All of us need help at some point in our lives—sometimes at many points in our lives. On good days, our wish for help is relatively trivial, say asking a neighbor to help us move a piece of furniture or a passerby for driving directions. At other times, our need for aid may be deeper […]
This I Believe New England
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This I Believe New England – Round Words
The words that come out of our mouths matter. They matter a lot. Carefully chosen, words can inspire, they can heal, and encourage. But, on the other side of that coin, words can inflame, they can incite, they can wound, deeply. Here’s what Confucius had to say on the subject: “Without knowing the force of […]
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This I Believe New England – Thankful for Ordinary Things
Perhaps it’s a truism, but it sure does seem that the older we get, the more we appreciate life’s fragility and are better able to feel gratitude for whatever good fortune comes our way. As Cicero said more than 2,000 years ago, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all […]
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This I Believe New England – Finding Humor
Humor seems so necessary, especially now. Well timed, it can lighten otherwise dark moments. Well placed, humor can remind us not to take ourselves too seriously. Mark Twain famously said, “Humor is the great thing, the saving thing after all. The minute it crops up, all our hardnesses yield, all our irritations, and resentments flit […]
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This I Believe New England – Transphobia Pandemic
The word pandemic is now a central element of our vocabulary. COVID-19 has made sure of that, hasn’t it? Since its unwelcome arrival, this pandemic has taught us so many life lessons, among them the need for precautions, safety measures, and, we hope, empathy. Calvin Bales is here to implore us to extend these important […]
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This I Believe New England – Embracing Change
Every life is filled with change, some unbidden and some welcome. On occasion, the life we know gets turned upside down, forcing us to confront the unexpected and cope with what comes our way. And this is what happened to 13-year-old Alex Zenit. Alex Zenit lives with his family in Providence. In the fall he will enter the […]
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This I Believe New England – Putting Down The Camera
The famed photographer Robert Frank once said, “The eye should learn to listen before it looks.” Now, isn’t that profound. The clear implication is that we need to truly notice what’s around us before we try to capture it through a camera lens. Yet, so many of us have grown accustomed to viewing the world […]
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This I Believe New England – Where I’m From
It’s a truism that adolescence poses all manner of challenges, not the least among them sorting out one’s identity. The psychologist Louise Kaplan once said, “Adolescence is the conjugator of childhood and adulthood.” Let’s hear Jack Willimann’s take on his unique challenge. Jack Willimann lives with his family in Providence. In the fall he will be entering […]
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This I Believe New England – Two Worlds
There is no doubt that all of us are coping with unprecedented challenges as we live amidst the swirl of health care challenges, social unrest, political turmoil, and glaring inequities. In moments like these, it can be hard to find silver linings and reasons to feel truly grateful. Yet, for many of us, though we […]
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This I Believe New England – Forgiveness
Forgiveness is complicated, especially when we’ve been mistreated badly. Perhaps we think we should be able to rise above our anger and resentment and utter those simple words, “I forgive you.”
