I love to reminisce. When I get together with friends or family we tell the same stories again and again. Like the time we stared death in the face in Interlaken, Switzerland. We had decided to ride little mopeds (remember those?) on the narrow roads in the surrounding mountains. Huge trucks came within inches of […]

I have been reading about the virtues as outlined in the book of virtues by Peterson and Seligman. I have been wondering how they all relate to each other and the influence one virtue exerts on the others.  At the same time I have noticed references to these great virtues in literature.  It has occurred […]

Several years ago I was visiting with friends and we were all getting ready to go out for the evening. One of my friends came into the living room and I complimented her on how pretty she looked. Her immediate, almost unconscious response was, “You’re blind.” I was shocked. It felt like she threw this little compliment back in my face. Her response made the whole exchange a negative experience. I remember thinking that I would have been better off saying nothing. But I couldn’t leave it there. I stopped the conversation and turned it into a training session. I said, “Let’s rewind this exchange and try it again. This time all I want you to say is, ‘Thank you.’” I repeated my compliment word for word and she dutifully responded with a quiet “thank you.” […]

I am the voluntary leader of a religious congregation of over 400 members.  Like many churches, we have various auxiliaries and organizations to meet the needs of our membership.  These include organizations for the young men, the young women, the children, the men, the women, the single adults, the poor and needy, the unemployed, and […]

As I meet with individuals and couples, either in my role as a church leader or in my role as the Human Resources officer for my employer, I often find people who have lost hope. They have lost hope in their careers, they have lost hope in their relationships, and they have lost hope […]

My boss has told me that he has never seen a performance review system that he liked. While it almost seems like blasphemy to admit this, I have been uncomfortable with the way corporations evaluate performance throughout my career in Human Resources. I have written and helped implement several approaches to performance evaluation over the years. Each approach was a variation on the common theme that is most widely accepted among corporations. […]

Yikes! I’m turning 50 in ten days.  It’s hard to believe.  Where did the time go?  What have I accomplished?  What have I contributed?  What do I want to accomplish and contribute in the next fifty years?
Sound familiar?  If you are at or beyond 50, you have undoubtedly asked yourself these questions.  If you are […]

As I talked to old friends and made new ones, Ilona Boniwell’s presentation came to mind over and over again. Ilona is a Senior Lecturer in Positive Psychology from the University of East London, UN. She spoke in one of the pre-forum sessions about teaching positive psychology in a postgraduate setting. Toward the end of her presentation, she mentioned that there seemed to be a “magic to MAPP.” She said that she has noticed that the people who study positive psychology in her program seem to see their studies as a calling. She said that positive psychologists seem drawn to the field and they sense a bond with other students that holds them together. […]

Several months ago a man made an appointment to meet with me regarding some of his personal struggles. When the appointed time arrived I was more than a little curious about what was on his mind and how I could help. After sharing a heart rending story of his life experiences, he summed it up by saying that the biggest burden he carried was his inability to forgive those who had hurt him. What a heavy burden it was for him to carry. I could see it in his eyes and in his manner and even in his posture. He seemed sad. The mental image I had of him was of someone standing in a deep hole looking up and longing to be back in the light. […]

Please forgive the personal nature of this month’s writing. I don’t know how to communicate my thoughts this month without tapping into an experience from which my wife, Laurie, and I are just now emerging.

Sunday, July 23, 2006 changed our lives forever. On this particular Sunday, I was at church with a full schedule of […]