Today I have a menagerie of brief topics I wanted to share with you. The first is the passing of the great tenor Pavarotti. One New Years Eve in Vancouver B.C., I had the great privilege of hearing the Three Tenors in concert. Pavarotti had a voice like a trumpet that could fill a hall like no one else. I listen to an interview of him by Charlie Rose and I was surprised to hear how incredibly afraid he was before each performance. He said, however as soon as he walked out on the stage he was absolutely transformed. “I went from this scared child to this person taken over by the music and the audience.” His gift was exceptional and his dedication to be the best he could be was life long. I see the greatness he was given and think about what greatness is in me and wonder what greatness is in you? I hope you and I allow our greatness to nurtured and fully realized?

Now a total change of pace, here is a really interesting site I came upon while doing StumbleUpon.com a site that sends you randomly to rate other websites. First StumbleUpon.com is worth checking out, secondly I came upon a website in which you can give yourself all these personality, intelligence and other tests. This site is interesting and fun and can give you some information about yourself that can be insightful and helpful www.testdex.com.

If you need a break or need to be uplifted while sitting at the computer and you can check out greatday.com. The inspirational videos can lift you up.

I save the highest for the last. I was reading in Ode Magazine odemagazine.com some wisdom from the Dalai Lama that will be out in a documentary called, 10 Questions for the Dalai Lama. You can find out more at 10QuestionsfortheDalaiLama.com and enter the filmmakers site. Here are a few of his insights that too me are simple and powerful. He is truly a blessing to all of us on the planet.

“Everything is independent. Everything is interconnected. . . . Our survival and our future are very much linked to one another. Therefore the destruction of your so called enemy is actually the destruction of your self. . . . To use the power of the gun is a sign of weakness. . . . This violence, it won’t work. “

“There is too much emotion, too much negative emotion: frustration, hatred, anger. I think that’s the greatest obstacle. So I think as a first step this should be cooled down. Reduced. Forget these things. . . . We need more festivals more picnics. Let us forget these difficult things, these emotions and make personal friends. Then we can talk about these serious matters.”
The Dalai Lama