The father of one of my favorite people passed away this year. I almost always cry at funerals and this one was no exception. It's generally not the deceased I cry for, but the living—my friends who are dealing with the pain of loss. I also often laugh at funerals…
In May of this year, I wrote a post about a story from the early part of my father’s career. In Everybody Has a Story—What’s Yours?, I explained that we all have stories to tell; learning that can help others. Soon after that post was published, while speaking with a…
Two weeks ago, I was the keynote speaker for a wonderful conference for educators run by AdvanceED Illinois. You can read about it here. The conference was in Champaign, Illinois. The day before the speech, I had a super easy, smooth, on-time flight into Chicago’s O’Hare airport from Newark (New…
I'm pleased to have had a post I wrote published yesterday on one of my favorite blogs, the Tiny Buddha web site. Helping others' happiness is clearly a nice thing to do, and it will help you to be happier as well. Here's the first part of the piece, with…
Another September 11 is upon us. Today is the day of the week that I normally post. It wasn't in me to post anything other than something about 9/11. I've been putting a lot of effort into being mindful this year. As the anniversary of 9/11 comes again, I realize…
This is a guest post by Myra Sabel. Myra is mentioned twice in Six Simple Rules for a Better Life, including her story about how smiles helped her during the extremely difficult year when her husband, Ed, underwent three surgeries. ----- Many years ago a friend asked me to attend…
In my book, I mention numerous books that have been important to my personal development. I've also provided (affiliate) links to many of those books on this page on my site. Within the parenting genre, these are a few of my favorites: 1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline for Children 2-12 Protecting…
One of my favorite bloggers is Ken Wert. The posts on his blog, Meant to be Happy, are regularly among the most enjoyable ones that I read. I love the name of his site because I agree with its beautiful sentiment, that we are all meant to be happy. And…
Former U.S. first lady Rosalynn Carter said, “There are only four kinds of people in the world – those who have been caregivers, those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers and those who will need caregivers.” Everyone, therefore, can benefit from this important guest post by Elissa…
For over 40 years, I’ve been trying to figure out my brother, Jon. Many adjectives have been used to describe him and it seems that he’s finally come up with the one that will stick—Driven. Jon is two years younger than I am, so I’ve known him since the day…
Something my teenage daughters told me they say, to themselves, and to others, to help move on from arguments and other unhappy incidents. I asked the one who brought it to our family (from a soccer camp she attended) to explain exactly what it means and she said, in a…
Being present, having an awareness of our surroundings and the day-to-day happenings in our lives, and being grateful for what we have are some of the thoughts that come to me as I read this guest post by Kevin Clarke. Kevin is a writer for America Magazine and this piece…