Joe Goodwin

A Good Coaching Fit I’ve been thinking about who would be my ideal client; someone I could connect with and help them open themselves to new possibilities. I cannot coach every person well; but I can coach some people very well. I have certain gifts that, with the right person, could cause them to find real success in finding their goals. The client who would be a good fit for me would be someone who is getting along fairly well in life but is caught up doing too many minor ...things while ignoring the major ones. They know there is something better for them but cannot seem to figure it out. They need help in sorting out their personal life goals and working towards them. They may have some relationship problems at work or at home that weigh heavily on them. It all seems so overwhelming. This is my happy place! As a trained and certified life coach, I want to connect with this type of person and together come up with some great action steps to learn to prioritize and build a perfect path for them. My personal gifts of confidentiality, discernment and listening allow me to see where the trouble spots are in one’s life and nudge them into making a personal action plan and flying with it. Give me a call if this interests you. email - [email protected] phone - 519-466-2432

Hey everyone; Yes, another item involving Covid-19 et al. But this one gives some thoughts on our emotional wellness worth a read!

The Little Boy and the Starfish: Can I really make a Difference? https://www.joegoodwin.ca//the-little-boy-and-the-marooned

https://www.joegoodwin.ca/blog/2020/12/12/keep-calmtrust-me

https://www.joegoodwin.ca//11/26/have-we-destroyed-our-oce

If I am unable to believe I am more than happenstance, I have chosen to behave as a person of accident rather than a person of purpose. C.D. Loursbrough

Where is Covid 19 pushing us?? Is it causing you a lot of anxiety? Are you finding this off time a bit heavy as you have free time to think of your future or make sense of a that relationship? I can help!! As a qualified Life Coach, this is my heart - going alongside people like you and enabling you to plan a perfect life goal or mend that relationship. My unique gifts of discernment, listening and empathy allow me to draw out self knowledge you may be unaware of. I love ...to listen to what is revealed out of your subconscious understanding, boil down the rich data into practical intelligence and empower you to craft a workable action plan. I am sensitive to your vulnerability so much that my searching process feels safe yet empowering. Call me 519-466-2432 or check my website joegoodwin.ca See more

Think about it! joegoodwin.ca

Check out my blog at joegoodwin.ca

See more on my blog joe goodwin.ca

Life After Covid-19 In the early 20th century, the town of Enterprise, Alabama, had an epidemic that wiped out its entire crops of cotton, the crop which provided for its entire income. The culprit was an insect called the Bull Weevil. Ingenious farmers had to find another means of income and planted peanuts. Surprisingly, they found they were very good in growing a peanut industry and in fact, made much more money than they ever did with cotton. A disaster turned out ...Continue reading

Do I Have A Calling??? "If it's all meaningless then why are we discussing that it's all meaningless? So, maybe the fact that we're having a meaningless conversation about life being meaningless evidences that it's not. " - C.D. Lounsbrough I believe we all have a special path in life that complements our own special gifting or talents. Not everyone thinks as I do. I'm not sure what motivates them; money, recognition, a sense of achievement... My personal calling is bas...ed on my belief in a supreme being and the idea treating others as you would like to be treated. https://www.joegoodwin.ca/blog/2020/9/15/d-i-have-a-calling

Sticks And Stones You remember this saying? Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me Not true! Oh, you may not visibly bleed but you sure can hurt. Have you ever received some great news and you want to share it with someone else but they don’t share your joy? In fact they say that news is not good or even relevant. ...Continue reading

Hi All; I read this article written by a life coach , Tony Fahkry, and thought I would pass it on: A Personal Message: "Theres been an impressive deal going on in the world recently, it may feel our lives have been uprooted. However, change is always chaotic and disorganised in the beginning. Having witnessed many changes over the years, I regard what is taking place now as laying the foundation for an emerging consciousness. For this reason, I urge you not to focus on the... chaos but continue to focus on your personal growth and wait for things to settle." Tony Fahkry No definite steps here on what to do during this Covid-19, but some great general thoughts for all of us to rethink and reorganize our focus here. This is an extremely valuable situation going on, one that we may never have again (thank goodness!). Why not take time that you would not ordinarily have and rethink your life's direction? Look and see if what you spend most of your time and energy on is aligned with your personal purpose. You may never get another chunk of time like this again.

