The Caring Catalyst

Who Cares - What Matters

The Man on The Moon

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https://youtu.be/wuz2ILq4UeA

Are you more of a

V     E     R     B

o r    a

N     O    U    N ?

There are lots of Seasons

There are lots of comings and goings

There are lots of Beginnings and Endings

There are lots of Starts and Finishes

There are lots of things that  none  of those things can compare.        .        .

L   O   N   E   L   I   N   E   S   S

being  just  one  of  them.       .       .

Loneliness   is   the   only   season   that   lasts   all   twelve months—

no vacation or holiday.

H        O        W        E        V        E        R

I   F

Loneliness were a Disease,

YOU’D   be   the   Cure.       .       .

I  F

Loneliness were a Destination,

YOU’D   be   the   Road   from   it.       .       .

I  F

Loneliness were a complex Math problem,

YOU’D   be   the   Answer.       .       .

I F

Loneliness were an Ocean,

YOU’D   be   it’s   Shore.       .       .

I  F

Loneliness were a a Sunset

YOU’D   be its   Sunrise.       .       .

I  F

Loneliness were a Sentence

YOU’D   be   its   Reprieve.       .       .

I  F

Loneliness were a Verdict

YOU’D   be   its   Appeal.       .       .

I  F

Loneliness were hunger

YOU’D   be   its   Banquet.       .       .

I  F

Loneliness were Thirst

YOU’D   be   its   Oasis.       .       .

I  F

Loneliness were poison

YOU’D   be   its   Antidote.       .       .

I  F

Loneliness were Antarctica

YOU’D   be   its   Equator.       .       .

I  F

Loneliness were a man on the moon

YOU’D   be   his   first   Visitor.       .       .

Y          O          U

are    the    Great    answer    to

 Loneliness    in    all    of    its    forms    and    guises

I  F

You’re   more   of   a

V          E           R          B

than   a

N          O          U          N

by just

 s    h    o    w    i    n    g        u   p

instead of just shaking your head and

t a l k i n g     i t     a b o u t     i t .    .    .  

The man on the moon would really like

 T       H       A       T .       .       .

people much,

m u c h  closer would, too;

Every Season should have an Ending

after it’s Beginning.       .       .

Loneliness is the one Season

you can have  Effect  of

not just ending.       .       .

but actually making it

e     x     t     i     n     c     t.      .      .

Are   you   more   of   a

V       E       R       B

or   a

N       O       U       N  ?

SOME  ONE

is looking for you to

S  H  O  W       T  H  E  M !

F       O       C       U       S

in   on

t     h     e    m .      .      .

Make half-way around the world

a

t         o        u        c        h

a              w a y

 

 

All Hands ON. . .

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images

The problem with

H     A     N     D     S

is not that we all have them.          .          .

it’s that they are not always joined;

Our hands   c a n

and have done so much on their own.          .          .

but when they are joined together with other hands

the imagination isn’t vast enough to comprehend

what can be accomplished;

Could have   H  A  N  D  S   joined together

stopped the tragic,

senseless violence that takes place all to often in

Anywhere, USA.         .         .         ?

P        E        R        H        A        P        S

We will never know.            .            .

but   H A N D S   joined together can go along way in

providing the

H       E       A       L       I       N       G

What to do.        .        .

Imperfect hands in an imperfect world.        .        .

S     I     M     P     L     E :

H   E   A   L        I   T !

I’m often.         .         .

too often reminded

Of the story of a Rabbi who prayed daily that God would make a perfect world in which there would be no hatred, jealousy, pain, disease, pain or problems.  One night, God appeared to the Rabbi in a dream and took him on tour of the world made perfect.  The Rabbi saw his house, his synagogue, his town.  Lions and lambs laid together.  Still, the Rabbi was troubled. . .something was missing.  “Where am I in this perfect world?” the Rabbi asked.  God offered an apologetic answer: “This is the Perfect World you requested.  You must understand that you are not perfect, so you cannot be included.”

