One of my daughters recently emailed me a quote from Beverly Sills. It read, “There are no short cuts to any place worth going.” What this means is that if you want to experience a high level of success, you have to be willing to pay your dues–to start at the bottom and work your way…
In a recent blog post, minimalist Joshua Becker asserts that for far too many people, the desire to impress others is the major motivator in their life. This desire determines the cars they buy, the clothes they wear, the technology the embrace and so forth. He goes on to say that this often proves to…
Today, most of us are busier than ever–so much so, that we don’t want to take the time to listen to those around us. The problem with this is that all of us need opportunities to share our stories–our joys, problems and sorrows–with someone who cares. Being able to share our stories is what helps…
Over the weekend, I re-read Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom. It’s a true story about Mitch paying weekly visits to his old college professor, Morrie Schwartz, who is dying from Lou Gehrig’s disease. During these visits, Morrie passes on some wonderful life lessons from the perspective of a dying man. At one point, he…
My wife was walking through a park the other day when she noticed a grandmother walking with her young granddaughter. Instead of making the most of an opportunity to spend quality time with her granddaughter, this woman chattered away on her cell phone the whole time while completely ignoring her little granddaughter who trailed behind…
I’ve seen this quote posted in a number of places this past year. It tells us that if we’re unhappy with our lot in life, we can’t just push a magical button to change things. In reality, however, there is a magic button that we can push if we want to change things–it’s called our…
A study recently reported in the Psychological Bulletin, found that optimism–seeing a glass as being half-full rather than half-empty–is good for your heart. Researchers Julia Boehm and Laura Kubzansky from the Harvard School of Public Health found “…that factors such as optimism, life satisfaction and happiness are associated with reduced risk of CVD (cardiovascular disease)…
There are two Fry’s Supermarkets near my home and a vivacious checker named Ghana works at one of them. Whenever my wife and I shop and she’s working, her check-out line is always much longer than any of the others and it’s filled with people who choose to stand in line a little longer in…
My oldest daughter recently sent me an issue of an internet publication called the Purpose Fairy. This particular issue contained a list of 15 things we should give up if we want our lives to be easier and happier. One in particular caught my attention and that was the need to impress others. The article…
Last week’s Reminder on how feuds should have a time limit produced some very interesting comments. The gist of that Reminder was that if feuds had time limits, there would be no long term grudges. As it turns out, there are a number of very wise people who have imposed a time limit regarding any…