Wordsmith.org: Monish

My achy-breaky lower body—the squeaky knees and give-up groin—monish me to rest, but I disobey; Christopher Cross ("Say You'll  Be Mine"), Great Big Sea ("Can't Stop Falling") and Madonna ("Respect Yourself")—my iPod disciplinarians—order me to keep dancing, sweating, living.

Thesaurus.com: Abstergent

"We prize them for their rough-plastic, abstergent force; to get people out of the quadruped state; to get them washed, clothed, and set up on end; to slough their animal husks and habits; compel them to be clean; overawe their spite and meanness, teach them to stifle the base, and choose the generous expression, and make them know how much happier the generous behaviors are.'' -Ralph Waldo Emerson ("Conduct of Life"), as quoted at Thesaurus.com.

Ralph Waldo's words inspire me to create a more abstergent inner aura as I center myself in this new day, full of promise, adventure and service.

Oxford English Dictionary: Moonball

Uncle Danny knew I wasn't the next John McEnroe, so he let me have fun launching erratic serves and lobbing wild moonballs.

M-W.com: Frolic

Whenever I gaze upon an unfrozen pond, I envision its potential, come February, for frolicking about on sharpened skates.

WordSmart: Counterpoint

I enjoy classical music for its counterpoints, those mingling melodies, and Boston Baroque exudes quietude that calms my runaway mind.

Thesaurus.com: Chockablock

Although Boston's Esplanade will be crammed with Yankee Doodle dandies and the Charles River chockablock with boats, grateful US citizens will celebrate the Fourth of July in peaceful fashion.

M-W: Wetware

Rapid advancements in hardware, middleware and software can boggle the brain; before I deploy these fast and flexible technologies each day, I find it helpful to first reconfigure my mind, to the slowest possible setting, and to calm my installed-before-birth wetware.