Now, this is where

I would usually plug in some

facts,

figures,

data

scientific studies

that would prove

K       I       N       D       N       E       S       S

is not just an option

it’s a healthier life style.     .     .

but

sometimes you just don’t need a study

to tell you

what you already know.       .        .

F        A        C        T :

Terrible.         .         .

most horrible things take place in our lives and in our World

but they have no relationship on how we live our lives of

Care and Compassion.        .        .

F        A         C         T :

Expecting the World to treat us fairly

because we  are nice people

is like expecting a Bull not to gore us

just because we’re vegetarians.        .        .

F        A        C        T :

We may never be able to prevent horrible events from happening again.           .           .

but by coming together

by joining hands

by Unconditionally Caring

by Unrelentlessly being Compassionate

we lessen pain and make the World a better place

N  O      M  A  T  T  E  R     W  H  A  T

F        A        C        T :

The   Future   isn’t   a   place   we   go   to

It’s   a   Place   we   Create

F        A        C        T :

By joining hands in Care and Compassion

the Future becomes a much better

P    R    E    S    E    N    T

a more hopeful

N     O     W

Join me

p      l      e      a      s      e  

oh please oh please oh

p      l      e      a      s      e

A Place

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https://youtu.be/aFPcsYGriEs

Is  there

 a

P           L           A           C           E

A

S      P     O     T

that makes it feel like a

h     o     l     i     d     a     y

even when.     .     .

especially when it actually

i      s     n   ‘   t.     .     .     ?

Maybe it’s where

you are known.     .     .

maybe it’s where

you are comfortable.     .     .

maybe it’s where

you are misunderstood.     .     .

maybe it’s where

you are embarrassed.     .     .

maybe it’s where

you are feared.     .     .

maybe it’s where

you are seemingly out of place.     .     .

maybe it’s where

you  are .       .        .

There’s a place

not so much where people meet you.    .     .

b u t    j u s t    a    p e r s o n

who accepts you

with all of your

flaws

misfortunes

disformaties

and sour notes

and  at

t h a t     m o m e n t

makes a mere place

H       O       M       E

D O

t      h      a      t

often

Go ahead.     .     .

Open your Heart to Everyone

and watch another’s life

LIGHT   UP

THANK LESS DAY

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unknown

W        H        E        W

We  Survived  IT,  huh?

O  N  E     Down

(T    H    A    N    K    S    G    I    V    I    N    G)

and two more to go

(C  H  R  I  S  T  M  A  S       A  N  D       N E W   Y E A R ‘ S)

They kind of all blur together

as do many things

this time of the year.       .        .

H  A  N  U  K  K  A  H     and     K  W  A  N  Z  A  A 

i          n          c          l          u          d          e          d

but it sort of all starts with that

T H A N K   L E S S     D A Y

The Research is clear:

GRATITUDE   IS   A   SUPERPOWER

It’s been overly documented

just how grateful people enjoy the benefits

such as improved physical health

better relationships

higher self-esteem

and actual longer

l i f e  s p a n s.      .      .

but here’s the  real  shocker:

Despite the benefits of

g r a t i t u d e

there’s an overwhelming vast majority

who aren’t grateful–

even less than a week ago on

T H A N K S G I V I N G     D A Y

A very recent survey conducted by the Harris Poll

on behalf of Cleveland’s own

AMERICAN   GREETINGS

sheds light on why people aren’t   t h a n k f u l

during these wild 40-some days:

3   out   5    Americans

say they’d rather do something else

rather than reflect on what they’re

t h a n k f u l     f o r.       .       .

A  whopping  71%  say that Holidays cause too much stress.      .     .

92%  believe the holidays are a time

to say   t h a n k s   to family and friends

.     .     .but 1 in 5 confess

they are more grateful for material possessions

than  p e o p l e .        .         .

12%  admitted

they would rather spend time

on their smartphones

than have a meaningful conversation

with  family.       .       .

O                   U                   C                   H   

The  Cure?

.          .          .wait.        .        .

is there an illness?