The following is most often true: "people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply. Stephen Covey Have you ever felt the person you are talking to is mentally somewhere else? May I suggest that you don't do that? When someone is talking to you, look them in the eye and show by your body language, you hear them. It's even good if you throw in the odd affirmative word.... You may even find that what they are saying is worth listening to. See more

This is Silver Lake just south of Parry Sound, ON , where I lived with my family until I was 26. I often went down to the dock and stared out and dreamed of the future or just stared(something I hear only men can do). Why not look at this picture for awhile and let your mind think of pleasant things. Forget for a moment that you have a life to live and responsibilities to take care of ... Imagine yourself drifting along with your hand in the water, letting the soothing scene calm your spirit and allowing you to lose yourself in the moment. Can you feel it?

DON'T TOUCH YOUR FACE!! COVID-19

CABIN FEVER!!! I have put together some tips for you to help you cope with Covid-19. Go to "joegoodwin.ca" and then press "blog"

Joe Goodwin April 28 at 3:07 PM It's Really Up To You!! Most of us want to be in charge of our own lives. Well, I think that's OK. In fact, you should make decisions about yourself. Of course, sometimes you don't know that decision. That is where I, a Life Coach, come in. Of course, you have to make that decision to engage me or a another professional. You're still in charge; just letting it be known you are seeking advice. Good decision!!! Right now you're faced with deci...ding what to decide about this cover -19. Some of us are rebellious about following mandatory laws like self quarantine at home and social distancing. The good thing is that you are following them! I don't think any of us expected isolation to last so long. We've been creative in involving our families in activities, inviting our own games etc. But how can we continue not visiting our hairdresser or wandering through Home Depot?? Something's gotta give, and soon!! Unfortunately this decision is not ours. Our only choice is to follow the rules or face huge fines and they're so large! Why is that, do you think?? How many of us would abide with the rules if there were no incentive to do so? Unfortunately, too many of us would risk our health and that of many others if there were no significant restrictions. How many of us, I wonder, would conclude that this is all a sham, a deception? Another way for the government to take over more of our lives. Perhaps you are one who wants to be responsible; hunker down for your own safety. After all, this may be just as bad as they say. Those in charge may be right. Our leaders may be right; it really is a global emergency. It's always easier for us to be critical and judgemental rather than look for a solution. I have decided to be a responsible citizen and comply. I don't see a better choice. Until I hear of one, I'm sticking to the boat that's still afloat. I'll even help to patch any holes to keep it afloat. I don't have another idea. But I do have a gut feeling that neither does anyone else. I believe our government is trying its best to preserve our way of living with a minimum loss of life. We all need to make a giant decision; choose to not balk the system. Choose to have a positive attitude. Choose to believe in our leadership to curb this pandemic. I am convinced that is the best decision and the best attitude to take. My offer of a FREE LIFE COACHING SESSION is still open to anyone who would like some help with this or any other topic of concern. Call me; joe goodwin.ca [email protected] 519-466-2432(a Hamilton no.) 6

Had enough of staying home ? Found out that your old problems are still there, waiting to be solved? Togetherness is overstated? Resent having to be without relatives and friends? Need to attend your place of worship?..... I would like to help. If you read my site, joe goodwin.ca, you will see my credentials as a Life Coach. It would be my honour to coach you through a difficulty or a desire and am offering a FREE COACHING SESSION ... which could be done over the phone or some other mode such as FaceTime or ?? A great time to work on completing that personal "to do" list or clean the garage but find it all overwhelming. Contact me at [email protected] or phone my cell, 519-466-2432, a Hamilton number. All is confidential. Joe Goodwin A granddaughter >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

one of my favourite people

Granpa's Musings Country Living For most of my childhood, my family of 2 parents and 7 siblings lived on 60 acres, Mom named Silver Springs, right on the Trans Canada Highway. We never had the usual city amenities like a movie theatre, library, hockey rink or restaurants but we somehow existed. Actually, my country upbringing was magical; there were many exciting things to do like skating on the lake, snowmobiling, swimming, standing in the bucket of our tractor to gather ...Continue reading

