Sometimes in life, we want friends, colleagues, and people we need to be accountable to in a variety of settings to be things they are not. We'd like parents (or whomever) to be “one-stop shops.” Often, we have a way of doing things that is View Post
Rediscovering Joy via Childhood Hobbies & Passions
Want an easy fix for finding joy? Try to remember what it was you loved to do when you were ages 6 or 7 and why you loved it. Or think about what you most enjoyed in early elementary school. If you can remember the things you enjoyed doing solely View Post
Dealing with Life’s Challenges and Indignities the Best You Can!
Dealing with daily indignities or crummy stuff in a delightful way is hardly easy. And still, it’s a great skill for navigating life with moxie, pluck and more happiness. Our lives are not free from challenge, nor is it reasonable to expect View Post
Knowing the Hardware Store Doesn’t Sell Bread Brings Calm
How can we live our best lives in the face of seeming adversity and still think about raising our joy quotient? One way is to think about how we relate to less than ideal interpersonal situations. If we’re not harboring unrealistic expectations View Post
Flipping Your Circuit Breaker to JOYFUL
Recently I gave a speech on the power of positivity while living with spondylitis to the Spondylitis Association of America and it was a wonderful occasion in my life. This is a great organization and a real asset to those who are living with either View Post
Gratitude Outside my Window | The Gratitude Mural
On any given day lately, I can look outside my sliding glass patio doors and see the GRATITUDE mural that was recently painted on the side of a store on my block. It’s beautiful, full of colorful flowers, pastel panels and adorned with a huge View Post
Help Ease the Blues in Little Ways
I am a very upbeat and positive person. But I too have days when its a struggle to pull myself out of my blue mood and back into the light. I don’t know if this is universal, but I’ve had lots of people tell me they can relate to that feeling over View Post
Send Forth JOY: Using Card Therapy to Brighten Others’ Days
It was a wonderful 5th Annual Celebrate Life Soiree in our new house. And though it wasn’t a card writing themed event, since I’ve seen the very real power of cards, thank you notes and what messages of connection and gratitude sent to others can do View Post
Spring Forward Towards the Positive! Raising your Joy Quotient
It's the start of a new week and the clocks just shifted to spring us all forward in our lives. I'm sure a lot of us are thinking about the new week and all that we'd like to do and how we'd like to be and I'm no different. At the beginning of View Post