The days are getting longer. Each minute brings us closer to summer here in the Northern Hemisphere.
2019 has taken a toll. A toll on our patience. A toll on un individually and collectively. We need to remember that we are of one race. The human race. When one of us succeeds- we each succeed. It breaks my heart and my spirt to see people walk by a struggling individual. To see a mighty nation turn it’s back on it’s neighbor. I still hold out hope for us. We are truly better than what we have recently shown.
Time does not have a rearview mirror or reverse. It can only move in one direction. We have HOPE for better days.
And you ask me what I want this year
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we’ll find better days
Cause I don’t need boxes wrapped in strings
And designer love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we’ll find better days
So take these words
And sing out loud
Cause everyone is forgiven now
Cause tonight’s the night the world begins again
I need someplace simple where we could live
And something only you can give
And thats faith and trust and peace while we’re alive
And the one poor child who saved this world
And there’s 10 million more who probably could
If we all just stopped and said a prayer for them
So take these words
And sing out loud
Cause everyone is forgiven now
Cause tonight’s the night the world begins again
I wish everyone was loved tonight
And somehow stop this endless fight
Just a chance that maybe we’ll find better days
So take these words
And sing out loud
Cause everyone is forgiven now
Cause tonight’s the night the world begins again
I was reading today about going on a AWE walk. A walk where you view the world with the eyes of a child. Seeing things, hearing things for the first time (and in your mind ask, what is it?… Why is it?… How come?…) . Every morning when I walk my dog I try to find those AWE moments. The sunrise over the bay; Maybe a rabbit nibbling on grass knowing my dog won’y chase them; The song of a bird. You should try it.
The world is filled with beautiful and amazing things. You need to slow down to see slowdown and notice. It may be a flower growing in a trash filled vacant lot. It may be the white helmet volunteers in Syria. It may be a young girl with autism in Northern Ireland with the voice of an angel.
Girl With Autism Sings A Stunning Rendition Of ‘Hallelujah’
It’s not just good because she’s dealing with autism … It’s good because it’s good — really good.
This 10-year-old’s rendition of “Hallelujah” would have given Leonard Cohen himself chills. Turn the volume up and give it a listen.
Kaylee Rodgers, a student who has autism and ADHD, sang the solo part for the famous tune during her school choir concert at Killard House School in Donaghadee, Northern Ireland, and the performance went viral.
Rodgers’ voice is stunningly beautiful ― and she exudes confidence while she sings with her classmates. Tracy Rodgers, Kaylee’s mother, told the BBC that Kaylee’s music teacher, Lloyd Scates, played a huge part in nurturing her special talent.
“She always loved singing, but it wasn’t until she started at Killard House School that she really came into her own,” she told BBC. “[Mr. Scates is] like her safety blanket ― he’s amazing.”
Killard House principal Colin Millar told ITV that Kaylee was very shy when she started at the school. She “wouldn’t really read out in class,” he said. So “to stand and perform in front of an audience is amazing … It takes a lot of effort on Kaylee’s part.”
Love is one of those hard things. You need to give in order to receive. The good thing about it is giving it feels so good. With love you have hope.
Sometimes love can be one sided; Sometimes love can be awkward and unspoken – but it is still there and when you love someone you make the world a better place.
Watch the news tonight- would 1/2 the stuff you see happen if there was more love? Probably not.
I am so lucky to have found the love of my life.
Love is a gift. If you want find love, you must be willing to give love. That is a risk but without risk there is no reward.
Today take that risk. Tell your friend you love them. Don’t wait for a reply. Just tell them.
I had a different plan for what I was going to write this morning.
Yesterday morning (Christmas morning) we went on a walk with our dog to Wagon Hill. It was cold but beautiful. Whenever we walk there there we always see other people out with their dogs. Enjoying the walk. Enjoying the joy their dogs were having. We saw this little black poodle just bouncing and pouncing. Having a great time. Cooper, our dog joined in the fun as we spoke with the poodles owner. The dog’s name was Shaina. The owners name, Laurie. Both so full of life. We spoke as we walked together and as we got towards the end of the walk she reveled that she was recently given some bad medical news and given just a few years to live. She was not sad, she was focused on positive things. She was focused on making the most out if the time she had left. It really got me thinking- we all have expiration dates. Let’s make the most out of the time we have left. Let’s not leave things undone. Money unspent, people not knowing we love them.
