A recent study at Brigham Young University, which was reported in journal PLoS Medicine, found that our personal relationships are among the “short list” of factors that predict our odds of living or dying.  The study authored by BYU professors Julianne Holt-Lunstad and Timothy Smith found that “…social connections—friends, family, neighbors or colleagues—improve our odds…

More than 150 years ago, Mark Twain said, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness….Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”  If we spend all our life in the same place doing the same things with the same…

Jessica Guynn of the Los Angeles Times recently wrote a story about Marissa Mayer who, at age 35, is the youngest person to sit on Google’s operating committee and is also Google’s champion of innovation and design.  When asked about her career philosophy, Ms. Mayer mentioned two things:  Surround yourself…”with the smartest people who challenge…

In a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, Melinda Beck referred to a growing body of research which shows that feeling grateful for the good things that happened to us can improve our psychological, emotional and physical health.  According to Ms. Beck, “Adults who frequently feel grateful have more energy, more optimism, more social…

With all the good will that gets passed around during the holiday season, it’s the perfect time to repair any strained relationships you might have in your life.  People are generally in a great mood, which makes them far more open to forgiving and accepting forgiveness.  So, if you have any strained relationships, now is…

If you want to make 2011 the happiest year of your life, all you need to do is to follow the advice of Og Mandino: “Remember that true happiness lies within you.  Waste no time looking for peace, contentment and joy in the world outside.  Remember there is no happiness in having or getting, but…

As the holiday shopping season ramps up, malls and stores become more and more crowded which greatly increases the stress levels of many shoppers.  Some of these up tight shoppers vent their increased stress at retail clerks by being rude, mean and nasty toward them.  This, in turn, makes their job incredibly difficult and thankless…

My son, Phil, came across this quote on Twitter and passed it on to me.  As far as I can tell, it was originally tweeted by a female rapper named Shee.  How true this is.  I remember growing up on a farm out in the country.  We didn’t have a lot of money, so my…