Today is My Only Day

My passion in life is helping people out by conversation and understanding, no matter at what place they are in their life. The past couple of weeks I have been helping people come to a place where they either accept their past or embrace their potential future. A person who bemoans that they might have done more with their life; a person who regrets some of the things they did while in the midst of gut-wrenching grief; a person who wonders whether they will ever make something of their life; a person who worries about whether they will ultimately be happy with the choices they are making for their future. And others. I am reminded of a poem that is read out at AA meetings. It speaks to the one and only time span that is in our control:

There are two days in every week

about which we should not worry,

Two days which should be kept free

from fear and apprehension.

One of these days is "Yesterday" with its mistakes and cares,

its faults and blunders, its aches and pains.
Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control.

All the money in the world cannot bring back Yesterday.

We cannot undo a single act we performed;

we cannot erase a single word we said.

Yesterday is gone.

The other day we should not worry about is "Tomorrow"

with its possible adversities, its burdens,

its large promise and poor performance.
Tomorrow is also beyond our immediate control.

Tomorrow's sun will rise,

either in splendour or behind a mask of clouds,

but it will rise.

Until it does, we have no stake in Tomorrow,

for it is yet unborn.

This leaves only one day, "Today",

and anyone can fight the battles of just one day.

It is only when you and I add the burden of those awful eternities,
Yesterday, and Tomorrow, that we break down.

It is not the experience of Today that drives people mad,

it is the remorse or bitterness for something

which happened Yesterday

and the dread of what

Tomorrow may bring.

Let us, therefore, live but one day at a time

That poem never minimized for me the pain that people will go through, and do go through, regretting what happened Yesterday or worrying about Tomorrow. But, it does constantly remind me that I am only in control of what is happening at this very minute in the day called Today.

No matter the choices I have made in my life and no matter my plans for tomorrow, I can only live in this moment. I chose to live in this moment by living life one day at a time. I had a great day today but, as I am writing this, my fine day could be considered a "Yesterday". I have wonderful plans for tomorrow, but that is - obviously - "Tomorrow".

So, I chose to live this moment of "Today" by remembering you and hoping that you are enjoying this moment.

Making it for the Music Man

I am always amazed at the power of the friendships that I have been graced with in my life. Last night was one of those times that I felt that overwhelming power of being blessed by the incredible people that are part of the circle of my life.

Jim had a very important gig, one where he needed an audience to show that people could have a great time in the presence of All There Is, the band Jim formed that has turned out to be his ultimate snub to cancer. I, as his (unpaid) publicist, was in charge of getting the audience there.

And what an audience it was. I am reminded of the quote by Tennessee Williams: “Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose.” Last night, life was made at the Brickyard by the friends who have chosen to grace our lives.

Thanks to Abbey -- the amazing ten year old photographer -- we have pictures to capture the moments. Some of them are kind of fuzzy. I promise you that the energy in the pictures is not about how much Abbey had to drink! It's just the buzz of a great life being lived. Here's the safe link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brendaglover/?saved=1

Thank you to those of you who made it out to support Jim. Thank you for having such a wonderful time and surrounding us with your joy and your love of life. Thank you to those who called with awesome reasons why they couldn't make it, but promises for the future -- all in the aid of and the honour for friendship.

And, best of all, based largely on the Brickyard Buzz you brought with your presence, the band is re-booked to play there and well on its way to being a house band! And the unpaid publicist is grateful, albeit still unpaid in monetary terms, but having more than most in the currency of friendships.

Thank you. Once again, a quote that speaks to me of how awed I am that you answered the call: "You meet people who forget you. You forget people you meet. But sometimes you meet those people you can't forget. Those are your friends."

Thank you for being our friends.

Linking In

Lots to do to build a business. Website, cards, blogs, networking; writing articles; accounting. Never mind getting clients!

Note to file: have to make sure my clients can find me. A potential client was looking for a lawyer. They happened to pass the sign for Dunsmore Law, my old-but-very-temporary law firm. Thought maybe they would hire Dunsmore. So, they googled "Dunsmore Law" looking for the number. My name came up in Google linked through LinkedIn to my profile! Turned out this client knew me a long time ago, and didn't even know I was a lawyer now.

Next step; try to find me. Not easy, but they persevered. Finally they got a contact to search me on LinkedIn, the professional networking site. Found me and sent me a message and I got to the client. I solved the problem and then set out to be more accessible.

So, I found a great book called "I'm on Linked In...Now What?" by Jason Alba. Especially useful book for beginners who want to maximize the use of LinkedIn. I'd recommend you take a look at LinkedIn and at Jason's book. He lists the advantages and the disadvantages.

One thing that is not controllable in LinkedIn are the google adds that pop up on your profile. The google ads on the side of my profile are for the competition! As Jason says, that's lame.

I'll forgive that one small lameness if it helps another client find the way to my door!

Broken Arm Blogging

My first post, with a broken arm no less!

Question of the day: Did you break your arm at work? That was asked by the intake people at the fracture clinic. No, unless taking out your daughter's garbage is considered work. Ah well, a non-compensable accident.

It happened while we were in California visiting Kelly. I was taking her garbage out for her in the early evening. Not knowing where the light switch for the stairs was, I thought I could made it down to the bottom to turn the light on there. Didn't. Fell off a step and on to a very hard concrete pad. And no, I wasn't drinking; just dumb.

I only found out three weeks later that the arm was broken when I finally broke down to see the doctor (my fear of doctors is, apparently, greater than my fear of pain!). Sent me to emerg where they put a temporary cast on. I hated it so much that I had a nightmare last night that I was tearing off the cast in a frenzy of frustration.

Woke up to find myself in the frenzy with the cast on the floor and me still on the bed!

So, I dreaded going to the orthopaedic surgeon and confessing. Turns out I got the choice of whether or not I wanted a permanent cast. In less than a heartbeat, I said no (duh). Luckily, I broke the arm in a place where mobility, rather than immobility, heals it faster. So, I was doing the right thing by doing the wrong thing in not going to the doctor.

Can't lift anything heavier than a wine glass. Poor me ;-)