Ancient and modern teachings about life and humanity emphasize acceptance as something to (continually) strive for. Acceptance is a broad topic, and here I am talking about self-acceptance, accepting others as they are, and accepting the unexpected because we can’t predict the future. Of course all of these are a part of being present in the moment—something else we strive for. Read More
I remember reading about self-actualization back in the 1960s when I was first aware that I needed to understand more about people and life—meaning me and how I was in the world! Abraham Maslow, among others, wrote about self-actualization and the hierarchy of human needs. He outlined an adult developmental process, what was important at each stage, and what we are striving for in our self-development.
We all struggle to understand what our lives are about and what we should be striving for as we question our own happiness. Frequently, there is a new article in the popular media describing a new study about happiness: who is happy, when are they happiest, to what degree, and why? Much serious research is done on this topic, which gets linked to other concepts like resilience. The Positive Psychology movement is studying people who are doing well, whereas most psychological research is and has been focused on those not doing so well. Read More
We have a tendency to mentally rehearse anticipated difficult conversations. Often with these we tell someone off, explaining why we acted a certain way or what they did wrong. Frequently we take a self-righteous tone. These conversations rehearsed are usually not the ones we end up having, if indeed we have them at all. An exercise like this is a good way to blow off steam, making it possible to focus on what really might be constructive, especially if we remember that there are two people in the conversation. Read More
We learn to make good decisions through practice. With young children, we start by giving them two choices, then gradually widen the possibilities and provide more choices. There is no formula to learning to make good decisions but using this child development model provides a basic guideline: start small and add choices if and when needed.
Much new information about how our brains process information has become available in recent years with many psychologists and behavioral economists studying the decision-making process. Read More