A few shorts

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It opens up a bit of compassion to think of the people who are the hardest to like as needing the most love.

 

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Love is unconditional positive regard.

Its attributes are recognition, acceptance, understanding, and response.

 

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Certainty means you are certain.

Not that you are right.

 

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Spiritual maturity is earned. No shortcuts. You have to live your way into greater patience, vulnerability, compassion, and awareness that our disconnection from others is our own doing.

 

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Easy solutions to complex problems are most assuredly wrong.

 

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As long as you are alive, there are infinite possibilities.

That never ceases to give me hope.

 

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One rabbi asks another for a blessing.

 

“May you have many problems.”

“What kind of blessing is that!? May I have many problems?!”

“Well, when you have only one problem, something serious is wrong. When you have many problems, it’s that the dishwasher is leaking, the dog has fleas, the taxes need to be done, etc.”

“May we all have many problems.”

“Amen.”

 

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Sometimes, when there is no right answer, it means there is also no wrong answer.

 

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Refractory Anxiety

I am supposed to arrive at the wedding rehearsal at 4 p.m. I planned on arriving 15–20 minutes early. Because I don’t like being late. However, I took a wrong turn. At the intersection of the I-5 South and the I-405 South, I went the wrong way. Now, I’ll have to turn around in a mile and a half and

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No words. No words.

To offset our discomfort about our upcoming visit to the Terezín (in German: Theresienstadt) concentration camp/ghetto, Emmett and I fall into making dark jokes. Gallows humor. “Do you think they still give free tattoos upon arrival?” “Want to wear matching pajamas for our tour?” Dark, ugly jokes.  Because reality is just too overwhelming. The feelings are too overwhelming. So we

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Has anyone seen my keys?!

Jane and the kids misplace keys. Not me. I don’t. I always return my key to the keyrack. That’s where they go. When the key isn’t on the hook, which happens from time to time, I find it on some surface in the house. Usually, the kitchen table. Then, without fanfare, I pick it up, hang it up, and restrain

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77% Weekly Newsletter
77% Weekly Newsletter