Why I Pray In The Shower

There are several things I get from helping others. Feelings of pride and satisfaction, greater happiness and content in my life, and a sense of purpose are at the forefront. As those who have read my book know, helping others began in an effort to stay sober. I was told helping others in their own effort to remain sober was a way to help myself, and that I would feel greater happiness and reward in life. This sounded selfish to me, but after a few attempts at stepping out from myself and offering aid to another human being, I began to see the reward. Not everyone I tried to help was responsive, and some I never saw again after talking with them at an AA meeting, but when a few people did respond and remained sober, it warmed my heart to know I had some small part in the result. However, this wasn’t the only reward. If there is one soul reason I continue to help others, it’s because it gives my life meaning. Even if it’s holding a door for someone with a smile on my face, I feel good knowing I’m doing something for someone else. Today, I know my life makes a difference, and I can say helping others has certainly made a difference in mine.

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Tags: helping others, making a difference, meaning to life, purpose

Here’s an excerpt from my book. I wish more people would learn to laugh at themselves. It’s not always easy to do, but the benefits of doing so are great.

“Although I have made progress in not being the “funny guy” all the time, I never want to completely stop being one. It has helped me to see the humor in many circumstances that used to upset me, and I believe laughter can actually be a healing experience. Because of this, I realize today how important it is for us to be able to laugh when things go wrong, and how even more important it is for us to be able to laugh at ourselves. Being able to laugh at yourself is one of the greatest assets you can have in order to love yourself and be happy with who you are.”

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Tags: book excerpt, humor, self-confidence, self-esteem, why i pray in the shower

One of my favorite past times is watching people at various places as they walk along going about their business. I enjoy seeing couples holding hands, people talking and laughing, and I especially enjoy watching families having fun together. One of my favorite places to watch people is at an ocean front boardwalk near where I live. Just the other day I was there with my back to the ocean, sitting on a bench across from an arcade where a fortune teller machine sat outside, and doing just that. The machine actually reminded me of one that was used in the 1988 Tom Hanks movie Big. The movie is basically about a young boy who uses a fortune telling machine called Zoltar to make a wish that he was big. After becoming an adult, however, he’s still the same young boy inside that he was before. Anyway, as I sat there I saw people walking along by themselves, and many couples too, but on this particular day families seemed more abundant. They came in all shapes and sizes, and some would stop and drop coins in the fortune telling machine to see what it had to offer in the way of fun. As I said, families are my favorite people to watch, but what I’m looking for in everyone is the part of them that helps me to love them. I call it their innocence, and as I sat there watching different families laugh and smile together at an amusement that by today’s standards is quite tame, I got what I was looking for. I’m not sure how innocent some of the family members truly were, but for the few minutes they stood in front of that fortune telling machine, I couldn’t help but to love them. It’s a much different world today than it was when the movie Big came out. At times people can seem immoral and even corrupt. But from what I saw in those families that day it gives me hope that as a society, we’re not at the end of our innocence just yet.

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Tags: innocence, love, loving others, Tom Hank's movies

I read that this song is about the power of forgiveness. Before we can forgive anyone though, we need to stop fighting first. It seems so many people argue over things like politics and religion today and make no attempt to understand one another better.  Not only do we all bleed red, but we’re also all made of the same stuff. In other words, like some of the lyrics heard in the song say, we’re all one. The sooner people start believing this, the sooner our world will be a better place.

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Tags: forgiveness, understanding, we're all one