October 2025 – Surprised By Joy
7 posts published by Wynne Leon during October 2025| Surprised By Joy
7 posts published by Wynne Leon during October 2025| Surprised By Joy
“When we do the best that we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or the life of another.” – Helen Keller Karen Olson shares a statistic in her book Meant for More: Following Your Heart and Finding Your Purpose that one in thirty children in the United States experience homelessness … Continue reading How to Share a Sandwich→| Surprised By Joy
“We form friendships with unrelated people. It’s universal in human groups. We cooperate with each other, altruistically. We’re kind to strangers — again, to unrelated individuals. This is different than many other types of cooperation, which are also seen in other animal species, but often that cooperation is between genetically related individuals. We do it … Continue reading The Power of Sharing: Lessons from a Bunny Encounter→| Surprised By Joy
“Gotta move different when you want different.” – unknown Miss O and Mr. D participated in their school move-a-thon this past week. Of course, move-a-thons are just what I call normal days in our house. Except Cooper and the cat don’t always participate. The sign of the week – and my young creators.| Surprised By Joy
“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” – Benjamin Franklin Back when my brother had his pilot’s license, I would occasionally fly with him when he needed to get time in practicing take-offs and landings. We’d go on days where the weather was nice and spend an hour or two flying to … Continue reading How to Share a Short Story→| Surprised By Joy
“To understand where you stand in own your life, you cannot remain seated.” – Christine E. Szymanski I can rely on my kids to have a nose for what’s authentic. At 6 and 10 years old, they might not be able to tell me exactly why, but they can tell the difference between people who … Continue reading Standing Up for Democracy: Lessons from Kids→| Surprised By Joy
“Sometimes I think that ideas float through the atmosphere like huge squishy pumpkins, waiting for heads to drop on.” Neil Gaiman Mr. D recently saw some Halloween decorations put up at a friend’s house and said, “Yay, Halloween!! I’ve been waiting for it for years!” So for anyone who has been waiting YEARS for Halloween, … Continue reading Photos of the Week: October 4th→| Surprised By Joy
“The best leader is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and the self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it.” – Theodore Ro…| Surprised By Joy
10 posts published by Wynne Leon during September 2025| Surprised By Joy
“Use your passion to create a job.” – Lailah Gifty Akita Recently, six-year-old Mr. D announced to his sister and me that he wanted to open a shop. After confessing that he didn’t know what he wanted to sell, we started brainstorming ideas based on his skills and interests. Ten-year-old Miss O came up with … Continue reading Not Too Hot, Not Too Cold: Medium Water→| Surprised By Joy
“Just living isn’t enough,” said the butterfly. One must also have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower. ” – Hans Christian Anderson This week was a rollercoaster because both of my kids got sick. Nothing serious thankfully, just back to school crud. But we still managed to squeeze in some time magnet fishing – something my … Continue reading Photos of the Week: September 27→| Surprised By Joy
“Once you choose hope, anything’s possible.” – Christopher Reeve I recently watched the original 1979 Superman movie with my kids – the one with Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, and Gene Hackman. Such a classic. My 10-year-old daughter started asking questions about Christopher Reeve, the accident that left him paralyzed, and when he died. Christopher Reeve … Continue reading How to Share SCI Support and Advocacy→| Surprised By Joy
“Your attitude is either the lock or the key to the door of success.” – Dennis Waitley The lead up to this joke happened 13 months ago. I know because I blogged about it on Sharin…| Surprised By Joy
“If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.” – Booker T. Washington Yesterday afternoon my kids and I had two hours left of a six hour road trip when we came across a …| Surprised By Joy
“‘Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” – Soren Kierkergaard* I learned a powerful lesson about twenty-five years ago when I climbed Mt. Ixtaccihu…| Surprised By Joy
“When we do the best that we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or the life of another.” – Helen Keller My 86-year-old mother recently bought an Apple watch a…| Surprised By Joy
“Everyone has a talent. What’s rare is to follow it to the dark places where it leads.” – Erica Jong Do you have a solid idea of what you know? Not what your jobs have been …| Surprised By Joy
“Sometimes life is too hard to be alone, and sometimes life is too good to be alone.” – Elizabeth Gilbert When I was climbing mountains, I noticed a funny thing when we roped up o…| Surprised By Joy
“Believe with all of your heart that you will do what you were made to do.” – Orson Swett Marden Mr. D’s 6th birthday fun The ready position Time to jump…and bloom Coo…| Surprised By Joy
“Sometimes it’s okay if the only thing you remembered to do today was breathe.” – unknown Long before I learned to meditate, I learned a breath practice while climbing mount…| Surprised By Joy
“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” – Aesop Recently my daughter, nine-year-old Miss O, and I were at our neighborhood grocery store. When we went through t…| Surprised By Joy