G R A T I T U D E

just like

Love

Compassion

Care

Empathy

Sympathy

Kindness

can’t be legislated

but they can be

i          n          s          p          i          r          e          d

and  that’s  where

y o u

come   in

.          .          .or  don’t;

There’s not much use for

a week-old over-done-dried-up-Turkey-Dinner

.       .       .in fact,

it just wouldn’t leave you with a bad taste in your mouth.          .          .

it’d be enough to make a person

p u k e.          .          .

I  wish  I could  tell you  exactly  what  to  do

h     e     r     e .       .       .

but  I

or  the Survey’s

or  the Greeting Cards

 or  the Songs

or  the Gifts

or  the Meals

or  the Parties

or  the Masses

Psssssssssssssst  of  the  Day:

Only   you   can.       .         .

Ironically:

That’s one of the things

I’m most

t           h           a           n           k           f           u           l 

NOT Lives Touched

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I became a part-time-on-call-Chaplain at Fairview Hospital in 1988

The hours were from 5 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. five or six days a month,

and it was usually Emergency Room cases

that had me rolling out of my warm bed

on cold winter nights to attend to those crises.     .     .

It was those catastrophes

that involved car accidents,

shootings,

heart attacks,

still births,

suicides

and some natural caused deaths.      .      .

I met and cared for many more family members

than I ever did patients in those settings and they taught be

the most important,

the most sacred,

the most intimate,

the most significant,

the most heart-wrenching,

the most profane

the most consecrated,

the most hallowed lesson

I’ve learned in all my 61  years

and had affirmed and validated countless times over since:

IT   IS   NOT   THE   LIVES 

YOU    TOUCH    THAT    MATTERS.           .           .

SO     MUCH     AS     THE

L             I             V             E             S

T   O  U  C  H  E  D

BECAUSE     OF     THOSE     YOU     FIRST     HAVE     TOUCHED !

It’s a lesson

I’ve learned

re-learned

continuing to learn

and never fully

comprehend

or 

understand.          .          .

and hopefully never will–

even with the very next life I touch

to continue the never-ending

wave.          .          .

Go ahead.           .            .

T    O    U    C    H         A         L  I  F  E

Create a Ripple–

try seeing where it ends.           .            .  

or better still.     .     .

what it starts in yet another person

A Helper’s High

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p0394pm9

It happened. . .

T          H          E          Y

said it would happen.     .     .

I T      D I D

I can’t run anymore.           .           .

L I T E R A L L Y—

X-RAYS

don’t lie.          .          .

they showed my poor 61 year old knees are in reality

9   0

from 8 marathons and countless miles to prepare for them

and more recently,

just running for the

r u n n e r ‘ s     h i g h

G                O               N               E

The most painful thing I’ve found out through this

cut off

is that nothing

no  thing

not one thing

replicates  that  high

Not an elipitical

not a weight-lifting

not planks

not water jogging

no steam room

no sauna

no hot tub

uhhhhh-nada

nil

null

aught

zilch/zero/zip/z i p p o

except what’s been there all along.          .          .

Desmond Tutu once said:

“Do   your   little   bit   of   good   where   you   are;  it’s   those   little   bits   of   good   put   together   that overwhelm   the   world.”

Nice  words.       .       .

or

T    R    U    T    H ?

or.        .        .

D    A    R    E ?

THE   STUDIES

show that generous people are happier and healthier.        .        .

so why are these acts often questioned and mocked?

Sandi Mann, a psychologist at the University of Central Lancashire went out to prove it, literally, She wrote a book entitled, PAYING IT FORWARD: HOW ONE CUP OF COFFEE COULD CHANGE THE WORLD

Michael Norton, at Harvard Business School paid attention.  He offers some of the most convincing evidence, repeatedly finding that people who spend a bigger proportion of their income on others tend to be far happier, in the long run, than spending it on themselves.  

What makes it impressive is that Norton has tested this theory all over the world in more than 130 countries from the US  to Uganda.

