How to Find Years of Enjoyment in a Moldy, 50-Cent, Garage-Sale Book
“Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations.” – Henry David Thoreau I have this beautiful old book. It is hardbound, 500 pages thick, and has the potential to provide me with hundreds or even thousands of hours of learning and pleasure.…
READ MORELet’s Make Today a Day of Thanks
“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” – Oprah Winfrey In my Christmas message yesterday, I said that I hoped – after a day of laughter and decadent food – you would…
READ MOREA Philosophical Ride
“When a man says money can do anything, that settles it: He hasn’t got any.” – George Bernard Shaw Question: What would you do with your money if you had all you could ever need? I was asked that question, strangely enough, by the limo driver who was taking us…
READ MOREThe Power of Free Will
“Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.” – William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure Wanda moved to the dance floor of my ballroom dance studio and nodded that she was ready. I turned on the music, hoping she would execute…
READ MOREThe Seven Ages of Man
“All the world’s a stage,” Shakespeare wrote in “As You Like It” – a stage upon which, over the course of a lifetime, we each play many parts. Our roles change, Shakespeare suggested, depending on which “act” we’re starring in at the time. Today, I’d like to take a closer…
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How to Achieve Moral Perfection
Thirteen rules from Ben Franklin that can help you achieve moral perfection, which has more to do with living a good life than being superior to others.
READ MOREReality Therapy Part 1
For most of my life, I was a strong believer in conventional psychology, which is based on the teachings of Sigmund Freud. Conventional psychology focuses on finding the psychological roots of an individual’s problems. The idea is that once a person’s past traumas are brought to the surface and dissected,…
READ MORECount Your Blessings Every Day
As Thanksgiving time rolled around this year, I couldn’t help but think of Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939. If you’re a sports fan, the chances are good that you’ve probably seen footage of that historic speech. The words that most of us remember are…
READ MOREWhat I Learned About Life From My Father’s Death
It’s been a little over two months since my father died. After an unnecessary operation for a “pre-cancerous” stomach condition, the surgeons discovered a large tumor in his lung. They went forward with the removal of a length of gut, sewed him back up, and advised him to see an…
READ MOREWhat Drives You?
For most of my life, I’ve been blessed with an enormous surfeit of drive. On a typical morning, I’m brimming with energy and expectation. For the better part of my career, I’ve literally bounded out of bed — even when the challenges. I faced seemed insurmountable. Is that the way…
READ MORE#9 for the New Year: To Develop the Personal “You”
Today, let’s talk about the personal “you.” The “you” that you are when no one is looking. The person you turn into when you are by yourself. Who is that person — and, more importantly, who do you want that person to be? Let’s make some resolutions about that…
READ MORELet’s Be Grateful for Things that Really Matter
“I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson Michael, my third son, never liked the private school we sent him to. Like his two elder brothers before him, he was unhappy not with the academic requirements and rigors but…
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