Almost ten years ago, I began my journey to joy. Special people helped me along the way with their wisdom, scholarship, and caring hearts. Some of what they taught me is encapsulated in these blog posts. For example, Dr. Marshall Goldsmith taught me first-hand how our mutual humble beginnings made us who we are and to celebrate our past. The first time I heard the concept of sacred souls was from Dr. Lance Secretan. Mary Lynne Heldmann helped me shift negative thinking to its polar opposite and to unconditionally believe in this new normal. Eckhart Tolle taught me much about ego and acceptance of the present moment. The list is long, and I am grateful to each one of these extraordinary people who cared enough to invest in me – either directly or indirectly through their life’s work. I am walking the path to joy. I share what I’ve learned so you can get started on your own journey.
The car left skid marks as it careened off the main thoroughfare and onto the side of the road. With wheels screeching and brakes squealing, it came to a hard stop. Just then, the door flung open and an irate woman got out. She came racing across…
My friend and I were hanging out at her house after school and had just gone into the kitchen for a snack when her older sister walked in. “Well,” she said. “I did it.” We both looked at her curiously. “I quit school,” she announced. She…
Right before Easter every year while I was in grade school, my mom and my Aunt Bertie, who raised me, took me to the Hat Box for my Easter bonnet. It was located just across King Street, which Bertie always called Main Street, up two steps, and…
The chatter reached a cacophonous crescendo by the time the professor arrived for my business methods class in college. She always made a grand and dramatic entrance by walking briskly and decisively through the door, arms loaded with graded papers…
Each of us has a hard shell of ego covering our inner feelings. Some of those feelings are positive, but many are not. And when our inner feelings aren’t positive, they can become triggers of insecurity that cause us to react in needy ways. For…
One day some years ago, my husband and I ordered lunch from the drive-through lane of our local McDonald’s. When we got to the window to receive our food, an interesting scene played out. The food server didn’t smile and said very little to us…
It was hard for me to be heard above the elevated male voices in the room. Male vocal chords are on average longer than female vocal chords. They naturally had more voice power, but that didn’t stop me from trying to match them voice to voice. If…
I had just addressed a large gathering of corporate employees on topics ranging from professionalism to ethics, and I was taking a few questions from the audience. A young woman fresh out of college raised her hand and asked, “What if someone…
“I can’t do this. It’s too hard,” said the young mother raising a difficult toddler. “I’m so stiff with this chronic arthritis,” said the daily walker as she laced her walking shoes. “I feel like I can’t go on. I’m so lost,”…