Grandpa's Musings I thought animal stories at the Goodwin home when I was young were done. But I have another; turkeys. Again, my mother was the instigator while Dad brought them home. 4 young turkeys arrived at our home one spring day, just recently liberated from their warm, cozy egg. With the hopes of having fresh turkey dinners, Mom left the scrawny foursome in a small barn on our property where they would be fed until ready for the dinner plate. None of us knew that tu...rkeys are somewhat fragile and need more warmth to grow. Our negligence resulted in 4 young turkeys coming down with the sniffles. They were quickly relocated to our basement and placed into a nicely blanketed cardboard box. Mom, who had a way with sick animals, began to nurse them back to health. To our horror, these small bits of beak and feathers did not show any signs of improving; in fact, they became worse. The obvious next step was to call in the veterinarian who resided 45 minutes away. He descended into our basement with his bag of miracles and sure enough, his patients recovered to perfect health within 2 days. As was the custom of early settlers who waited until their babies were of a certain age before they named them, we felt our delicate charge was ready. They were not going to die. The names we all chose were Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and Easter. All was not easy with these birds. For one thing, they appeared to be rather dumb,.. stupid,..senseless. The most senseless thing they did when they had grown somewhat, was to get themselves out of our reach. One morning we found all 4 birds perched atop an old post, about 12 feet tall. My brother pulled them down with a long pole. We found them there again the next morning and learned that was what turkeys do at night to avoid being dinner for local wildlife. Every evening around dusk, we would have to put the 4 in our little barn before the urge came for them to fly the coop. If our timing was late, we knew we had to get them down before they became dinner that night. I don't know how long we tolerated this nightly ritual but I do know what shortly followed. My dad sharpened his axe and decapitated all 4. Unfortunately, Dad did not know which bird was named what and after he did the preparing of the headless birds, he lay them to rest in our large freezer. The first holiday to come was Thanksgiving. Mom prepared her famous Thanksgiving banquet with one of the 4 taking the place of honour at the centre of the table. I did hear a few, "Which one is this? October?' but no one really knew. And luckily, unlike our 2 pigs, Snort and Grunt, who shook us up a little at their dinner debut, no one seemed to mind. Check out my website joe goodwin.ca

I have a challenge for you! I would like to show you a small idea on how to reach some goal you may have. It should be a rather uncomplicated goal for our attempt here such as a goal to get to work on time, clean my garage or lose some weight. Here are 4 steps in reaching this goal. 1. Choose a goal that is reachable. make it clear and not vague ,an important one to you.... 2. Reality Check pick a sensible place to start what have you already tried? what are the most important factors? What has led you to make this goal? By when do you want to reach this goal? 3. List as many options as you can no less than 5 options If money was not an issue, what would you try? If that obstacle could be removed, what would you do then? who could help you? 4. Select your best option turn that option into an action statement in one sentence. what will you do, by when? check your motivation; score it from 1 to 10 what would it take to make that score a 9 or a 10? Let me know how you make out. I will try to answer any questions. Reach me at [email protected] Check out my life coach site joegoodwin.ca

"Listening is a hug you give with your mind." Barbara Nixon"Listening is a hug you give with your mind." Barbara Nixon

Wanna Be A Better You? There is a tiny store in Verdun, Montreal, that has been family run since the Great Depression. They make exquisite chocolates in the back of the store. This ambrosia of the gods is displayed in row upon row of seductively beckoning chocolates And they can be ordered individually to fill a chocolate box; soft, chewy caramel, nutty, truffle, Almond Butter Crunch , Chocolate Cream. . . Be still my heart! It would be unwise for me(actually stupid...Continue reading

