Service — Page 49

B U S K E D

April 25, 2016 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

Are you

Are we

B U S K E R ‘ S ?

Some of the best Buskers I’ve ever seen are where I was actually looking for them:

At The Beach

Union Square in New York City

Outside of a Playhouse at Christmas

Outside of a Sporting Event

Street Corners. . .

A N Y W H E R E. . .

Street Performance

B U S K I N G

is an

a c t

of performing in public places

for

tips. . .g r a t u i t i e s

b u t

B U S K I N G

is really associated with

singing or playing

m u s i c

TO JUST PLAY M U S I C !

Joni Mitchell wrote a great song several years ago called,

REAL GOOD FOR FREE

“I slept last night in a good hotel

I went shopping today for jewels

The Wind rushed around in the dirty town

And the children let out from the schools

I was standing on a noisy street corner

waiting for the walking green

Across the street he stood

And he played real good

On his clarinet for free.

Now me I play for fortune

and those velvet curtain calls

I’ve got a black limousine

and two gentlemen

escorting me to the halls

and I play if you have the money

Or if you’re a friend of me

but the one-man band

by the quick lunch stand

He was playing real good, for free.

Nobody stopped to hear him

Though he played so sweet and high

They knew he had never

been on their tv

So they passed his music by

I meant to go over and ask for a song

Maybe put on a harmony. . .

I heard his refrain

As the signal changed

He was playing real good, for free.

Well. . .

I’ll ask again:

ARE

YOU

BUSKER. . .?

or. . .or

do you charge a price. . . ?

W a i t – – – –

that’s a much different name ,

h u h ?

Medicinals

February 26, 2016 By ChuckBehrens 4 Comments

The greatest events that take place in our lives. . .

sometimes take place without ever being on the calendar.

I was scheduled to speak at an event a week ago to a group of Nurses, Social Workers, Case Managers, and Administrators at an area hospital and when I arrived I showed up at the wrong place.

I was standing just outside of the reception area, calling my contact person and

I T H A P P E N E D . . .

The UN-Calendared E V E N T:

An elderly lady and her granddaughter walked out of the swooshing hospital doors and one cue when they hit the cold air of the late morning she burst into a loud, uncontrollable wail of deep woe:

“I can’t, can’t, can’t believe what I just heard. The Dr, the Dr, he just told me that I have, that I have can-can-can-cancer! Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God, Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh God. . . .”

The phone was still ringing and I had my back partially to them.

Before I could respond

Before I could hang up the ringing phone from the other end

Before I could offer any consolation or comfort

B E F O R E

. . .the granddaughter did the most

pure

simplest

kind

loving

compassionate

caring

a m a z i n g

a c t:

She held her grandmother,

hugged her. . .

let her cry. . .

and then said,

“Grandma, I know he just said the worst thing we should ever have to hear but he doesn’t know us, he doesn’t know how well we all fight together with each other, he doesn’t know how strong our family is and how we don’t ever do anything alone. . .I’m here, I’m here, I’m here,”

. . .she whispered to her grandmother over and over again as she held, gently rocked her like I could only imagine she was once rocked by her when she fell or was afraid or had her feelings hurt or. . .

O B L I V O U S

that I was standing just a few feet away

that a crash cart was just on the other side of the swooshing doors

that several nurses and one doctor were talking at the receptionists desk

t h a t

anything else or anyone were available or necessary.

In a simple, significantly powerfully way

I witnessed

what I know

what I know I know

what I’d bet my life I know

but for the life of me

I don’t always a c t l i k e I k n o w

t h a t

medicine

interventions

therapies

treatments

blind studies

experimental aids

placebos

d o n o t h e a l u s

R E L A T I O N S H I P S

heal us.

Are you a Caring Catalyst?

Do you want to be?

You may be just a mere

h u g

a g e n t l e t o u c h

a h e l d h a n d

away.

t h a t

hug

gentle touch

an open and willing holding hand

Your words will never tell what your actions always will. . .

The greatest things in our lives sometimes take place without ever being c a l e n d a r e d

Are you Ready?

The Best Medicine

January 18, 2016 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

Sometimes. . .

The Best

most effective

least evasive

cost efficient

non-addictive

m e d i c i n e

isn’t found in a

syringe

capsule

elixir

pill

intervention

therapy

treatment. . .

b u t a t t h e e n d o f y o u r e x t e n d e d h a n d

Sometimes. . .

it takes more than medicine.

C O M P A S S I O N

(s u f f e ri n g w i t h)

a powerful antidote

for the human condition

F I L L

. . .D E L I V E R

that Prescription

Every Time!

