A little shot of dopamine for your inbox

“My interest had grown thin in what the world had to offer.”—Bob Roth

Happiest of Fridays, my fine-feathered friends.

While I may be the last .05 percent that still takes the local newspaper (mostly because I dig doing the puzzles), I happened to notice today’s “Speed Bump” cartoon.

Can you imagine the resulting peace and possibilities from such a feed?

According to the Course, we have wasted many, many years on these senseless whims and quaint absurdities.

So here are a couple news items that speak to me:

The U.S. World Cup soccer coach runs every team he’s ever led according to “energia universal,” a higher form of energy that he believes people can connect with and harness. Mauricio Pochettino always keeps a box of lemons in his office and in his teams’ locker rooms.

“I believe 100 percent that lemons pull out negative energy,” he says.

He religiously changes out the lemons every 10 days. He has also been known to insist players walk on hot coals, an exercise that demonstrates the power of the mind over the body and he often chooses his roster according to players’ auras, not their skills.

News item #2 happened to moi last night. Ever since Taz worked with the Spanish-speaking families of Big Brothers/Big Sisters, I’ve been a Big to my Little, Azul.

Last night, I volunteered at a BBBS fundraiser that pitted 10 chefs, who each brought their best dish and a specially-crafted cocktail, to be judged and chosen as winners by the audience.

Called Plates and Pours, this fun event also featured a video where a dozen or so Littles who are now grown up were interviewed about their relationship with their Bigs. I was casually watching when I was startled to see a picture of my mom on the screen who was posing with her Little, Courtney who, of course, I’ve known since she was small.

Courtney in the video mentioned that when she met Shirley, my mom, her mom was addicted to drugs and her dad, an alcoholic, had abandoned her.

She raved about the difference my mom made in her life. I’m used to getting fun little signs from Taz, but this was special because it came from my mom who died the same year.

In the video, most of the Bigs were sitting next to their grownup Littles and, in the end, they each hugged. My mom, who is no longer here in the physical, couldn’t hug Courtney, but the long-term effects (she’s now a successful wife and mom herself) are still very much present.

Have a fab weekend, friends!

#222 Forever!

Pam Grout is the author of 22 books including E-Squared, Thank & Grow Rich , The Course in Miracles Experiment: A Starter Kit for Rewiring Your Mind (And Therefore Your World)and her latest, The Ego’s Playbook.