Grandpas Musings: Jesse Stories My grandson, Jesse, and I spent quite a lot of time together when he was young. He and his family lived with my wife and me for a few years. I remember one time when Jesse was about 3 or 4 years old, I was laying on my bed and he came in and climbed up. Laying on top of me, he spread his arms and legs out on mine. In his soft loving voice, my first grandson spoke these words, ... Grandpa, I want to look just like you. I can still hear him say it. Shortly after that, Joanne and I flew to B.C. and I went with a friend out on the Pacific Ocean to go whale watching. Before I went, I called Jesse and told him what I was going to do that day. He responded in an unexpected way. In a very high pitched, loud, squeal, he angrily burst out, I hope you dont see any!! I can still hear him say that as well. Jesse didnt like me experiencing something special without him; that was unheard of; He and grandpa shared everything together. Im happy to report that this incident did not put a dent in our tight relationship. We have a wide variety of experiences throughout our journey here on Earth. Its how we learn and mature. It would be great if there was no pain in any of it but thats just the way it is. Actually, it is good we have both positive and negative experiences. Both are necessary in our journey. If you think about this, isnt it mostly in the tough times that you really learn and mature? Your character grows every time if you let it. So dont shun the bad or difficult times you go through. Its in those moments you begin to emerge as the person you are going to be. Im not saying you should like those hard times or be thankful for them. But dont let any go by without checking out what lessons youve learned from that hard time. You may even want to thank the person responsible for that downer in your journey. Without him, you may not have grown in character and become the great human being you are today. Something to ponder upon.

This picture was sent to me from my beautiful sister in law, Monika. I don't remember which birthday it was for Mom... 90th or later

Didn't keep most of last new year's resolutions?? Don't feel like making more that you won't complete?? My suggestion:... It's better to have made resolutions without completing them than to have made none at all. WHY??? Well...If you make a resolution and get even a little of it accomplished, isn't that better than not trying at all? Why don't you make a resolution in tiny steps? ie you want to walk for 30 minutes briskly. How about starting with going to the end of the block? (give yourself a small reward for this after a week of doing it) Next week do 2 blocks. Don't think it is stupid or useless; I did this for a 30 minute walk and have built up to a 30 min. walk and run. I am more energetic and ready to accomplish more. I challenge you! Let me know how it goes and maybe I'll have some advice for you. don't forget to check out joegoodwin.ca

Grandpa's Musings: The Innocence of a Child My son, Timothy was quite young when he attended grade 1. His birthday is at the end of September which is the cut off date for someone to start school where we lived. A day older and he would have had to wait a whole year to start school. Focussing was not a strong trait for Timothy, especially if he did not understand what was being taught. When asked what he did when he was unable to concentrate on what was being taught, Tim ...innocently replied, " I look out the window and think of happy things". A lot of looking out the window transpired that year. Tim was in French Immersion(don't ask) and one day near the end of the school year, Mom asked, "How are you doing in your French class?" Tim replied, "I don't take French." "Yes you do; every day you go to another classroom and Mme. Gervais talks to you in French." Tim's reply: "Oh! I wondered why she always talked funny." One day after school, Timothy said to his mom, "My teacher says that Spring is right around the corner." He paused for a moment of deep thought and asked, "Do you think if I look, I will see it?" Oh, the innocence of a child. The Bible talks a lot about children in the Bible. In the book of Matthew, chapter 18, it says, "...the disciples asked Jesus, "Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?" Jesus called a little child to him...He said, I tell you the truth; unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me." OH NO!! Is that saying I have to be simple like a child to get into Heaven??" Well, yes it does. But please understand what "simple" means here. Is is actually saying that one has to put away his arrogance, self importance and have a humble attitude. There is no room for "self" here. It is a submitting of one's will in surrender to God. It is a trust expecting God to communicate with you in a way that will change you forever. God is looking for an intimate relationship with you; that's it! He wants to have communication between the both of you. All that prohibits that is your wrong or sinful way of living. And God cannot have anything to do with that part of you. He is pure and holy which allows no sin or wrong to come near Him. God is waiting for you; He has made the first move; now it's your turn. It's simple enough for a child to understand. check out my website joe goodwin.ca

Grandpa's Musings My wife and I took our grandson, Jesse, who was 3 or 4 at the time, to pick apples at an apple orchard. On the way home with our pickings, Jesse questioned from the backseat, "Hey, Grandma, what are apples made of?" She replied, "I don't know." Unfazed, Jesse turned to me and asked,"Hey Grandpa, what are apples made of?' My scholarly answer was"apple."... Jesse turned to Grandma and said, "See Grandma; Grandpa knows." Jesse is now 21 and he and I have a tight relationship. He no longer thinks his grandpa knows everything and would expect an answer to his question to hold a little more content. I would have to mention that apples are made up of a lot of water with carbs. Along with that, there is fibre which moderates blood sugar levels and promotes a healthy stomach(thank you google). Jesse doesn't require Grandpa to know everything anymore; he sees his grandpa with different eyes these days. It doesn't matter how much Grandpa knows ; Jesse sees Grandpa with his heart. Isn't that what life's all about?? (check out my website joe goodwin.ca)

