An article in a recent issue of Psychology Today noted that although we know the benefits of receiving a compliment, people are often reluctant to give one. The reason is people tend to underestimate the positive impact of the person we’re paying the compliment to. And people tend to overestimate that the person will be […]
advice, kind, kindness, sincerity
Sometimes we can become anxious when we feel like somebody is expecting a response from us about something, and we don’t have anything to say, at least not in that moment. I’m reminded of the great line from Meg Ryan in “Joe Versus the Volcano” at times like that, where she says, “I have no […]
no response, nothing to say, silence
In Gabriel Garcia Marquez book “Love In the Time of Cholera”, the main character is frustrated in trying to give a box of chocolates to a love interest. He tries for months every day, and frustrated at his failure, he hands them to a complete stranger and says, “this is for a love going all […]
advice, book, love, no love wasted, quote
One of the most common questions people ask someone they are meeting for the first time is,” What do you do for work?” I suppose they ask because it’s sort of a safe question, isn’t considered intrusive, or too personal. If you think about the closest relationships you have in life though, it’s likely you […]
advice, connections, getting to know someone, questions
Many people are familiar with the story from Greek mythology about Pandora’s box. The gods give Pandora, who’s the first human person, this box, and they tell her not to open it; curiosity gets the best of her, and she opens the box, and all these evil things come out into the world because of […]
box, hope, pandora, pandoras box
In the Spring of 1973, the President of Haverford College, Dr. John Coleman, made a decision to do something in the spirit of advice he had given his students for years to break out of the patterns and routines of life. He decided to use part of his sabbatical to work blue collar jobs. He […]
blue collar journal, freedom, haverford college, power
Mark Twain said,” There are two kinds of people in the world. One kind separates people into two kinds of people and the other kind doesn’t.” I am definitely the kind that separates people into two kinds of people, and when it comes to how we experience our own thoughts, this apparently is true. There […]
One of the amazing things about life is that if we want to make a change that will make us happier, we are the architects of change. We can change anything we wish, we’re fully in control of that. However, we all know that change can be difficult to achieve and maintain… and a friend […]
advice, Change, small change
Years ago, when I first started running, a friend of mine, who was an avid runner, said,” Run until you feel good.” The reason that he mentioned that is because a lot of people when they start running, and even people who have been at it for a while, find that the beginning of a […]
advice, keep going, runner, running
A friend of mine told me that she had a dream in which she was having a conflict with a friend of hers, and when she woke up, the dream was so disturbing that she called a friend, told her about what happened in the dream, and apologized for it. And it’s interesting the power […]
dream, dream journal, Journal