When we get clear about boundaries we can make choices rather than just react. We become empowered. We can now search for creative solutions to what seemed to be intractable problems.

I’m very mindful, as I sit at my computer this morning, of the utter horror of last weekend’s shooting in Las Vegas. My emotions vacillate from shock to anger to sadness that something so inhumane can happen, yet again, in America. Such events occur all too frequently and effect each of us deeply as we search […]

Deep inside we want to know that people notice us, that we are important and worthy of recognition and love.

The good news is that there is a great deal of research on healthy and happy marital relationships. Researchers are discovering patterns of successful relationships and letting the rest of us in on their secrets.

In my last blog post I wrote about people who are late. I want to continue exploring this theme today. Of course, all of us are late sometimes. And some of us are late much or even most of the time. Although some may consider this to be a minor problem, I think it is […]

This black and white sketch was drawn for us by Dev, a new friend in India. I love it. For Christians, it represents one of the most important events in history—the birth of the Christ child. But whether you are Christian or not the painting embodies the tender love of family—the sweet innocence and radiance […]

In my last post I introduced four principles for creating positive relationships: empathy, honesty, responsibility and shared vision. I consider them the four cornerstones of a good healthy relationship, whether it be marriage, parent-child, boss-employee and so on. My goal is to grow in my ability to live these qualities in each of my relationships. […]

In my last post I talked about the relationship between positive social relationships and happiness. Unhappiness is not a mental illness caused by something mysterious going on the brain. Generally, it can be linked to what is going on in your relationships. How are you and your boss (or co-workers) getting along? How close do […]

In my studies of gratitude, I came across this beautiful story told by Maureen Deuterma.

I vividly recall an experience when I lived in Cochabamba, Bolivia (many years ago). My traveling companion and I met a man on a bus who invited us to come to visit his family. We immediately changed our plans and accompanied him to his home. We arrived at a small, adobe-like, two-roomed house. The floors […]