Need a big dose of Self Discipline? Any hope for someone who lacks self discipline Actually, there is!!...Continue reading

IS LIFE FAIR??? Before we were married, my wife and I went to the same college in Peterborough, ON. I wondered if that were the only thing we had in common. I never was an A student; if the class was difficult, I worked hard to get a B+. If the class was fairly straightforward, I did only enough work to get a B+. I was content with that. I studied regularly, handed in all my assignments and attended all classes. My wife, however, did not study or hand in all assignments...Continue reading

Grandpa's Musings A Vacation To Remember My family took a road trip to British Columbia. 5 of us went; Mom, Dad, Lynda, Judy and me. It was a huge car weighing 5500 lbs and had room for another person comfortable.... We pulled a pop up trailer which slept 8 so lots of room. There was no hurry so we took our time and explored as we went. Took us 3 days to go through Ontario!! After driving on relatively flat roads for several days, we were driving through British Columbia and, in particular, the town of Canmore. My Dad was unusually uncomfortable driving the windy roads through the Rocky Mountains so we decided to stop overnight in Canmore(somewhere in the mountains and really really high!! While in Canmore, we walked downtown to check out the community and found the town was celebrating a yearly event called Cammy Days. Sounds friendly me. Many of the town leaders were selling a badge which everyone had to buy if one wished to stay in the event. It was a cute way of getting $5.00 to support the town. Most of us bought a badge and I have no idea what it said on them. Of course, Mom would have no part in helping the town out with its projects. Who pays $5.00 to walk downtown in this town perched on a hill?? She walked on, oblivious to what was coming. Canmore may be small but it stands up for itself. Unknown to us, meandering through the crowd was a portable "jail" complete with bars and locks, riding on a flatbed trailer. You see, if you didn't have a badge showing somewhere on you, these friendly looking "jailers" would "arrest" you and lock you in their jail. You can guess what was going through my mind right about then. I went over to the jailers and pointed out the lady in the red coat who was badgeless(not sure if that's a word). Two of them came over to my Mom and politely told her the rules of the badge. "No badge, off to jail" She refused. I encouraged the jailers to continue on so each one took an arm. That's fight"n action to my Mom. Although she looked rather genteel, Mom was quite a feisty person when that's what was called for. In a swift move, she pulled herself away from the jailers, scolding them as she went. They immediately let go of her and stood there looking sheepish. I thought, "no way is she getting off that easily so I encouraged the jailers to do their duty. They straightened up, grabbed Mom a little more forcefully and pulled and shoved her into the jail. As she looked angrily out of the bars, my Dad cracked up along with any bystanders who were unaware of the battle that had just taken place. Mom began yelling to the jailers saying they could not do this to her! She knew important people and her brother in law was a mayor!! Mom didn't have to stay in "jail" for long; she was released, still refusing to buy a badge. I've just realized that through the years as we milked that incident for all we could, Mom never joined in. That's a very long time to hold a grudge, don't you think??

