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When All My Dreams Came True
By Michelle Morgan
 I’ve always been a writer, ever since I was a little girl and used to write stories and staple the pages together to make my very own book. I loved reading and everything that went with being a budding author, but quite strangely it took me until the age of 20 to realise that this is what I wanted to be. Until then I thought I wanted to be an actress, and it wasn’t until I realised that I loved writing the application letters far more than I liked the auditions, that I realised that perhaps my future lay in writing, not the performing arts. Read more
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Expert Series: Too Late For Your Dream?
By Noelle Sterne
Do you feel stuck in your job, your activities, your life?
Do you condemn yourself about what you could have, should have done differently?
Do you yearn for more, even if you don’t know what it is?
Do you suspect you’ve got something to give, even if you can’t identify it?
Or do you know what it is but haven’t been able to let it out?
Have you pushed your secret yearnings into the back of your life, like old photos in the sock drawer?
Like many people, maybe you live for the weekends or retirement. Maybe you promise yourself that then—finally—you’ll do what you really want to. Too often, these envisioned golden times never materialize. Why? Read more
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Expert Series: Ten Steps To Personal Transformation
By Amara Rose
 The quest to discover and live our truth is the Hero’s Journey, a sacred pilgrimage home to ourselves. It’s the high road — and a rigorous one. We may try to camouflage our fear of the unknown with bravado, workaholism, or apathy. There’s another way: following the path of the heart. How do we find it? With a transformational road map. I invite you to join me on a mission to remember and reclaim your life purpose.
Step One: Give Yourself Permission to be Passionate
Our resistance is the Refusal of the Call. Change whispers in our ear, and we attempt a high-tech tune-out: call waiting, call forwarding, on hold, voicemail…
We fight change because acceding to it feels like stepping off a cliff into an abyss. Out of touch with our vital, intuitive nature, we panic and crawl safely back into the shopping center mentality. We resign ourselves to buying the leopard print pants because we’re afraid to be the leopard.
How do we answer this call to reclaim our connection to what’s true for us? We start by giving ourselves permission to be passionate, to dream beyond our self-imposed boundaries. Read more
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Chocolate
By Mary Holland Woodward
 As a baby, I could have died from my medical condition which was not well-understood.
Classic Galactosemia had already taken the lives of most – if not all – similarly-diagnosed babies before me.
Classic Galactosemia primarily affects the health of the liver and kidneys.
Mom and Dad were told early-on that, even if I lived beyond a few months or years, I would be severely developmentally disabled. After 47 years in this life, I can tell you, “I’m not!”
In my own non-technical lingo, here’s what I’ve learned so far about Galactosemia:
It’s the simple sugar galactose that is the culprit. I don’t have the enzyme GALT (galactose-1-phosphate uridyl transferase) that is present in most healthy bodies to naturally convert the simple sugar galactose into the simple sugar glucose.
I grew-up knowing that I should never eat anything containing the simple-sugar lactose. I could never eat chocolate! Read more
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An Interview With Olivia Newton John
By Michelle Morgan
 From clean-cut singer of ‘Country Roads’ to leotard-wearing disco diva in ‘Physical’, Olivia Newton John has had a career that’s spanned nearly five decades. She is loved by everyone from school children to grandmas and yet still remains as down-to-earth as she ever was. Here Olivia talks about yoga, life, and her trek along the Great Wall of China….
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Say the words Olivia Newton John and most of us will automatically think of her most famous and successful role – that of Sandy in the hit movie ‘Grease’. But while ‘Grease’ was – and still is – a worldwide phenomenon, there is so much more to Olivia Newton John than dancing with John Travolta. Read more
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Felix The Cat Part IV: The Grey Dragon
By Melissa Roberts
 When my cat Felix decided to tolerate Mum and Dad’s cat Tiptoe in 2010, we had been living there for nearly two years. I never expected Felix to give in, but then again I never expected to lose my job and have nowhere else to go but back where I had come from.
Former stray turned beloved pet, Felix moved with me from St. Louis, Mo to small town Kansas after I lost my job as a hospital chaplain in 2008. My parents and I agreed this would be a temporary situation- six months at the most- until I could get back on my feet. We all overestimated my employability and underestimated the recession. Read more
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No Arms, No Legs….No Worries
By Nick Vujicic from his Attitude Is Altitude website
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Click on picture above to view inspirational video.
Imagine being born without arms. No arms to wrap around someone, no hands to experience touch, or to hold another hand with. Or what about being born without legs? Having no ability to dance, walk, run, or even stand on two feet. Now put both of those scenarios together: no arms and no legs. What would you do? How would that effect your everyday life?
Meet Nick Vujicic… Born in 1982 in Melbourne, Australia, without any medical explanation or warning, Nicholas Vujicic (pronounced Voy-a-chich) came into the world with neither arms nor legs. Read more
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How Smiling Meditation Changed My Life
By Billie Criswell
 I have always been the type of person that one might associate with meditation…..or New Age healing and Eastern healing concepts. I was even, at one time, a self-proclaimed “hippy.” But the truth was, I had never so much as tried to quiet my mind– I was too busy being busy to even ponder the concept of slowing down.
