Tag: life

Episode, Podcast

The Beauty of What Remains

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 As we enter 2021 and reflect on the year that passed, a new book reminds us to pause and reflect on the importance of life. We experienced quite a bit of loss in 2020. Loss of employment, loss of freedoms, loss of security, and the loss of friends and loved ones.

This episode is about focusing on what truly matters in life especially during uncertain times. In his book The Beauty of What Remains, Rabbi Steve Leder shares his own experience of love, regret, and pain in a more personal and intimate way than ever before. After experiencing the loss of his father he discovered how much of a life changing event it truly was. “In death we do not lose – we actually gain more than we ever imagined.”

Steve uses personal reflections and heart-warming stories to bring the reader into a conversation about what is important and urges us to live more meaningful, more beautiful lives that are less anxious and less frenetic.

The Beauty of What Remains is a heartfelt narrative filled with laughter and tears, wisdom, and ultimately, an acknowledgement of the profound truth that if we can understand death and loss, we can learn how to truly live. I hope you get something out of this conversation.

Podcast

Can Money Buy Happiness?

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It is a heavily researched question and the consensus is…yes, it can.  One of the key benefits that money provides is safety and security.  Having enough money eliminates anxiety when shopping or making large purchases.  Money also affords you memorable life experiences that bring joy and happiness, allows you to help loved ones, and give back to your community.

But just how much money do you need to be happy?  To answer that question, we narrowed the focus of this conversation down to how much money and what kind of experiences do the happiest people in retirement have in common.

Helping me explore this question is Wes Moss, author of the book You Can Retire Sooner Than You Think: The 5 Money Secrets of the Happiest Retirees.  Wes is also Chief Investment Strategist at Capital Investment Advisors and host of Money Matters, an investment and personal finance radio show.  The research conducted for his book quantifies the financial habits of happy people versus unhappy people.

Whether you call it happiness or peace of mind, money CAN provide a freedom that allows you to truly enjoy your life in retirement and, according to Wes’ research, you might not need as much as everyone is telling you that you need.  Remember, the happiest retirees

  • Have a median of $500,000 in liquid net assets (up to $850,000)
  • Once you get above that amount, you’ll experience “diminishing marginal happiness”
  • The happiest retirees average 3.5 core pursuits and have an average of 2.5 children. (Listen to find out exactly what that means)
  • And the happiest retirees live in the middle when it comes to shopping and dining out.  Not too cheap and not too expensive.

You’ll find the common traits among the happiest retirees to be very enlightening. I hope you’ll listen to discover more.

Podcast

There Are No Happy Endings

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Nora McInerny has become a reluctant expert in difficult conversations by bringing empathy and wit to difficult subjects.  She is host of the American Public Media podcast Terrible, Thanks for Asking and founder of the on-line support group the Hot Young Widows Club.  I recently spoke with her about her new memoir No Happy Endings where she describes her exploration of the reality of being changed by loss without being completely defined by it.

Within the span of a few months, Nora lost her husband to brain cancer, miscarried her second child, and saw the passing of her father.  Not long after those tragic events, she found love again in Matthew, her new husband. Through it all, she describes the awkwardness of being a widow, the difficulties of becoming a single mom, and the guilt of finding love again.

With great humor and sensitivity, Nora reminds us that there will be no happy endings in life, but there will be new beginnings.

For more information on Nora, visit her site here.

Music in this episode is Love Me Forever by Audiobinger under Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution License.

Podcast

The Diaper Bank

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Cayla Clark (left) Michela Hugo (2nd from left)

We take basic necessities like diapers for granted.  However,  what you and I consider a necessity millions of people in this country find to be a daily struggle.  About 15 million children in America live in families that fall below the federal poverty rate.  That’s 21% of all children.  Many of these families work but earn low wages or have unstable employment; leaving basic necessities like diapers difficult to come by.  And this can have a cascading affect on the health and well being of bother mother and child.

Young Violet helps her mom Cayla collect and distribute diapers.

I sat with two women to get educated on the issue and to find out what kind of work that the CNY Diaper Bank was doing to make an impact in our community.  In this episode of Life in HD you’ll meet Michela Hugo, founder of the local non-profit Diaper Bank, and Cayla Clark, volunteer and former board member.  Their work is inspiring.

For more information and to learn how you can help mother’s in need, visit the CNY Diaper Bank.

Music in this episode is courtesy of:

“Summer’s Grace” by Ketsa under Creative Commons License