“Across all countries–rich or poor, and in ever every continent–people who gave more tended to be happier people,” he says.  For this reason, he thinks the joy of giving appears to be a ‘psychological universal’–a trait that lies at the core of human nature, independent of your culture.”

B          A          M

Mann has also proven that taking time to help others may even protect you from disease.  Over a 30-year study, women who volunteered for a charity were 16% less likely to suffer a major illness during that period–maybe because it actually lowers stress levels, which may also, in turn, boost the immune system.

B          A          M

Ms. Mann believes heavily in a Helper’s High.    .    .in fact, as a clinical psychologist, she has often counseled people with depression to try and incorporate small acts of kindness into their therapy. . .she offers that it’s not a cure but it does give a way to contribute–to give back–and that makes them feel good and that they are useful.

I don’t run any longer.

My knees often ache a good bit during the day and throb at night,

but there’s another race I’ve been running all of my life

that often leaves me breathless, too.

And so far.       .       .

I’ve never gotten tired;

G         I         V         I         N         G

Paying   IT   Forward

it turns out

isn’t a Season.         .         .

It’s    a    Lifestyle

The Road isn’t crowded.        .        .

and I’d love the Company–

Join  me

You’ll never be the same again

and  that  Helper’s High

will always have the Clouds looking up

A T       Y O U

Legislated Hearts

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images-5

H E A R T      M A P P I N G.        .        .

Have You?

Heart  Mapping

is little exercise that helps illustrate

what’s really important to you.        .       .

Heart  Mapping

was a concept

created by Georgia Heard

to help students

 a     c     h     e

about writing

instead of just merely stringing words together.       .       .

but it should be mandatory for everyone who has a

H E A R T   beat.        .        .

It helps you fill in the spaces of your

H     e     a     r     t  

with

Memories that are the most dear to you.         .         .

People who are most important to you–and why.         .         .

Experiences or events that you will never forget.         .         .

Impactful Happy and Sad Moments you’ve had.         .         .

Secrets that can only be kept in your heart.         .         . 

What would be at the Center of your Heart?

Would you add Colors?

Would you add more than one Heart that overlaps?

Would you have things written around the outside of your heart?

What would be on your Heart Map. . .

that if you could, you’d legislate for the whole world to abide?

Hmmmmmmmm of the Day:

YOU     CANNOT     LEGISLATE    THINGS    OF    THE     HEART

if we could

we’d probably all legislate

a kinder

more compassionate

less judging

more accepting

more loving

less hating

more understanding

more caring

more forgiving

more merciful

more healthy

no cancer,

no pain

no disease

no disappointment

no terminal illness

no homelessness

no addiction

all accepting

w      o     r      l      d.           .           .           

I would legislate that we’d all be

Caring Catalyst’s

who would literally find it impossible to be mean or disrespectful of anyone

and more giving and warmhearted to everyone

.          .          .   h o w e v e r

we can’t legislate hate out of the heart.        .        .

s   o   m   e   h   o   w,

our Heart Map

still has passages

that takes us through some pretty swampy areas

that makes GPS’s tremble and stutter.

We can’t legislate a Heart that accepts and loves all—regardless of

race,

color,

creed,

sexual orientation,

socioeconomics,

o          u          r          s          e          l          v          e          s

If     IT    could happen or come to be just by

writing it down

then our Founding Fathers would have had a way to personify

creating all equal with full rights to Life,

Liberty

and the pursuit of Happiness.        .        .

Maybe.        .        .

m a y  b e

that’s where it all starts?

I can’t do your heart map.         .         .only mine!

We can’t vote in

L   E   G   I   S   L   A   T   O   R   S

or adopt laws or amendments or new Constitutions

b     u     t

by looking at our own heart maps

and continually re-drafting

re-working

R      E      F      I      N      I      N      G

them

and not only Beginning

but better still.        .        .

R E F U S I N G

to end there–

Well now.         .         .

