According to Stephen R. Covey, little kindness and courtesies are so important. In relationships, the little things are the big things. How do you keep the flame of love burning? Do it in a T.I.M.E.L.Y fashion.

The fish escaped;
the bird didn’t give up.
The fish went deeper;
away from the poking beak of the bird.
The bird readied for another dive,
for that other fish.

We all have stressful days that drive us to the brink, and sometimes it’s hard to let go once it’s all over. It’s hard to see it when you’re in the thick of things, but the world is full of things that seem divinely crafted to bring us back from the edge if we’ll just let them. Here are seven things that I have done in the past to get reconnected with my inner calm.

She walked to St. Mary Magdalene’s clutching a tan trench coat around her body.
It was the coat he had given her just two nights prior to his death and far too big for her lithe frame. Stopping just below her ankles it would have dragged the ground if not for her stiletto boots. Nevertheless, the coat protected her from the bitter winter wind, just as it had protected her from the splatters of blood the night he died.

Tabitha creased her sweater once again and wiped her tears.
She didn’t want him to know she’d been crying. He’d hate that.

Her eyes searched for that familiar face in the crowd that descended from the escalator.
Must be any minute now. She clenched on the barriers that prevented her to rush through the customs and find Carl herself.

Guilt is defined as “feelings of culpability, especially for imagined offenses or from a sense of inadequacy.” Wow, that’s a mouthful! I prefer my own, much simpler definition of feeling like crap when you couldn’t or didn’t do something that you think should have. Sometimes you feel guilt on your own, other times, someone else is at the root of the feelings, either way, it sucks but it is an inevitable part of life. If anyone tells you that they have never in their life felt guilty, I would have to say they are lying, especially if that person is a mother.

They met in a formal dinner. She was nervous. He was sweet. They both led very busy lives with very demanding careers. He managed to make quite an impression, until he took her to the middle of the floor, and asked her to dance the chicken dance with him. In a black-tie formal event. Utterly shocked, her eyebrows shot up as she asked him, “You’re joking right?”

“Alright hun.” Claire asks as we start unloading the car. I could only shrug. My best friend Claire and her boyfriend were helping me sell my stuff at the local car boot sale. It was early Sunday morning and Kieren and I would still be in bed right now, reading the papers and eating breakfast if he hadn’t left me just over a year ago.

It was a really busy place with so many interesting stalls and people. So many people clearing out to make room for the new.

Dissed, dumped, kicked to the curb, scorned, spurned, and jilted. Whatever your preference is to describe the concept, if you’ve ever been burned, then you are already acutely aware of how it feels. But what is rejection at its fundamental core but an opportunity to accept your reality as it really is instead of how you prefer it to be?

What are the ingredients of a successful and happy family? It is about nurturing and maintaining cordial relationships of the people at home. Employ CHARMS to establish and develop a healthy home life.

Communication: Talk about anything and everything. The most important thing is to express ideas openly, precisely and clearly. On the other hand it is necessary to understand messages fully and accurately to avoid misunderstanding.

Let me ask you a question: who are you?

“Me?” I hear you say, “Well I’m such and such, I’m this many years old, my likes include a, b, c.” Yes, that’s all well and good. I’m tremendously happy that I now know what you enjoy and how long you’ve been alive and what collection of syllables your parents decided to award you with at birth. But, let me ask you again: who are you?

Music is a universal constant; there’s a reason that, when NASA sent out the Voyager probe to see what’s out there in this huge, possibly empty galaxy, music was one of things that they included on the big data record that they were hoping any aliens would find.

Music binds us together. There are songs about political issues, social issues, emotional issues, heck, even comedic issues! Of course, musicians also have a lot to say about the other thing that binds humanity together: love. Love songs have dominated the airwaves since Caveman Grog bonked Cavewoman Mog on the head, dragged her back to his cave, and then sang about his love for her over the campfire to all of his other caveman buddies.

“Take up that Kentucky incense and smoke it, Bernerd!” the old woman said, pointing to the hand rolled cigarette in the ashtray of the fifty-four Fairlane, “A man of yer age and ya ain’t learnt better than ta’smoke.” She scowled folding over the top of her leather purse, “Old fool,” she grumbled.

Bernerd reached over and butted out his homemade smoke never taking his eyes off the night road. “Only and old fool would take an old crank like yew ta’the hospital in the dead’ a night, Ethel. Now hush, I’m in heavy traffic.”