After a lot of planning, I sent a gift to a friend. No comment. I asked it she had received my gift and she said, “Yes, I did.” Like pricking a pin with a balloon I felt totally deflated. “That was fun!” I thought. Later, she mention she had received my surprise gift and that […]

A lady came up to me, telling me that, if I used this cream, it would take all the wrinkles out of my face. I turned to see my reflection in the window, pulled my face so all the lines disappeared. I smiled at her saying, “I’d look like I had no life! I’ve earned […]

School is about to begin again in many states. Almost every kid is nervous or afraid of going back to school. For children who learn in a different way than school teaches—or have had negative experiences in school—their fear is intense. Parents often fail to listen to their children’s feelings and may even make them […]

Life sends you signals. The trick is to pay attention! I was scheduled to go to a baseball game as my grandson was pitching. I put the game on the wrong date. Fortunately, a family email enlightened me. Dressed in shorts, T-shirt and a baseball cap, I stared driving. It was cloudy and there was […]

Yesterday, I had coffee with my 18 year old female friend, Alyssa. It was our last time together before she goes to college. We talked amiably for about an hour; she mostly listened as she is adept in asking questions about my life that are deeper than, “How are you doing?” I’m almost 82, with […]

Put your outstretched right and left in front of you, with one hand parallel to the other, palms faced downward. The top hand represents how much good you can handle and the bottom hand represents how much negative you can handle. The space between the two hands is called your comfort zone. We set up […]

Many years ago, took a week’s workshop with Jack Canfield. My son came home from Camp, so I missed a day, and it was my turn to share the day I returned to the seminar. My talk was filmed. I gave it my all, everyone clapped and cheered, and Jack asked me how I felt […]

Many years ago, my partner, Peggy Bielen and I got into trouble for putting “A feeling isn’t right or wrong, it just is!” into our self-esteem program. Our point was that feelings exist, and it is what you do with a feeling that matters. You may heal, ignore and change negative feelings. Every person has […]

My dear mother was always worried about what the neighbors think. She would ask my son what he was thinking when he hung his swimsuit in the open window of her two story Avalon home. “Drying my swimsuit,” is the obvious answer, and the hidden pitfall was what would people think? I overheard a conversation […]

Every single one of us has a small child inside. At 81 years of age, it ranges between two and four year old. It represents the best and least of me. It is the part that makes judgments, holds grudges, lies, withholds, feels guilty, compares, focuses on the “what ifs” and keeps me from being […]