2.6K Shares Are you waiting for life events to turn out the way you want so that you can feel more positive about your life? Do you find yourself having pre-conditions to your sense of well-being, thinking that certain things must happen for you to be happier? Do you think there is no way that your life stresses can make you anything other than “stressed out” and that other people just don’t understand? If your answer is “yes” to any of these questions, you might find yourself lingering in the land of negativity for... More »
278 Shares “Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.” ~ Thomas Jefferson “I can’t stand it!” “I should be further along in my life by now” “I don’t know how to talk to people.” “They screwed my life up.” “I’ll never find anyone like her again.” “Things never work out!” Do any of these types of statements sound familiar? Do you tell yourself things that you would never say to anyone else? If so, read this post if you want to help yourself separate fact from fiction and stop telling... More »
211 Shares Mark Twain’s metaphor for forgiveness shows the power of the metaphor. Metaphors can help get us unstuck from deeply ingrained patterns and habits of thinking. We use metaphors all the time and often do not even realize them as they have become so much of a part of our language. Case in point, they can “open doors” and provide “the keys” to insight! So next time you think you are “at the end of your rope” – think metaphors! Since creative people think in abstract terms, unleashing the power of the metaphor can truly... More »
4K Shares “‘Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.” — Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) It is no secret that gratefulness is correlated with life satisfaction and happiness. Countless research findings, particularly in the rapidly emerging field of Positive Psychology, have shown that gratefulness and life satisfaction go hand in hand. Those who tend to be more grateful rather than bitter are generally more positive, more satisfied with their lives, and will be able to see the silver lining even on cloudy days. Despite this intuitive understanding of the importance of gratefulness, all... More »
169 Shares Are you in control of your social media or is it controlling you? Are you constantly distracted from your work by the alerting sounds of tweets, dings and rings, not to mention a burgeoning number of inbox messages that just can’t wait to be read? Do you have a hard time tolerating the suspense of whether or not you got new followers, new messages, new mentions – and you just have to check? Are you feeling increasingly anxious over not having enough time in the day to keep up with Face book,... More »
884 Shares 1. Stop waiting for things to change – change yourself NOW! Most often that means changing your attitude! Too many times people have preconditions to happiness, only to find even if they reach that goal, there are even more pre-conditions to happiness. Aside for a temporary “high” when we attain our goal, we very quickly go back to a general baseline mood unless we change our thinking habits. If you tend to be a pessimist, you will continue to be no matter what happens on the outside, unless you change from the inside.... More »
185 Shares ”You might say, a focus on being right is actually “wrong!” Do you ever have an argument, and end up feeling badly even if you “win?” Winning and being “right” does not ensure that things will end well. In fact, if your sense of victory is dependent on another person’s defeat, the victory might be hollow, indeed. Being “right” is over-rated. When people are in an argument – what really are they doing? They want to defend themselves! In an argument, each person is trying to change the other. And who is really the only one... More »
524 Shares Too busy in your hectic life to “take ten” to ground yourself for the day? Too much to do and too little time? Stressed out beyond belief and you can’t imagine sparing any extra time to stop and take stock and take a daily pulse? Do you want to get off this endless cycle of “to dos” but can’t seem to get away from your life “inbox?” Just when you feel like you cannot take “one more thing,” perhaps it’s time to try this “Get Your Head Together” plan for just one week. What have... More »
“Workers are drawn to those with an upbeat attitude, especially when challenges emerge, and it can start with you. It’s contagious.” – Lynn Taylor, author of Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant When you think of a person who is effective and successful at work, likely one of the prominent characteristics that individual possesses is confidence. Confidence suggests a sense of self empowerment and self-love that is steady despite life’s ups and downs. Of course, this inner core of self-efficacy in the workplace does not start and end there. Rather,... More »
226 Shares “A dog has a lot of friends because he wags his tail and not his tongue.” – Anonymous Even if they do not know it, pets can teach us a lot about life and happiness. No matter what kind of hair day we are having, how deflated we feel, or whether or not we said or did something stupid, they love us anyway. Nothing is going to keep them away from wanting to nuzzle up to you and lick your face – no matter what! For instance, you do not need to actually have... More »
138 Shares “I’ve developed a new philosophy…I only dread one day at a time.” - Charlie Brown As a psychotherapist, the image of Charlie Brown often comes to mind in dealing with my clients. So many people live like “good ol’ Chuck” with persistent rumination about things out of their reach and control, just like he obsesses over the red headed girl. As lovable and cute as he is, Charlie Brown is stuck in a spiral of negativity — no wonder why he is stuck and never changes! He never can seem to get himself out of... More »
293 Shares What’s done is done. We can’t turn back the clock of time. Good or bad, right or wrong, it is done. It’s over! Once the ingredients are mixed, we can not separate them apart. Once a word goes from our mouth, we can not take it back. Once we do an action, we can not choose another one in its place. Once wood is reduced to sawdust, you can’t make it back into a board Once Humpty Dumpty fell, all the kings horses and all the kings men couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty together... More »
254 Shares “There is divine beauty in learning… To learn means to accept the postulate that life did not begin at my birth. Others have been here before me, and I walk in their footsteps.” – Elie Wiesel “What did you learn in school today?” is one of most common questions asked by parents to their children every day after school. Yet many people go through life without ever asking what they learned each day. Being mindful of learning daily lessons allows us to be open to change and growth. We think of school... More »
230 Shares “If you’re proactive, you don’t have to wait for circumstances or other people to create perspective expanding experiences. You can consciously create your own. - Stephen Covey Proactivity is, according to Stephen Covey, one of the most important characteristics of successful and personally effective people. In his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Covey sees proactivity as the foundation of all the other 6 Habits, and therefore has proactivity as Habit #1. Covey regards proactivity as the act of taking charge of your life, being responsible for it, and taking... More »
