What is a bridge? The formal definition is, "A structure carrying a road, path, railroad, or canal across a river, ravine, road, railroad, or other obstacle."  But what if we thought of bridges in terms of our lives.   Imagine that the obstacle is your job, maybe because the hours are not convenient for your other obligations, or the distance is too far since you don't own a vehicle, or the pay is not sufficient to cover your expenses, or there's no opportunity for growth and

Oftentimes when it's quiet my mind wanders and I think about you. For years the memories used to make me cry, but now I smile truly understanding that you are in a beautiful place. Whereas the tears in my mind used to cloud my vision, now they've subsided and my mental vision is clear. ​ When we are born, our great-grandparents and grandparents are the elders of our generation. Then our parents become the elders. Then we become the elders. And when we pass on, our children wi

When you're a child, you think you'll live forever. Then one day you wake up and realize that decades have passed and you're approaching half a century or more.   Maybe you've graduated from college, gotten married, had children, owned houses and cars, had a flourishing career and traveled the world. Or maybe you've done none of those things.   No matter what you've done in the past and where you are in life, this is the first moment of the rest of your life. It's finally tim

You deserve to be treated with respect from anyone you allow into your circle. You are human and you deserve to be spoken to and treated in a manner that is calm, polite and civilized. You are a work in progress, and you deserve to be recognized and complimented for the wonderful things you do and not criticized for your imperfections. Your time is valuable and you deserve people who care enough to show up on time and do what they promised you they would do with you. ​ You ar

Some people can be cruel. They judge you by what they see on your outside. The way you dress. The way you speak. The way you walk. Whether you’re smiling, laughing or crying at inappropriate times. And so you put on a mask for the world to see. You dress, speak and walk the way everybody says you should for a woman of your age, size, race, education, religion, economic class and so on. You only smile, laugh and cry on cue when you see everybody else doing it. But then you los

​ Your life is made up of a myriad of colors; some brilliant and vibrant, others muted and pale, others cool and crisp. Each color represents a different aspect of your personality and being. ​ Red represents your boldness to express your thoughts through your words and actions. Orange represents the fire and passion within your spirit. Yellow represents the eternal flame that gives your soul life. Blue represents the coolness, calmness and contentedness of your inner peace.

I've lived my life always trying to do the right thing. Always worrying about everyone else's feelings. Trying to say the right things not to offend anyone. Trying to act the way people think I'm supposed to act just because it's the way they think they would act if they were in my situation. But nobody is in my exact situation. Only I know my circumstances and how I feel. So why should I care how society thinks I should fit into their norm. Fuck society. ​ I've had daggers t

Beauty is subjective. When it comes to deciding whether someone is beautiful--and yes, men can be beautiful too--some people only consider others' physical characteristics including their eyes, nose, smile, facial bone structure and body type and shape. Some people consider others' style and demeanor, such as whether their personality exudes confidence, persuasiveness and other admirable qualities. Some people consider others' temperament, such as their kindness, generosity,

What qualities would you want in a friend? Some people want friends who are fun to hang out with and have a great sense of humor. Sure, those are great qualities, but what if life changes that person and they're no longer fun or has a great sense of humor? Would there be anything of substance left between you two? Most likely not and your phone calls and visits will become more infrequent until years go by and you can barely remember each others' names or what each other look

Each year, the Spring season can breathe new life into people who’ve endured long cold gloomy winters. Depending on your location, you may have garbed yourself in thermal pullover shirts and pants, bulky overcoats, boots and gloves for longer than you care to remember. Maybe at home you kept your lined drapes closed most of each day to repel drafts and wind chills. Maybe you woke up most mornings seeing extended hours of darkness and got that blah feeling. Starting in late Ma

Women have come a long way when it comes to business. Once upon a time, society denied women the opportunity of having a career other than staying at home, bearing children and tending to their families while their husbands worked, provided all the financial support and made the decisions about their direction and future. While being a housewife is a noble role to maintain a household, it doesn't provide a woman with her own money, education and financial independence. The pa

People's words don't always reveal their true feelings. Some people go through life masking their depression with insincere laughs, smiles and "I'm okays." Only the people closest to them may be able to hear their pain through their silence. Everyone has most likely experienced times when they felt sad due to circumstances such as job loss, financial hardship, illness, death of loved ones, romance breakups, eviction or foreclosure. No matter the circumstance, once the initia

Dear Lord, I'm devastated and my heart is broken. Why have you taken my loved one away from me? How am I supposed to go on without this person who was my rock, my mentor, my joy and reason for living?" What we forget is that we are children of God and we belong to Him. We do not own our parents, children, siblings, spouses or friends. God chooses to put them in our lives and they will only be here on earth until the Lord calls them home. Likewise, our time on earth is limited

Dear Lord, I've never needed you more than I do right now. I am so lost and confused and things feel so uncertain. I feel like I've entered a new phase and I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do. I know I need to let go of some of my old ways and beliefs and adopt new ones that suit me and my current path. I'm older now. I don't think or move as quickly as I did one year ago, five years ago and definitely not decades ago. I know I need to find new norms for the things I can no

Some people are natural-born leaders while others are natural-born followers. Some people may feel insulted to be called a "follower," but why is it a bad thing? In any situation with multiple people involved who have one common goal, the chances of succeeding may not be great unless one person stands out and takes the lead; otherwise if everyone independently tries conquering the task on his own, the group, as a whole, would likely devolve into confusion, disagreement and in