A Never Ending Wave

January 11, 2016 By ChuckBehrens 2 Comments

Q U E S T I O N O F A L I F E T I M E :

Is it easier to to

S T A R T

a R i p p l e

or to

S T O P

a R i p p l e ?

Psssssssst:

The only true way to answer the question is by

H O W Y O U L I V E !

. . . w e l l

H O W

L I V E

Y O U ?

Are you making a

S P L A S H

D A M M I N G

the Flow. . . ?

If you’re not soaking

you’re dry rotting.

NEVER

LET

KINDNESS

END

WITH

YOU. . .

Here’s to making your next kind act, your greatest

y e t

but

not

your best to come. . . .

Is it easier to start a ripple or stop a wave?

How Live You ?

Un-Jingled CHANGE

October 14, 2015 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

s o m e

say that you know it’s really

C H A N G E

if it doesn’t

J I N G L E

The Nobel Prize in Economics has been awarded to Dr. Angus Deaton for his studies on the consumption, poverty and welfare. Dr. Deaton is a professor at Princeton University. In accepting his award he has noted that,

“There’s a real moral urgency to understanding how people behave and what we should or might be able to do about it…Life is better now than at almost anytime in history. . .more people are richer and fewer people live in dire poverty. Lives are longer and parents no longer routinely watch a quarter of their children die. . .I think inequality has gone past the point where it’s helping us all get rich, and it’s really becoming a serious threat. . . .“

Hmmmmmm of the Day:

Could it be that Dr. Angus Deaton actually is a true

C A RI N G C A T A L Y S T. . . ?

No. . .

not because he really can distinguish the difference between

Dollars and S E N S E. . .

Not because he’s a brilliant Economist. . .

Not because he has just won the Nobel Prize. . .

Not because he knows at its best 1 + 1 = much more than 2 ever could. . .

but because of Dr. Deaton’s

C a r e

. . .what he does with his

C A R I N G

is a real

C A T A L Y S T

C H A N G E

. . .the kind that never quite Jingles in your pocket

but can’t help

r e s o u d i n g

in your Heart.

That we all might be such a

caring catalyst

is such a jingle that could forever fill

our pockets

and our

h e a r t s !

Broke D O W N

October 12, 2015 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

When’s the last time you’ve been

B R O K E D O W N ?

No. . .

I’m not talking about the last time you blew a tire

I’m not talking about the last time your battery quit battery-ing

I’m not talking about the last time the Alternator stopped Alternating

I’m not talking about the last time when you blew a Radiator hose

I’m not talking about the last time your water pump stopped pumping

I’m not talking about when you pushed it and ran out of gas. . .

I’m asking,

When’s the last time you’ve been

B R O K E D O W N ?

. . .When you’ve read something

. . .When you’ve heard something

. . .When you’ve watched something

that actually Broke You Down ?

I’m pushing a very dangerous limit here.

According to a recent study from Microsoft Corp., we now have an attention span less than a Goldfish

(Talk about getting Broke Down)

The study reveals that we generally lose concentration after about eight seconds, which seemingly highlights the affects of an increasingly digitalized lifestyle on the brain.

So. . .maybe somewhat foolishly. . .

I’m asking you to watch a five-minute-thirteen-second video that was suppose to be a social experiment of how long it would actually take someone to stop to help a motorist who was broken down on the side of the road.

It took over two hours and then the person that actually stopped. . .

W A I T. . .

S T R E T C H

Your Attention Span by five-minutes-and-five-seconds and get

B R O K E D O W N

to become more

whole

than you could ever possibly be on a Monday Morning in any other way.

And. . .

CONGRATULATIONS FOR CONCENTRATING LONG ENOUGH

to make it through the video and this blog posting. . .

maybe the berm

has put you well onto the Road again. . . .

And if you would like to help a not-so-broken-down-ONE to become more whole you can contribute to: https://www.gofundme.com/xbmt3w

Monkey Wrenched

October 2, 2015 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

Ever felt like a

S M A S H E D P L A T E ?

S H E D I D

It was the Saturday before Halloween all the

W A Y

back in 2002

It was an all day retreat that I was contacted to do on

HOLY HELL

for a couple of Church groups that wanted to work through their

SMASHED PLATE SYNDROMES

S H E

was the one who contacted me; she was a Parish Nurse.

The day before the retreat, unbeknownst to me for these past 13 years,

S H E

had been diagnosed with MS.

I broke a plate using a monkey wrench

over and over again while asking:

“WHAT’S YOUR MONKEY WRENCH ?

