Posts – Page 2 – Deepening Our Journey

The Last of The Human Freedoms

January 5, 2026

Many years ago I came across one of the most transformative books I had ever read and I have referred to various parts of it many times over the years both personally and professionally. That piece of writing was Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor E. Frankl. If you are developing a reading list for 2026 I strongly encourage you to put this classic on the top of your list. Frankl was a practicing psychiatrist in 1942 when he and his family were rounded up and placed in a Nazi

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Gaining Perspective

November 30, 2025

If you find the theme of this post similar to others I have written over the past several years, I don’t apologize but rather alert you to the fact that I will be lifting this up time and time again! Gaining perspective has clearly been and continues to be one of the major gifts in my life journey, especially as the years continue to add up. This time of year there seems to be an increased effort by various groups and agencies to reach out to folks who have much

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The Gift of New Eyes

November 4, 2025

Have you ever gotten a new set of eyes? I have. So many times, in fact, that the list is only limited by my challenged memory! But right now, I’d only like to share two, one I had been gifted with over 45 years ago and I have unwrapped it many times since, the second one I received within the past year through one of the many new friendships which we have been gifted with since moving into our over-55 retirement community. In 1982 The Lutheran Home at Topton had hired

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They Will Never Know…

September 30, 2025

Before I get into this month’s post, there is an important clarification I want to make in regards to the September post based on responses from some folks who follow our post faithfully. Several people commented that they were glad I wrote about this topic because they too are annoyed by people who do not pick up after their dogs! I wanted to more clearly explain what I intended to lift up in the post. It wasn’t about “calling out” the other owners for their behavior or even my anger

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Self Growth Projects

September 1, 2025

I was steaming mad! I had been sitting our “grand dog”, Arnie, while our youngest son and his family were visiting Yellowstone for two weeks and while we were on a walk, I had accidentally stepped in a non-harvested pile of some other dog’s poop! Cleaning that “poop” (my internal dialogue at the time used a different word!) from the treads on my sneakers left me quite angry at someone I didn’t even know! Who was it that didn’t take the time to pick up after their dog? How could

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Community?

August 2, 2025

Recently after attending a concert at our retirement community, I greeted a “newbie” resident on the way out of the auditorium and asked if she enjoyed the music. She said she had. “All of the amenities, programs, dining options etc. are even better than I expected,” she said. “However I haven’t experienced the sense of community I had hoped for.” This caught me off guard and I wasn’t sure how to respond (not a common experience for me!). When this happens, I usually revert to asking a question in an

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Forgiveness

July 7, 2025

“Forgiveness is a reflection of loving yourself enough to move on.” — Steve Maraboli When I read that quote, it immediately jumped out at me and wouldn’t let me go. Even though I’ve dealt with forgiveness in a big way both personally and professionally, I’d never thought about it quite like that before. Certainly over my fifty years as a counselor, forgiveness is something I’ve seen patients struggle with time and again. I’ve been blessed to be in a position to see both the deep and far-reaching ramifications of not

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Exclusion or Inclusion?

June 2, 2025

I came across this statement on a sign a few weeks ago and it immediately got lodged deep in my gray matter and then periodically surfaced in a wide variety of situations and conversations afterwards. The longer I held on to this simple statement and attempted to apply it, the more profound it became! The statement read: At the end of the day, I’d rather be excluded for who I included, than included for who I excluded If you have been following my posts for some time you might be

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Stretching Ourselves

May 4, 2025

A growing number of healthcare professionals have been telling me for years the importance of stretching on a regular basis and especially critical as we age. In fact, I have gradually incorporated a few stretching exercises into my daily routine as I have now begun to accept that at some point in this life journey I’m going to start aging! As important as physical stretching is for our body, I strongly believe that stretching ourselves in many other ways is extremely important and beneficial for our mental, relational, and every

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