Richness is found by pursuing a path of peace. — I’m 70 now, in the final third of my life, and more aware than ever the seconds and minutes are ticking away. So I ask myself more frequently, what’s really important? I don’t feel that youthful sense of immortality anymore — the belief I can do almost anything and survive…

How one very cool guy changed my life forever — “Erection.” “Louder, please.” “Erection!” That was my 10th grade English teacher, Joel Kabatznick doing his “Words of the Week Club” routine. Every Friday, he’d spend about ten minutes teaching us words we didn’t know, like “idiosyncrasy” or “meretricious.” …

The everyday martial art of talking to someone who disagrees with you — Words are powerful. Once we put them out there, we can’t take them back. Expressions like “I didn’t mean to say that” or “I was only kidding” come too late. So why do couples get into needless arguments? Jeffery S. Smith, MD, writes in Psychology Today: The cause of arguments…

Anything worthwhile takes blood, sweat, and tears. — I was a twenty-one-year-old kid in 1972, driving a blue ’56 Chevy with a 283 under the hood, a 3-speed on the column, glass pack mufflers, and a jacked-up rear end when I met someone on a late summer afternoon who told me about a guru showing people how to…

3 practical ways to liberate your spirit. I've used them, and they work. — Cars and semi-trucks rumbled past me that night. A faded dark green 1930s starting-to-crumble clapboard house sat behind me, overlooking the sidewalk, the concrete steps I sat on, and the interstate truck route that ran to the center of town. The summer heat in Ohio, heavy with moisture, primed for…

It’s a quality to be acknowledged, celebrated, and treasured. — I sat in the lobby nervously waiting for my interview with Mr. Wilson, the V.P. of sales. There was an opening for a new salesperson in the company because one of my teammates had quit. I knew why the guy split. He told me, “The territory sucks. …

4 quick and easy practices to help light you up. — Occasionally I struggle in the morning to find my enthusiasm for the upcoming day. If I catch this bug, it usually starts the moment I wake up. There’s a heaviness in my head and a silent groan. Happy? Not even close. Grateful to be alive? No way. …

Deepak Chopra’s masterpiece provides essential knowledge to help us live in harmony and abundance. — Deepak Chopra, author and leader in holistic health and human potential, published The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success in 1994. The less than hour read is filled with soul-stirring, thought-provoking wisdom written in plain English with how-to’s in each chapter. I’ve read it half a dozen times in the past…

It’s about patience and staying on the path. — Jackson Kiddard. Maybe you know about this guy, but I didn’t until Sunday afternoon, July 3rd. I found some of his quotes, and now I’m a fan. But this guy is under the radar because I can’t find anything about him except that he lived in 19th-century France, became a…