I recently read about a study published by a San Francisco State associate professor of psychology showing the value of experiences over things. I’ve written a few times about investing in experiences vs. “stuff” and it was interesting to see a study endorsing that route to a happier life. People…
When you reach a certain age (in my case, it was in my mid-40s), parents of friends begin to have health problems and/or pass away. Over the past 10 years, I’ve been to many funerals, including several very recently. I nearly always cry, but I also frequently smile, and often…
Henry Klein and I met about 20 years ago. We were living in the same town and met on a men's softball team we played on together. Henry is an attorney and a couple of years after we met him, when Marcie and I wanted to create wills, mostly to…
This is a guest post by Julie Singer, who teaches us, among other things, something we've discussed before: one of the great sources of happiness is helping others. As a college student, at times you can feel like you have no control over anything. It may be your emotions, your…
Pronoia: “The delusional belief that other people are plotting your well-being or saying nice things about you behind your back” One of the books I enjoyed reading this summer was Give and Take by Adam Grant. I first learned about Grant, and his book, in this New York Times piece, Is…
Last summer I went whitewater rafting with my wife and a couple of wonderful friends who had very graciously invited us to stay with them at their upstate New York time share. We departed the lodge at 7:30am and arrived at the rafting place around 9:00am. It was a long…
I am pleased that a piece I wrote was published this week on one of my favorite sites, Becoming Minimalist. Here's the first part of the piece, with a link to the rest... Last year, I read The Story of Enough: Giving Up (new) Clothes for One Year, a Becoming Minimalist…
During the week after the George Zimmerman verdict, Marcie (my wife) and I were driving in the car and heard a priest say in a radio interview that a primary cause for this tragedy is that Zimmerman didn't see the humanity of Trayvon Martin. We both thought that was very…
This is a guest post by Stephen Joseph. When I first saw the name of his article, I was thinking that the topic was a bit more specialized than we normally publish. On reading and enjoying it, I saw that its advice can be helpful in a variety of applications,…
Late last year, I was fortunate to learn about 10 Steps to Finding Your Happy Place (and Staying There), a wonderful book by Galen Pearl. After reading the book, I had the pleasure of interviewing Galen—about the book, her life, and the 10 Steps. I'm grateful to Galen for taking…
I was pleased to have a blog I wrote published on the wonderful Tiny Buddha web site last week. Here's the first part of the piece, with a link to the rest... Thirty-plus years ago, when I was applying to college, one of my friends used to say regularly, “We’ve…
There’s a guy who lives somewhere near where I live. I don’t know him and I don’t know where he lives, but I see him jogging. He’s in great shape – if you met him you might ask him if he’s a runner. What’s particularly distinctive about him is that…