I’ve traveled extensively in the past month, adding stamps to my passport from Netherlands, Czechia, Japan, and Singapore – and of course the US when I returned. The experience of passing through Customs and Immigration in those first four countries was fairly pleasant. “Hello, how are you? How long will you be in our country? … Read more
Last week I attended a global conference for coaches held in Prague, Czech Republic. I knew it was going to be one heck of a learning journey when my head was already popping with new ideas from the conversations I had at the opening reception, before attending any learning sessions! My own talk on day … Read more
Why do we make Happiness feel so damn elusive and unavailable? Why is it always about the pursuit of Happiness? Can we, for just a moment, notice that it is sitting RIGHT NEXT TO US and all we have to do is turn to it, say “Hi!” and enjoy its company for a moment? Breathe … Read more
My focus on six-word wisdoms last month generated much positive reaction, quite possibly because our attention spans have shrunk to under nine seconds – less time than it’s taken you to read this sentence aloud! Here are a few more, for fun: Ask, “In what ways might I?” You’ve been trained your entire life to … Read more
Relaxation, Mindfulness, and Meditation Many of us suffer from FOMS (Fear Of Missing Something) so we approach life as series of manic, highly active episodes thinly sandwiched between inadequate layers of sleep. We continually pump our systems full of adrenalin and cortisol (and when those fail, more caffeine), and when those chemicals build to toxic … Read more
I love to play with tight language, which is why Haiku has always been my favorite poetic form (17 syllables and rigid rules, yet infinite possibilities). I also love the brutal simplicity of six-word essays, a format over which I obsessed in high school (see https://www.sixwordmemoirs.com for more) Since January I have attended 28 … Read more
Happy 6th Birthday, IDOH! The United Nations created the International Day Of Happiness in 2012 on a unanimous vote by all 193 member nations (a rare occurrence!), and the day has been celebrated since 2013. The UN Resolution recognized the pursuit of happiness as a human right and a “fundamental human goal.” The founder of … Read more
Cheryl and I celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary this month, and for many years we’ve promised ourselves a Big Trip to celebrate. We were into our second month of planning when a family event got scheduled on top of our travel dates. We were at first irritated that it cut into our vacation time. We decided … Read more
One of my mantras is that you — and you alone — are responsible for your own happiness, that it is your decision. And if no one else can “make” you happy, it stands to reason that you cannot make other people happy either. Right? Well, sort of. Just because you can’t make someone … Read more
Today is the final day of Act Happy week: a week-long series on using your body to invoke Happiness. Today: Say Thank You — expressing Gratitude changes your body chemistry AND changes the environment around you (a 60-second lesson — read more at the blog)