As has happened to me many times before, this week I found myself inspired by a eulogy. Every funeral I attend leaves me a better person because of something I learn about the deceased, and their life well lived. Jay was a friend of mine. We didn't have a deep relationship,…
A quick google search on “choosing happiness books” yields hits such as Choosing Happiness, Just Choose Happiness, I Choose Happiness, and many more. I haven’t read those particular books, but I’ve read countless books on, or related to, happiness, and I work hard to choose happiness for myself. When I…
As many people have done, I have written about the importance of gratitude as a happiness habit, or as I also like to say, as an act of proactive positivity. I was listening to an episode of one of my favorite, weekly podcasts, The TED Radio Hour. During the episode,…
I’ve written a lot about gratitude as a happiness strategy. When you spend time thinking about ways you are grateful, and things and relationships in your life about which you are grateful, it’s hard to be unhappy at the same time. Gratitude is a proven activity of proactive positivity. But in a…
In the spring of 2015, my daughter Julie had the good fortune of spending a college semester in Prague, in the Czech Republic. A year later, reflecting on the experience, she shared the following lessons from her experience. I'm sharing them here because her learning is applicable to many other…
As I have done for each of the past three years, here are the many ways I enjoyed the experiences of my year, including places I visited, books I read, and even what I watched on TV. Books I love reading and I love learning. I read quite a bit…
I've written a bunch of times about the value of experiences over things—about spending your money and time on experiences rather than stuff. In one of my newsletters, and later in a post here, I said the following: "I feel fortunate (and grateful) that investing my time and money in experiences…
A while ago, I published an article about smiling in my monthly newsletter. I want to share it here, along with an update. To start, take this gift from me. It’s free and it’s easy. Smile. Just smile. Now think about what you just experienced. Smile again to help you…
I've been blessed to spend time in a bunch of wonderful countries. Whether it was short stays during vacations or the long backpacking trip I took after graduating college in 1984, travel abroad has been one of the most enriching, enjoyable, and memorable experiences of my life. I have learned…
The following is excerpted from one of my most popular newsletter pieces along with some of the wonderful feedback I received. I was recently telling someone about the trip Marcie and I took to Europe 30 years ago with backpacks after college. When there was a week remaining before Marcie…
Someone I know recently said to me, after a particularly frustrating turn of events in her life, “Why do these things always happen to me?” I know the right thing to do would have been to nod my head and say something about how sorry I feel for her. But…
My wife and I were fortunate to take a wonderful trip to Europe to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. We met in college and after we graduated we took a backpacking trip in Europe. We hadn’t been back since and the anniversary trip was a wonderful time, filled with many…