Grandpa's Musings I am going to share with you, one of my most embarrassing moments. It may not be one that you would put at the top of the your list but it was for me. A few years back, I worked at a social service institution and held the position of director. Part of my duties was to attend regular meetings with other similar institutions to discuss changes, problems, which organization to place certain youth offenders and more. There were several prominent members at t...his table and it was a little intimidating to me. The chairman of our meeting was a lawyer and it was at his office on the 40th floor of a downtown complex that we regularly met. Being unsure of the complexities of the organization, I usually kept quiet unless specifically asked for my input on a matter. That seemed fine with everyone as pretty well all of them liked to hear their own voice the most. One winter morning I chose to wear a sweater to this meeting. It had a picture knitted into the fabric, of a bear holding a fish in one of its paws. A bad decision! The lawyer noticed me entering the room and greeted me by saying "You have a bear on your sweater". It seemed to be a harmless attempt at making conversation so I wanted to respond. If you knew me you would probably know that I have a very dry sense of humour and I chose at that critical moment to make a joke of his comment. I answered him by saying, "You have a problem with that? ...Dead silence. No one moved. The lawyer opened his eyes wide, bowed his head and looked around the room at the others. My "joke" had bombed! No one caught that I was trying to be light; they thought I had been insulted by the lawyer's remark and now was challenging him. My only thought was "Oh, why don't windows open on the 40th floor?" Some of you may be thinking, "Why didn't you just tell him that you were misunderstood? Then you could have explained what you meant.? End of story. I think that is a great idea; maybe I'll give him a call and do just that. Of course, several years have passed since that fateful day. I'm not going to stir that up for anything. Hindsight is good and one can think of several things to say or do that would have been lots better than than to just leave it hanging. I do agree with you. At that critical moment, however, the only thought for me was to take my seat and slink so low, I'd be soon forgotten. Quite the life's lesson to learn! Next time, I'll check to see that the windows on the 40th floor do open. I'm joking, I'm joking!!

Grandpa's Musings; When I was 19, my family went through a terrible tragedy. My brother, Tom, aged 20, was involved in a highway accident. He and a friend had gone to the Exhibition in Toronto, 2 1/2 hours away and returned the same day, very late at night. Tom had 2 cars and he had chosen to take his Austin Healy Sprite soft top that late summer night. He knew the road, part of the Trans Canada Highway, very well. I have heard it said that most accidents happen close to ...your own home and this statement was reinforced that September day. Tom had just passed our home and business, continuing on to take his friend home just up the highway a bit. He was just passing our neighbour, an all night truck stop. The truck stop had extensive lighting right on the edge of the highway. Unknown and unseen by the 2 boys was a 16 wheeler leaving the truck stop and heading in the same direction just ahead of them. It did not have sufficient power to pull its heavy load and began crawling up the highway. To add to that, not one taillight or marker light was working on the huge rig; probably faulty connections or wiring. The bright lights of the truck stop in full contrast to the total blackness of the slow moving truck probably caused a blinding affect. The small topless sports car slammed into the back of the truck and flew over, landing upside down. No sign of braking by the Sprite was evident. Both young men lost their lives. My family and I were dumbstruck and then grief filled, trying to come to terms with the loss of our brother and son. It may seem a bit odd or unhealthy that we all were calm and able to connect with our many friends and family. But if you really knew us and the incredible bond we held, perhaps you would see it differently. You see, my parents and many siblings all had a strong relationship with God and His son, Jesus. This relationship gave us a peace that all was ok. Of course we grieved our Tom and we experienced sad anguishing moments. But when looking at life purpose and direction, we had a grounded sense that Tom was good, we had a peace in God and order was still in our lives. At Tom's funeral, people said they had come to offer us comfort but instead, received strong comfort emanating from us. Someone said, it can surprise you when you realize how strong you can be in difficult situations. Anyone can sail through the good times. I believe that. I cringe when I'm reminded of the bad times in my life where I fell apart. I would like to have a lot more times when difficulties come and I do well. That would make my moments of handling difficulties badly not seem that bad. We're all human, right? See more

Grandpa's Musings My wife, Joanne, and I took a great trip not long ago. We never had much money but we had saved oodles of air miles; enough to go to Thailand!! We had some very good friends who were missionaries there so we were able to stay with them. We had our own personal guides and we stayed in their nice home. I am particularly not fond of snakes so every time I went up to my bedroom, I searched under the bed and in the ensuite, just in case one of the several varieti...Continue reading

Grandpa's Musings In my last post, I mentioned we had a horse with all our other circus of animals. My dad came home one day, following my brother, Guy, who was riding a magnificent shiny horse who appeared to be quite docile. Dad had purchased it at a local fair. It had belonged to a large horse farm where it was being trained to race, pulling a small cart and driver. I imagine the horse didn't quite meet the mark that they required for it to race. Well, it more than me...Continue reading

