Health & wellbeing
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When things get crazy
“The world is a puzzle. There’s no need to make sense out of it.” ~Socrates Sometimes it feels as if the whole world is falling apart. If old Socrates thought his life was a puzzle, I wonder what he’d think of our lives today? The best we can do, at times, is throw our hands in the air and surrender to the chaos — without adding any more to it. Sometimes we can’t save the world or even clean out the whole garage. As any good philosopher will tell you, there are situations beyond our immediate control. But we can always take care of our own little corner of the…
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Pain management
“Don’t allow your wounds to transform you into something you are not.” ~Paulo Coehlo It’s easy to let our anger, sadness, or disappointment get the better of us at times. We’re only human. But some folks define themselves by their misfortune. They wear their emotional wounds like a badge of honor and seize every opportunity to throw a pity party. Nobody travels through this life without getting hurt, losing people they love, losing opportunities, and suffering trauma. Sometimes we lose faith in ourselves or others, or we lose our way and have to work harder to find our way back. But we can choose to grow from painful experiences or…
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It’s OK if you’re not busy
“If nothing’s working for you, if you feel as though you’re pushing forward against the grain, the most productive and proactive thing you can do is nothing. Nature is turning you inward, to gain power through peace, rather than outward to gain power through activity.” ~Martha Beck Sometimes I feel ashamed if I’m not being productive, even on a vacation. I still try to check my email and answer it, or take notes on projects I could work on later … Even if I’m only spinning my wheels, I want to believe I’m accomplishing something. I’m simply following the cultural norm. “I’m busy” isn’t just a catchphrase, after all. Most people…
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How to comfort a grieving friend
“If you’re my age, you’ve probably had your heart broken many times. So it’s not that difficult to unpack a bit of grief from some little corner of your heart and cry over it.” ~Emma Thompson Losing our parents and other loved ones is a reality of life as we age — a reality that’s easier to face if we have a nurturing support system. But sometimes it’s hard to know how to help and comfort friends who are grieving a new loss. That’s the topic of my newest column in The Sunday Oakland Press. You’ll find it in the Homefront section in the print edition (July 2) or you…
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Moving in another direction
“Taking a step back to walk away from situations that threaten your peace of mind, values, morals, or self-worth, is almost always a healthy and necessary step forward.” ~Marc and Angel Chernoff Growing up, we were often lectured about the importance of “sticking with it” — even when we suspected it wasn’t right for us. Of course, there’s merit in staying the course and working through difficult times and rough patches, but sometimes it’s better to slow down and reassess what’s really going on, as today’s quote reminds us. We might decide that it’s wiser moving on to something else. Loyalty to anyone or anything isn’t a virtue if it’s seriously messing…