All this got me thinking about my friends and family who are no longer with us. The pain will always be there. Is it odd to find comfort in the pain? It is how I remember them.
I went to see my niece in a play the other day. It breaks my heart to see her and her brother because they look SO much like their dad who passed away.
My friend Jeff has had a tough go of things. About year ago he lost his wife unexpectedly. Shortly before that lost his mother. He hit a tough patch but has bounced back. When his mother passed he asked, “How do you continue on when the person who built your heart is gone?”
There are no simple answers. Life is comedy and tragedy. The minute you are born you spend the rest of your time on earth either living or dying. I believe in the Butterfly Effect. Your parents gave you more than life. They taught you lessons. Your job was to continue and teach those around you. As a parent there are three things that I wanted to teach my children. The “3 R’s”
Respect
Reliability
Resilience.
We want our children to respect others and to be respected.
We want our children to be reliable. To be that person that others turn to and can count on.
We want our children to be resilient. To bounce back. I want my children to be a super ball. As children we remember the awe, how can this little ball store so much energy to bounce so high?
That is what I want from my children and, my friends, that is what your parents would want from you. Today, tomorrow, this month. BOUNCE. Bounce so high you touch the stars. Bounce so high others look at you in awe and wonder, “how can someone store so much energy they can go so high?”
That is the most important lesson. That lesson, I hope, will give you hope and hope to those around you.
I love you both and hope that you can bounce.
What is dying? I am standing on the seashore. A ship sails to the morning breeze and starts for the ocean. She is an object and I stand watching her Till at last she fades from the horizon, And someone at my side says, “She is gone!” Gone where? Gone from my sight, that is all; She is just as large in the masts, hull and spars as she was when I saw her, And just as able to bear her load of living freight to its destination. The diminished size and total loss of sight is in me, not in her; And just at the moment when someone at my side says, “She is gone”, There are others who are watching her coming, And other voices take up a glad shout, “There she comes” – and that is dying.
This time of year we really need to put aside our differences.
When we say “PEACE ON EARTH” remember that peace doesn’t see race, color, or religion. I truly believe that 99.9% of all people on earth want the same thing.
A roof over our head
A better life for our children
A world of peace and prosperity.
To Love and be Loved.
Lets focus on our similarities not our differences.
100 years ago- PEACE BROKE OUT.
During World War I, on and around Christmas Day 1914, the sounds of rifles firing and shells exploding faded in a number of places along the Western Front in favor of holiday celebrations in the trenches and gestures of goodwill between enemies.
On December 7, 1914, Pope Benedict XV suggested a temporary hiatus of the war for the celebration of Christmas. The warring countries refused to create any official cease-fire, but on Christmas the soldiers in the trenches declared their own unofficial truce.
On Christmas Eve, many German soldiers put up Christmas trees, decorated with candles, on the parapets of their trenches. Hundreds of Christmas trees lighted the German trenches and although British soldiers could see the lights, it took them a few minutes to figure out what they were from. Could this be a trick? British soldiers were ordered not to fire but to watch them closely. Instead of trickery, the British soldiers heard many of the Germans celebrating.
Time and again during the course of that day, the Eve of Christmas, there were wafted towards us from the trenches opposite the sounds of singing and merry-making, and occasionally the guttural tones of a German were to be heard shouting out lustily, ‘A happy Christmas to you Englishmen!’ Only too glad to show that the sentiments were reciprocated, back would go the response from a thick-set Clydesider, ‘Same to you, Fritz, but dinna o’er eat yourself wi’ they sausages!’
In other areas, the two sides exchanged Christmas carols.
They finished their carol and we thought that we ought to retaliate in some way, so we sang ‘The first Noël’, and when we finished that they all began clapping; and then they struck up another favourite of theirs, ‘ O Tannenbaum’. And so it went on. First the Germans would sing one of their carols and then we would sing one of ours, until when we started up ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’ the Germans immediately joined in singing the same hymn to the Latin words ‘ Adeste Fidéles’. And I thought, well, this was really a most extraordinary thing – two nations both singing the same carol in the middle of a war.
British and German troops meet in no man’s land. Boxing Day, 1914. Photographed by 2nd Lt Cyril Drummand, RFA. British and German troops meet in no man’s land. Boxing Day, 1914. Photographed by 2nd Lt Cyril Drummand, RFA.
