Monumental Monday: Proud to Support Boston on Marathon Monday

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Thought for the Day: I just came home from Boston. While there I had the privilege to sit at Mile 20 of the Boston Marathon in Newton MA in the middle of Heartbreak Hill. I watched as the wheel chair competitors passed, the female front runners, the male front runners and then the waves of runners from around the country and around the world who came out in full force to support Boston as they took back the Marathon.

Motivational Mondays: New England Weather and Resiliency

Thought for the Day: I know it is not Monday, but I wanted to post this and will catch up tomorrow. You see, I was in Boston from late Saturday night till late last night for a critical incident. I wrote this post, but was unable to publish it, since I did not have internet access while I was working. I travel to help corporations when tragedy strikes. Sometimes it is for a death or serious illness of an employee. Other times it's is to work with banks following robberies. Just over a year ago, I was called to help two companies following the Boston Marathon bombings. I lived in Boston for many years and have family here, so a part of me resides in this great city. While I worked this weekend, following another tragic event, I could not help but reflect on how things have changed since last year.

Top 10 Special Editions 2013: Celebrating Holidays, Triumphs Over Tragedies, and Resilience

Thought for the Day: As I have been preparing the Top 10 posts that represent each of the themes covered here on my blog in 2013; i.e., Monumental Miraculous Mondays, Tuesday and Thursday's Psychology Trivia, #FF Friday's Fabulous Finds, Saturday's Songs for the Soul and Sunday's Comic Strips, I realized that some important special editions have not been included in the mix. These are posts that happen spontaneously in reaction to an event or a holiday. So today, I went back and looked for these posts and found the most viewed among them. They cover the highs and lows of the year. Some celebrate joyous occasions others reflect on tragedies with a mix of sorrow, anger and resilience. Here are 5 of the Top 10. I'll share the Top 5 in two weeks as I have with the other subjects.

#10 Thursday's Time to Reflect: What to Do When Bad Things Bring You Down 4/25/13

# 9 Stand Tall Tuesday: Boston Will Finish First 4/16/13

Saturday's Songs for the Soul: Top 10 Songs 4 the Soul of 2013

Thought for the Day: Last year I started posting Saturday's Songs for the Soul in honor of my brother, Larry Bogdanow, who passed away from brain cancer. Larry was a true Renaissance man who loved the all forms of art. He was also amazing at finding new music and renditions of the classics by varied artists. As gifts he would put together cd mixes which all who received them cherish to this day. Since I am celebrating the 2nd anniversary of the start of this blog all month and 79,400 page views since it's inception, I will be sharing the top 10 Songs for the Soul posts from 2013. Today I will share the 1st 5 (from #10 to #5 in popularity by # of page views which may not be fair since as people began to view the blog more often posts got more exposure!). In 2 weeks, I will post the top 5 posts from this series.

#FF Friday's Fabulous Finds: Living With Purpose from Iowa, Mumbai, Oklahoma, Boston & DC

Thought for the Day: TGIF & it's time for my #FF Fabulous Finds. Although my #FF finds this week come from Iowa to Mumbai to Boston, Oklahoma & DC, the common element is "Living with Purpose."  Although the stories are diverse covering education, motivation, & entertainment, check these finds out & see how they are related. Have a wonderful weekend! Let me know what you think & I'd love to hear what motivates you, too. I hope you will join me tomorrow for Saturday's Songs for the Soul & Sunday's Comic Strips.

1) Memorial Day:  Iowa Veteran's 72 year wait to get a diploma. This week began with a Memorial Day Monday Blog post & my first finds tells why an Iowa veteran chose to miss his high school graduation 72 years ago. Be sure to watch the video till the end to completely understand what motivated him.

2) Thanks to social media a young woman, Shweta Katti, who grew up in Mumbai's red-light district, Kamathipura, may realize her dream to study in America. Send Shweta Katti to College

3) This video is an excellent example of how education is changing & available world wide via the internet & YouTube. It helps explain why traditional ideas about motivation don't work.

 
4) Social Action: Moms Demand Action Click here to automatically call your Congressman every day. I continue to be impressed by the resourcefulness of MOMs Demand Action. If you want universal background checks to happen, MOMs demand action needs your help see why & how easy it can be....

Photos from FlickrCC.com

 5) Carrie Underwood is donating the proceeds from her Blown Away concert tour to the Oklahoma Tornado recovery efforts.   If you love Carrie Underwood's music to support survivors of the  music her, generous donation to victims of tornadoes   in her home state of Oklahoma will make you love her even more.
 

NKOTB w Boyz II Men. Time travel

6) At the star studded 'Boston Strong' benefit Concert last night NKOTB, Aerosmith, Boston, James Taylor and Carole King, the J. Geils Band, Jimmy Buffett, Jason Aldean, and comedians Dane Cook and Steven Wright all worked for free Thursday.  TD Garden, Ticketmaster, and a host of local hotels also donated their services for free. they expect to raise over $1.5 million for the One Fund. The photo (courtesy of my brother who attended the concert) was just before the musicians went & hugged the victims & first responders.