2008
I was blessed to have the opportunity to attend a two-day seminar on “Caring in Education” led by Nel Noddings, professor emeritus from Stanford University. I had known of her work for many years, and was excited to hear her thoughts in person.
To care for young people and to be cared for […]
Topics: Coaching, Habits, Love, Pathway 3 "Meaning", Schools, Strengths, _3 Positive Organizations
2
2008
It was 1976. I was in the fifth grade. The fifty-yard dash record for Lake Bluff Elementary School in Shorewood, Wisconsin was set in the mid 1950s. I had a chance to break it. I walked past my classmates and stepped up to the starting line. I looked at my gym teacher, Mr. (Buddy) Wolf. He blew his whistle and I took off running. I pumped my legs and arms as fast as I could. 6.5 seconds later I leaned into the finish line and I heard the click of Mr. Wolf’s stop watch. I turned around just as fast as I could to hear Mr. Wolf say: “You just broke the school record!”
2008
“How do you propose we share positive psychology with strangers?”, a participant at one of my recent seminars asked. The question took me by surprise but in a flash, I answered intuitively “Be nice”. That succinctly covered all the ways I could think of in 2 seconds. Two weeks have passed and I think of the myriad of […]
2008
I’ve been a bit of a grump today. Not a bad, grump. Just some tacky, negative comments. I said as I started out this morning that I was feeling that way, and I know I was a bit terse with my staff a time or two during the day. When I got home this evening, I was still […]
2008
Today is Valentine’s Day so to me there is but one topic to write about…
LOVE
Capacity to Love and Be Loved is one of the twenty-four character strengths measured by the Values in Action (VIA) Signature Strengths questionnaire (available at the Penn Authentic […]
2008
In the mid-1980’s, Howard Jones crooned on the radio: “What is love anyway? Does anybody love anybody anyway?” Here, two days before Valentine’s Day, I thought I would explore the idea of love a little more fully. I think it seems safe to answer Jones’ second questions with a resounding yes. […]
Topics: All, Love, Media, Positive Emotions (Positive Affect)
0
2008
“Raindrops on roses and
Whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and
Warm woolen mittens”
Julie Andrews sang about them. Oprah has them. And so I now want to do a fun column about “My Favorite Things,” too, to pay homage to some of the things that bring happiness and contentment to my life in the hopes […]
Topics: All, Awe, Coaching, Communication, Goals, Gratitude, Habits, Health, Love, Money, Optimism and Positive Thinking, Pathway 1 "Pleasure", Pathway 2 "Engagement / Flow", Pathway 3 "Meaning", Positive Emotions (Positive Affect), Resilience, Savoring / In-the-Moment, Sports, Strengths, Three Branches, Three Pathways, _1 Positive Experiences, _2 Positive Traits, _3 Positive Organizations
6
2008
In 2002, Barbara Fiese and colleagues published a review of 50 years of research on family routines and rituals, exploring whether there is sufficient scientific evidence that routines and rituals form a significant vehicle for promoting healthy families in the 21st century. They found that meaningful rituals contribute to marital cohesion during the transition to […]
2007
We’ve all heard the sayings: “A penny saved is a penny earned.” “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.” “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”
But how accurate and helpful are these sayings, anyway? I started to wonder about this […]
2007
My mother has days when she sleeps more and more, moving in and out of a twilight state of consciousness, as she approaches the end of her physical life. She experiences, thankfully, not a great deal of pain, but intense discomfort and sometimes fear as her late-stage lung cancer progresses. Over the past […]