Verna Lee Bowen

She had a laser-clear way of reaching straight into the heart. 🕊️💓 Been singing this one in my heart since she passed.

https://youtu.be/_KLpKLk95ok?si=vnyAzAcvC9Hmuoxe

On a video I watched recently, the narrator said, “The view was a bit underwhelming.”

Hmm. So it seems we want to be neither overwhelmed nor underwhelmed. 😃

Ooooh, bless the when we are all just a little whelmed.

Ironically, the original meaning of the word was to be engulfed or overcome by something. Same basic meaning as overwhelmed, except OVERwhelmed meant EXTREME feeling of whelm.

In modern times whelmed has been understood as the in-between state - perfect balance.

I’ll just go with that. 😉 Let’s seek to be whelmed today. 🤩

- Verna

FIGHT FOR YOURSELF — ALWAYS

Half the year's gone already! 😯

I've enjoyed tracking my physical activity over the past 4½ years. It keeps me motivated to take care of my health as the years pass. Before the autumn of 2021, I wasn't physically active at all (except for a period in the mid-1990s when I rode my bike quite a bit). So I made a firm commitment to get active - and stay that way FOR GOOD.

So far this year, I've walked 681.4 km (an average of 113 km per month).

That's down from 124 km per month in 2025 and 126 km in 2024. April was the culprit. I averaged only 71 km after needing two back injections and spending about six days off physical activity under doctor's orders.

None of us knows how long we'll live or what life has in store. I simply want to do my part, as best I can, to protect my health as I grow older. (I've still got room for improvement. 😊)

I still have days when it feels like a bit of a pointless trek uphill, especially since my height has shrunk from 4'11" to 4'9" over the past six years. (LOL) But after a lifetime of battling weight issues and living mostly inactive, I've made myself a promise: whatever I can do to strengthen my body and reduce my health risks, I'll do it.

If you've ever lived through your darkest days or your heaviest nights (for whatever reason) you know what it means to fight against your own odds.

So keep fighting for yourself because you're worth fighting for. 💖

🎵 https://youtu.be/WifYk29R7ww?si=O_MahASROHJtb1GX 🎵 A land and a people not void of error or misfortune, but always seeking to be better, stronger, kinder, and freer. The privileges we get to enjoy as Canadians are something to be grateful for. 🇨🇦 Happy Canada Day!

There are many lessons we learn in life, especially if we are observant. One of the greatest for me was discovering that what's most important is not when my First Grade teacher writes on my report card, "Verna is an 'A' student," and being told it was "really good" to get a report like that.

The essence of my whole existence is more about listening to a beautiful person tell me about a vulnerable moment he had recently - of being wrongly accused of something at work and being told to "go home for the day." Then seeing his face light up in a big, appreciative smile just because someone listened.

Few other things could've made me choose to let the bus go by and take a brisk and buoyant 60-minute walk home instead.

In The Art of Being Fully Human, the famed and dearly loved Leo Buscaglia begins his speech with, "𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘢𝘮 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯. 𝘐 𝘤𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘰. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘰. 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳." 💞

- Verna

PURPOSEFULLY BROKEN

"A workhorse can be of little use to itself or its owner until it is broken in," he told me.

I disliked that metaphor, but the wisdom behind it can be applied to our own lives. In the context of taming and training a horse for usefulness, brokenness takes on a deeper and less harsh meaning. We can also see it as part of the fire of refinement.

If we do not direct our own actions toward the necessary work and effort that ultimately pays us back in life, we are like undisciplined children or wild horses, running freely toward cliffs and dangers that can lead us to our own ruin.

Personal growth is 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬, 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬, and 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 - all three facets working together to shape us into the best versions of ourselves we were born to be.

- Verna

Don't dim your light just to keep others comfortable or to keep yourself safe from their criticism. Neither can ever be accomplished.