The war in Ukraine is upsetting to everyone who is paying attention to it. As with other humanitarian disasters, there are calls for donations. I made a donation to an organization I know that helps Ukrainians, having donated to them in the past when a dear friend began volunteering for them.…
In his book, “How to Change Your Mind,” which I wrote about last year, author Michael Pollan writes of Peter Hendricks, a psychologist conducting a trial using psilocybin (aka magic mushrooms) to treat cocaine addicts. According to Hendricks, “People who are addicted know they’re harming themselves – their health, their…
Last year, at the end of a virtual presentation to participants in the Year Up program (a wonderful program I have been speaking at, and donating to, for many years), the event moderator read questions posted in the chat. They were good ones, so I'm sharing them here, with my…
Last year, I gave a (virtual) speech. It was the speech I’ve give more often than any other. I always title it the same name as my book, “Six Simple Rules for a Better Life,” but the organizers (one of whom had seen the speech the prior year) titled it…
A slightly early happy and healthy New Year! This has again been a very challenging year for all the reasons I don't need to list here. Nonetheless, as I have done for quite a few years, here are some of the experiences I enjoyed this past year: what I listened…
I've written a few times about the value of letting go of anger. I've told stories of people I know who lost their money to the Madoff scam and people I know who had anger over terrible customer service experiences (I've had anger about that kind of thing for sure!).…
The last couple of years have been challenging, to say the least. I write a lot about health and wellness, most often focusing on the importance of exercise and eating well. I also espouse what I call “Proactive Positivity.” In posts and speeches, I explain the way negativity tends to…
I recently stumbled on a piece on WebMD on sugar addiction. The piece provides information about sugar cravings and excellent advice on how to tame your sweet tooth. I recommend the entire piece. Here are some highlights: Your Brain on Sugar Your brain...sees sugar as a reward, which makes you…
A recent post, “Lessons from Mimi,” about inspiration from my mother-in-law, who passed away this year at 95, resulted in more feedback than most of my posts. The notes I received were inspirational themselves and I am sharing excerpts from some of them here. I am 69, and have been…
As I have written countless times, New Year’s Resolutions fail because we make too many, or ones that are too big. Instead, breaking down our goals into small pieces, and tackling one at a time for the 21 days it takes to create a habit, is the way to go…
Ten year ago, I published my book, Six Simple Rules for a Better Life. It’s been an eventful decade for me in many ways, and the book has been a very nice part of it. While the book didn’t become a bestseller (and I didn’t expect it would), it sold…
My mother-in-law (who my kids and I called Mimi) passed away this year. It was not from COVID. She was 95 (and would have turned 96 this month). Her body simply gave out. Incredibly, her mind was at 100% for about 94 of those years, and she wasn’t too far…