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Blog #728: Do You See Both?

by Ana | January 22, 2026 | Blog Post | 0 Comments

"Where am I?""Where do I want to be?" Two questions honored with honest answers. ______ Do you know yours? When I sincerely assess my life with heart, mind, and time…I see two photos of myself as I look into myself. Photo #1: I see what I love about my life. It’s good...

Blog #727: The Ones That Haunt

by Ana | January 15, 2026 | Blog Post | 0 Comments

Maybe…We screwed up big in life a couple of times. And maybe…Those moments still haunt our core. (If you relate, I wrote this blog for YOU.) ______ Brutally bad decisions come in many forms. Some majors? She totaled her car.She missed her insurance payment.She has...

Blog #726: An Email from “Dude”

by Ana | January 8, 2026 | Blog Post | 0 Comments

Ready or not...Our 2026 adventure has begun! What will you create this year? Change?Consistency?Opportunity?Inspiration?Happiness?Harmony?Health? ______ Choose one. Or two.Or three. Or choose all seven. As you begin to ponder and plan 2026...Let me nudge your brain...

Blog #725: My 2026 Secret?

by Ana | January 1, 2026 | Blog Post | 0 Comments

It goes by too fast. I graduated from college in 1985.It's 2026. That's 41 short years. ______ It seems... A new calendar gets tacked up more quickly the older I get. I often feel the quick movement of time. And life. That's why many of my blogs are extra direct. I...

Blog #724: My Letter to Santa

by Ana | December 25, 2025 | Blog Post | 0 Comments

In this blog on Thursdays... I often share emails I writein response to emails I receive. But this week... I'm sharing an email I'm initiating.It's to a guy named Santa. ______ Me writing to Santa? Can we ever be too old to wish for a bit of magic in our lives? I...

Blog #723: One Last One

by Ana | December 18, 2025 | Blog Post | 0 Comments

Over the years that I've written this blog… My heart has been pincheda few times by readers’ emails. But the email below pinchedharder than any I’ve ever received. ______ My friend Shawn, You are my friend, though we’ve never met. We’ve bonded over the years through...

Blog #722: My Race Against the Clock

by Ana | December 11, 2025 | Blog Post | 0 Comments

Two nights ago…I was urgently racing the clock. I hadn't finished my book. ______ I had checked out an e-book from the library. It's perhaps uncommon knowledge that e-books CAN be borrowed from the public library. It's my #1 way to access books. For this book... I had...

Blog #721: The Greatest Balancing Act of All

by Ana | December 4, 2025 | Blog Post | 0 Comments

"What do you want?" It's a seemingly easy question...Yet the answer rarely is. ______ There are two directions to go with this answer. 1. The head's answer. It whispers of the immediate, the pressing, the needed, and the crushing. "I want to get the shopping done. And...

Blog #720: This One Is For YOU

by Ana | November 27, 2025 | Blog Post | 0 Comments

It's Thursday.It's Thanksgiving. Two reasons I'm grateful today. For YOU. ______ #1: You show up here. I'm hugely aware that in 2025's crazy information-overload climate, you have a billion ways to spend your online reading time. But you show up here on Thursdays....

Blog #719: Yelling Screaming Shouting

by Ana | November 20, 2025 | Blog Post | 0 Comments

How do I keep going through disappointment? (Read on.) ______ A reader’s question… I have paid lots of money to attend too many failed motivational seminars and read too many books that were supposed to change my life. Most got me nowhere but more debt. Success is not...

Blog #579: Sipping Tea with Confucius

Blog Post

"I waited too long!" Four dream-shattering words... I live to avoid feeling. ______ This email arrived: Dear Shawn, I wish I started reading your blog ten years ago. My health issues are now too big to overcome, and it's too late for me to do the things you inspire me...

Blog #578: Hello, Oprah

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Aging.It's on my mind. Three stories will connect this blog. ______ Story #1: The Feeling Sucked I recognize I need to do exercises that get my heart rate up and blood pressure down. My body has grown accustomed to walking 7 miles with 20 pounds on my back five days a...

Blog #577: His Time Was Up

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It was a HUGE bummer. The once-amazing 100-foot tall Eucalyptuswas now lying across the bike path. The vicious winds and rainwere stronger than this great giant's roots. His time was up. ______ There is a line of... Eucalyptus trees in the park outside where I live. I...

Blog #576: We’re Gonna’ See the Wions

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It felt like I was walking in an oven.360 miles across Italy. "Just a little bit further."Those were my constant self-urging words. ______ It's how I keep will going. When I think I have no "juice" left in my legs or heart, when I feel 100% cooked, defeated and think...

Blog #575: They Don’t Show Their Faces

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We gotta' get over it. The negative stuff. Hangin' on to it gets us nowhere. ______ I received this email: "How do I stay positive when every day some new shi**y thing happens that adds to my f***ed up life. I don't know how you do it. You either have more good luck...

Blog #574: I’m on a Safari

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In southern California near my home...LOTS of people walk their dogs. I'm lucky...and meet many of them. ______ Some get to know me and sign up for this blog. One day I was walking with one of them. She asked: "What if you couldn't find a story to write about?"I...