The Moments You Really Lived

June 13, 2010

Contributed by Barbara Taylor
“You will find, as you look back on your life,
that the moments when you really lived
are the moments when you acted
in the Spirit of Love.”
—Henry Drummond
I came across Drummond’s beautiful line a few weeks ago and in reflecting on it have come to see that, for me, there is truth [...]

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Triumph over Tragedy: An Upside Follow-up to the Vietnamese ‘Girl in the Picture’

June 6, 2010

Contributed by Steve Goldberg

One of the most unforgettable and haunting images of the Vietnam War is depicted in the upper left hand photo above.
Kim Phuc is the girl in one of the photos recently reunited with Christopher Wain, the ITN correspondent who took the photo and helped save her life 38 years ago.

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A Life Affirming Lesson

May 30, 2010

Contributed by Heidi Kistler

In his book, After the Ecstasy, the Laundry, Buddhist scholar Jack Kornfield describes illness as a gateway, an invitation to deepen our connection with life, to become more aware and compassionate for the suffering of others.
I walked through Jack Kornfield’s gateway nearly two decades ago and I was not smiling. In fact, [...]

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The Ordinary Arts We Practice Every Day

May 23, 2010

Contributed by Barbara Taylor

The ordinary arts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest.
—Thomas Moore
If someone stopped me on the street to ask me whether I thought the above statement was true, I would wholeheartedly say yes! But I would soon enough find myself grumbling [...]

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On Discovering a Sane Pace and Living It

May 16, 2010

Contributed by Barbara Taylor

Hesitation, deadly.  Hurrying, worse.
Escape both delay and haste.
—Rumi, 13th century; From These Branching Moments
I turn to the ancient words of Rumi often because, as so eloquently put by American translator Coleman Barks, “Rumi did not see the separate streams of different religions, but rather the ocean into which they were pouring.” [...]

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What Have You Noticed?

May 9, 2010

Contributed By Steve Goldberg
It is been almost 60 weeks since we starting writing our Monday morning Starting Your Week on the Upside columns.   I’ve reflected quite a bit recently on the many changes in my life, some subtle, some more dramatic most all quite positive.
Like most all of us, I have experienced a number [...]

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Make It Easy to Save and Harder to Spend

May 2, 2010

Contributed By Steve Goldberg
One of our key Upside Life messages is about developing and maintaining financial well-being through adequate saving coupled with living within our means and buying items when we can afford them.
National Public Radio Economic commentator Beth Kobliner gave what I would consider some of the best advice about saving and spending: “Make [...]

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“Don’t Worry Be Happy” . . . It Really Does Keep us Healthier

April 25, 2010

Contributed By  Olga DudekA 10-year study that tracked more than 1,700 adults in Nova Scotia suggests people who are usually happy, enthusiastic and content are less likely to develop heart disease.
The study, published in the April 2010 European Heart Journal, is believed to be the first to show an independent relationship between clinically assessed emotions [...]

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Seeing and Believing in Another’s Potential

April 23, 2010

Contributed by Steve Goldberg
Derek Paravicini, a masterful musician, is blind with severe disabilities. He can’t tell his right hand from his left or hold anything but the simplest of conversations.
When Derek is playing the piano however, it’s hard to believe there is anything he can’t do.  Derek is a musical savant, blessed with enormous talent. 

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Life is 10% What Happens to You and 90% How You Respond to it

April 4, 2010

Contributed by Olga Dudek

Team Canada celebrates their 10-1 victory over Sweden during the
Ice Sledge Hockey Preliminary Round Group B Game
I had the opportunity to be in Whistler, B.C., a few weeks ago during the 2010 Paralympics.  Over 500 athletes from 44 countries around the world competed. What an inspiration to witness what the human spirit [...]

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