When I was a kid, I was fascinated by world globes, whether it was the one in my classroom, or at the library, or one that was a decoration in my grandparent’s den. I thought it was interesting how you could see the entire world at one time. Kind of like the view the astronauts […]
perspective, problem solving, problems
In the 2008 movie “Get Smart,” the agent and spy Maxwell Smart, Agent 86, is a bungling but well-meaning spy (who usually gets things done actually), employed by the spy agency “Control.” It’s based on a TV sitcom that started in 1965 and ran for a few years on the television. In the movie, as […]
coneofsilence, Focus, Listening
Whether or not you are feeling stressed at this time, there are likely people in your life who are coming to you with the things that they are stressed or worried about. Here are three things you can do to help them: First, if somebody contacts you to talk about the things that they’re upset […]
coping, Stress, stress management, stressed
If I ask you to imagine yourself right now standing in front of the Eiffel Tower holding an ice cream cone with your favorite ice cream in it, you could probably do that quite easily, even if you’ve never been to the Eiffel Tower. The mind has an amazing ability to imagine and conjure and […]
imagination, visualization, visualize
In Norman Cousins’ classic bestseller Anatomy of an Illness is Perceived by the Patient, he describes how he overcame a debilitating disease by using, among other things, high doses of laughter. He did that by watching funny movies and television shows to increase the amount that he would laugh because that was shown to have […]
anxiety, comedy, happiness, laughter
If you’re feeling a little extra anxiety these days, that’s completely understandable. Anxiety is, among other things, worry about future events, about which we feel we have no control. And you may notice that accompanying that feeling is a sort of nervous energy, this extra energy we have, that we don’t know what to do […]
activity, anxiety, Stress, stress management
I was watching a show about how swords are made and they showed the bladesmith heating up this piece of steel in fire and then pounding on it with a hammer to get it into the shape of a sword. This process was repeated over and over again. Apparently, putting the steel in fire and […]
hardwork, perserverance, sword
In the classic movie “Cool Hand Luke”, Luke, who’s played by Paul Newman, wins a hand at poker with a valuable pot, without cards or combinations of any value in his hand. When he’s confronted with the fact that he basically won with nothing, he said,” Sometimes nothing is a real cool hand.” In decision-making, […]
decision-making, Decisions, Mindfulness
A friend of mine told me she was trying to get up earlier in the morning so she could get more things done and she decided to set her alarm clock 1 hour earlier than she normally gets up. Not surprisingly, this was really difficult. And the reason is, and I think a lot of […]
goal setting, goals, small steps
One of the ways people are reducing social isolation is by connecting on social media… A very effective way that I have found to reduce that isolation is not high-tech, but it is high-touch, and that’s to write personal notes to people. Sometimes it’s just a note telling them that you are thinking about them […]
notes, Writing