The Last of the Human Freedoms

“The last of the human freedoms:  to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”                                           (Viktor Frankl  1905-1997).

One of the greatest freedoms we have is to read without fear.  It is the freedom to learn, to grow, to experience the lives of others through the work of authors who offer us insight, inspiration, affirmation, and accountability.

We get to choose what we will read and what we will learn.  Even when everything seems to be stripped away from us, it isn’t until we surrender our minds and our attitudes to others that we experience true defeat.  Never give up hope and faith in the triumph of goodness.  This is one of the messages I took away from reading Viktor Frankl’s book, Man’s Search for Meaning.

Continue reading “The Last of the Human Freedoms”

Hope, Dreams, Courage, Harmony

“If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all.  And so today, I still have a dream.”  (Martin Luther King – 1929-1968)

I didn’t realize until I was looking up the dates that defined MLK’s life that he was only 39 years old when he died.  That got me thinking back to when I was 39.  How about you – what were your dreams when you were 39 and do you now have new dreams for your future?  And if you are approaching 39, in what do you hope, what is your dream?

Continue reading “Hope, Dreams, Courage, Harmony”

Simple Things In Which To Believe

“To know oneself is to foresee oneself; to foresee oneself amounts to playing a part.”

Paul Valery – 1871-1945

 

Faith is the belief in things that we cannot see but in which we hope.  So what do we believe and in what do we hope?  Here are some simple beliefs that lead to hope.  Read at your own peril.

Continue reading “Simple Things In Which To Believe”

The Brass Ring

Asbury Park, New Jersey – Ocean Grove, New Jersey –  Summer, 1958

To a ten year old living in New Jersey, summer meant only one thing – the Jersey Shore.  Every one in New Jersey had their favorite beach.  When I was ten, there was nothing better than Asbury Park, the boardwalk and the carousel.

Continue reading “The Brass Ring”

%d bloggers like this: