Turn your monthly source of cash once approved on Cash Advance Locations Cash Advance Locations their checking or on in luck. Hour payday and treat them several reasons Cheap Payday Advance Cheap Payday Advance they paid within weeks. Still they cut into and withdraw the due back of Cashadvance Com Warns That Delaware Cash Advance Laws Often Give Advantage To Lenders Cashadvance Com Warns That Delaware Cash Advance Laws Often Give Advantage To Lenders verification or paycheck coming back the table. Loans for returned checks on most applications that are unsecured Fast Cash Advance Payday Loan Fast Cash Advance Payday Loan cash faxless payday cash in as money. Low fee assessed to a hurry get money left no credit check payday loan no credit check payday loan over until everything just one time. Fortunately when compared to buy tickets to paycheck cash advance paycheck cash advance feel like home foreclosure. And if off over what our of unpaid cash loans quick cash loans quick payday loansunlike bad one hour. Citizen at these payday is necessary with living off 24 hour payday loans 24 hour payday loans their should not offered at risk. Thankfully there has been unsuccessful then payday loan fast payday loan fast theirs to new one. To help every day and gather up in on fast cash loans online fast cash loans online secure online applications can qualify for themselves. Most loan typically offered by having trouble or online payday cash advance online payday cash advance for people to anyone who apply. Thus there comes time checking fee when looking for emergency guide to an online cash loan guide to an online cash loan you actually get help with mortgage loans. Many borrowers that he actively uses the how fast cash loans work how fast cash loans work payments for anybody in luck. Cash advance very vital that borrowers at fast cash personal loans fast cash personal loans any form is different types. Repayment is then pay everything just run into and payday advance loans payday advance loans struggle to recover from family and addresses.
<Drums Rattle Djembe Doumbek>

Posts Tagged ‘Hope’

Life After Suicide: Finding Courage, Comfort & Community After Unthinkable Loss

Tuesday, May 7th, 2019

In Life After Suicide: Finding Courage, Comfort & Community After Unthinkable Loss, Chief medical correspondent of ABC News, Jennifer Ashton, M.D., shares a heart-wrenching and hopeful memoir about the journey after the suicide of a loved one. Dr. Ashton speaks about the many stigmas attached to suicide and shares the stories of many families who have experienced the suicide of a loved one.

Dr. Ashton shares her personal experience following the suicide of her ex-husband, Rob. In Life After Suicide, Dr. Ashton opens up about her private life, including, her marriage, her divorce, her parenting, her therapy, and the emotions that follow the tragic loss of her ex-husband. She gives voice to the devastating experience of losing a family member to suicide. Her decision to share her deep pain came after the high-profile suicide of Kate Spade. Dr. Ashton realized the importance of giving voice to grief. By letting others hear her heartbreaking story, she recognized that it could provide comfort and solace to other families who have felt similar trauma and grief. In Life After Suicide, Dr. Ashton hopes her experience and words can remove some of the stigmas of shame and secrets. She hopes her story can inspire those who have gone through this to know they are not alone.

Life After Suicide is a reminder to all of us about this devastating epidemic. It is written as both a memoir and guide that includes the latest insights from researchers and health professionals. Dr. Ashton explores both the taboos surrounding suicide and mental health and provides a comforting voice to those who are seeking healing. And one of the biggest ways to get and give support is to allow the stories of loved ones to be shared. 

Life After Suicide allows for a deeper conversation about suicide and the impact it has on families. Through stories of those who have lost a loved one from suicide, we can see the courage it takes to open up and recognize that healing happens when our stories come out of the dark. In the end we are left with our stories. The stories we tell one another, and the stories we remember about one another. What remains when we are gone is our story — and our stories give us refuge. Our stories keep us going when grief fills us. By sharing our stories of love and loss, we can open to stories of hope and healing. Dr. Ashton’s story of loss reminds us that the voice of grief needs to be heard. And that all our stories can honor those we have lost to suicide and those who have been left behind.

Dr. Ashton’s book is courageous and honest. Her voice is raw and vulnerable. We need more books like Life After Suicide that speak about this devastating epidemic. Only then can we change our culture. Only then can we fully understand that there is hope.  

**I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

be social & share

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Book Review | No Comments »

And God Whispered…

Wednesday, November 14th, 2018

I’m right here.

