Insights, Thoughts & Perspectives from Tony
Kindness
Recently, I gave myself my birthday present, 6 days at St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass, CO. My intention during this mostly silent time was to explore kindness. I looked for ways to deepen it within me and to bring more of it to the world. This short story got me thinking: Come with me to […]
Desiderata
As many of you know I do not believe in “coincidence”. Instead I choose to see “synchronicity” – or as Albert Einstein once said – ‘God’s way of remaining anonymous’. Several times over the past week I have encountered the poem I am sharing below. Many will recognize it as ‘that cool poster we hung […]
The 10 Commandments of Self-‐Care
I was so pleased to receive this message from our daughter, Antea, who got it from her friend Carrie who got it from…. (You get the point). It warms my heart and gives a sense of possibility to see that the “next generation” is willing to recognize some fundamental truths about life and to share […]
The Fairy’s New Year Gift, by Emillie Poulsson (adapted)
Two little boys were at play one day when a Fairy suddenly appeared before them and said: “I have been sent to give you New Year presents.” She handed to each child a package, and in an instant was gone. Carl and Philip opened the packages and found in them two beautiful books, with pages […]
Sand and Stone
I came upon this parable recently and have done my best to bring its wisdom into my life. I invite you to do the same: A story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the […]
Are Kids For Real?
May this message find you well. So it has been quite an interesting month thus far for those of us who live in the northeast….lots of changing weather. This got me to thinking about change; and one in particular that I believe will have a dramatic positive effect on our world. This modern-day parable […]
Three Roses
Ok, this story is about the kindness of strangers’ and it’s a little long. Please wait until you have a few minutes to read it the entire way thru, ok? I walked into the grocery store not particularly interested in buying groceries. I wasn’t hungry. The pain of losing my husband of 57 years was […]
How do you Live Love?
A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year olds. “What does love mean?” The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think… When my grandma got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandpa […]
Heal yourself
This story reminds me that true healing comes from the self, not others. Once a man was walking through a forest thinking about his tendency to always feel angry. “I just don’t want to be angry anymore,” he kept thinking to himself. Deeper into the forest, he saw the wise sage of the forest standing […]
Two Wolves
One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, “My son, the battle is between 2 “wolves” inside us all. One is Fear. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-‐pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is Love. […]
The Whistle
Recently, I came upon this story. It reminded me of an important lesson that we will all benefit from remembering, so I thought I would share it with you. *** Some years ago a telephone operator in a small Cape Cod town received a daily call from a man who asked the exact time. This […]
The Path
May this sharing find you, and all who you hold dearly, well. As some of you know, recently, I participated in a 10-day silent retreat at the Vipassana Meditation Center in Shelburne MA. It was one of the most challenging and powerful experiences of my life. Of the many insightful parables (long time subscribers know […]
The Gift
A YOUNG MAN LEARNS WHAT’S MOST IMPORTANT IN LIFE FROM THE GUY NEXT DOOR. It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man. College, girls, career, and life itself got in the way. In fact, Jack moved clear across the country in pursuit of his dreams. There, in the rush of his […]
For a New Beginning
In out-‐of-‐the-‐way places of the heart, Where your thoughts never think to wander, This beginning has been quietly forming, Waiting until you were ready to emerge. For a long time it has watched your desire, Feeling the emptiness growing inside you, Noticing how you willed yourself on, Still unable to leave what you had outgrown. […]
Be the Change
May this message find you and yours well, rested (from Thanksgiving, for our US readers), and at peace. While contemplating the topic for this installment of Good Stuff, many ideas passed thru my head, my thoughts settled when I came upon these words of Ghandi. They resonated for me because of their simplicity and truth. […]
Grace
What a special time of year autumn in New England is for me; the brisk clean air tinged with chill, bright sunshine and blue skies, or dark cloudy days of rain and cold – it matters not. As with all things in this life, these conditions pass. I would like to suggest a practice for […]
Time Shift
How was your summer? Did you create the opportunity to kick back and relax a bit? It always interests me that we American so often see our lives as divided neatly into segments. We have our work time, our vacation time, at our home time, our time with friends, and our time alone. Time, Time, […]
The Window
Today I want to share a modern day parable… The Window Through Which We Look A young couple moves into a new neighborhood. The next morning while they are eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hanging the wash outside. “That laundry is not very clean”, she said. “She doesn’t know how to wash […]
The Prize
Something To Think About! Imagine that you had won the following prize in a contest: Each morning your bank would deposit $86,400.00 in your private account for your use. However, this prize has rules, just as any game has certain rules. The first set of rules would be: Everything that you didn’t spend during each […]
The Fence
Well we are finally getting some seasonal weather here in the greater Boston area, which I find so invigorating. That morning frost and brisk chill in the air serves as a good reminder to me that this year is coming to an end. It feels fitting to share this modern day parable at this time. […]
Are You a Frog?
This story was shared by Paulo Coelho. Several biological studies have shown that when a frog is placed in a container along with water from his pond, he will remain alive while you heat the water. The frog does not react to the gradual increase of temperature (change of environment) and only dies when the […]
Mother’s Day
Today is the special day that the calendar tells us we are to use to honor our mothers. In fact we do so in each and every moment when we choose how to live this wonderful life we have been gifted, a fact we sometimes forget. All too often the only perspective we use is […]
Remember
Today I received this interesting story and it got me thinking about the Timeless Wisdom at Work™ practice called “Purpose First” where our client is invited to explore what s/he stands for. What difference s/he wants to make in this world. After you read this piece I invite you to just sit quietly for 10 […]
Imperfections
An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole, which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walks from the stream […]
Twinkies and Root Beer
A little boy wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with Twinkies and a six-‐pack of Root Beer and he started his journey. When he had gone about three blocks, he met an elderly man. The man was sitting in the park […]
The Farmer & The Donkey
One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey. He invited all his […]
A Modern Day Parable
It was a busy morning, about 8:30, when an elderly gentleman in his 80’s arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb. He said he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00 am. I took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour […]
Grandfather
Please allow me to share this modern day parable with you. It struck a cord with me in light of the recent change in our family. A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year old grandson. The old man’s hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred and his step faltered. The […]
90-Year Old Wisdom
This piece that was written By Regina Brett of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio when she was 90 years old resonated with me and I thought others might enjoy her perspective. “To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-‐requested column I’ve ever written.” My odometer rolled […]
A Fixer
So this is the time of year when many folks choose to make “new years resolutions”. What I and many of my clients generally find more helpful is to sit quietly and look…back at the year that just passed and ahead to the new one. Then, without judgment, choose something that would benefit from an […]