I pointed out to the group that this was a harrowing sound as these smashed pieces jingled in the bag as I walked around the circle among where they were sitting.

I shared that this eery sound reminds us all of the one single day we celebrate every day of the year, sometimes with gusto: HALLOWEEN

(Because of all of the varied and many masks we wear)

I told the group not to worry because psycho-sociologists have a remedy for this bag of broken pieces that sounds like a bag of chains with each step taken. . .

“PICK UP THE PIECES AND GO ON”

Problem:

WE STILL HAVE A BAG OF BROKEN PIECES!

B U T . . .

There’s a Universal law that every major Religion and all of the

N O N E S

agree:

ALL THINGS ARE MADE NEW

( Pssssssssst: Which Spring doesn’t Prove THAT? )

I often tell every group I present before:

“I AM NOT HERE FOR THIS GROUP TODAY. . .I AM ONLY HERE FOR ONE, SINGLE PERSON. . .I JUST DON’T KNOW WHICH ONE OF YOU ?

Nearly Thirteen years later I found out it was

H E R

I conducted the funeral for a 95 year old gentleman I had never met before. He was retired High-School Choral Teacher and there were many of his former students there. I actually joked about what George Burns once said about getting THAT old:

“YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT PEER PRESSURE”

S H E

was the wife of the Choral Teacher’s grandson.

S H E

came up to me after the service and said,

“You probably don’t remember me. But I hired you to come to a Church in 2002 to give an all day Seminar for a group of grieving people. I was one of them. I had just found out the day before that I had MS and I know it doesn’t show that much but I struggle every day. My MRI is a mess and I was a terrible wreck that day with where my Life was headed with this terrible Detour I had just been told. You smashed that plate, telling us that our Life has a way of meeting up not so well with Monkey Wrenches that get thrown into the middle of our living. I felt like those broken pieces and just when I thought you were going to leave us with, ‘PICK UP THE PIECES AND GO ON’ you showed us that there was something much better than trying to pick up the pieces and futilely attempting to put them back together, or just going on. . .You held up a brand new plate that was a replica of the one you had just smashed and boldly stated:

BEHOLD. . .ALL THINGS BECOME NEW !”

With tears trickling down her face she said, “That day. . .that moment. . .you transformed my life. Can I give you a hug?”

“TODAY. . .I AM HERE FOR JUST ONE, SINGLE PERSON. . .I JUST DON’T KNOW WHICH ONE OF YOU?”

What. . .

What message are you giving. . .

What One, Single Person needs The Gift. . .

DESPERATELY NEEDS

The Gift of Y O U, today?

Sometimes, it may take as much as Thirteen years to find. . .

Sometimes, you may never find out. . .?

S H O W U P

Do not Disappoint. . .THEM

G I V E

even when you feel

like The Gift is Empty

or as if it’s

N O T H I N G. . . .

Throw a Monkey Wrench at Something bad to make something good. . .

SOMETHING NEW !

When The GIANT EAGLE Ascends

September 18, 2015 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

It was a busy Saturday morning. . .in an extremely crowded Giant Eagle Grocery Store.

It was just a quick,

GET IN, GET OUT

kind of an excursion.

(Aren’t they all?)

I went in and got a couple of gift cards and two greeting cards and then. . .

got in a long, a very long 10 items or less line.

There she was,

THE GIANT EAGLE ANGEL

She had a basket full of things. . .many different

E L E V E N T H I N G S

and then it happened. . .

She looked at what I was holding in just one hand and said,

“Sir, why don’t you go in front of me. I’m in no hurry and you just have some gift cards.”

I, protested at first and told her it wasn’t such a big deal, but she insisted and so,

NOT TO INSULT HER

I took her up on her offer and thanked her profusely.

. . .And then,
B A M

IT HAPPENED.

I told her she had done her good deed for the day and that’s when she shared with me that this had nothing to do with her good deeds so much as her

C A T H O L I C G U I L T

I joked and asked her if she was blaming The Pope on her good deed

and she joked back and told me it was more of the Nuns than The Pope.

I thanked her again for her

good deed

generosity

kindness

fear

guilt. . . .

It made me think about me

It made me think about you

It made me think about us

What ultimately makes us do what we do?

Are the reasons

P U R E

Tainted ?

Was this about some kind of weird guarantee of getting a small spot in Heaven

Not wearing Asbestos underwear for Eternity?

SHOULD’S = GUILT

OUGHT’S = FEAR

HAVE-TO’S = GUILT/FEAR

WANT-TO’S = RAINBOW’S/POT’S OF ENDLESS GOLD

Some kinds of Choices, huh?

What do you Choose. . .

What really CHOOSES YOU?

Can and Act of Kindness

just be an

A C T OF KINDNESS ?

(It Can. . .until. . .it CAN’T

Hmmmmmmmm of the Day:

Sometimes the higher The Eagle Ascends, not only the Closer to Heaven,

BUT the Bigger the Splat of the White Stuff that always finds your Windshield. . . .

IF YOU’RE HELPING SOMEONE AND EXPECT SOMETHING IN RETURN

IS IT

B U S I N E S S

K I N D N E S S

DYER’D NEED

September 9, 2015 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

People die everyday. . .

Sometimes very famous, very influential people

Two such people died on August 31:

Oliver Sacks and Dr. Wayne Dyer.

I’ve read many of Wayne’s books and actually heard him speak once. . .

His message?

Be open

Be forgiving

Be loving

Be Compassionate

“Upon waking, let the words THANK YOU flow from your lips, for this will remind you to begin your day with gratitude and compassion. make it a practice to begin each day by thinking first of someone else and then making a decision to actively do something, anything, that will bring a smile to someone’s face. When you become conscious of wanting to do something kind for another human being, you move into a higher way of being. It takes your thoughts off of yourself and WHAT’s IN IT FOR ME? and puts them on HOW MAY I SERVE? which is precisely how the universal mind we call Tao or God is always operating. When you’re aligned with a compassionate outlook, your entire day will reflect that kind of awareness.

Some suggestions for getting you started: Email a note of appreciation, say a kind word, apologize to an individual you’ve needed to make amends with, pick a few wildflowers and hand them to someone, give away some personal items such as books or jewelry, or send a smile toward someone that might brighten their moment….

–Wayne Dyer in EXCUSES BEGONE!

It’s one thing to Teach the Lesson. . .

It’s quite another to Learn it. . .

and absolutely another to simply

LIVE IT

My personal, favorite take away:

“IF YOU HAVE CHOICE BETWEEN BEING RIGHT OR KIND. . .PICK KIND”

Maybe the best way a person who has impacted us, lives on not so much by remembering their words but by actually living them to our fullest abilities. . .

M A Y B E

OR. . . .

I Don’t Know (IS AN ANSWER)

September 4, 2015 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

I don’t know. . .

is a terrible answer.

Does I don’t know ever sit well with anyone, for anyone?

Does I don’t know ever make the heart beat lighter, the mind more peaceful, the soul more settled after a room full of Doctor’s all through out the day parade in, giving theories, hypothesis, checking, re-checking, testing, re-testing and after IT all

I DON’T KNOW

is the end all answer Erin and I were given after five seizures, five nights at Cleveland Clinic, numerous tests, a spinal tap, blood work and more worry than two mixed up minds could possible comprehend.

“BUT SOMETIMES, SOMETIMES, ‘I DON’T KNOW’ is the only answer there really is,” the Doctor told us before we went home.

He told us to take solace in all of the things we now know IT IS NOT: A mass or tumor, a hemorrhage or a bleed, or a stroke.

Maybe we’ve come to expect too much when it comes to our modern day medicine and our sophisticated ways of diagnosing and prognosing infections and diseases?

But out of all of the Punctuation we use or is used against us, none is more haunting or frustrating than

THE QUESTION MARK

In the three weeks, home now from the hospital, there have been a few more question marks that have arisen but most of them have become more vapor-like because as the Doctor’s promised,

“These symptoms of the headaches, ear pressure, dizziness and endurance will diminish over the next three weeks, going along with our theory that it was a viral infection that we just can’t prove in the lab.”

So life. . .like it so often does,

from the Mt Everest’s to the Dead Seas

goes on. . .

The clock’s have ticked their Toc’s

The Calendar pages have been ripped away and discarded

The Sun has risen and the moon has become full

Medicines have been taken

Meals eaten,

L I F E G O E S O N

with Periods, Commas, Exclamation points, Hyphens, Semi-Colons,

QUESTION MARKS

. . .and that IT GOES ON

dims. . .if not in fact, eliminates the

making the other side of the sheets a little more bearable

(This is the third installment of four of the ROUGH SIDE OF THE SHEETS: These are some of lessons experienced, learned, and how hopefully, shared. It’s my hope that you enjoy these journey-ings, and more, take the time to share a few of yours so that we can all learn a little more about those razor blade laden sheets…and in the sharing, soften them a little)

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