30 Things I’ve Learned About Life

Reader’s Contribution: These “I’ve learned…” quotes by Andy Rooney were emailed to me by a reader. Thank you dear reader! 1. I’ve learned…. That the best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person. 2. I’ve learned…. That when you’re in love, it shows. 3. I’ve learned…. That just one person […]

Between Stimulus and Response Lies Our Freedom

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” – Viktor E Frankl Viktor Frankl is probably the most well-known survivor of the Holocaust. His experience in the concentration camps led to his best-selling book Man’s Search […]

The Power of Acting As If

Psychologists tell us that our actions affect our feelings. Acting as if we are happy by smiling, for example, makes us feel instantly happier. Acting as if we are successful helps us succeed at work. And acting as if we are in love can bring back feelings of love. “Motions are the precursors of emotions. […]

Our Sacred Dance and Our Survival Dance

Har­ley Swift Deer, a Native Ame­ri­can teacher, says that each of us has a sacred dance and a survival dance, but the sur­vi­val dance must come first. Our sur­vi­val dance, a foun­da­tio­nal com­po­nent of self-reliance, is what we do for a living — our way of sup­por­ting our­sel­ves phy­si­cally and eco­no­mi­cally. For most peo­ple, this means a […]

5 Steps for Being Happier Today

Did you know that Positive Psychology is the largest course at Harvard? It seems that being happier is in great demand today. Tal Ben-Shahar, the course lecturer, advises 5 steps for being happier. I couldn’t help comparing this list to 5 Ways to Effect Lasting Positive Change suggested by Shawn Achor. There is some overlap between the two. Both […]

“What Should I Do About My Unrealistic Expectations?”

Unrealistic expectations are held by almost all of us, myself included. This sharing by a reader may help anyone else who is experiencing the same issues with unrealistic expectations.

12 Beautiful Quotes on Being Happy

Managing Relationship Expectations

Family and relationships have been shown to be the biggest factor in our happiness. At the same time, relationship expectations cause us the most stress and unhappiness. How do we manage relationships expectations for more joyful relationships? The three key steps to managing relationship expectations are: identifying these expectations, communicating them to the other party, […]

How to Get Rid of Unrealistic Expectations

Dealing with expectations is an issue affecting many people. Sometimes we feel burdened by the expectations placed on us by others. Sometimes we are the ones who place unrealistic expectations on those around us. How do we get rid of these unrealistic expectations? First we have to identify our expectations. Then decide which are unrealistic […]

7 Steps to Deal with Irritating People

We all have to deal with irritating people in our lives, don’t we? It’s tempting to think that the problem is them. If they’d only change their behaviour and stop being irritating, everything would be fine! The painful truth is that these irritating people are mirrors into our own souls. What we dislike about them […]