In 10th grade business class, my teacher Mrs. Goldstein taught our class a model that promised to make us more successful in life. When faced with a difficult decision of whether or not to do something, she counciled us to execute the following strategy: At the top of a sheet of paper (this was the …
Category Archives: Leadership and growth
Gloriousness and Wretchedness
Life is glorious, but life is also wretched. It is both. Appreciating the gloriousness inspires us, encourages us, cheers us up, gives us a bigger perspective, energizes us. We feel connected. … On the other hand, wretchedness–life’s painful aspect–softens us up considerably. Knowing pain is a very important ingredient of being there for another person. …
Getting unstuck
Certain emotions — like fear, anger and sadness — are a little sticky for me. Among the skills that helps one get through life (like being able to jumpstart a car and make good martini) “processing painful emotions” isn’t one I’ve mastered. It’s not that I don’t feel those emotions, but I don’t always seem …
You get me…you really, really get me
I just came home from two days of special needs parent training. It was the kind of weekend that makes my life seem almost glamorous—free hotel with a glorious night of uninterrupted sleep, food flowing all day with no dishwasher to load afterward, a cozy bar with a fireplace…oh, yeah, and the chance to learn a …
“Just keep going. No feeling is final.”
“This too shall pass.” “Hang in there.” Such advice is given usually at the moment we least want to hear it, when we’d rather just punch the messenger right in the nose. But the message is wise and true. Just keep going. No feeling is final. With each breath and with each step, it turns into something else.
The difference between pain and suffering
Like “peanut butter and jelly” or”cookies and milk,” the concepts of “pain and suffering” just sort of go together in my vocabulary and in my mind. As a parent of a child with special needs, I have found great relief in exploring the difference between the two. During a talk at my local meditation center a couple of years ago, a …
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