As a kid, were you told that some of the foods you refused to eat were “acquired tastes?” Later, did you find that you liked them?

Beyond the broccoli on your plate, have you found that you’ve grown to like or even love other once-unsavory slices of life?

Think back to Acquired Tastes and share forward!

Do you love the city?  Are you energized by the hustle and the bustle,  the rush of the people on the sidewalks,  and the noise of the traffic in the streets and in the shops and restaurants?  Do you like the anonymity of the urban life?

Or do you prefer the relative quietness of life in the suburbs or in small towns with only a screen door between you and your neighbors?

Or does an even more rural lifestyle attract you?

Think back about City vs Suburbs and share forward!

From childhood we’ve learned that part of life is losing and misplacing friendships,  and then making efforts to reunite and make amends.

Some friendships break up over disagreements or wrong choices – real or perceived – that are made.  And sometimes life just takes you down different roads until one day you meet again.

Do you remember a friendship lost until the two of you managed to patch things up,  or managed to track each other down after many years,  or across many miles?   Or are you still hoping for that to happen before it’s too late?

Think back about Mending Fences and share forward!

We all have a real estate story — the house you bought for a song or that great rent-controlled apartment with the river view.

Or the fixer-upper that milked you dry, the roof that leaked, or the sink hole in the backyard, the noisy upstairs neighbor you took to court and the landlord or the tenant from Hell.

Or that lucky day you found your dream house!

Think back about  My Real Estate Story and share forward!

Surely we’ve all had pain in our lives — both physical and mental.

By definition pain is an unpleasant sensory or emotional experience associated with actual or potential damage to one’s bodily or mental health.  And because pain is an individual and completely subjective experience, no two people respond or tolerate it in the same way.

What kind of pain — either physical or emotional — have you endured? Was it alleviated? If so, how?

Think back about Pain and share forward!

It is said, “Blood is thicker than water.”,  and  “Family first.”

But we’re also told , “You can pick your friends,  but you can’t pick your family.”

Which is it in your family?  Or have you had both loving as well as strained relationships with your parents,  or with your own children?    Or with siblings,  cousins,  aunts,  uncles,  or in-laws?

Have there been estrangements or feuds in your family,  and if so have they been resolved?

Think back about Family Relationships and share forward!

War has always been too much with us. Today, on a planet shriveled by media, we are surrounded by this horrible human ritual.

Did you play war as a child?  Did a parent or grandparent fight in WWII?  Did you fight in Vietnam, Iraq, or Afghanistan? Have you lost loved ones to war?  Have you protested war? How do you feel about war today?

Think back about War and share forward!

Does this sound familiar?  You finish a challenging task and think “Good job!” But soon you start second-guessing: “Couldn’t I have done it better? Why didn’t I do this or that?”

Before long the “A” you initially gave yourself dissolves into a “B” and sometimes a “C,” and you’re left thinking, I should have been perfect, but I wasn’t!

Are you your own worst critic? Have you ever wondered why?

Think back about My Own Worst Critic and share forward!

People produce and purchase piles of stuff: pots and pans, papers and paraphernalia. Some stuff we use daily. Other stuff loses its novelty or utility.  Day by day, year by year, stuff circulates through our lives.

What do you do with all your stuff?  Do you hang on to it? Hide it away? Do you sort,  organize, and store it?  Or do you eject it in a desperate attempt to simplify your life?

Think back about Stuff and share forward!

Meditation – the practice of mindfulness to achieve mental clarity and emotional calm – has always been a traditional part of the Eastern religions of Jainism,  Buddhism,  and Hinduism.

In the 20th century, meditation was used by the European psychoanalysts Carl Jung and Erich Fromm as part of their treatments. And today’s Western medical establishment recognizes the benefits of meditation in reducing depression, stress, and anxiety.

Do you meditate?  If so, how long have you practiced it, and how has it helped you?

Think back about Meditation and share forward!