My father’s birthday was June 15th, very close to Father’s Day, and often it’s been the same day as Father’s Day, but throughout my father’s life, when he was alive, he didn’t want us to celebrate Father’s Day and his birthday together. He insisted on separating them, which I always thought was out of character […]
celebration, character, father, out of character
One of my favorite quotations is, “I hate writing, but I love having written.” And that has been attributed to various famous writers including Dorothy Parker and others, but I’ve never found verification for who actually said it. It’s interesting that writers often feel like they’re suffering while they are writing and revising, but they […]
better after, hate, love, quotation, Writing
Years ago, I saw a wonderful James Thurber cartoon that shows a man holding a phone and yelling into it,” Well if I called the wrong number, why did you answer the phone?” And it captures so well when something bad happens that’s our fault, we can at times immediately blame the other person. I […]
advice, mindset, perspective, perspectives
Russell Conwell was a Baptist Minister, a philanthropist, an attorney, an educator and the founder of Temple University in Philadelphia. He was well known for giving a speech many times called “Acres of Diamonds”. The essence of that speech was that people often mistakenly believe that to be successful, or find prosperity or their fortunes, […]
conwell, diamonds, mindset, opportunity, temple
The saying, “You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression,” makes many people feel condemned to failure if they didn’t do so well when first meeting somebody, like in a job interview or a social situation, and it is true that just the way we’re hardwired, we make very fast impressions and […]
chances, first impression, impression, redo, second chance
In baseball, when a runner arrives at the bag at the same time as the ball, people in the stands will often yell,” The tie goes to the runner!” Meaning the runner should be safe… however, there is no such formal rule in baseball, and it’s the umpire’s job to decide if the runner is […]
advice, baseball, runner, tie
The mother of a friend of mine passed away recently and while making some arrangements, my friend was lamenting that she and her three siblings had drifted apart over the years. There wasn’t anything specific that happened, but due to the geography, and growing families, and work obligations, they rarely talked. My friend’s mother was […]
advice, cheesecake, connection, family
A riptide or rip current is a strong current moving away from the beach that can trap swimmers who are trying to swim to shore. In that situation, people often panic and try harder to swim against the tide. Lifeguards recommend that in that situation, what swimmers should do, is start swimming parallel to the […]
advice, lifeguard, riptide, tide
I started my Rise & Whine episodes over 2 years ago, and the idea was pretty simple. It was just a way to connect with people offering a brief word of encouragement or a concept from psychology that I thought would help people in their daily lives. What was surprising and quite rewarding, is how […]
R&W, rise and whine, youtube
An article in a recent issue of Psychology Today noted that although we know the benefits of receiving a compliment, people are often reluctant to give one. The reason is people tend to underestimate the positive impact of the person we’re paying the compliment to. And people tend to overestimate that the person will be […]
advice, kind, kindness, sincerity