Jeff Lewis is a friend of mine who is a quadruple amputee which means he has prosthetic hands and feet. Not long ago, he was riding the light rail which runs from Mesa, Arizona to downtown Phoenix. When he boarded the train, there were no empty seats, so he had to stand. As the train…
Photo from video by Houston Hospice on YouTube.com Jeff Metcalfe recently wrote a story for The Arizona Republic about a man named Bryan Caldwell who played football for Arizona State University during the late 70’s-early 80’s. Two years ago, he was diagnosed with a Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a cancer of the immune system and he knew he…
Mel Brooks is an 88 year old film director, screenwriter, comedian, actor, producer, composer and songwriter. At the present time, he’s appearing in his first solo stage production which means he’s still going strong. According to a blurb compiled by Ann Oldenburg that appeared in a recent issue of USA Today, Mr. Brooks offered this…
People who make negative comments for the purpose of belittling their coworkers are a tremendous drain on the productivity of a business. The problem is that negative comments are hurtful and almost always ruin people’s days. When this occurs, it immediately sucks away people’s energy and now they are no longer able to apply their…
Ernie Banks, known around the world as “Mr. Cub,” died this past week. Mr. Banks was the first African-American to play for the Chicago Cubs and went on to become a baseball superstar. He was an 11 time all-star, two-time National League Most Valuable Player and hit a career total of 512 home runs. Ironically,…
Stuart Scott By Alan Rose (Stu and Alan) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons Stuart Scott, a very popular ESPN anchor and reporter, recently died of cancer. He was first diagnosed in 2007. The cancer reappeared in 2012 and again in 2013. In July of 2014, he received the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at…
Opportunities abound for us to volunteer our time at churches, non-profit social service agencies, hospitals and schools. Volunteers derive a great deal of satisfaction from their efforts because those efforts are usually directed at making someone’s day a little bit happier, brighter or easier. This, in turn, provides volunteers with a sense of purpose and…
Most of us are not afraid to try new things; we just don’t make it a priority. Then, when we do try something new and realize how positive the experience was, we often kick ourselves for not having done it sooner. Trying new things enriches your life in a number of ways: It allows you…
I’ve just gone through more than a month of twice-daily antibiotic infusion treatments at a local hospital. During that time, I had the opportunity to observe the nurses in the Ambulatory Treatment Unit in action under all sorts of circumstances. Let me tell you, I’ve never seen a more caring group of people—ever. They’re constantly…
Recently, The Arizona Republic held a networking breakfast to honor current and former winners of its “35 Entrepreneurs 35 and Younger” competition. Laurie Merrill, who writes for the Republic, asked some of the attendees to share their advice for business success. Some of their responses are listed below: Have a no-fail mind-set. Failure is not an option.…