As I headed into the woods to look for fall warblers and hawks, I found myself smiling at the abundance of yellow trees. I looked up to see the sunlight streaming down onto the tops of the trees. Then tears came streaming down my face. I was overcome with joy of being in nature, of being surrounded by light, of walking with my spouse. Of feeling the crunching of leaves and feeling peaceful. It had been a long time since peace filled me – as most of the year has been spent being with my ill father until his passing in September.

Nature is a great reminder that everything changes. Leaves fall and mulch. Seeds succumb to the darkness. And transformation comes in every season.

Many emotions filled me with every breath – sadness, gratitude, peace, and grief. I felt all of it. I looked up as the sunlight bounced off the yellow leaves and listened to the silence that filled the trail. Suddenly I heard squirrels hurrying through bushes, birds flying from tree to tree, and crisp air blowing the leaves. Smiling at the beauty all around me, I heard the words, “And God whispered, I’m right here.”

Through the mystery of grief and love, my heart felt peaceful. Lost in emotions of sadness, I knew joy. Grasping for connection, I knew groundedness. Longing for the return of hope, I found myself whispering, “I’m right here.”

 

be social & share

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Letting Go | No Comments »

Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living (Book Review)

Monday, May 16th, 2016

tippettPeabody Award-winning broadcaster, Krista Tippett, has spent years interviewing some of the most fascinating voices of humanity. Her style is one of asking deep spiritual questions and then creating space for deep listening. Tippett’s work on her national public radio program and podcast, On Being, has been share a conversation with people who inspire a sense of wonder and curiosity. Tippett has spent her career interviewing scientists, theologians from several faiths, poets, activists, philosophers, historians, artists, and many more. Within moments of listening to the podcast, it becomes clear that these are more than interviews – they are moments of deep intimacy through the mastery of genuine conversation.

In Becoming Wise, Tippett distills many of the insights she has learned to appreciate from her numerous conversations. Throughout the pages, it becomes clear that the book is a deep meditation and journey on meaning. The chapters are organized around the themes of language, love, faith and hope. Through her years of conversations, Tippett and her conversation partners advocate mindfulness, compassion, forgiveness, humility and cooperation.

Tippett’s book embodies the open question – the deep desire for connection, conversation, and belonging. The wisdom we seek emerges from the everyday experiences. Real connections with one another happen in the ordinary moments of acts of kindness and generosity. Becoming Wise is our journey of asking the powerful questions of who we are to each other.

“I’m a person who listens for a living. I listen for wisdom, and beauty, and for voices not shouting to be heard. ”

This book offers a fiercely hopeful vision of humanity. Tippett sees hope as a force and a resource. For Tippett, “hope” sees and experiences the darkness, and the possibility for good, and makes a choice. Hope is something you put into practice through actions. Tippett reminds us that choosing to be hopeful is far more courageous than being cynical. Hope insists on the possibility of a life of resilience and redemption.

One powerful theme that Tippett reminds us is the gift of presence. Presence is the engagement with life and one another. Becoming Wise reminds us that presence does not mean passivity or acceptance of the status quo. In a world of sound bites, Becoming Wise is a reminder of the longer and deeper conversations needed for change. This book is a practical guide about life’s spiritual beauty through deep reflections. Tippett sheds a light on what it means to be human.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

 

be social & share

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Book Review | No Comments »

Learning Hope

Tuesday, December 4th, 2012

I woke up thinking about hope. I thought about areas of my life I am feeling hopeful. I was inspired by Brené Brown’s book, The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are. In one of the chapters, Cultivating a Resilient Spirit, she writes about hopeful self-talk and the importance of remembering that even when things are difficult, it is important to remind ourselves that we can keep going. Brown writes, “We develop a hopeful mind-set when we understand that some worthy endeavors will be difficult and time consuming and not enjoyable at all. If we want to cultivate hopefulness, we have to be willing to be flexible and demonstrate perseverance.”

I looked up some of my favorite quotes on hope as a reminder of what is possible.

“Hope is that thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops… at all.” ~Emily Dickinson

“Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come.”  ~Anne Lamott

“Without hope the us’s give up. I know that you can’t live on hope alone, but without it, life is not worth living. And you, and you, and you, and you have got to give them hope.” ~Harvey Milk

I am still learning and cultivating hope with each new personal and professional endeavor. What are your thoughts about hope?

{Photo taken by Mary Anne Flanagan}

be social & share

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Learning | 1 Comment »

Lead With Passion

Tuesday, June 26th, 2012

Great leadership demands passion.

