The Blog

Sixty years of marriage. It’s hard to imagine when you first marry that it could last that long! Yet last night, my husband and I were invited to dinner at the house some friends had rented at Pensacola Beach for the week. We hadn’t seen them in about thirty-five years, so it took a minute to update our appearances. There …

“It’s okay, come on in,” Flack said, opening the side door to the gym. We were dating and enjoyed playing racketball together. It was 1970, and both of us were active duty officers at Navy Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, but women weren’t allowed to use the gym, so he had to sneak me in. To me, it seemed preposterous, …

What does the Serenity Prayer look like? Draw two circles, a smaller one within the larger one. In the small one, write “influence,” and in the larger one, write “concern.” Steven Covey first drew this schematic in his book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. When I do seminars on stress management, I often use this picture. The Serenity Prayer says, “Grant …

“STOP!” I yelled, banging my fists on the table. The group I was leading had suddenly dissolved into chaos, with one woman emotionally and verbally out of control, and two others crossing the room toward each other, seemingly ready to fight. Two of the three fled the room, the other sat down and composed herself, ready to participate again. I …

Women’s wisdom is gained over a lifetime, not just by aging, but by paying attention along the way and learning from both successes and mistakes. I wrote a whole book on it, once I reached a point when I felt secure enough to share it publicly. Here’s an excerpt from the preface: Life can be exhilarating and exhausting, joyful and …

Have you met this uncivil woman? She’s convinced that “it’s all about me,” is impatient, doesn’t listen, fans public fears, constantly assign labels to people, reacts emotionally with little rational thought, has little or no self-control, yet conveys an attitude of superiority. She’s certain that “I’m right” and insists on getting her own way. Facts don’t matter; she has morally …

Civility. 80% of Americans think that it’s a serious social issue, but 99% of those same people say they aren’t part of the problem! About 15 years have passed since Dr. P. M. Forni published that finding; I wonder if it’s any different now? Civility is essential to the functioning of democracy. Long ago, Aristotle was convinced that we cannot …

“Time is life” was the speaker’s topic this morning at Toastmasters. It was a timely (pardon the pun) speech for me, since I’ve been living quite aimlessly for nearly two weeks. I seemed to lose my direction once our son and his family moved out, and I clearly need to get back on track with my own life. Ed’s speech …

Separation anxiety. It seems I’m not the only one adjusting to my son and his family’s moving out of our house. On Wednesday, we met up with them at a restaurant for dinner. We hadn’t seen Caroline, who just turned five, for four days, mostly because she had been sick. When she spied my husband, she peeled across the room …

Why am I working so hard? What’s the payoff? Am I just wasting my time? Those were my thoughts this morning as I contemplated writing this blog. I’ve been working with women who are addicted to drugs or alcohol, or have experienced some sort of trauma. It’s  a new, holistic approach, and I volunteered my services. I’ve met with two …