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An ancient Chinese parable …

One night an old man’s only horse went missing. The next day everyone told the old man how sorry they were. “But how do you know this is ill fortune?”, the old man asked.

Soon after, the horse returned, bringing with him a magnificent wild stallion. Everyone told the old man how happy they were for him. The old man smiled and asked, “But how do you know this is good fortune?”

When I asked my granddaughter back in December what she was getting for Christmas, she said Santa was bringing her a unicorn.

And then she leaned in, as if she were letting me in on some real inside information, and said, kind of soto voce, “I suspect it’s a real one … and I’m gonna ride it.” 

Someone from my family of origin who I was very close to growing up and trusted my whole life just isn’t that “best friend” and protector anymore. This person has betrayed my trust and behaved very badly.

When I finally get some time, I’m going to __________.

What? What will you do? Fill in the blank.

Okay, may I be blunt?

There are some things that shouldn’t be in that space … things that tell me you’re just asking for trouble. And yet, a large percentage of the population might very well say these very things.

I have to tell one on myself.

I noticed recently that my response to suggested changes in the way we were doing things or plans we had in place had become an automatic no.

There’s really no such thing as a balanced life, at least not a perfectly balanced one.

And what’s more, you wouldn’t want one. And you know what? I’ll go one step further. A balanced life isn’t for everybody.

What?!!!

Let me ask you a personal question.

What do you have to do to prove yourself in this life? What’s required of you?

Do you have to behave a certain way? Do you have to accomplish something notable?

Little kids say some funny things. And sometimes, our little ones say some really profound things without even knowing it. My grandson said something last week that really got to me.

Have you ever offended someone without meaning to? Well, read on. The screw-up in our second story today takes the cake.

When my partner Tom’s brother, Jim, was just a little guy, their mother told him about the tradition of certain Native American tribes.

If someone admires something of yours, it was considered the gracious and generous thing to do to give it to them.

She’d related the information as an interesting bit of information without really thinking what effect it might have on a five year old.

It wasn’t good.