The V-Word

“Faith… is the art of holding on to things your reason once accepted, despite your changing moods.” C.S. Lewis

Our brief hint of spring ended today, although the fruit trees were all coaxed into flower. The weather turned cold, grey and wet. My thirteen-year-old son said on the way to school, “I definitely have that SAD disorder.” I said, “We all do.” Amazing what a few sunny days will do for...

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. ~Plato

There is something about a natural disaster that brings out the best in all of us. Several years ago while living in eastern Washington, the area was hit with over three feet of snow within days. The recent snow storms on the east coast brought back the memories of both the wonder and terror of human existence at the mercy of...

“The best portion of a good man’s life – his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love.“ ~William Wordsworth

When I think of kindness, I remember when my first child was diagnosed with a range of developmental delays and the children and parents that I met in the years that she attended preschool for special needs children. Special needs kids make up in heart what they lack in...

“Fear less, hope more; Eat less, chew more; Whine less, breathe more; Talk less, say more; Love more, and all good things will be yours” -Swedish Proverb

1. Positivity Builds Psychological Strengths

Our psychological strengths are, in effect, our mental habits. Our strengths reflect how we think about ourselves, our relationships and our life experiences. Opening up, becoming resilient and...

‘At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.’ -Albert Schweitzer

I have been studying gratitude lately. In keeping my first gratitude journal, I have learned that paying attention and recording the gifts of life actually fills you up more quickly than you can fill...

“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” George Bernard Shaw

It is hard to believe that I have arrived at day 50 of my positivity quest. Here is the progress report as I see it.

Slowly my mind is changing. I am almost entirely aware of my emotional state now and cognizant of the attitude choices I am making usually within...

“Who forces time is pushed back by time; who yields to time finds time on his side.” ~The Talmud

I have long been a doer, measuring my days and my self worth by what was accomplished. Raising my four kids was a continuous exercise in multi-tasking, racing between activity drop-offs and pick-ups in a complex and ridiculous mania. I was forever late for something and never really in time. Aging...

“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” ~Dale Carnegie

Perhaps my favorite way of learning about anything is reading the knowledge produced by my predecessors about the subject in question. Yesterday I worked diligently to lean toward hope even as despair pulled at my heels. Every victory toward...

Connect to the spiritual dimensions of sustainable love – Listen this week to Rachel Gordon, an internationally recognized Intuitive Counselor discuss how to bring light and love into your relationships. The conversation is sprinkled with eternal wisdom about discovering the secrets to loving yourself, engaging in loving relationships and understanding the alchemical transformation of sexual love....