Discontent and unhappiness are not the same thing. The first of our problem solving tools is appreciation of discontent.
Read More
How to develop positive attitude in three basic steps. First, see what is as good. Second, see what is coming as good. Third, practice.
Read More
Do you hear the voices? Some people get a little nervous when I ask them this question. I’m a shrink, and I’m asking if you hear the voices? But we all hear them. You might even hear one right now saying, “What voices? I don’t know what he’s talking about.” That’s the voice I mean. Sometimes the voices are loud and clear. At other times they are not much more than a whisper. It is the whisper voice that I want to call to your attention today. The little whisper voice that says, “Hold the door for her.” The almost imperceptible, “Call him today just to let him know you are thinking about him.” The subtle but powerful, “Say something to bring a smile to the child’s face.” The potentially life-saving, “Thank the cashier for their kind and professional service.” Small? Quiet? Perhaps. And something that improves the human condition.…
Read More
For each of the next five days, starting today, make a written list of twenty five things for which you are sincerely grateful.
Read More
To manifest great things we must do a little more work than we may have anticipated, but less than we fear. Remember, stuff just sits there until you move it. Water runs downhill until you add pipes and pressure to alter its course. Cake ingredients are just ingredients until someone mixes and bakes them. There is no substitute for good old fashioned work. Professional titles are often actually named after the work activities they represent. Cooks, bakers, farmers, painters, builders, receive their titles directly from the work they do. Teachers teach, runners run, writers write. I have held my book in my mind and heart for more than a decade. The reason you can now hold it in your hands is because I went to work, put my hands to the keyboard of my computer, and physically wrote the words. As I go to work and write, my thoughts become…
Read More
In victim mode, we wait for someone or something to rescue us. In Pathological Positivity mode, we do whatever it takes.
Read More
Positivity doesn't eliminate our problems, it illuminates them.
Read More
You’ve heard the question a hundred times: “Is the glass half empty or half full?” If we are operating in noxious negativity mode we see the glass as half empty. It is absolutely true. It is half empty. Of course it is. Any dang fool can see it’s half empty. When we are feeling negative, we focus on what is missing and lament the lack of water in the glass. When we are feeling more positive, we see the glass as half full. Of course it is half full. Anyone can see that. We focus on what we desire, and celebrate the presence of water. Then there are those who see it as completely full – all the time. These seemingly crazy people are not just positive; they are what this psychologist calls pathologically positive. Pathological Positivity is an empowering mental supernormality that lifts us above the normal perception of “reality.” It…
Read More
Basic principles of positive psychology allow us to experience happiness now, and to anticipate more happiness in the future.
Read More