Grandpa's Musings: Besides having Sam, our Dashchund, we had Lady, a beautiful fawn coloured Great Dane. When I talk about Lady, I sometimes wonder by the way I brag about her, if I may be exaggerating a bit. I asked my brother, Paul, if that was the case and he answered, "There are dogs and then there was Lady". Lady was a gentle giant who got along with everyone but was no pushover. One time our bread delivery man drove to our house in the country when Mom was alone in ...the house. Silently, without a growl, Lady took the man's wrist in her mouth and escorted him to Mom. She scolded Lady for frightening the man and Lady let him go. Just to make sure who's boss around here. Lady and Sam were soul mates; they stuck together most off the time. Sam occasionally let it be known that he wanted this relationship to take the next step but Lady did not reciprocate. After all, we're all family here! It was entertaining to watch Lady playing with kittens. The little kitty would meow and strike out at Lady in play. She would merely close her cavernous mouth over the kitty until it disappeared. When Lady opened her mouth to release the kitten, it would be on its back pawing the air as if this were a regular playtime activity. My most cherished memory was when we wanted to find new homes for our kittens. I would get a small brown paper bag, put a kitten inside and tell Lady to take the bag to my brother, Guy, who would be serving a customer at our gas station. More often than not, the customer would take the sweet little kitty home with him and Lady would have done her Job. Occasionally, Lady would get too rambunctious and throw the bag into the air, trying to catch it again. She didn't always manage it. We were just one big happy family with 8 kids, 2 or 3 dogs, a couple of cats, a quarter horse(another story) and whatever animal Mom thought we should have to teach us another aspect of life. I don't know how my parents were able to manage such a large brood of kids and animals. Must have been something in the water. Check out my website joe goodwin.ca

Grandpa's Musings; Amongst the myriad of dogs we had, Sam, the Weener Dog was one of my favourites. Sam was a Dachshund who ran the household. One of his special treats was to go somewhere in the car. If Sam heard someone mention the word, "Car", he would follow that person to the car and sneak in as soon as the door was opened. It got so we had to spell the words, "town", "drive" and "car" so Sam wouldn't know we were going out. You wouldn't believe how quickly Sam c...aught on !! The lake where we went swimming was across a main highway. We never took Sam with us as we were afraid he would cross the busy road himself sometime and not be aware of traffic. Again Sam fooled us! After we had gone down to the dock, we would see Sam come sauntering down to join us. We never saw him near the highway and were perplexed as to how he followed us without being seen. We found that Sam had discovered a large culvert going under the highway, large enough for him to easily make the trip safely and he went that way every time he joined us at the dock. Quite an ingenious animal! One hot summer day, Sam was getting some shade beside our service station which was on the same property as our home. A car drove in and parked , leaving the windows down for their German Shepherd. Once the Shepherd spotted Sam, he jumped out the window and was on top of Sam before we could do anything. Poor Sam was on his back screaming in terror! Out of nowhere, in a flash, tore our Calico cat who immediately dug her long claws into the Shepherd's back. The Shepherd howled and ran to his car and jumped into the window with our cat riding on his back bronco style. This cat had always been reclusive and stayed away from everyone so it was quite surprising to see her right in the fray. I went up to the cat to praise her for saving Sam but she was too wound up to touch. She hissed and spat at me and swatted her claws. I left her to cool down and went to check on Sam. Surprisingly, there was no blood or noticeable cuts. I remember thinking I knew our family was very close and supporting of each other. It was nice to see that our pets were this way as well. Check out my website: joegoodwin.ca

Grandpa's Musings Meet George!! He came to our family as a baby crow that was "found" by my brother, Tom, on our property somewhere. George was one of our more gregarious family members and because he was raised by our family, was unafraid of humans(or anything else). George would sit on the very end of our calf, Benny and moo like a cow. Gentle Benny would turn around and try to plant his slobbery tongue on George but could never reach. George learned to mimic most of ou...r animals such as the dog, cat, chicken and would hang upside down on a wire making garbled noises as if trying to talk. No coaching from anyone! George loved to fly over our service station on the same property as our home, and would swoop down onto a customer's car, startling everyone. What George really enjoyed was to swoop down and with a large squawk, grab anything loose, such as a gas cap and fly away with it, into the forest. One summer day, George spotted a shiny set of keys left alone by a customer, and grabbed those keys to be taken away to his lair of bright objects somewhere only George knew about. The keys were never seen again! Fortunately for us, the customer got a big kick out of it and had another set of keys. Although George brought of life to our family, it was completely at his bidding. No one ever got George to behave when the time was just not appropriate to play a joke or startle someone. George never had opportunity to be disciplined by his parents so he would become a responsible bird. He finally paid for that mistake. One day, George flew away for the day which was his habit, but never returned. We believe George may have gone too close to some animal who didn't play by George's rules and that animal grabbed an easy meal. Next time you get all in a knot by a parent's rules, be thankful that you have been taught rules of safety and security. You may have stopped yourself from becoming someone's meal! Check out my website on Life Coaching - joe goodwin.ca

