Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could read a person’s non-verbal cues and decide--as a talented culinary chef would do--if we needed to add a sprinkle of warmth or a dash of confidence into the mix, in order to convey to others that we are trustworthy and likable? Sounds...

Have fun with me for a moment. Imagine every time you had a negative thought…he’s such a jerk, that will never work, etc., you emitted a foul smell. Just for a second, but long enough to remind you it was negative. Now imagine everyone had the same affliction, they...

A few weeks ago, as several members of my family and I were walking along a dirt road to start our tubing adventure at an exquisitely beautiful springs called Ichetucknee, a group came walking up behind us making all sorts of noise. We decided to get away from them as...

When climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in August, 2003 my tent mate Marsha decided to stop speaking to me. We had planned this adventure for months and all of a sudden, she quit talking. I wracked my brain to figure out what I’d done and apologized anyway, but to no avail. I...

When I was 12 years old and felt virtually friendless, I picked up a copy of Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People. Yes, I was a nerd, but I have always gone to books for answers, and as a shy and awkward kid I needed a strategy to succeed. I don’t...

Because I agreed without paying attention, I ended up--along with my daughter and grandson--at Ober Gatlinburg, an alpine amusement park where almost everything includes lots of altitude, of which I am terrified. First there was the chairlift which goes to the top of...

I was having a conversation with myself the other day and realized something amazing--- if I take away my lectures to myself about what I’m doing wrong, my judgments on what people should be doing differently (I can’t believe she wore that to the meeting), and my...

When I was young there was a TV show I loved about a witch married to a mortal, and this witch could cast all kinds of spells by wiggling her nose. It was called Bewitched, was great fun, and in it she was always using her spell-casting powers to solve the problem of...

A funny thing happened last week, although it was actually far from funny. I was checking emails a few hours prior to taking a red-eye home from where I’d been working in Sacramento, CA. Suddenly an email pops up that my flight has been cancelled for Wednesday...

You have got to be kidding, I thought. I was on a plane that had left Chicago one hour late because catering forgot to stock the plane, and then there was turbulence so there was no service. We were getting close to landing and the entire plane was agitated…all those...

People will never behave the way we want them to, and if we stake our happiness or success on how everyone is treating us, we’re in trouble. Let me give you an example. Recently my 22-year-old bikini clad granddaughter Rachel and I explored one of central Florida’s...

Charles Bukowski asked, “Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be?” It can be a scary question at times. It doesn’t have to mean we are in the wrong profession in life—although I’ve known many people who came to that conclusion after...

Last week my heart was broken; my wonderful cocker spaniel Grigio had to be euthanized. He was a 14-year-old goofy dog who zig zagged through life having fun, being silly and making lots of friends. He especially loved children since he had his own boy, and he wagged...

“By believing passionately in something that does not yet exist, we create it. The nonexistent is whatever we have not sufficiently desired,” said Nikos Kazantzakis. Which is great when we have the resources and tools to create that focus. But what about when we get...

I was speaking to a group of about 70 when I made the mistake of asking if anyone in the audience hadn’t heard of (whatever new concept I was teaching at the time), and no one raised a hand. I continued speaking and about ten minutes later, from the left side of the...

At one time I was upset with someone who worked for me, and I composed an articulate, lengthy email telling her what she had done wrong. I then sent the email to an old friend and asked her thoughts. She promptly replied back that if I wanted to really make matters...

In a class I’m currently teaching, a woman, now retired from the military, told me she wanted to be a pilot. Rules back then prohibited women from going to flight school. Thank goodness those rules have changed, but it made me think of how often we set up our own...

Lately I’ve stumbled into several large, messy setbacks, and because of the circumstances I’ve felt completely justified in missing some deadlines and deciding to revisit some of my goals. I even spent a small amount of time wallowing in self-pity. Then I read...

When I was a teenager, I used to have what was referred to back then as bunking parties. My friends brought blankets or sleeping bags and dumped them on my concrete basement floor. Then we played games, ate endlessly, and somewhere around midnight we would put on our...

Apparently I asked all the wrong questions. Is there air conditioning? Does the flap completely close to keep out bugs? Is it true that the men’s and women’s bathrooms here are partitioned only by vines? It was all very weird and different--sleeping in a teepee in...