What is the Next Chapter?

Have you ever thought of your life as a book?  Sometimes people frame their lives as a narrative or a story.  Perhaps they see themselves as the hero of the tale or maybe as the victim.  But let’s imagine that when our lives are said and done, they represent a complete book. Think about it…

Do Values Matter?

Values are important.  We talk about them in school, at home, in political circles, and even on a global human scale.  But how important are values?  Or maybe a better question is, when are values important?  Perhaps even still, the best question is, what determines whether or not a value is significant and worthy of…

Has Your Mind Been Hijacked?

“Perhaps sometimes when I smell freshly baked cookies, my brain can’t think about anything else except getting one of those cookies.  So, I suppose it gets hijacked then.”  True, but I am referring to hijacking that actually impacts our ability to rationally process our thoughts. In a research study conducted with 520 subjects at the…

Don’t You Love to Suffer?

Not Me!  You are probably thinking that is a pretty dumb question and I can understand your sentiment.  I don’t think most of us would choose to suffer, yet, in a variety of ways, we all experience suffering.  But have you ever considered that suffering can make you stronger? Two psychologists from the University of…

Can You Hang Up on Anxiety?

Can You Hang Up on Anxiety? Wouldn’t it be nice if it were only that easy?  But what if there were something you could do that would help diminish anxiety?  A study that comes out of the University of Texas suggests that there just might be. The typical cell phone user pulls out and uses…

Can You Dance on a Desk?

Can You Dance on A Desk?   Honestly, I’d be afraid I would fall off.  But that didn’t seem to stop actor Dick Van Dyke.  You may remember him from his 1960’s sitcom, The Dick Van Dyke Show (if you are as old as I am), or from such movies as Mary Poppins or Chitty…

Is Information Important?

Well, of course information is important.  Without it we wouldn’t know how to do things, how to get somewhere, and so on.  So, maybe the real question to ask would be, how important is information?  You see, there are limitations to the benefits of information.  As my friend Pete writes in his book At the…

Is it Time to Rewire?

Oh how words have changed.  In years gone by, many people would purchase “used” cars, but not anymore.  Now we buy “previously owned” vehicles.  Buildings were remodeled but now they are re-purposed.  And the one I heard recently was spoken by the famous Dr. Ruth Westheimer, who is more frequently simply known as “Dr. Ruth.”…

Can You Focus on Your Purpose?

Mark Twain once said, “The two most important days in life are the day you were born and the day you discover the reason why.”  All of us have managed to accomplish that first day but many have yet to achieve the second.  Yet even for those who have figured out the reason they were…

Have You Hit Your Stride?

It may have been while you were running in a track meet in high school.  You came out of the blocks, battled to get into the inside line, and then it happened – you hit your stride.  We typically use this term to indicate that were are doing our best, firing on all cylinders, or…