindness never do. . .
Love THOSE Odds!
Is GOOD ENOUGH,
g o o d e n o u g h ?
No. . .
Concentrated Compassion
is better. . .
ALL–WAYS!
The O T H E R P E R C E N T
n e v e r l i e s !
I often play this short video when I do my talk/workshop on
D I D Y O U H E A R W H A T I D I D N ‘ T S A Y ?
It always gets laughs for the
O B V I O U S. . .
but then again,
The O B V I O U S is often funny–
W H E N W E N O T I C E I T !
I love the 104 second video because of the one major question it begs me to ask others:
ARE YOU MORE OF A
H E A R E R
L I S T E N E R
F I X E R ?
It also begs another question following the true answer to the first one:
DO YOU MORE
R E S P O N D
R E A C T ?
Here’s the only lesson you’ll ever need to learn. . .
and it’s simple,
but few,
very few ever learn it–
F U L L Y
or
FOR LONG!
Ready?
C O M M U N I C A T I O N I S E V E R Y T H I N G !
When you HEAR TO RESPOND,
It’s NOT Communicating,
it’s certainly not Listening
and it doesn’t come close to Fixing;
. . .it’s not Reacting or Replaying. . . .
It’s i n s u l t i n g !
It’s not about the Nail. . .
it’s about the H A M M E R–
Real Communication always
IS that
I M P A C T F U L
DO IT OFTEN
or
U N D E R S T A N D
it really is
N O T A T A L L . . . .
He was the first AIDS patient I had ever met, let alone visit.
He was in the hospital and I was a part-time Protestant Chaplain.
I HAD TO VISIT HIM
within the first 24 hours of his admittance;
He was sick. . .
very, very sick. . .
It was 1993
He didn’t say he was gay
. . .I didn’t ask.
I introduced myself and explained why I was coming by to visit him.
I asked if he was comfortable and if there were was a Church or someone he wanted me to contact?
He told me that he grew up Catholic and had fallen away. . .
that he never felt comfortable or was made to feel welcome. . .
He told me that
‘t h e s t o r i e s’
didn’t ever make much sense to him
and felt like it was a little late to make any sense of them now. . .
He told me that he was a professional Ice-Skater/Choreographer
and really missed being with his students;
While we talking an Aide brought in his lunch–
Soup. . .
some orange jiggly jello. . .
a toasted cheese sandwich. . .
a carton of milk. . .
and an extra side of sandwich;
There were tears in his eyes which started streaming down his cheeks. . .
and before I could say another word. . .
“THEY do this three times a day. . .
THREE TIMES. . .
and then walk out thinking I can feed myself. . .”
He half laughed as he started sobbing
“JESUS CHRIST. . . I’M IN HERE BECAUSE I CAN’T FEED MYSELF!”
We both started laughing. . .
I opened up his milk carton and put a straw in it and gave him a sip
I cut his toasted cheese sandwich into small squares and gave him a bite
I brought the bowl of soup to his lips so he could sip it
I put a spoon in the jello and brought a small spoonful of jiggle to his mouth
I wiped his chin when another sip of milk dribbled out
and I held his hand
and I held his hand
and I held his hand
and I held his hand
and asked him if he wanted me to offer a prayer. . .
He put his other hand over top of mine
and didn’t look up
for what seemed like a longer than a significant moment could ever hold;
He spoke very slowly and almost in a sigh:
“You know. . .
I can’t remember the last time that anyone has ever touched me without having to. . .
I can’t remember anyone ever touching me without gloves on or wearing protective clothing. . .
I can’t remember. . .
I can’t remember. . .
I can’t remember. . . .”
he said over and over again.
I broke the trance
by asking him again if it would be okay if I offered him that prayer. . .
I’ll never forget what he said next:
“YOU JUST DID”
I said what you usually do a the end of a prayer as I squeezed his hand:
“a m e n”
T O U C E D
It wasn’t the first time
it certainly hasn’t been the last time
but I’m at the very best of me
when I can’t answer,
t r u t h f u l l y
WHO
TOUCHED
WHO ?
“IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES, IT WAS THE WORST OF TIMES, IT WAS THE AGE OF WISDOM, IT WAS THE AGE OF FOOLISHNESS, IT WAS THE EPOCH OF BELIEF, IT WAS THE EPOCH OF INCREDULITY, IT WAS THE SEASON OF LIGHT, IT WAS THE SEASON OF DARKNESS, IT WAS THE SPRING OF HOPE, IT WAS THE WINTER OF DESPAIR, WE HAD EVERYTHING BEFORE US, WE HAD NOTHING BEFORE US, WE WERE ALL GOING DIRECT TO HEAVEN, WE WERE ALL GOING DIRECT THE OTHER WAY–IN SHORT, THE PERIOD WAS SO FAR LIKE THE PRESENT PERIOD, THAT SOME OF ITS NOISIEST AUTHORITIES INSISTED ON BEING RECEIVED, FOR GOOD OR FOR EVIL, IN THE SUPERLATIVE DEGREE OF COMPARISON ONLY….”