We just might have created–

each of us–

a kind of Heart Map

W I T H O U T     B O R D E R S

It’s a Continent worth reaching

and

s          h          a          r          i          n          g

See you in that never-need-legislating-land-of

T      H      E      R      E

(hopefully soon–very soon)

MAGIC SHIRTS

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I’ve   been   a

f          a          t          h          e          r

for some thirty-seven years

a    n   d

my kids have made me a lot of things

over those years

but aside from making me their

 d          a           d

they   really   made   me   a   great

s        t        o        r        y  –  t        e        l        l        e        r

They would be

stories of encouragement

stories of hope

stories of motivation

stories of life

stories of living

but most of all

stories of the

u  n  c  o  n  d  i  t  i  o  n  a  l      l o v e

I’ve always had for them

and hopefully never made them

d       o       u       b       t

THIS     IS    US

is a new NBC tv Series

that began this year

and it not only talks about

conventional life

but conventional

family life.     .     .

I hate

to this day

when any of my kids

or grandchildren

h          u          r          t

and would do anything

to make it evaporate

or

TELL     IT    AWAY

Like this scene

or more

just  by

s     h     o      w      i     n     g          u     p.        .        .

s              h              a              r              i              n              g   

t h e     h  u r t.      .       .

until the tears dried

or were replaced by even a

h a l f – s m i l e.     .     .

I could do that

with trips to the Mall

A movie with

the extra-big bucket of buttered popcorn

and their own Big Pop

A bag full of penny-candy

A play-ground run

A day at an amusement park

one-on-one dates to Bob Evans

or Caribou Coffee

or a well-timed  s t o r y:

M       A       G       I       C       A       L

So

what’s

your

go  to

s       t       o       r       y  ?

Un-Translated Prayer

By Leave a Comment

images-6

It’s been over a year.     .     .

4 0 9  days.       .       .

or what feels just like yesterday;

It was late Sunday night after a very long and busy day.     .     .

The hospital corridor was now quiet;

lights were dimmed and most of the visitors had already gone.      .      .

I was sitting at the end of her bed

and we both looked at each other

as her roommate was speaking not so softly in a foreign language.       .       .

The thin curtain between the beds did very little to silence the mutterings.       .       .

“You know, she’s praying for you both in Polish,”

my son-in-law, who was born in Poland informed us.

All of the sudden what I heard her saying was no longer the

m  u  t  t  e  r  i  n  g  s

of an old,

sick lady laying in the bed right next to Erin’s

a little after 10:3o p.m. on a Sunday night

after a very long and distressed filled day that included over five seizures

and two early morning ambulance rides,

a CT Scan,

an ongoing EEG and one very confused,

worried wife

but something very special.       .       .

s     a     c     r     e     d .          .          .  

h     o     l     y

Dr. Larry Dossey is a physician and author who has become known for asserting the importance for healing of prayer, spirituality and other non-physical factors who wrote,

Healing Words: The Power of Prayer and the Practice of Medicine, 1993

 and  Prayer is Good Medicine: How to Reap the Healing Benefits of Prayer, 1997                                     

Dr. Larry wouldn’t be surprised.

Dr. Mitchell wouldn’t be surpised.

Dr. Mitchell Krucoff, a Cardiologist at Duke University

ran his own test recently by selecting 150 heart patients for a controlled experiment

and put the patients into five groups.

The first received standard cardiac care,

while the second through fourth received different types of stress reduction therapies.

The fifth group?  

These patients only received off-site prayers from loved ones.

T H E     S U R P R I S E ?

The people who fared best was the one receiving

O     F    F        S    I    T    E

p r a y e r s

Google it.         .         .

go  ahead

Scientific Proof that Prayer Works.          .        .

Scientific Proof that Prayer Doesn’t Work.           .           .

You’ll most likely find whatever

you’d like to support your feelings/beliefs.     .     .

My unofficial-quite-impromtu-on-the-fly-didn’t-plan-it-study:

On a late Sunday evening,

after a severely stressful,

worrisome day,

sitting bedside of a weak,

afraid, confused/disoriented,

tired woman .     .     .

