It has been said “Laughter is the best medicine”.  If this is true there was plenty of healthy people in Worcester a few weeks back.

I was fortunate to be part of Bella Productions “Putting the Fun into Fundraising”.  An evening to raise money and attention to those suffering from alzheimer’s at Corral Seafood in Worcester.

Dr. Steve Sobel started off the evening.  He has a style that is slightly outrageous  while never taking himself too seriously.  He kept the entire audience in stitches while relaying lessons from life and basketball.

The Penguin Apocalypse from the Natick Improvisational Team performed.  They were amazingly quick and amusing.  There minds were running a hundred miles a minute to keep up with the audience requests as well as each other.

It was wonderful again working with Bella Productions.  I also have to thank the following for donating time and services.

Natick Improv 

Dr. Steve Sobel

BrightStar Care of Milford-Worcester

Coral Seafood

I have a few favorite bloggers.  Seth Godin, Justin and Mary, Liz and Ryan, and Carlos Whittaker.  I would be remise though if I did not mention Jon Acuff!  He has a wit about him that is genuine and perceptive.  I have followed him for a few years.

Recently I was a select group of followers who had the chance to read his new Book START prior to it being released.  How thankful I am because it truly is an amazing book and like so many things in life you have to START.  You can but it here!

If you follow his advice and don’t let the book or yourself sit on the shelf you will change.  But on the other hand if you don’t you won’t.

Once when hearing my friend Mary Marantz speak she was asked “What happens when everyone does what you do to do to be successful.”  She said not everybody will.  Good lesson to learn.

Will loads of people buy this book.  Yes.  A number of have already been sold and it is in Amazon’s top 20.  Will everybody do what it says to.  No.  The sad truth is, even in my life, that the distance from awareness to completion is too hard a road for many.  It involves a little four letter word, WORK!

Do I think you should buy the book.  Of course, it is amazing and can change your life.  But remember not to stop with simply buying it, reading it and thinking you are done.  Learn the lessons and let them change who you are.

Excuses are a dime a dozen.

Excuses often come from the thoughts we have.  Telling us things like why try, I won’t succeed, I wont’ ever be good enough, I am not ready.  Everybody has them.  I hear them all the time.  I am sure I am not the only one, there is proof here.   Your excuses may be the some or different than mine.

To help put an end to this I have came up with a new moto.

No more excuses!  Fear can grip you and try to tear you and me apart.  But you and I are never alone.  No matter how alone we feel.  We are never alone.  There is a God who watches over us and loves and provides for us.

So today go out with More Risk, and Less Excuses.

I mentioned Easter Weekend a few posts back.

I was blessed and fortunate to be able to spend part of Saturday Morning with my Good friend Eli hiking at Mt. Tom in Massachusetts.  I don’t know why but there is a Mt. Tom in every New England State.

Eli likes to vault along the trails and I am slow and methodical not to miss anything.  Regardless we seem to make a good pairing.

The streams have been thawing out and now are flowing quickly.

I hope that you are able to get out and enjoy the spring as I have been lately with more adventures to come!

Hello Everyone!

Hope your weekend if full exciting plans like mine is.

Today I have a little blue and gold to add to your day.

Years ago I heard Jay Maisel speak on How he always took his camera everywhere.  I do mean everywhere.  You never know when inspiration will show up.

Last weekend I was walking around with my friend Eli.  On the way to back from the grocery store inspiration struck and I was able to snag this photo.  Do you know what it is?  If you want to take a guess leave some love in the comments section.

I have been practicing around with light and flash.  Off camera flash is one of the hardest things I have had to deal with as a photographer but slowly but surely it is coming around.

 I got together with a couple of friends of mine last week, Kara and Matt.  We had a limited amount of time the sun was quickly setting.  We meet up at church and the results speak for them selves.

Practice does pay off!

I had a few adventures over the past weekend.  Some of those will come later but this is Easter Sunday.

I have to admit I often overlook Easter Sunday.  I don’t know why.  I shouldn’t.  It is the culmination of Christ’s work fulfilled while here.  Something I don’t take seriously enough.

Easter was different this year.  I went from a state of hopelessness to a place of joy and thankfullness.  The day started with Pastor Marc speaking.  Now normally when he speaks I get something out of it but today God spoke through him to me.  He spoke of how hopeless everything was that Friday.  He said “Hope is essential to the human heart.”  At the end of the sermon he spoke of his own hopelessness and how God gave him hope.  Then members of the audience spoke about how they were also moved by the hope that God gives.

As I left the sanctuary my heart was still heavy, hurt.  I don’t know if my friend Petter knows how much it meant for me when he invited me over to his house for Easter.  I did not have anywhere to go and he reached out to me.  It meant the world.

Once I got to Petter’s house I meet Karen’s parents.  Wonderful people.

There were so many kids around.  It does my heart good to be around children.  We played ball out in the yard for a good 30 or 40 minutes.

The rest of Karen’s family showed up.  They treated me like one of their own.  We had a meal fit for king’s.  Ham, potatoes, bread, green beans, all the fixin’s.  If that was not enough we had a variety of cheesecakes and pies for dessert.

After lunch we had an easter egg hunt.  The adults went about setting up the easter eggs.  There was scrambling racing and laughter as the kids ran around looking for them.

As I drove home that night I thought back to my friends, and how blessed I am.  I have a new sense of hope from the kindness of friends.