I adopted another dog

You may or may not have noticed that since my beloved dog Ziggy passed away last August, I’ve barely been writing on this blog. I’m not sure if the two correlate but their timing matches up.

Earlier this year, I wrote about how we really ought to be forming new year habits rather than new year resolutions. Well, one of my new year habits is to write more.

Back in November, I adopted another dog. His name is Capone. He resembles Ziggy in his stature and coloring, but his personality is quiet different.

Capone is fearless. He spent the first few months of his life transferring hands from adopters to shelter employees to foster families, before finally arriving to me. He loves all people. At the adoption events, he became used to many different sounds and smells, all sorts of other animals, and humans both young and old. He’s a joy to take out in public because he makes everyone he meets feel like the most important person in the world, smothering them with hugs and kisses.

He doesn’t require much exercise at all or even training. For one, he’s a low energy dog and much prefers snuggling to running. For two, he’s extremely sensitive to commands and thus picks up quickly whenever I’m teaching him new ones.

In short, Capone is everything I could have ever hoped for in a dog. He’s perfect for me. And when I look at him, I can’t help but be reminded of God’s grace and goodness. That no matter how devastating a loss, God turns all things for good. And often, for better than we could have even imagined.

10 Daily Challenges That Will Enhance Your Life

If you’re reading this, congratulations! You’re brave. You saw “challenges” in the headline of this post yet still you chose to read it. Perhaps, like me, you enjoy a challenge. In which case, you’ve come to the right place. Read on to discover a list I wrote specifically for you of 10 daily challenges that will surely enhance your life!

1. Try to make at least one person’s day, every day.
2. Smile.
3. Exercise.
4. Floss.
5. Carve out time for family and friends.
6. Journal.
7. Carve out time for you to be alone and quiet.
8. Make a great memory and don’t tell anyone about it.
9. Treat every encounter you have as if it is the most important thing you have going on that day.
10. Do something that scares you, or at least pushes you beyond your comfort zone.

Be sure to follow up in the comments section and let me know how these challenges are serving to enhance your life!

Life is Not…

“Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, ‘Wow … what a ride.’ ” bungee-pano_24776

Wisdom from John Lennon

There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.

~ John Lennon

Don’t Let Change Scare You

It’s funny how most of us have seen how quickly life can change, yet few of us remember this the moment that it does.

Don’t let change scare you.