{"id":1343,"date":"2026-01-16T22:57:36","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T22:57:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/articulatingyourstrengths.org\/?p=1343"},"modified":"2026-01-16T22:57:36","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T22:57:36","slug":"january-15-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/articulatingyourstrengths.org\/index.php\/2026\/01\/16\/january-15-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"January 15, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Wow, it has been a long time since I wrote anything in my journal.\u00a0 What I have to say today isn\u2019t earth shattering but here goes.\u00a0 I have noticed the occasions that when I initiate contact with a total stranger, I feel good.<\/p>\n

At the Nets games, or should I say losses, I wave to Frank Isola, one of the Nets broadcasters who does pre and postgame analysis and sits near our seats.\u00a0 And he waves back.\u00a0 Several seasons ago, he was standing behind where we sit and I asked him why, as a VIP, they don\u2019t give him a chair and offered him my seat.\u00a0 He laughed and said he was no VIP and declined my offer.\u00a0 Then I caught him on a postgame analysis at the beginning of one year where he vowed to look both ways when crossing the newly installed bike lanes, mainly because you can\u2019t hear the ebikes.\u00a0 Later on, I went to his station during the game and told him that I think of him and say his name every time I cross a bike lane.\u00a0 He laughed and since then we exchange a friendly wave.<\/p>\n

After leaving the doctor\u2019s office the other day, a man was leaving another doctor\u2019s office. As we waited for the elevator, I said to him that I thought it a good sign we were able to walk out of the place.\u00a0 He laughed and on the elevator he told me he was fitting in all the doctor stuff before he left to deliver a speech in Denmark on people\u2019s relationship with trees.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t refrain from telling him about my interaction with Dana Milbank and my efforts to view nature by taking pictures of the sun and moon.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think he yawned as we left the building and parted ways, another good sign.<\/p>\n

That same day as I was walking to the bus stop, I saw a man on crutches, the kind that loop around the wrist, he was holding one up in the air as though he was trying to flag a cab.\u00a0 He was standing behind cars parked at the curb and hardly visible to passing traffic.\u00a0 I stopped and asked him if he needed any help.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t hear very well and I told him either could I, but he managed to convey the car he was waiting for was down the road a bit and he just couldn\u2019t get his attention.\u00a0 So, I went out to the street, saw the car, then motioned for him to move up.\u00a0 I then opened the door and helped the man get into the car.\u00a0 His legs were so stiff and one foot was medically wrapped so the driver got out and the two of us managed to get the man in safely.\u00a0 The man blessed me, thanked me and joked that I likely did not know what I was getting into.\u00a0 I laughed and bid him farewell.\u00a0 As I was walking on, the car passed and the man I helped waved to me.<\/p>\n

Connection.\u00a0 Each of these very simple exchanges connects me to another and I feel a sense of joy.\u00a0 I can only imagine that they feel the same as I, if so, I had something to do with it by reaching out.\u00a0 With regard to the man and the car, upon contemplation of my own medical issues, I recalled one interpretation of the old story about the frogs and the hares, \u201cHowever unfortunate we may think we are there is always someone worse off than ourselves.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 I concluded this is not how I want to be, it seems to me it casts one as either better or worse than me. \u00a0As Swami Rama taught, \u201call people are one because a single, non-dual Absolute Reality is the essence of every human being.\u201d Or more simply put by the M\u0101ori, \u201cwe are all in this canoe together\u201d.\u00a0 If only\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wow, it has been a long time since I wrote anything in my journal.\u00a0 What I have to say today isn\u2019t earth shattering but here goes.\u00a0 I have noticed the occasions that when I initiate contact with a total stranger, I feel good. At the Nets games, or should I say losses, I wave to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1343","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-example","7":"anons"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Barb","author_link":"https:\/\/articulatingyourstrengths.org\/index.php\/author\/barb\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Wow, it has been a long time since I wrote anything in my journal.\u00a0 What I have to say today isn\u2019t earth shattering but here goes.\u00a0 I have noticed the occasions that when I initiate contact with a total stranger, I feel good. At the Nets games, or should I say losses, I wave to…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/articulatingyourstrengths.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/articulatingyourstrengths.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/articulatingyourstrengths.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/articulatingyourstrengths.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/articulatingyourstrengths.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1343"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/articulatingyourstrengths.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1343\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1346,"href":"https:\/\/articulatingyourstrengths.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1343\/revisions\/1346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/articulatingyourstrengths.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/articulatingyourstrengths.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/articulatingyourstrengths.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}