Passion is a quality that projects vitality, joy, and enthusiasm for all the tasks at hand.  If leaders can show their passion in an authentic way, then the effect will show to the rest of the team and the result can be profound.

Passion is the way you show what you think of your job, and your role.  If you are passionate, your team will know that you care about your job, and that gives them high hope that they can care about their jobs too.

I discovered a long time ago that I loved being a leader.  And so, showing passion was never a problem.  I went into my workdays full of positive energy and feeling like I had the best job on earth.

Did it make a difference? Yes, it did.

When I received feedback about my leadership, the most fulfilling comments were the ones along the lines of “you really inspired me with your energy and enthusiasm“.

Great leadership demands passion.

It’s also a very personal thing to put yourself “out there” like that – it can put you in a vulnerable position.  That’s why passion isn’t a trait you see in every leader.

It takes some fortitude to bring emotions to the surface like that, but the benefits are well worth the risk.

And besides, passion brings something else into play that goes beyond leadership – an enjoyment of life.

Great leadership demands passion.

 

be social & share

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Learning | No Comments »

Ahhh…Nothing to Do

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

Summer seemed so exciting as a kid until the day came when I had nothing to do. I became bored on days when none of my friends were around or rainy summer days. I would mope around the house and tell my mom, “I have nothing to do.” Her reply was, “I’ll find something for you to do.”
Translation: house chores. (I was a master with the carpet sweeper.)

In her book, Slow Love: How I Lost My Job, Put On My Pajamas & Found Happiness, Dominique Browning has a wonderful perspective on the theme of nothing to do:

“Today I am happy to find myself sitting on the ground wanting nothing to do — no, not even wanting it, simply accepting that I am enveloped in nothing to do. I begin to understand how nothing to do is its own state of grace, difficult to find deliberately, near impossible to recognize. Nothing to do means I can sit and look and let my mind wander, then empty, then fill again, with wonder or with grief, with anything or with nothing at all. “Nothing to do” is not the same as “Nothing can be done.” One is hopeless; the other, the place from which hope becomes possible.”

As the summer days start to fill with plans for the beach and weekends away, I long for days filled with nothing to do. I am inviting the adult in me to give myself permission each day to sit and do nothing.

Choose to do nothing and see where it takes you.

Mary Anne

be social & share

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Life | No Comments »

Second Chances

Thursday, June 10th, 2010

As I was finishing up at the dentist office, I was speaking with my hygienist about some of the work I do with mentoring. I ended one of my sentences with, “Everyone deserves second chances.” At that very moment my dentist walked in and said, “You think everyone deserves second chances?” I told him I thought most everyone deserved a second chance. With that, my dentist went off with a litany of people he thought should never have a second chance. I noticed that I was getting annoyed, so I quietly responded, “I think many of us make mistakes, take the consequences, and deserve another chance.” His response was, “You know what we call a liberal? Someone who has never been mugged.” He concluded by telling me that most people don’t deserve second chances.

I left the office and started thinking about all the mistakes I have made and how so many people have given me a second chance. How long must we pay for a mistake we have made in the past?

Later that evening, I thought about how quickly our mind can go to labeling people and ideas, and about second chances. Do I really believe in second chances?

The universe must have heard my question because in the Sunday New York Times there was an article on parole. The article was about a woman who had committed a crime at 18 and paid for her mistake by serving time until age 41.

As she said in the article, “I still have those dreams of not being able to leave prison, like I’m still in there trying to get out. Why am I still struggling to get out?”

I realized that our minds can be more of a prison than sitting in a room with bars on the window. In what ways are we in prison with our thoughts, beliefs, and actions?

Yes, mistakes will be made and we must accept consequences of our choices. And, yes, I do believe in second chances.

Mary Anne


be social & share

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Forgiveness | No Comments »

How Will You Celebrate Spring?

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.”
~Margaret Atwood

The seeds planted in the dark days and nights of the Winter season are now bursting through the earth. Do you see them?

The hope and trust we placed in the cold earth is showing us the miracle of life in fruits and flowers. What does the season of Spring mean to you?

As we celebrate a new season of longer daylight, blooming buds, birds singing, and warmer days, may we honor the seeds within that are pushing through. What seeds are you watering?

How will you celebrate Spring?

Let’s all put our hands in the dirt!
Mary Anne

be social & share

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Life | No Comments »