At a certain point, though, it seemed that meditation came to me much as other things had in life: on a whim, as though I invented the concept. Read more
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Turning Trash Into Beauty – Kat Nicotera’s Unique Art Therapy
By Ernest Dempsey
 Kat-Fasano Nicotera, an ex-heroin addict, believes, because of her passion for doll making, and art therapy in general, that in order to come out on the other side of addiction a different person, a whole person, we must find something that inspires us more than the pain we’re familiar with. This is her story.
Ernest: Hello Kat! I am honored to be speaking to you about your art and healing! Before we move on to talking about doll making, how long was your addiction period, and how did you put an end to it, returning to normal life? Read more
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How A Brown Baby Bunny Changed My Destiny
By Sarah Goodwin-Nguyen
 A little brown bunny changed the path of one human life–mine, specifically. But on the day we took him home, my fiance and I just thought he was really cute. We had a mimosa buzz after a holiday brunch, and walked into a pet store on New York City’s Lower East Side “just to look.”
Mama bunny and her litter were all adorable, of course, with their pointy ears and gangly back legs all jostling for room in the too-small glass tank. Read more
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How A Near Death Experience Changed Everything
By Eva R Marienchild
 For many of his 50-something years, a severely depressed Bill Smyth* was living his life as if it didn’t matter. “Looking back,” he says, “I don’t know how I kept going.”
In 2000, he and his then-wife lost a son who was less than a year old. As happens with many marriages where the loss of a baby is involved, the marital union came undone. “My ex said she was miserable having me around. She couldn’t look at me without seeing a baby,” said Bill. “In order for her to be happy, we parted. We’re still good friends.”
Talking about his son’s death still hurts, says Bill. “Joseph’s little lungs hadn’t developed. A decision was made to take him off life support.” He pauses, his voice far away. “The only time he smiled was right before he died. Then, he just seemed to relax and let go.”
That observation was a striking forerunner of what was to follow. Read more
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Detach, Survive, Thrive In My Marriage To An Alcoholic
By Linda J Riley
 The world of the non-alcoholic in the midst of alcoholic insanity is difficult. Many succumb to the insanity and become part of the disease itself, and others die from stress-related illnesses. But it is possible to survive. Once the non-alcoholic has learned the survival techniques, the next step would be thriving in spite of it all. It can be done. I am proof that it is possible.
One day I watched in horror as my husband, Riley, stood in the middle of the living room and spewed a stream of urine onto the carpet. Things had gotten bad, but I never imagined they would get that bad. Read more
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My Unemployed Life: I Felt Emasculated
By Shane McConnaghy
 My name is Shane and I’m unemployed.
I’m one of the millions of people trying to find a job in a stagnant economy. As a former mortgage broker, I witnessed first-hand the collapse of the real estate bubble, and experienced the anguish of losing my job due to cutbacks.
At age 45, trying to find another job in the housing market was a study in futility and frustration. No one was hiring. Companies were letting people go, and not in the mood to take a chance on new hires.
Adding to my anxiety was the fact that my wife, Raven, and I had had our first child a year prior to me losing my job, and we now had another little boy on the way. Read more
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Love Led Me To You: An Abused Horse And Woman Save Each Other
By Narrated by Alan Thicke
 This is a moving and powerful video about how a woman and a horse saved each other. Phyllis becomes whole, overcoming her drinking while healing Shag-Ra, the abused horse. Shag-Ra answers the phone, takes stray cats for a ride, and Lip-Synchs to music. This first appeared on Animal Miracles narrated by Alan Thicke.
Click here to view.
Back to Stories
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Yes You Can!
By Michael W. Michelsen Jr.
 If Dick Hoyt is trying to guilt me into being a better father, I have to admit that he’s accomplished his mission very well. That’s not to say that I’m not a good father, I am, but if it came down to comparing the two of us, he leaves me in the dust. Literally. Read more
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The Compassion Of Animals
By A Better Life Dog Rescue
Lucky:
  Mary and her husband Jim had a dog named Lucky. Lucky was a real character. Whenever Mary and Jim had company come for a weekend visit they would warn their friends to not leave their luggage open because Lucky would help himself to whatever struck his fancy. Inevitably, someone would forget and something would come up missing. Read more
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Out Of The Rat Race And Into Bamboo
By Greg Pfeffer
 I’m not sure which benchmark in corporate America can be credited as the straw that broke the camel’s back; the final event that caused me to “go bamboo.” The chorus of seemingly uniform co-workers wishing me things like “Happy Friday” and “Somebody could use another cup of coffee!” The almost perverted detail I took in studying the walls of my cubical, attempting to conjure up ideas of how any postcard or picture could ever camouflage the walls of the plastic box I worked in.
