Inspiration Friday 2025.08.08

Inspiration: Happy Friday!
Today is the 220th Day of 2025.

We have $220,000.00 today.
10% savings = $22,000.00
40% taxes = $88,000.00: This week I am expressing gratitude for these tax dollars being spent to support North Cascades National Park located in the state of Washington. North Cascades officially became a National Park in 1968. You will find among other wonders over 500 lakes and ponds, exquisite waterfall hikes, and 260 ancient archaeological sites to explore. LEARN MORE HERE!

How will you be spending the remaining $110,000.00 today?

HERE IS MY PLAN: Conscious Time

“The great benefit of slowing down is reclaiming the time and tranquility to make meaningful connections–with people, with culture, with work, with nature, with our own bodies and minds.” –Carl Honore

How are you showing up in the world?

I invite you to consider creating time to read and have more conscious conversations where you share stories that nudge you to be a better human. For example, on Facebook, a software engineer named Kavidu Theekshana posted a story he read about humanity. Then he invited his followers to send the story to their friends. Today I am sharing that story with you. The intention is to raise our awareness and compassion for others. What if we can?

“I arrived at the address and honked the horn. After waiting a few minutes, I honked again. Since this was going to be my last ride of my shift, I thought about just driving away, but instead I put the car in park and walked up to the door and knocked. ‘Just a minute’, answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.

After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90’s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940’s movie.

By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets.

There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks, or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

‘Would you carry my bag out to the car?’ she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman.

She took my arm, and we walked slowly toward the curb.

She kept thanking me for my kindness. ‘It’s nothing’, I told her. ‘I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother to be treated.’

‘Oh, you’re such a good boy,’ she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address and then asked, ‘Could you drive through downtown?’

‘It’s not the shortest way,’ I answered quickly.

‘Oh, I don’t mind,’ she said. ‘I’m in no hurry. I’m on my way to a hospice.’

I looked in the rearview mirror. Her eyes were glistening. ‘I don’t have any family left,’ she continued in a soft voice. ‘The doctor says I don’t have very long.’ I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.

‘What route would you like me to take?’ I asked.

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator.

We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.

Sometimes she’d ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, ‘I’m tired. Let’s go now’.

We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico.

Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move.

They must have been expecting her.

I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.

‘How much do I owe you?’ she asked, reaching for her purse.

‘Nothing,’ I said.

‘You have to make a living,’ she answered.

‘There are other passengers,’ I responded.

Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly.

‘You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,’ she said. ‘Thank you.’

I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life.

I didn’t pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?

On a quick review, I don’t think that I have done anything more important in my life.

We’re conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments.

But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

PEOPLE MAY NOT REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT YOU DID, OR WHAT YOU SAID ~BUT~ THEY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL.

At the bottom of this great story was a request to forward this – I deleted that request because if you have read to this point, you won’t have to be asked to pass it along you just will…

Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here, we might as well dance……….

How often do you put time and energy into meaningful connections? What was the last conscious conversation you had with family or friends? Sometimes you must drop your guard to allow your heart to breathe. Slow down and be present today.

How are you showing up in the world?

$100.00: Self-care. These dollars are funding a book hunting adventure. I will wander through used bookstores or a few Estate sales on my quest to find discarded favorites; or perhaps I will find new books that inspire my curiosity to venture into their pages. And I love that!

$0: Priceless: Meaningful Connections with others.

“We’re a species that rushes through everything, then complains that time flies.” –Steve Maraboli

There is a sweet anticipation generated when opening a beloved book. My love affair with reading began as a child. I grew up in an era before computers, cell phones, and on demand television options. The public library was a preferred place to spend hours each summer. I remember walking 45 minutes down a bike path with both neighborhood friends and an entourage of our siblings to this hallowed sanctuary of knowledge.  To this day I can visualize the librarian putting a finger to her lips as we boisterously scattered into the quiet zone. Every year my goal was to read more books than in the previous summer. This annual ritual often began by rereading a few of my favorite stories before moving on to new adventures. Sometimes I would start with Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry, or A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. When was the last time you reread a favorite book? Author Debbie Franks wrote: “There is space on everyone’s bookshelves for books you have outgrown but cannot give away. They hold your youth between their pages, like flowers pressed on a half-forgotten summer’ day.” Imagine visiting familiar places, meeting up with old friends on the pages of a book, and disconnecting from the endless bombardment of technology. Books can assist people to fuel their curiosity, develop passions, and notice more life moments. The public library of my youth inspired my burning desire to be a better human. I read and donate books on a regular basis.

$5,300.00: These dollars are supporting the National Book Foundation’s educational program BookUp. “The BookUp project connects middle and high school students with local authors and runs free reading groups designed to improve participants’ social, emotional, and literacy skills.” Learn more about the National Book Foundation here:  LEARN MORE HERE!

$103,600.00: These dollars are contributing to the purchase of books for the local grade school libraries. I am also sponsoring a reading challenge for the entire School Districts 5^th graders. The 5^th grade class that reads the most books by October 31^st, this year, will have $5000 to spend on books that they can keep. How many books can you read by the end of October? Respond to life with love. Repeat. What would it take?

$1000.00: for a date with my husband that includes hunting for a glimpse or more of the Aurora borealis in the summer night sky. Experiencing the wonders of the stars together.

How loved can you stand it?

Flow Five Friday: Current “real” life expressions of gratitude, love, and contribution to wellbeing.

$5.00: this week’s five-dollar bill is inside the library book titled: The Super Teacher Project by Gordon Korman. This book is a delightful mystery story about how the Middle School sleuths solve the uncanny abilities of a new teacher in school. I am choosing to be the energy of what works in life.

Five increments of time: This week I am facilitating a Dream Nudge Challenge. Helping people to move one of their life dreams closer to being fully realized. Being there; how does it get better than that? How are you “Flowing Five” this week?

Well-Being: Something that I am doing or not doing for self-care in real time.

 I am receiving support for my own life dreams to move forward. What are you doing or not doing for self-care?

Planet Awareness: Contributing to the health of Earth.

“The night sky is a reminder that even in the darkest of times, there is a light that guides us.”-Fyodor Dostoevsky

This week I have been stargazing with my husband. Some nights with no luck because of cloud covers and rain. But sometimes the sky is so clear that every star seems to be on display. Moreover, there have been ribbons of dancing lights in soft flowing colors to feed our hearts with hope. We are appreciating the gifts of the night sky shows. What are you doing for the health of our planet?

Hold Space or Contribute to a Friends Life Intention

This week I am supporting Mike, an 8-year-old who I read with weekly. One of his living intentions is to read a story to his grandfather. The book we have been practicing with is called The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind written by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer. One way that you can help support Mike’s living intention is to imagine him sitting with grandfather and sharing one of his favorite books by reading out loud. Or perhaps you can have a conversation with someone you love and listen or read a story with them.

Choose joy. Be kind. Love others and strive to be a better human. What would it take?

Choose to feel good. Be Joy. 
Practice gratitude. Amplify Kindness. Expand Generosity. 
Ask, Receive, and Give with More Ease. 
Respond to life with Love.

PS: If you have been playing with me for several years, below are the current daily deposits in other years Vibrational Accounts: