Rejection

You have no doubt heard the phrase (maybe you have even spoken it), “rejection hurts.”  Well a recent study has concluded just how true that may be.  The results, published by the National Academy of Sciences, found that the regions of the brain that respond to physical pain overlap with those that react to social…

Details

Magnaflux

I own a 1985 Firebird, having bought it in July of 1985.  It has been a great car with lots of memories.  However, after about 20 years and nearly 250,000 miles, it was time to park it and get something that made a little more sense to drive in Colorado, and so I did.  The…

Details

Who’s On Your Team?

Robin Roberts, the anchor for Good Morning America, recently returned to work after battling a life-threatening blood disease. She endured chemotherapy, a bone marrow transplant, and months in the hospital and then isolation at home.  She speaks with great respect about her doctor and his great care for her that included his tears but also…

Details

Situational Blindness

I recently read a story about a couple in Oregon who were traveling back home from an out of town trip.  They were using their GPS as they navigated an unfamiliar route.  Nearing a small town, their GPS instructed them to turn off onto a little used forest road.  This was a result of their…

Details

An Opportunity

In recent months I have had the chance to see the movie “Lincoln.”  Aside from tremendous acting on the part of the star-studded cast, I was moved by the character of a man such as Lincoln.  It is easy to make a statement such as that based upon the resistance he encountered as he worked…

Details

Making “I Dos” Last – Part 1

Even after all my years of counseling couples and hearing just about everything imaginable uttered in my office, I am still often taken aback by issues that present themselves for disagreement.  David and Kelly had only been married a few weeks when they were shopping in the quaint stores in Carmel, along the California coast. …

Details

What to Do?

It’s been a long and stressful day at work. You come home, looking for a little relief, support, perhaps even some affirmation.  But what you get is . . .  more stress, unmet expectations, invalidation, and down right meanness.  Today it crosses the line of your ability to tolerate and you say – “that’s it. …

Details

Did You Ask the Question?

I have a good friend who is a public school administrator.  Frequently this individual is confronted with a variety of situations that require additional information.  It may have something to do with a Principal needing more information from a parent or a teacher needing clarity around a student issue.  Sometimes it is even another administrator…

Details

Advance Warning

I remember as a young child when friends of my parents got a divorce.  It was a complete surprise.  This couple appeared to get along well, at least in public, and seemed to like each other.  Yet, without much warning, it was over.  What happened?  You may have seen similar situations unravel before you or…

Details