In the long run, the sharpest weapon of all is a kind and gentle spirit.                   Anne Frank An old fable goes that a lion was roaring night and day, terrorizing a village. One day, a shepherd named Androcles heard whimpering in a cave, and found the...Read More

A nail is driven out by another nail. Habit is overcome by habit.      Desiderius Erasmus We all bought into the myth that a habit takes 3 weeks to reach “automaticity” (the ability to do things without occupying the mind). This was based on junk science that has not been reproducible.   A study...Read More

Our habits of mind can play incredible tricks on us. One of the first things I learned to do as a nurse was to accurately name things… once we have the accurate assessment, then the right remedy can follow. This simple principle can help us self-regulate, get unstuck and acknowledge and remedy unspecified stress or...Read More

You cannot step into the same river twice. Heraclitus [Philosopher 544 BC – 483 BC] Parenting teenagers forces us to operate in unknown territory. I have found it to be complex and ever changing. It is not intuitive and what works in one situation or kid, doesn’t work in another. Parenting forces us to be...Read More

Instead of heading for a big mental breakdown, I decided to have a small breakdown every Tuesday evening. ― Graham Parke, author Symptoms can be an astonishing way for our bodies to get our full attention and bypass our minds.  Projectile vomiting announces food poisoning, severe abdominal pain can proclaim appendicitis.  Other signs are less...Read More

Nothing needs so reforming as other people’s habits. Mark Twain A recent study in Science Live found that regular walking helps us live longer even if we don’t walk long enough to meet the minimum weekly guidelines of 2.5 hours a week. Even still, a large percentage of us don’t even reach 20 minutes a...Read More

And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good. —John Steinbeck When you do something that is classified as boneheaded, be quick to acknowledge your humanness. Launching into mean-spirited self-talk lands us in the valley of suffering. This dark valley is a place where we may brutalize ourselves based on our...Read More

What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important.                Dwight Eisenhower Before becoming President, Eisenhower served as a general in the US Army and as Allied Forces Supreme Commander during World War II. He learned to make tough decisions continuously about what to focus...Read More

We are willing to pursue any vile task as long as it allows us to avoid something worse. Piers Steel, author The Procrastination Equation   When we put off that which is most important to us, the first remedy is to study our own reluctance.  Yet if we approach all projects without delay, we may...Read More

I’ve been devouring the writings of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 120-180), a practitioner of a practical philosophy called Stoicism. Ancient Stoics sought to accept the things that were given to them in life and to not be controlled by destructive emotions and difficult people.  I’ve culled some astonishing wisdom from his diary, and even...Read More