Freedom From Futility

Let me tell you, there is great freedom that presents itself when you notice that your actions or thoughts are futile. Now, what do I mean by “futile”? Certainly, American culture resists the notion of futility. We are taught to try, try, try again. We don’t like quitters, because they are labeled “losers,” or people [...]

Life’s Only Constant is Change

It’s been a week of change in my life, as well as for the lives of others, of course. The good news is that we have added a new member to the family, a young lady cat we got from the pound, whom we’ve named “Eve.” (My husband and I have a thing about palindromes, [...]

You Can’t Fix Stupid

I just read for a client who is a lovely, lovely woman, having trouble moving ahead with her life because she’s still hung up on trying to reconcile with her ex. Besides giving her advice that was specific to her, I reminded her that “you can’t fix stupid.” In other words, it was clear that [...]

Good Grief!

Anytime I hear the words “good grief,” I always mentally jump in and add “Charlie Brown!” to the end of it. But what exactly is “good grief,” anyway? Is there such a thing as grieving in a good way? If so, does that mean there is a way to grieve in a bad way, too? [...]

“What To Do When People Puke On You”

I’ve just been reading a wonderful little book called “Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude—How to Find, Build, and Keep a YES! Attitude for a Lifetime of Success.” (FT Press—Pearson Education) This author is a funny, funny fellow. He’s in sales and motivational speaking, so by nature he’s optimistic…thank goodness!
We need optimists, and [...]

Make Your Happiness Depend As Little As Possible on Things

I wish I were as wise to say that I was the first to espouse this profound piece of advice, but sadly, I wasn’t. Epictetus said it. Actually, what he said specifically was “the essence of philosophy is that a man should so live that his happiness shall depend as little as possible on external [...]

Is Your Brain an Egg or a Rubber Ball?

You’ve heard people call others “hard headed,” and you’ve also heard them call others “soft in the head.” Which is better?
Hard headedness refers to someone who has a rigid, stubborn mindset. These people are hard to teach, inflexible, and don’t wish to consider such “soft” tactics as compromise, open-mindedness, or even simple acceptance or forgiveness. [...]

How To Make Parties Worth Your Time and Energy

Now that summer is over, and even here in Pahrump, Nevada, it’s finally starting to cool off a tiny bit, calendars are starting to fill up with events beyond vacation and backyard barbeques. Social engagements, networking meetings, seminars, conventions…you name it, people are starting to gather together again for reasons other than pure joy and [...]

What Happens When It All Goes Right?

I have spent the past couple of days reading voraciously, from topics ranging from the dissociative personality to how to improve your psychic abilities, with a little bit of Virginia Woolf thrown in for some good mental gymnastics. Still, what each book seems to be popping out with are stories of people making good things [...]

Thoughts on 9-11

September 11th, 2001 was a pivotal day in American history, the likes of which our country had not seen since the bombing of Pearl Harbor. You might be tired of hearing stories from everyone about what they were doing when they heard about the attack on the Twin Towers in New York, or maybe you’re [...]