The DAILY SPARK Blog

"People don't talk about the soul very much anymore.  It's much easier to write a resume than to craft a spirit.  But a resume is cold comfort on a winter night, or when you're sad or broke, or lonely or when you've gotten back the chest X-ray and it doesn't look good...Here's my resume:  It's not what my professional bio says, proud as I am of all that:I'm a good mother to three good children.  I have tried never to let my profession stand in the way of being a good parent.  I no longer consider myself the center of the universe.  I show up.  I listen.  I try to laugh.I am a good friend to my husband.  I have tried to make my marriage vows mean what they say.  I show up .  I listen.  I try to laugh.  I'm a good friend to my friends, and they to me.  Without them I would have nothing of interest to say to anyone, because I would be a cardboard cutout.  But I call them on the phone and I meet them for lunch.  I show up.  I listen.  I try to laugh.You cannot be really first-rate at your work if your work is all you are.  So, I suppose the best piece of advice I could give anyone is pretty simple:  get a life.  A real life, not a manic pursuit of the next promotion, the bigger paycheck, the larger house. Do you think you'd care so very much about those things if you developed an aneurysm one afternoon, or found a lump in your breast while in the shower?  Get a life in which you stop and watch how a red-tailed hawk circles over a pond and a stand of pines.  Get a life in which you pay attention to the baby as she scowls with concentration when she tries to pick up a Cheerio with her thumb and first finger.  Turn off your cell phone..  Keep still.  Be present. Get a life in which you are not alone.  Find people you love, and who love you."Excerpt from A SHORT GUIDE TO A HAPPY LIFE By Anna QuindlenREFLECTION:What does your resume look like ... not your Professional Bio. Do you show up? Do you listen?  Do you laugh?Are you present to your life?As we turn the page to 2021, what kind of resume do you want to create (be). Start writing it today and ... GET A LIFE!

Start close in,don't take the second stepor the third,start with the first thingclose in, the step you don't want to take....Start right nowtake a small step you can call your owndon't followsomeone else's heroics, be humbleand focused,start close in,don't mistake that other for your own. Start close in,don't take the second stepor the third,start with the first thingclose in, the step you don't want to take.Poem by David Whyte from his book RIVER FLOW New and Selected PoemsREFLECTION:Is there a step you don't want to take or have been delaying? What is it?What is the first thing, the first step close in you need to take?"Be bold and brave - take the step you can call your own.

"Love Can Build A Bridge"I'd gladly walk across the desertWith no shoes upon my feetTo share with you the last biteOf bread I had to eatI would swim out to save youIn your sea of broken dreamsWhen all your hopes are sinkin'Let me show you what love meansLove can build a bridgeBetween your heart and mineLove can build a bridgeDon't you think it's time?Don't you think it's time?I would whisper love so loudlyEvery heart could understandThat love and only loveCan join the tribes of manI would give my heart's desireSo that you might seeThe first step is to realizeThat it all begins with you and meWhen we stand togetherIt's our finest hourWe can do anything, anythingKeep believin' in the powerLove and only loveLove and only loveWords to: Love Can Build A Bridge sung by The Judds 1990 Songwriters: John Barlow Jarvis / Naomi Ellen Judd / Paul OverstreetLove Can Build A Bridge lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc, Mike Curb Music REFLECTION:How do you show love?Is there someone you are in relationship with whom there is a divide?What if you could build a bridge?  Are you willing to try? How can you build a bridge?  Don't you think it's time?  Don't you think it's time?  Start today because you can do anything, anything... with love and only love!