If you are a parent, chances are that you have said something to the effect of: “If you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all.” It’s a lesson that we learn early in life and try to teach our children as soon as they have the ability to string recognizable ...

Perfection, I must fulfill that void, The broken mirror of my essence, I must achieve the best, Nothing compares to this void, I boast in my pride, No credit will be given to my success, I’m better than all the rest, But once that measuring up catches to me, My purity is gone, It leaves ...

Dear Santa, Thank you for giving people something to believe in. The excitement, the joy, the magic that people experience year after year is magnificent and memorable. So, Santa, I decided to ask several family members to share a Christmas memory or two and was delighted by their responses. I hope you enjoy them as ...

I sit on my bed, shirtless and sweating and trying to ignore the pain that floods my legs. Grey smoke curls from my cigarette as I inhale its contents. It burns to ash and scorches my throat. The orange glow that pervades with each inward breath pierces the darkest folds of the night. I’m wide ...

Recently, my husband and I took the upperclassmen from our small private school on a college trip. We traveled twelve hours (one way) from our rural community to Maranatha Baptist University in Watertown, Wisconsin.  In preparation for this event, the school rented a Ford Transit for us to take. No one said anything, but I ...

Life doesn’t hand happiness in abundance scared we will want nothing but the euphoric feeling of satisfaction when there’s plethora of feelings to experience. Those feelings which make happiness much more blissful. Life a series of fleeting moments of happiness interrupting usual sludge called life. Our choices cement us within our own imposing personal prisons. ...

There was an assortment of watches on both her wrists. Digital, analog, leather straps, gold straps, and some made of pure silver. Each watch told a different time in a different place, and she admired them, treasured them like one would treasure their own life. She lived in a hall of her own making. A ...

Aubree peered out the window and stared at the leaves as they danced in the wind. A robust breeze collected several fallen ones from a small pile situated under a tree. They swirled upward into the air with ease. After a short flight, they made their way back toward the ground, swaying from side-to-side as ...

When you burnout at work, you start to feel diminished. Like a part of yourself has gone into hiding and it doesn’t want to come out. Challenges that were manageable and small, start to feel like large nightmares from hell. It’s the opposite end of the spectrum from engagement. The engaged person is energized, involved, ...