I am lucky enough to be on a train right now. It’s dark but that’s okay. I still love the swaying, rhythmic movement that is beginning to make me sleepy.

There are two phone conversations I’m trying not to listen to–difficult because I can hear every word. These people think they are having a private chat but the rest of us know that the girl in row five is incensed with her boyfriend and the man a few seats up  has, for reasons we can only guess,  found it necessary to state over and over that he is a very busy person.

Something has been lost with the advent of this media-mad world. (more…)

As we head toward Thanksgiving, the remnants of Halloween remind me that when we get together with family and friends, sometimes we wear masks in an effort to make other people think we are someone we are not. We wear our masks in hopes people will give us “treats” in the way of praise and affirmation.

We wear our mask to work, smiling to hiding the strain of the fight we had last night with our partner. We wear a confident mask as we use our credit card, hoping it won’t be rejected. And every mask we put on makes us feel less certain of ourselves, makes us feel more and more like a fraud. (more…)

Today, I would like for you to take a little test. I would like you to jot down when you are feeling good and what you did to make yourself feel good. I would also like you to jot down when you are feeling not-so-good and why. I am talking about mood, not the H1N1 flu. If at the end of the day you have 4 or more times you feel not-so-good, then I want you to ask yourself, does feeling positive about myself depend on other people? Are you waiting for someone else to reward you—and if they don’t, is that when you feel bad? If so, I have some terrific news for you. IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE LIKE THIS!!!!   (more…)

Have you ever had a friend who was so negative you didn’t want to be around him? On a sunny day he would say, “Yes, but it’s going to rain later.” After a good movie, “The amount of money actors are paid makes me sick.”

Low self-esteem is the same thing as being a negative thinker. All you focus on are the things you can’t do or should have done better. If you put yourself down like this all the time, you won’t even want to be around yourself! To build self-esteem, focus on the things at which you have been successful, no matter how small. God did not put you on earth to hate yourself. (more…)

I think women have a sense they could or should be happier–that their life, ‘though adequate by previous decades’ expectations, is not the wonderful, fabulous life they have been promised. Its like getting to the top of the mountain and after taking the in the view, saying, “Okay–now what?” Climb down and get back to work–whatever work is. The bar keeps moving up for women, down for men. Men are being told to relax, quit chasing the corporate gold ring, get in touch with themselves, enjoy their children and grandchildren. Women are given the message that unless they are deeply happy within themselves, they’ve missed something. (more…)