REFLECTIONS If everything you offered was not enough, then offer your absence. That may be the greatest act of dignity and self-respect. — Mario Benedetti MY TAKE: Life is an ongoing journey; it covers byways, paths, goes on bridges, and into tunnels. But always, at some point, these divergencies return to the main road. The one we started on, the moment we were born. As some may say, the one we were destined to travel. Every step on this road represents an effort. One already expended, or one that is to be gathered. Not one single step we take, at any given time, is free of this expenditure. We are aware of this, although there will be moments when we just take the steps and do not spend much time considering the efforts made. We want to go somewhere. We convince ourselves we need to get there, even if it means running a deficit we will only notice later. There are moments in life when we will pursue a dream, not caring about much else.   You, who are read...

“THE ABILITY TO THINK IS A GIFT. THINKING IS AN INTENTIONAL COGNITIVE PROCESS. FREEDOM OF THOUGHT AND SPEECH IS A CONCEPT.” I am not altogether sure where this may be taking me, or whether whatever results in the end may be worthy of being posted somewhere -or anywhere. The inner battle we all endure, almost from the earliest moment of awareness, somehow revolves around these concepts: how we understand them, how we use them, and how we may be lauded or penalized for doing so. In the beginning, the thought process simply is . It is taken for granted, so much so that the idea of thinking about thinking is rarely -if ever- considered. We move through early life guided by routines learned from our families and the societal communities we are born into. Unfortunately, a great number of people remain in this state of acceptable, directed actions for the rest of their lives. Many fall into this path because of laziness or complacency. It is easier to “just let it be” than to ri...

“TREAT PEOPLE AS IF THEY WERE WHAT THEY OUGHT TO BE, AND YOU WILL HELP THEM BECOME WHAT THEY ARE CAPABLE OF BEING.” — Anonymous Most of us -if we were lucky- had at least one person who helped guide us while we were growing up. It may have been a parent, a grandparent (as was my case), a relative, a teacher, or a mentor who was not family at all. Usually, it comes down to one person. Sometimes two. At first, they were there physically. They helped us navigate obstacles, sort through confusion, and gently point us in the right direction. Later -after they were no longer present in our daily lives- their influence remained. Their voice became internal. Their guidance turned into something permanent, woven into our conscience, quietly reminding us when a choice felt right… or when it didn’t. So what does this have to do with today’s quote? Everything. When we think back on those people, we remember what they said to us -and just as importantly, what they did not say. We remem...

  LEARNING TO FALL IS PART OF LEARNING TO LIVE Why failure, resilience, and getting back up are not optional skills “… Growing, learning, and evolving is a lifelong process, and we must understand and accept this. If we are truly living, we never stop making mistakes and learning from them. If you have never fallen, you have never learned to get up and continue on. The moment we stop trying because of the risk of being wrong or the fear of what others may say, we have chosen to stop living." The above is mine; I put it into quotes because it comes from something I wrote some time ago. A student read it yesterday, then he asked me what I meant by this statement. Perhaps, with the experience of almost 8 decades of doing just that -falling and getting up- it was not difficult to add a few thoughts to that expression. The answer may seem simple, yet it is never simple. I have barely muddled through my own issues long enough to keep going; for keeping on, I must. The thoughts a...

Yesterday, I was going through some notes to make up for the recent time lost, and came across this little wisdom jewel. It has been several years since I saw it for the first time. As I read it, it began to gain a hold of me; its real message being on point, especially in these times of the “me first” social construct. A good friend related this story to me several years ago, and it impressed me so much that I wrote it down and saved it for some future time. That future moment is now. This is what I wrote down… “My father used to buy basic goods and trinkets -which most often he really did not need- from poor street vendors, usually paying a high price and, sometimes, even paying extra. Then he continued: “I was baffled by this behaviour from someone who worked hard for his money and who did not like to squander it, so I asked him why he did this, and he replied: ‘It is a charity gift, but it is wrapped in dignity, my son”   It has taken several years, with all t...

  REFLECTIONS HOW DO YOU SAY GOODBYE? How do you say goodbye to someone you have seen only once in more than sixty years? We suffer from a distancing malady that slowly -probably as an act of self-defense- dissipates old memories to make room for whatever life throws at us next. Survival requires it. The encroaching threats, the shocks, the small and not-so-small traumas… memory filters them, dulls them, hides them. Yes, we are human. A trite excuse, but true, nonetheless. We carry our mix of failures, successes, foibles, and -why not say it?- the downright foolish behavior we’re capable of when anger, resentment, or insecurity take control. But, I digress … as usual. In May of 1962, I left the island-nation where the entire kaleidoscope of the first fifteen years of my life had been colored and shaped. I never returned. At first, I couldn’t. The government that drove us out made sure of that. Later, I was welcomed back -along with my MC/Visa/AMEX, of course. But by t...