Everyone of a certain age remembers what they were doing on 9/11/01. I remember it was a Tuesday, my late night as the employee assistance program (EAP) psychologist for Progressive Insurance in Tempe, AZ. My alarm woke me to the news and it was so unreal I thought it was still part of a dream. I ...read more
The Golden Rule: How Well Are You “Doing Unto” Others?
Everyone has heard of the Golden Rule. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". At least in theory, we teach our kids this is a really important way to live life. Yet, somehow, it can be hard to apply it routinely in our everyday life. It's easy to make excuses. It's easy to ...read more
Exercising Empathy: Understanding Each Other
Most people know that exercising is important for overall health, even if they don't like it. Did you know that exercising empathy is equally important in relationships for understanding each other? First it may be important to really know what empathy IS. The most basic definition is the ability ...read more
Put Your Oxygen Mask on Yourself First.
Have you ever listened to the security instruction on airplanes about what to do if the oxygen mask drops and you are traveling with children? They tell you to put them on yourself before you assist your children. That's because if you don't take care of yourself first, you can't actually help ...read more
A Blue Christmas: When Holidays are Missing Someone
Christmas is next week and many are looking forward to spending time with loved ones: family and friends all around. For many, Christmas can be an especially hard time because someone they love isn't there. Whether it's because of death, illness, military deployment, extended work travel or a ...read more
Responding to Tragedy
Last week's terrorist attacks in Paris gave the world another unfortunate opportunity to try to figure out how to respond to tragedy. These broad scale tragedies can leave us all feeling off kilter, a bit insecure in life. Questions may arise all over the place. How should I talk to my kids (if ...read more
Grace Under Pressure
Grace: disposition to, or an act or instance of, kindness, courtesy, or clemency; mercy, pardon; a special favor; the quality or state of being considerate or thoughtful. (Merriam-Webster.com)We talk about God's grace, a dancer's grace and being in someone's good graces but we rarely use grace ...read more
Familiarity Breeds Contempt…But It Doesn’t Have To.
Complacency and Contempt:Recently I heard someone say "familiarity breeds complacency", a slightly different version of the old saw "familiarity breeds contempt". It got me thinking about some of the most familiar of relationships and what can too easily happen to them.All relationships of any real ...read more
I Love You Just the Way You Are: The Power of Acceptance
One day the Sun and the Wind were having a bit of an argument about who was more powerful. Finally, they decided to have a contest to end the disagreement. The Wind noticed a woman wearing a light overcoat and said "Whoever gets that coat off the woman is the most powerful and wins." The Sun ...read more
Are You An Orchid, a Dandelion or Something In-Between? High Sensitivity.
“Beauty of whatever kind, in its supreme development, invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears.” (Edgar Alan Poe) A high appreciation of art, being deeply moved by music, becoming absorbed in nature and appreciating everything around you, noticing small details. These are types of ...read more