One of the concepts that I have difficulty relating to is boredom. I’m seldom bored, but I frequently hear others complain that they are. It’s not a subject that I’ve studied a whole lot, but I think that I’ve had enough experience in avoiding boredom to enable me to help others by sharing my thoughts…
I’ve been carrying one of my favorite football quotes around with me for about 50 years. Although I’m no longer certain who said it, it was a quarterback whose offense just came out on the field after the opponent’s punt pinned their team back near their own end zone. Despite the seemingly dismal situation, as…
Those of us who live in the United States celebrate Thanksgiving this week. Although I believe that the U.S. and Canada are among the few nations that have a holiday with that official name, many other countries and cultures have similar celebrations – often times to give thanks for a bountiful harvest. If a holiday…
One of the questions that I routinely ask new therapy patients is, “What do you do for fun?” Some are able to answer in a positive manner without hesitation. Others, however, treat it like a trick question – and an uncomfortable trick question at that. I get all kinds of uncomfortable responses from various patients:…
Although it marks a transition to shorter days and colder weather, there is no more beautiful time of the year in the northeastern United States than the fall. Whether you take time off, as my wife and I did, to take a trip to do “leaf peeping” with some good friends, or whether you enjoy…
If you are not going out by yourself, there are two reasons why you out to dinner, a movie, or another event. Obviously one of the reasons is to enjoy the activity. The other is to enjoy the time that you are spend with your spouse, partner, friend, date, or other couple(s). Too often, however,…
We are living during some difficult times. It is easy to become cynical. On a near-daily basis, the news contains reports of terrorism, gun violence, political polarization, and an uncertain economy. Under these circumstances it is easy to say, “What’s the use of trying? How can I make a difference?” It is precisely at times…
When facing challenges or tasks that are not inherently enjoyable, I try to approach each one with the question of, “How can I make it be fun?” It doesn’t always work! Sometimes it’s because of me and the way I’m feeling and the way that it detracts from some things that I’d rather do. Sometimes…
It would be nice to go through life without having to deal with disappointments. Nice – but not realistic. The issue is not whether we will have to deal with disappointments in our family lives, careers, and relationships. We will. The issue is how will we cope when those things occur. In this area, like…
During my graduate school training in psychology, religion was a topic that was almost never discussed. Some students were more religious than others, and some were not religious at all. As budding psychologists, we tended to be respectful of each others’ practices or lack thereof, but the subject of religion was almost never discussed professionally.…
One of the most overused words in our language is the word, Awesome. It is used as a motivational tool, compliment, and as a means of evaluating a novice’s efforts at learning a new skill. Even mediocre accomplishments are often described as being awesome. Paradoxically, however, people often have a difficult time regarding themselves or…