At the first light of dawn on Christmas Day, some German soldiers emerged from their trenches and approached the Allied lines across no-man’s-land, calling out “Merry Christmas” in their enemies’ native tongues. At first, the Allied soldiers feared it was a trick, but seeing the Germans unarmed they climbed out of their trenches and shook hands with the enemy soldiers. The men exchanged presents of cigarettes and plum puddings and sang carols and songs. There was even a documented case of soldiers from opposing sides playing a good-natured game of soccer.
Some soldiers used this short-lived ceasefire for a more somber task: the retrieval of the bodies of fellow combatants who had fallen within the no-man’s land between the lines.
The so-called Christmas Truce of 1914 came only five months after the outbreak of war in Europe and was one of the last examples of the outdated notion of chivalry between enemies in warfare. It was never repeated—future attempts at holiday ceasefires were quashed by officers’ threats of disciplinary action—but it served as heartening proof, however brief, that beneath the brutal clash of weapons, the soldiers’ essential humanity endured.
During World War I, the soldiers on the Western Front did not expect to celebrate on the battlefield, but even a world war could not destory the Christmas spirit.
Right now I feel many times we find a reason to have a fight and to fight a war. I think it is time we have a reason to wage peace.
Peace to All of you. Pass it on.
Even the SADDEST Christmas song can give you hope. Here is one of my personal favorites.
It is a song I tried to sing to my kids when they were little.
I published this series a few years back and I want to edit and repost it. I am not proud to say that this time of year I struggle with a little bit of depression. I have a GREAT life and an amazing family so it just makes me angry when I feel this way. Writing is a way for me to work through it. I miss friends and family from my youth. I miss my kids when they were little and excited by Christmas.
Last year at this time my wife had just to started treatments for cancer. We were unsure of what the future would bring but we at least had hope. Today, I am happy to say that my wife is cancer free.
In April, on my other blog Vacilando, I posted 30 days of peace. It was at a time when I think we, as a country, needed to focus on peace.
Now, 7 months later, let’s focus on HOPE. As a 58 year old, I have faith in our next generation. I was texting with my son last night and told him that I have more faith in his generation than my own. They are largely engaged, environmentally conscious and see that they can change the world. They still have HOPE in their eyes and their hope gives me hope.
This holiday season these young consumers want to give—and to give back. Speaking to my children I’ve learned they plan to spend more than they did last year on gifts for family and friends. My son said he and his girlfriend plan on giving to a charity and volunteering as their gift to each other. I found statistics for their generation and learned that a substantial majority plans to donate to a favorite cause or to spend time volunteering. Retailers will get in the spirit, too: nearly 75 percent say they will make charitable contributions to celebrate the season. And the good cheer doesn’t end there. Giving back inspires more giving back. Consumers prefer to buy from retailers who translate their values into action, whether it’s in the form of cash donations, commitments to sustainable practices, or community involvement, and many shoppers say they will actually spend more with these brands. It’s clear that giving back is good for business.
This is exciting news and a happy blurring of the lines between what we care about and how and what we buy and sell. Companies can engage consumers with their brands and products by demonstrating a clear sense of social purpose. Consumers have the opportunity to choose companies or products that support the causes they champion. At a time when consumers are increasingly demanding not only great products but companies with values that match their own, the holiday season is an ideal time to bring humanity to buying and selling.
While shoppers of all ages say they will open their hearts and their wallets this year for causes that matter to them, we can expect to see some generational differences. It’s the most digital time of the year, more millennial parents than consumers overall plan to make donations to their favorite charities. And millennials (young, college-educated, upwardly mobile), will increase the size of their charitable donations this year by a larger amount than shoppers in other age groups. But younger consumers won’t be far behind when it comes to spending to support causes they believe in. Gen Z shoppers (ages 16-20) are both brand loyal and loyal to brands that show social impact through their actions.
Younger millennials and members of Gen Z, perhaps because they have grown up in the era of B (benefit) Corporations, for example, when they buy a pair of shoes a pair goes to a child in need, and they expect business to be a force for good.
Make a difference this year by shopping local, shopping with a conscience, giving back to the community. Can’t think of what to get that weird cousin on your dad’s side? Make a donation in their name. Buy them a membership to a historical theater or museum.
Remember- you can give back throughout the year. It doesn’t need to be just at Christmas time.
