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Happiness is Flying High!

Zip Lining over the Costa Rican Rain Forest I had a lot of adventures on my recent vacation in Costa Rica — I explored coral reefs, climbed a mountain on horseback, and allowed myself to be strapped to a steel cable and pushed out of tree — upside down.  Yikes! I took this video on … Read more

The Unforgettable Commencement Address 2009

This speech was delivered this month at Commencement for the University of Portland, where the speaker, Paul Hawken, received an honorary doctorate.  I find it inspirational — he points to the huge difference that just one person, working for a cause, can make in the world.  You can also find the complete talk at the … Read more

What's Love Got To Do With It?

One of my clients has been blogging her way through the coaching experience.  After years of holding all her thoughts inside, she’s discovered that writing helps her reveal herself to herself.  Recently, we revisted an old topic — ♥ self love.♥ This client (who goes by the anonymous title of Spudsie, a childhood nickname) is … Read more

Mood and Language: which comes first?

In a recent coaching teleclass a participant asked, “is it our mood that creates our language, or is it the words and stories we use that create our mood?”  She was looking for a neat and crisp definition of how people work. It ain’t that simple.  Figuring out how people work is like solving the … Read more

This is a Great Time to be a Consumer… with Cash

–>While shopping for some gifts on a budget, my daughter came across incredible deals at a high-end store.  She came home with two gorgeous messenger bags orginally priced at $75, marked down, and down again, then then unloaded for $10 each. –>Several regional auto dealers are offering a BOGO –Buy One, Get One free.  This … Read more

Happiness is Watching Your Child Succeed, Part 3

My eldest child, Kelly (a regular reader of this blog), has been bugging me since I started it, asking, “when are you gonna write a column about ME?”  For a long time I put her off by pointing out that this is my professional blog, not personal.  Well, since I recently wrote about BOTH of … Read more

Happiness is Being True to Who You Are

One of the other speakers at the Singapore HR Summit was Ngahi Bidois, who calls himself a New Age Maori Warrior.  Ngahi — his full name is , Ngahihi o te ra Bidois, which means Rays of the Sun —  is from New Zealand. 20 years ago Ngahi was a college-educated, high-flying, young executive-in-training with … Read more

Happiness is Good Airplane Food – and Chocolate Dessert!

In two days I’ve spent a total of 23.75 hours on a plane, most of that on two Japan Airlines (JAL) flights from Chicago O’Hare to Narita International in Tokyo and then from Tokyo to Singapore.  I’ve been unconditionally delighted with the meals four meals I’ve had thus far. I’m a vegetarian, and so am … Read more

Happiness is a Warm Toilet Seat

One consequence of aging is that one gets up in the middle of the night more often.  I hate it when my butt hits that cold seat in the night.  So it’s 3AM in the middle of my first nite in Tokyo, and I gotta go.  I stumble into the hotel bathroom and… OH.  MY.  … Read more

The Secret to Living Longer

Last weekend I delivered my “Five Prescriptions for Happiness” talk at the annual Reunion Weekend for the Baldwin Wallace College chapter of Alpha Gamma Delta.  Most of the attendees were current students or recent graduates; there were also a few tables of alumnae with babies in strollers; and a smattering of alums my age. The … Read more