Grandpa's musings; One of my favourite animals we had growing up was a black Pol Angus calf. The "Pol" meant it had no horns. The decision was to name him Benny. Benny lived in a small barn beside our house and had a fence built with chicken wire to keep him there. Don't ask me why chicken wire was used. I guess it was ok until Benny grew. And boy did he grow! One day, gentle Benny was scratching his side against the fence and it gave way. Out rolled Benny without a car...e and sauntered over to our gas station on the same 60 acre property. A customer pulled in for gas and when he started to put down his window, He found himself confronted by a big brown eyed beast trying to wash his face with an over grown sloppy tongue. The customer quickly put up his window, not knowing how hospitable Benny was, and gave his gasoline order through a closed window. My guess would be this is not a country boy! Benny's upbringing was affected so much by our large family's quiet mannerisms. He didn't know he was a bull; he just carried on like one of the family, wandering around , greeting anyone he came close to. One day, a big truck came and took full grown Benny away. It was unthinkable for us to get Benny back as steaks and roasts, so the man with the truck bought him. We heard that Benny became the leader of that man's cattle and always brought them home at the end of the day. I like to think that our loving and consistent way of raising Benny caused him to be such a gentle and loving bull. I' ll say more sometime about Benny's relationships with our other adopted family. For now, I'd like to say, be thankful for your upbringing and remember to love and respect your parents and family. Check out my website, joe goodwin.ca

Grandpa's Musings; My mother believed her children should experience a bit of farm life so she was forever bringing home farm animals for us to raise. As for chickens, she decided to take us the whole way in the process; that meant from birth to death. The death part came one fretful afternoon. We gathered outside and Dad grabbed a chicken from the pen. This one was not named which was unusual but fortunate for all of us. Dad Stretched that chicken's neck on a post and wit...h a heavy swing of his axe, chopped its head clean off with one blow. That fool chicken took off in all directions while we all scattered!! My sister, Lynda, ran one way and the headless creature went her way. She manoeuvred another way and so did the chicken. We all howled with laughter while Lynda screeched in "holy terror", trying to evade her worst nightmare! Not really sure what we all learned from this experience. We never did find out when we had chicken for dinner, if this was the one. We sure never learned to band together when one sibling was in trouble. None of us (8 in all), got to pluck feathers or clean out the "innards" That surely would have turned some of us into vegetarians. This tragically hilarious moment in our growing up is remembered as a fun moment in our family's life. I'm sure that experience assured some of us that farming was not for them. At least for Lynda. Make sure to check out my life coaching web site - joe goodwin.ca

Granpa's Musings I grew up south of Parry Sound, ON., with 7 siblings, on 60 acres my parents owned. We often had different animals on our property and once we had 2 baby pigs. We named them Snort and Grunt. Snort and Grunt became part of our family although they lived outside. After about one year or more, Snort and Grunt went for a ride on a big truck and returned in a week as port chops. Not ever having experienced such shock with our animals, we left the pigs in a fr...eezer for some time. One day, my Mom decided it was time and fried up some pork chops for dinner. Dad piped up, "Which one is this, Snort or Grunt?" Mom immediately threw down her knife and fork and left the table, followed by most of us. I'm glad I don't have a life destiny as did Snort and Grunt. I'm glad that I have a bigger meaning to my life and have determined to find that meaning fulfilled. I believe I have. Do you know why you were created here on Earth? Do you know what the purpose of your life is? It's a good thing to know. (To check out more of my site and look in on my coaching page, go to joe goodwin.ca) See more

I wonder if most of my tasks fall into this category. II II v