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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

CANCER SURVIVOR ESSAY STRUGGLE

    Stories about a cancer survivor are an inspiration to all cancer survivors. Even a cancer survivor essay about the trauma of being a cancer survivor holds important hope.   Pam Parker gets into it with a cancer survivor story in the Chicago Tribune.   It’s not pretty and sweet and all dolled up […]

GIVING CAREGIVING SHOWS EXTRA LIFE

The biggest booster from giving caregiving?   Adapted for Parkinson’s, it becomes “Hate the disease, love the relationships it builds.” It works for most every disease at every age. The idea of extra life works for all, too. Doctors treating Parkinson’s are the key relationship, but they need equally strong links to those in their patients’ lives. One link of […]

10 BOOMER HEALTH NOTICES

What To Know, What To Ignore For Boomer Health. 1. You weigh too much. Extra weight stresses your knees and hips, your ankles and heart. Too much weight is a golden ticket for Type 2 Diabetes. Why not go away and mind your own business? 2. You’re too thin. Thin people have a greater threat […]

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boomer years

FAT SHAME, FIT SHAME, SHAME SHAME

From one side of the health debate to the other there’s no shortage of shamers. A forty year old man, six feet tall, weighing 186 lbs wore a sauna belt. In a sauna. With men and women. He was after those excess three pounds that showed up the day before. Did he understand the shame […]

OBAMA FAREWELL SPEECH, OR CITIZENSHIP CLASS

President Obama farewell speech a study in civics.   At the crossroads of history, President Obama gave his last big goodbye. The heart of his farewell? The Constitution. You’d expect different from a Constitution scholar with twelve years in the classroom? Like a great politician, a showman for the ages, he did it in Chicago […]

Good Sport Or Bad Sport, Follow The Rules If You Play The Game

  One thing learned from the beginning? If I play sports I’m going to get dirty. Not everyone got the message along the way.   A new kid with a new glove and ball came to play. Another kid rubbed dirt on the ball and spit in the pocket of the mitt.   The new […]

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buckle up

BOOMERPDX ON THE ROAD TRAVEL ADVICE

How To Find Places To Stay On The Road. If two people travel together, one is planner. They’ve got the calendar, the days, the stops, and how long you’ll be in each place. Two planners are a problem. With two planners it won’t be a trip, it’ll be a hostage negotiation where one or both […]

POLYFACE FARMS LUXURY VS FIVE DIAMOND ULTIMATE LUXURY

  Everyone on this side of the hermit life has seen a county fair cow barn, a state fair pig parade, and a showcase of caged chickens.   Keeping them all penned up seemed harsh until I saw a picture of industrial meat production.   Next cow up, chicken herder.

THE FIGHTING FOO FIGHTERS

It’s Not Easy But You Will Win. Foo Fighters Fight For You. What’s the usual concert experience? Buy a ticket, show up, sit down, go home. Maybe raise a smart phone, flick a bic. Then there’s the concert up the Columbia at The Gorge in George, Washington. It’s a road trip no matter where you […]

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