We all have people in our lives that we’ve known for a long time but haven’t connected with in recent years. These could be people we went to high school with, worked with during our first job, or lived in our old neighborhood.

Many people fear failure worse than they fear dying. This makes the fear of failure a very powerful obstacle when it comes to taking the necessary risks to follow our dreams. In reality, death and failure aren’t even remotely related; death is permanent, but failure isn’t, so there is really nothing to fear!

It can be very frustrating when things don’t go our way; it can even make us angry. Some people feel that the best way to handle such situations is to vent that anger at the person they feel is responsible for the problem.

Some people attempt to improve their standing with those around them by focusing attention on themselves; things they’ve accomplished, places they’ve been, things they own, people they know, and so forth. While such behavior comes naturally, it does little to improve your standing with those around you because most people tend to resent such behavior.

The first time you try anything; realize that you won’t be very good at it; most people never are. Think about the first time you tried dancing with someone or the first time you stood up in front of a group and made a presentation. You, no doubt, felt awkward, self-conscious, and were probably embarrassed at the way things turned out. But that’s just the way things work.

My friend has a sister-in-law who lives alone in a retirement community. Here husband passed away a little over a year ago. She and her husband had very few friends because they did everything together.

I recently came across a study which was referred to in a book titled, The Inflated Self, where a large random sample of male adults were asked to rate themselves on their ability to get along with other people.

Sometimes people choose to pass on many of the opportunities that life sends their way because they’re afraid—they’re not sure where the opportunity might take them. This is unfortunate, because saying “yes” to opportunities is part of what it means to live life fully. Furthermore, not knowing where an opportunity is going to take you is one of the things that makes life exciting.