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BETTER LISTENING SKILLS FOR BETTER UNDERSTANDING

If practicing better listening skills isn’t a life goal, it should be.
How hard is it to pay attention?
You did it in the classroom with the encouragement of a teacher.
I still remember Mr. Kraus singing ‘Toot toot tootsie goodbye’ when he tossed little tootsie rolls to students with the right answer in algebra.
Maybe we need more of that? Instead we get more of this:

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RETURNING REVERENCE TO IT’S RIGHTFUL PLACE

There’s a scent of reverence in the air, of returning reverence after a long pause.
It started in my doctor’s office where I’d been called to sit on a panel with others.
One of the others was Roy Pittman, one of my personal heroes.
The next time I saw the doctor he told me he was surprised at the way I acted, that I showed reverence to Coach Pittman.
If I did, I didn’t know it. What I remember is feeling awe-struck. Maybe it’s the same thing?
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NBA CHAMPION CROWNED, AGAIN

Becoming an NBA champion is a lifelong goal for every basketball player in the world.
The best want to play the best, beat the best, to tell themselves they’re good enough.
It’s that along with contracts and money and fame.
All of that goes along the wayside when you stop playing in ninth grade like me, or in high school.
Do I blame the coaches that I didn’t become a star, a substitute, or even a benchwarmer?
Noooooo, but . . .
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CLEAN LIVING FOR A QUIET LIFE

Clean living is an art form, and like all art it takes practice.
Yes, we’re talking about practice.
It takes practice to talk without a particular tone, without too much edge.
Do that and you may have a productive conversation.
Go ahead and save the tone and edge for people you don’t know, who don’t know you.
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I READ THE NEWS TODAY OH BOY

The news today is all about world events.
News organizations deliver it every day with the same hype and urgency.
News hounds consume every detail and load it onto the pile they carry in case someone asks them ‘what’s up?’
That’s when you brace yourself for the headlines as if they’re coming from an anchorman. Or woman.
That’s the big news story you NEED to know.
The small news, the stories that make us step back, come out another way.
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toughen up

DIVORCE NEW NORMAL: “WAS IT ANOTHER GUY?”

    Older people, a goal baby boomers are moving toward at hyper speed, have heard more joy and heartache than anyone else. We’ve got at least ten thousand hours in each encompassing most every possible outcome.   At recent bar stop I learned a whole new take on divorce for modern times. It came […]

ANNUAL BODY CLEANSING AND AGE MANAGEMENT

Guest Post By Dr. Elaine Gillaspie, ND From The Portland Wellness Center. Annual body cleansing is an important part of aging gracefully. A monitored juice fast can clean your digestive system for better nutritional absorption. It also rejuvenates your skin, hair, and increases your vitality. Take time in your life to reflect about how we treat […]

PREPARE FOR A DOCTOR VISIT

Do you get in shape for your doctor visit? For too many men it takes an force of nature to schedule a doctor visit. Women, not so much. That force of nature is called a wife after she makes an appointment two months away. She knows you’ll go; you know you’ll go. How you show […]

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boomer years

A BOOMER FAMILY TREE GROWS CLOSE TO TOWN

 BUT NOT TOO CLOSE. When people say it’s best to live close to the land, what do they mean? Call it the rural side of life. The closer the better. It’s a perspective fewer and fewer are blessed with. Country living shows you the cycles of life, the cycle of many lives, like a live […]

AUTHOR PHOTOS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS? Pt.1

    Do Not Make Direct Eye Contact?   This man looks like he might be blind, which explains the eye contact part. The other part is what an author looks like from different time periods. There’s little difference in the region under a beard from any period.   If Mt. Rushmore for writers needs […]

PUSH YOUR ENVELOPE FOR PROOF

Go outside the box and push your envelope. Push it real good. Too often baby boomers take the good advice of slowing down, like take time to smell the roses. It’s good advice because we’re not the proverbial spring chicken anymore, but it doesn’t mean crawl into a hole and die. When is the last […]

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buckle up

6 STEPS OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL AFTER THE FIRST STEP

  Step One: Admit you’ve been bored to death since your last trip.   You miss making connections, new train stations, airports. The miracle of being on time. Like a caged animal, your travel bug paces. Every Sunday it rattles the gate. That’s when Rick Steves shows up. With a dish. Travel bugs feast on […]

FIVE DIAMOND PRESIDENT, OR HOW TO UNDERSTAND HIGH END HABITS

    For any questions about President Trump, his behavior in office, and general lifestyle, there’s a simple answer:   He’s a Five Diamond President. If that’s not good enough, he’s also a Six Star Diamond man.   What you see in President Trump is the result of decades of pampered living.   Nothing wrong […]

6 POINTS OF YOSEMITE THE UNUSUAL

More Than El Capitan, More Than Half Dome, Yosemite Brings Added Value. 1. A bear made front page news. At least the man it attacked made front page news when he saved himself by flashing back to Vietnam. He went face to face with the Viet Cong and a bear and won both times. 2. […]

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