Nothing Ever Becomes Real Until it is Experienced.  John Keats There are several forms of emotional vampires (narcissists, victims, controllers, etc.) who go far beyond aggravating you and have a way of drawing you in and then draining you.  Vampires are different and more dangerous than other annoying people, but they have important commonalities.  Generally, their...Read More

It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive. Forgive everybody.—Maya Angelou – American Poet 1928-2014 We underwent a home renovation and like most, it was horrendous to live through. During the process, we had a small fire, a flood, and the entire interior of the house was painted a hideously wrong...Read More

Change your state of mind by firing every thought you ever had and have it re-interview for its position. —Gretchen Pisano One of the five central components of human wellbeing is the ability to feel positive emotions, really feel them. Feeling positive emotions is not the same as thinking them. It means letting the positive emotion...Read More

What you help a child to love can be more important than what you help him to learn. —African Proverb Last month my Aunt Agnes passed away at the age of 86; I have cherished her my entire life. Her funeral was one of the most beautiful I have ever attended. A nun with the...Read More

A Parable on How to Fix What May be All Wrong A friend of mine had a sudden revelation that he didn’t want to go into his office, he hated his job. After being promoted out of his vocation, solving software problems, he was now an executive, managing projects, people, and politics and earning more...Read More

Habits are cobwebs at first; cables at last. —Chinese Proverb There is new research on the habit loop, which finds that when a habit emerges, the brain stops fully participating in decision-making. Like being asleep, some habits can be effortless and occur unthinkingly. Hundreds of habits influence our days, how we get dressed, talk to...Read More

Consult Your Teenage Self to Find Your Power The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.  —Carl Jung Having power is having integrity of the soul. This requires that you regularly express your best self.  If something is getting in the way of that integrity, ask yourself, if I met my...Read More

Set up a life that does not need escaping from —Seth Godin Earlier this month we celebrated Independence Day, the idea of liberty and what it means to be really free.  Since we live in the land of liberty, why are so many feeling imprisoned and lack a sense of freedom in our lives?  Feeling stressed-out,...Read More

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. —Aristotle Since at least Aristotle’s time (384 BC), we humans have known that having a positive outlook can have a profound impact on ones capacity to live a deeply satisfying life. There is a growing evidence-base on learned optimism and...Read More