This time of year is a weird time of year for me. I miss my friends from when I was growing up. I miss my current friends who I simply do not get enough time to spend with. I miss my family in NY and I miss my own kids who both live in Colorado and are busy with their own lives.
It can at times seem hopeless. But when I stop and look around- there are many reasons to have HOPE.
On tonyretrosi.org I have been writing that this is a SEASON of HOPE. It started off as a challenge to myself a few years ago. Could I come up with something hopeful to write every day for the month of December?
Since then, I have written and re-written these posting them. Editing them, reposting them.
Every now and then you get an unexpected gift. It could be a coffee, a note, or even just someone forwarding something to you that brings a smile to your face.
The other day I got a FB message from a person I met out west. A women who I met at a party after a clinic I was doing. She had seen some of my “Season of Hope” postings and just wanted to say thanks for the reminders.
It made my day and I truly appreciate it. I look forward to seeing her again and I wish her well. Yesterday was the solstice. Today we have a few more minutes of light. As cold as it is in the north east of the US, we inch closer to spring and summer.
Here’s to making the most of every moment on the shortest day of the year!
The winter solstice has been celebrated in cultures the world over for thousands of years. As the shortest day/longest night of the year, this start of the solar year is a celebration of light and the rebirth of the Sun. We have all completed one more official journey around the Sun.
As the Winter Solstice has arrived, it is a time to consider yin and yang, darkness and light – and the exquisite balance that exists between all things. After weeks of shortening days, we have been affected in a number of ways by the scarcity of light and the growing darkness. Though we may have experienced sadness or slowness as a result of this winter season, we must also remember that the darkness is necessary in order to experience light.
Many of us gather with our friends, family and loved ones, and no matter what tradition we observe for this holiday season, we begin to create our own light – the light of the love we feel for those we care the most about. It’s also a time for remembering those we love that are not with us- those who are separated from us by miles or death or simply the loss of relationship.
Many of the customs, lore, symbols, and rituals associated with the Solstice have survived into the 21st century so let’s see how we can join in this ancient celebration to bring love, light, joy and meaning to this season.
The Shortest Day, by Susan Cooper And so the Shortest Day came and the year died And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world Came people singing, dancing, To drive the dark away. They lighted candles in the winter trees; They hung their homes with evergreen; They burned beseeching fires all night long To keep the year alive. And when the new year’s sunshine blazed awake They shouted, reveling. Through all the frosty ages you can hear them Echoing behind us—listen! All the long echoes, sing the same delight, This Shortest Day, As promise wakens in the sleeping land: They carol, feast, give thanks, And dearly love their friends, And hope for peace. And now so do we, here, now, This year and every year. Welcome, Yule!
ENLIVEN YOUR SURROUNDINGS with the color red. The color of the sun is energizing, and symbolic of love, courage, warmth, fire. Wear red sweaters, scarves and hats, light red candles, bring in red flowering plants (the red poinsettia is a great one). The color red has a powerful effect in the darkest days of the year to lighten your mood and create a festive, heartening atmosphere.
ADORN YOUR HOME with sacred herbs and colors. Decorate your home in holiday colors red, green, and white. Place holly, ivy, evergreen boughs, and pine cones around your home, especially in areas where socializing takes place. Hang a sprig of mistletoe above a major threshold, an evergreen wreath on the front door to symbolize the continuity of life and the wheel of the year. Bring in a Christmas tree with colored lights.
CONVEY LOVE to family, friends, and associates. At the heart of the Solstice was the custom of family and friends feasting together and exchanging presents. Continue this custom by visiting, entertaining, giving gifts, and sending greetings by mail and/or phone. Play games, enjoy children, roast chestnuts over an open fire (what fun). Consider those who are and/or have been important in your life and share appreciation.
HONOR THE NEW SOLAR YEAR WITH LIGHT. If you have an indoor fireplace or an outdoor fire circle, burn an oak log as a Yule log. Decorate the inside and/or outside of your home with electric colored lights.
PARTY HEARTY on New Years’s Eve, not just to welcome the calendar year but also to welcome the new solar year. Celebrate and remember how much the sun means to our planet earth, bringing heat, and light.
CONTRIBUTE TO THE MANIFESTATION OF MORE WELLNESS ON OUR PLANET Donate food and clothing to the poor in your area. Volunteer time at a social service agency. Put up bird feeders and keep them filled throughout the winter to supplement the diets of wild birds. Donate funds and items to non-profit groups, such as churches and environmental organizations. Meditate for world peace. Work magic for a healthier planet. Make a pledge to do some form of good works in the new solar year.