The words were written by Charles Dickens in 1859 or
Y E S T E R D A Y
They’re timeless because they weren’t written by pen on paper but something much more sacred:
H E A R T
Did you hear?
A real Heart does more than just beat. . .
A real Heart Sees
A real Heart Hears
A real Heart Speaks
A real Heart
F E E L S
. . .the story of more than 700 years ago is told of a sick man who was weeping bitterly. Someone went up to him and asked, “Why are you crying?”
The sick man answered, “I am crying to attract the pity of God’s Heart.”
The other said, “You’re talking nonsense, for God doesn’t have a physical heart.”
The sick man replied, “It’s you who are wrong. He is the owner of all the Hearts that exist. It’s through your heart that you can make your connection with all other hearts and the One who created the Beat in each one. . . .”
It’s not only the message of all Hearts, but all Faiths.
When our Hearts are open to the needs of others. . .it’s THEN
that they become the true Instruments not only that they were always meant to be…
but the truest Tools of Compassionate Change.
Cries, they take many different forms. . .
Seldom do we H E A R what’s inside the cries:
Loneliness
Hurt
Disappointment
Un-Met Expectations
Loss
Pain
or________________________
. . .”It’s the best of times, it’s the worst of times. . . “
The Heart that cries needs Heard
By the HEART that’s never Deaf,
Blind,
Mute
of Unfeeling. . .
There’s only one true question—ever—
I S T H A T H E A R T,
is that Heart,
Y O U R ‘ S. . . ?
Seriously. . .
When’s the last time you put your Heart into something?
No, REALLY, when’s the last time that you
L I T E R A L L Y
gave from your Heart?
There’s a legend of an artist who had found the secret of a wonderful red which no other artist could begin to imitate. The actual secret of his special color actually died with him. But after his death there was an old wound that was discovered over his heart. . .
T H I S
revealed the source of the matchless hue in his paintings. . .
The legend teaches that NO great achievement can ever be made,
no lofty attainment ever reached,
N O T H I N G
of much value to the world done,
without the full donation of the
Heart’s Blood. . .
Nice legend, huh?
Great story. . .
Good point. . .
Excellent analogy. . .
Unless
. . .unless, it isn’t!
Vincent Castiglia
Vincent is an artist who’s art work is bloody awesome,
which is actually a fairly good description
since his art is created from his own blood. . .
Castiglia has been painting dramatic and graphic works
using his own blood for years. . .
He states, “Some of the painting are 7 feet tall and can actually take up to some 30 vials of blood.”
Now he’ll be quick to put it into perspective by telling you that it’s way less than what would be donated to a Blood Bank, but still, he takes his blood and mixes it with water at times and other times just uses it as is–full strength to give it texture and the look of acrylic after it dries. He shares that some works take several months to complete and can cost as much as $26,000 each.
Not THAT qualifies as
The Hmmmmmmmmmmmm of the Day. . .
I’ll ask again:
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU PUT YOUR WHOLE HEART INTO SOMETHING ?
It’s easy to talk about our
BLOOD, SWEAT, and TEARS—
good musical group in the 60’s and 70’s, too. . .
But for W H A T have you actually bled?
But W H E N have you actually Sweat for something?
But W H E R E have you actually left tears?
The World all too often gets our
“H A V E – T O ‘ s”
When it so very desperately needs our
W A N T – T O ‘ S. . .
Legend or Actual. . .
Our best art comes
when we use the most precious and priceless resource we have:
O u r o w n H e a r t s !
Dipping our brushes on to that Palate
and then to Canvas
not only changes it—
But the World’s, too!
It’s long waited for our
H U E
Our T I N T
Our C O L O R
Make it not wait
one brush stroke longer. . .
How long has it been?
There are many million
M I L L I O N D O L L A R Q U E S T I O N S
but not a whole lot of
M I L L I O N D O L L A R A N S W E R S
and the only one that ever really matters
e v e r
is the one single answer that makes any difference
to all of the questions put together
that seem to ask
W H O A R E Y O U ?
Are You More
Forgiving
Compassionate
Hoarding
Giving
Loving
Revengeful
Forgetful
Add A Verb
Add An Adjective
Add A Noun
Add A Pronoun
Add A Feeling
. . .It’s never a favorite possession
. . .It’s never your favorite Sense
. . .It’s never a favorite body part
. . .It’s never a favorite activity
. . .i s it. . . ?
. . .It’s always a loved one
. . .i s n ‘ t i t. . . ?
Which is the easier road with any one of these
on your back ?
How. . .long has it been
since you r e a l l y,
r e a l l y f o u n d o u t ?
(maybe that’s the tougher road)