On a commute to work that I had several years ago, there was a man who stood at the same intersection every morning, waving to cars as they went through the intersection, and the response was really positive. People would honk their horns and wave back, and he impacted so many people that the local […]
advice, good morning, good morning man, morning
One of my favorite sayings is the Chinese proverb, “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” There are three wonderful take aways from that one saying. First, there’s no bad time to do something good for yourself. Any time you choose to do something helpful […]
advice, chinese proverb, plant a tree, tree
When I was growing up, it was not uncommon if teachers or parents saw us sort of slouching down in our chair to say, “Sit up straight!” And I’m not exactly sure what they wanted more than making sure that we had good posture, but they may have been more right than they realized. There […]
advice, brain, posture, sit up straight
When you mention daily routines to most people, you’ll likely get reactions that are polar opposite. There are people who love routines because they enjoy being organized and structured, and there are people who don’t like routines because they feel like it is inhibiting their freedom. I am more on the enjoying routines side of […]
advice, brain, ideas, oranization, routines
Years ago, I saw a wonderful James Thurber cartoon that shows a man holding a phone and yelling into it,” Well if I called the wrong number, why did you answer the phone?” And it captures so well when something bad happens that’s our fault, we can at times immediately blame the other person. I […]
advice, mindset, perspective, perspectives
In baseball, when a runner arrives at the bag at the same time as the ball, people in the stands will often yell,” The tie goes to the runner!” Meaning the runner should be safe… however, there is no such formal rule in baseball, and it’s the umpire’s job to decide if the runner is […]
advice, baseball, runner, tie
The mother of a friend of mine passed away recently and while making some arrangements, my friend was lamenting that she and her three siblings had drifted apart over the years. There wasn’t anything specific that happened, but due to the geography, and growing families, and work obligations, they rarely talked. My friend’s mother was […]
advice, cheesecake, connection, family
A riptide or rip current is a strong current moving away from the beach that can trap swimmers who are trying to swim to shore. In that situation, people often panic and try harder to swim against the tide. Lifeguards recommend that in that situation, what swimmers should do, is start swimming parallel to the […]
advice, lifeguard, riptide, tide
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
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