CELEBRATE As you think about setting goals for next year, take some time to write down and celebrate everything you have accomplished this year. Keep your focus on your successes. Be careful of negative self-critical thoughts coming in when you remember the goals you did not achieve. Put those on your list for next year.
CELEBRATING keeps our focus on the positive and attracts more for us to celebrate. Take this energy of celebration with you into the new year and keep it with you throughout the whole year.
However big or small the occasion, look for excuses to be in a state of celebration. You can celebrate failures too. They open doorways for something new to come in. Your positive attitude will make sure you attract more positivity and goodness.
As a City Councilor in Dover, I feel compelled to address a pressing issue that is impacting all of us as residents: the continuous rise in our local taxes. Many of you have likely noticed your property tax bills increasing year after year, and it’s vital we all understand the underlying reasons for this trend. The crux of the problem lies in New Hampshire’s current education funding formula, which woefully underfunds our school districts.
Under the current formula the state allocates $4,100 per student, with additional funding for students with special needs or other qualifying factors; this is considered the “base adequacy aid”. In January of this year, New Hampshire Department of Education released its newest cost per pupil data for the 2022-2023 school year. The new statewide average operating cost per pupil of $20,323. A 4.8 percent increase from the previous year.
Dover spends a frugal $17,000 on average per pupil.
By the state’s own estimate, its costs in excess of $20,000 per student for education yet it only allocates $4100 per student. This discrepancy places an unconstitutional burden on our local communities, as the state has a constitutional obligation to ensure that every resident receives an adequate education.
Because of this funding shortfall, local residents are left to shoulder a heavier tax burden to fill the gaps left by insufficient state support. Each tax increase we see is a direct consequence of our community needing to allocate more funds to our schools in order to maintain basic standards of education. Simply put, every time we face a budget shortfall, it is our local taxpayers who must make up the difference. Moreover, proposals such as school vouchers, which redirect public funds away from our traditional public schools, further complicate our financial landscape. These vouchers not only exacerbate the funding gap but also undermine the resources available to our school systems. Instead of easing our burden, these policies create an uneven playing field and diminish the quality of education in our public schools.
It is crucial that we come together to demand a reevaluation of the state funding formula. We need a system that ensures all students receive the quality education they deserve without imposing an unfair tax burden on local residents. Our children’s future—and the financial well-being of our community—depend on it.
IN a few short weeks, President Elect Donald Trump will take office again. PLEASE KEEP READING- THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL RANT) Listening to the Republicans and Democrats state their case it was as if they were each operating on their on set of facts. I grew up in a time BEFORE “alternative facts”. The news was respected, even if you didn’t agree with it. In high school and college I had liberal friends, conservative friends, apathetic friends, cynical friends. We joked, we debated, we laughed and cried. What we never did was put each other down.
Have you ever heard the story behind this highest selling Christmas carol? Robert May was an advertising executive that first wrote the poem “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”in 1939 as an ad gimmick for a local department store. 10 years later, May’s brother wrote the music. The song was turned down by Bing Crosby and Dinah Shore, but Gene Autry recorded it. Today “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” is the highest-selling Christmas carol, at more than 25 million units.
Do you know why the carol is so loved? You might say that it’s the courage and fortitude of Rudolph, the apparent hero of the story. I think the real charm of the carol is found at the heart of what the carol is really about—grace! Despite that Rudolph was clearly an outsider and an apparent reject due to the glowing flaw of his shiny red nose, Santa chose him. When the fog rolled in and the moment became critical, Santa called on Rudolph, the reject reindeer with the big, weird, red nose to lead the pack. What everyone else saw as weakness, Santa saw as the vital component of strength to accomplish his purposes.
We each have things that make us unique. Instead of trying to hide those things and viewing them as a weakness, lets view them as a strength. Not just in ourselves but in others.
I was the weird kids growing up. I was the gymnast in a town full of football players. Look at me now! If I had listened to those who wanted me to blend in and conform I would not have be contributing to the lives of thousands of children.
As an employer, I am looking for people who are individuals but share our same passion. It is those differences that add spice to life and makeAtlantic Gymnastics an exciting place.
Cherish the differences in those around you. Appreciate each indivual.
The days are getting longer. Each minute brings us closer to summer here in the Northern Hemisphere.