Most likely, however, it was the unenthusiastic chatter of my fellow 20-somethings every morning on the R5. IPod in ears, the front page of The Metro shielding their face from the morning glances of their fellow commuters; they are ushered from the suburbs like unwilling passengers on the river Styx. As the doors on the regional rail opened it was as if the hand of Charon himself ushered them off at 30th and Market East, putting on the last leg of their daily journey towards an office, a firm, a corporation somewhere in Center City. I wanted out of this Hades, so I broke free.
Read more
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Life Is a Continuous Adventure for This 75 Year Old Texan
By Greg Melikov
 Larry P. Johnson is proof that disabilities can be conquered. He lives life fearlessly and with zest because to him it’s all an adventure.
The transplanted Chicagoan has been a radio disc jockey, TV newscaster and telephone company human resources director. The San Antonio resident of more than three decades is a family man, author and motivational speaker.
Larry is an amazing individual despite being blind for 74 ½ years of his life. Read more
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Taking Mental Illness Out Of The Shadows, And Into The Light
By Lindsay Thompson
 My Personal Story: Learning To Thrive With Schizophrenia
I remember with haunting clarity my first time on a psychiatric ward. I was 17 and scared and confused. My Mom brought me into emergency where I was admitted and brought upstairs to the psychiatric floor. It was night time and walking down that long, dark hallway to my room, catching glances from the other patients induced a fear and loneliness I’ll never forget. I cried all night. The next day, although, still scared and desperate to go home, I was less afraid. The ward was bright and the patients were “regular” people. Read more
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Just Jesse: The Amazing Jack Russell Terrier
By Heather Brook
  Incredible Video of Jesse Helping around the House.
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My name is Heather Brook, and my best friend Jesse is currently 5 years old. He is a tri-color, broken-coat, Jack Russell Terrier who loves adventure. Ever since I brought him home on my 16th birthday when he was 8 weeks old, we have been inseparable. Read more
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Expert Series: Steve Kayser: How To Defeat Your Inner Deadbeat
By Steve Kayser
 In every person’s life, there is a still, small voice that tries to guide you to a wonderful calling—a destiny.
Your Destiny
A calling that you, and only you, were put on this earth to fulfill. Near silent, this voice is powerful enough to lift thoughts, dreams and visions to a higher ground. In ancient Rome, this inner voice was called “genius.” A tutelary inner-mentor to guide your aspirations forward–to be the best writer, politician, businessman, inventor, doctor, lawyer, painter, dancer, father, mother or whatever calling you were placed on this earth to fulfill. Read more
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Expert Series: Go For The Goal
By Alissa Finerman
 What does it mean to truly thrive? Does it mean to have a fabulous career, great friends, a loving partner or a fulfilling day? This is the question each person needs to define for oneself. I know one thing for sure, you need to set goals and make choices to thrive.
I equate thriving with the phrase living in your top 1%, which I’ve defined below.
LIVING IN YOUR TOP 1%: The practice of using all your strengths, talents, and assets to live your best life possible. Living with this philosophy includes taking the words can’t, should, and impossible out of your vocabulary and believing that you can create whatever you commit to. It’s about reaching your personal best without comparing yourself to others. Read more
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“I Want To Die At Home” — Part One
By Diane Schachter
 It was a Monday, October 7th. I know that because it would be my Dad’s last Monday, just four days before he died. My family had to make a crucial decision.
It began on the morning my mother poured out her desperate words to me on the telephone: “It was a bad night.” My head was spinning with images of Dad uncontrollably thrashing in pain throughout the night.
Seven months earlier, my father had made his desire strongly and clearly known to his family. He wanted to die at home. Read more
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“I’m A Bit Of Alright”
By Diane Schachter
 Joan Campbell’s granddaughter loves to hang out with her 91 year old grandmother. Even when she’s about to go to a Lady Gaga concert, all dolled up in heavy eye makeup, see-through stockings and platform shoes, her grandmother smiles. The kids of today, Joan says, know how to have fun and laugh. And Joan believes that life should be all about joy and laughter.
I learned, however, that Joan’s life at times has been anything but a laughing matter. Read more
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The Happiness Formula
By Beth Rowles Scott
 PINCH ME. Why pinch me? So I can be sure that this happiness I feel is not a dream, that my life has really changed so much since I was a fat little girl in Saskatchewan.
Growing up, losing my fatness and leaving my home province was sometimes fun, sometimes painful, often challenging. There were times when I would experience happiness, but then I would lose it again.
But I’ve had enough sightings of this elusive, mysterious happiness to give me a formula. Perhaps you have found your own way to happiness. But if you have not, do taste the ingredients of the Pinch Me happiness brew. May they serve you well!
A FORMULA FOR HAPPINESS
To be happy you need these three things: someone to love, something to do, and something to look forward to. Read more
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