Relationships

17 Sep

Posted at 10:01h in biases, customs, Inspiration, Life Coach, Mindfulness, neuroscience, Positive Psychology, Relationships, Schools, Social-Emotional Leadership, spirituality, Traditions, Uncategorized by

Today is the highest of the Jewish holy days: Yom Kippur (I love saying that with my gentile accent!). My Facebook status and Twit feed read: Am realizing we don't have to be Jewish to seek forgiveness today. Traditions are good, even when we borrow them. Atoning is about clearing psychological and emotional space, a task that I take quite seriously with myself and my clients. Who will you risk having a conversation with to ask for forgiveness? Don’t forget forgiving yourself! We are often our worst critics. Last week, the Jews celebrated Rosh Hashanah symbolizing the start of a new year...

12 Jul

Posted at 17:24h in Action Research, Coaching, family, forgiveness, gratitude, Hope, Inspiration, Mindfulness, Moments that matter, Positive Psychology, Relationships, savoring, Social-Emotional Leadership by

[caption id="attachment_303" align="alignleft" width="190" caption="circa 1980"][/caption] Picture it: 1978, Pascack Valley Hospital, Westwood, NJ - I was born an unexpected twin, breech, the youngest of four children. “Doctor you have another baby in there,” the nurse said as she was cleaning up after Christine was born. “WHAT?!??! my parents screamed.” I grew up in the suburbs of NYC (not far from the Housewives of NJ), overweight and pseudo-overachieving. I lost my brother Todd to suicide when I was 12. He was 19. Awful, tragic, sad. But I remember where I was standing that day of his death, at the edge of our driveway,...

05 Feb

Posted at 09:28h in abundance, Coaching, Cognitive-behavioral, forgiveness, Happiness coach, Hope, Inspiration, Life Coach, Life Coaching, Positive Intervention, Positive Psychology, Relationships, self control, self regulation, Thoughts-Action, trust by

Ever since hearing President Obama’s state of the union address last week, I couldn’t help but thinking what I need to do: ask for President W and his supporters for forgiveness – forgiveness for my own lack of support during his presidency, for saying things like “He’s not my President, he’s yours.” For mocking him continually (which was easy because my friends were doing the same). But not all my friends – and certainly not many of my family members, including my parents, who have a framed photo of the man (albeit in their basement), which arrived after they made...

14 Jan

Posted at 20:54h in Coaching, customs, Efficacy, gratitude, Inspiration, Life Coach, Life Coaching, Mindfulness, positive emotion, Positive person, Positive Psychology, Relationships, resilience, resiliency, Thoughts-Action by

Can you believe Albert Einstein said, “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” I’ve been thinking on this lately. Albert Einstein was a smart, smart man. But quotes of his like this make me see his intelligence in different, universal – perhaps even spiritual ways. I’ve been testing my ability to see everything as miracle and boy, does it take work. As a New Yorker, I’ve recently been doing this work in finding ways to enjoy winter. My tendency is...

06 Jan

Posted at 10:52h in forgiveness, Goal Setting, gratitude, Life Coach, Life Coaching, Mindfulness, Positive Psychology, Relationships, resiliency by

Well, here we are, it's 2010!   Here's my list of Top 10, of course with at positive psychology lens.  BIG clarification: Positive psychology is NOT just about positive thinking. It's about being authentic and attuned, grounded, and choosing to focus attention in certain (perhaps more positive) directions - when possible, which makes it realistic. (1) Take stock. Review 2009 with an appreciative lens. What went well? What were your wins, big & small? Make a list, post them on your refrigerator and savor. (2) Clarify your visions. Successful people know what they want. They are clear about what the future looks...

15 Dec

Posted at 20:33h in Action Research, Hope, Inspiration, Life Coach, Life Coaching, Mindfulness, positive emotion, Positive Psychology, Relationships, resiliency, savoring, Social-Emotional Leadership, Uncategorized by

Last week, our meetup discussed ways to really have a banging holiday season this year.  A mighty group of us talked about how to use Positive Psychology (the science of happiness & success) to make this happen.  We started by asking, "How do we want to be feeling on January 1?" Inspired? Excited? Rested? Hopeful? Some of our ideas for how to ensure this - about how to have a joyful season, included: * Keep a growth mindset (things change, people change) * Appreciate what's already good (what you look forward to each year - dig deep if need be) * Consider 'best' possible...

28 Oct

Posted at 15:17h in Action Research, Coaching, Cognitive, Cognitive-behavioral, Meaning, Mindfulness, Positive Intervention, Positive Psychology, Relationships, Social-Emotional Leadership by

[caption id="attachment_166" align="alignright" width="300" caption="From hearing to seeing to speaking. Assume much?"][/caption] Aim: To become more mindful of everyday language, to create meaning. Point: What we know of positive psychology is that other people matter. <roll eyes here>. Certainly, these words have been overused so much so, they’re becoming empty. Other words we use are empty, too. For example, when someone asks, “How are you?” answers like “fine” and “good” do not have significant meaning. The argument can be made that the question has no meaning either. Challenge: To be as specific as you can be when someone asks you, “How are you?”....

14 Oct

Posted at 11:54h in Character Strength, Coaching, Efficacy, Flow, forgiveness, Hope, Inspiration, Life Coach, Life Coaching, Love, Meaning, Mindfulness, Positive person, positive place, Positive Psychology, Relationships, Vision by

Last week I had the great fortune of being with the Dalai Lama three days in two cities. The second of these visits brought me to Washington DC, where the Mind Life Institute presented an annual congress on learning called “Educating World Citizens” which brought together over 2,000 international voices. The Dalai Lama participated in all sessions over two days, which engaged western scientists concerned about the good life, particularly in regard to schooling (teaching/learning). Session topics included: Envisioning the World Citizen; Attention, Emotional Regulation, and Learning; Compassion and Empathy, and Future Directions and Policy. To sum, we discussed how to educate...

04 Oct

Posted at 16:16h in Action Research, Hope, Inspiration, Life Coaching, Love, Meaning, positive emotion, Positive person, Relationships, resiliency by

She is an old soul with a young spirit who I met at a mutual friend’s cocktail party sometime last year. She and I were hanging out in the kitchen with several others talking about what we “do” – typical cocktail party banter. But when it came to Amanda’s turn to share, she had an atypical response: she told us how she was a dog-walker in Chelsea and that she loved what she did. I’ll never forget how she spoke her words with such conviction, they resonate in me still today. She was an easy pick for my newer blog...

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