M y     B r i d e.          .          .

we heard an old lady praying

an untranslatable prayer in Polish.        .        .

H          E          A          L          I          N          G

h a p p e n e d

for the woman

her husband

her daughter and son-in-law

that no  CT  Scan

that  no  MRI

that  no  EEG

that  no  blood  test

that  no  lumbar  puncture

could  detect

could  measure

c o u l d    d e n y .        .        . 

c   o   u   l   d        s   t   o   p.        .        .

u  h  h  h  h  h.     .     .

a     m     e     n

Lost and FOUND

By 1 Comment

img_2187

I’ve only heard of it happening.     .     .

Has it ever happened to you.    .     .     ?

Losing your Parking Garage Ticket

I had it in my pocket,

I thought for all day

and I thought wrong.      .      .

When I got to the attendant

I already knew that I would have to be

T H E       A L L       D A Y       F E E

Uhhhhhh.     .     .I was wrong about that, too.       .       .

The sign read in

extremely bold numerals

$ 6  0 . 0  0  FOR  THE  LOSS  OF  TICKET

I pled my case to the young girl parking attendant.    .    .

A c t u a l l y.       .       .

I thought my argument was very convincing,

telling her that I had just finished presenting

at a Conference at the Hyatt Regency.     .     .

for good measure,

I even showed her my fancy, super-shiny

name tag that boldly showed my name

and the even more prominent

S            P            E            A            K            E            R

label under my name.   .   .

She asked me what time I arrived

and when I told her

she got on her walkie-talkie to

T  H  E       M  A  N  A   G   E   R

told him, quite eloquently my plight and without hesitation he responded:

“Uhhhhh, yeah, he’s going to have to pay the Sixty-dollar fee without a ticket.   .   .I’d have him go back in and hunt for it again.”

She looked at me and shrugged her shoulders,

moved the cars behind me out of the way to another line

(They really thought that was a great idea)

and I went back in to the Hotel/Conference Center

to search every place I had been that day.   .   .

including the Starbucks literally right outside of the door of the room I conducted my presentation

.       .       .n  o      l  u   c   k

.       .       .back to my car, up the ramp to the attendant.     .     .

“Ma’am, I’m sorry.  .  .I looked everywhere and I can’t find it.     .     .It’s not your fault, it’s mine, and I’ll have to pay the fine.”

And I was reaching for my credit card and extending it towards her

I   T      H  A  P  P  E  N  E  D

Her hand went over top of mine as I extended the card to her and she held it.    .    .

she held my hand until I looked up

I saw her eyes–wet–

“Sir, I am so sorry,  I hate this.  I know you are a good man.  I know you’re not lying.  I know you didn’t lose this ticket on purpose and I really like your tie.”

T H E R E      I T      W A S :

WHAT     I     LOST

wasn’t  as valuable as

WHAT     I     FOUND:

Pure

unadulterated 

sincere

Compassion

We do, don’t we.     .     .     ?

We so very often fail to

Notice what we Recognize.     .     .

Uhhhhhhh,  NO!

Not today

Not now

Not this Blog-post

Recognize–won’t you.     .     .

Notice–will you.          .          .

When you have  L O S T

You’ve   F O U N D

Found  what?

S o m e t h i n g

.        .        .something sometimes more awesome than what we’ve lost.     .     .

but we won’t stop

focusing

recognizing

noticing

on what we’ve lost

so much that it’s literally impossible to

focus

recognize

notice

what’s   f o u n d

So can you.     .     .     ?

Can you

recognize or notice

what was found after what was lost.     .     .     ?

A new relationship

A new job

A new challenge

A new goal

A new fortune

A new journey

A new beginning

A new door

A  Newness  you’ve never

envisioned

known

experienced

s  h  a  r  e  d ?

The next time you go to the

L   O   S   T        A  N  D       F  O  U  N  D

don’t look for what’s been

L          O          S          T

search

for  what’s  to  be  found

and don’t fail

to notice or recognize it.       .       .

or    share    it

Professional Speaker, Author, Assurance Man