Word to the Wise Woman

Are you working at a job you can't stand?  Would you like to quit, but are afraid you'll attract more of the same? Often people write to me with questions like: I want out of my present job so badly. How can I speed things up so I can quit? The best way to shorten the time spent in a negative situation is to focus on all the positives you can. If you can find something to appreciate--even if its appreciating a regular paycheck which DOES cover some of your essentials--you will begin to feel better. As you feel better, you'll find it easier to notice another thing you appreciate about your job. What if you can’t find a single positive aspect of your present job? If you don't change the way you feel about your current job, you will simply attract another miserable job. "Sometimes it's easier to act your self into a new way of thinking, than it is to think your self into a new way of acting." -Jo Berry, author Years ago, in Los Angeles, California, I heard Jo...

People say, as they get older their hearing is not what it used to be. I have found this to be true for myself. The older I get, and I plan to get as old as I can, the more I hear noises in the middle of the night. Noises, I might add, that I have never heard before . I’m not against noise. Personally, I try to make as much noise as possible. I’m just against noise not orchestrated with my sleeping habits. And at this juncture of my career, sleeping has become a habit. In fact, I might describe it as an addiction. I tried breaking this addiction once but my wife complained I was just becoming crotchety. When I was younger, I didn’t need as much sleep as today. Some experts opine that as a person gets older they don’t need as much sleep as they used to. I find this absolutely, positively untrue. I need more sleep today than I have ever needed in my entire life. Actually, what I really need is to be able to sleep all night without disturbance. My definition of disturbance is anything I ...

"When attack becomes dance, everything is seen as a gift of energy." That sounds great, doesn't it? Couldn't we all use a little more energy from time to time? I know I could. Right now, for instance, as I sit with a blanket over my shoulders, sipping lemon tea and hoping that the next coughing spasm is not as ferocious as the last two, I could use a gift of energy. The tickle that started in my nose and chest a few days ago has blossomed into a full-blown, body-wracking cold, complete with chills and fever. The martial art Aikido (The Way of Harmony) teaches us to see everything that comes our way as energy to be danced with. By centering and extending our ki (life energy) we connect and blend with the energy of attack, making it a part of us. We redirect it from center, keeping ourselves and our attacker safe from harm. How this elegant metaphor applies to situations in our personal and professional lives is a continuing source of study and fascination for me. One o...

What would one initially think about someone who dropped out of school at the age of 16? Would there be any hope for this person? This person is Bob Hope. Comedian Bob Hope starred in over 50 movies and lived past the age of 100 years old. Hope was born in England and his family moved to the United States when he was four. What can we say about our past? Have we let things from our past get in the way of achieving what we want and living a life we love? Where you came from is out of our control. Where you’re going is up to you. 1. Bob Hope held many odds jobs before becoming a comedian Long before Hope became a successful comedian, he held many odd jobs selling newspapers, was a delivery boy, worked in a soda shop, a shoe salesman. Newspaper reporter and was an amateur boxer. Many of us have had to work at odd jobs in order to make money. Working at odd jobs gives us opportunities to discover what we want and don’t want to do as a career. The skills you obtain through your experiences ...

"Who's the Boss?" 10 ways to start taking control (time management, goal setting, record tracking) At first glance, it would seem that positive thinking and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) have nothing to do with one another. But many of us with ADD develop negative thinking patterns because we become frustrated by our challenges and frequent feelings of being overwhelmed. This negative outlook then makes it even harder for us to manage those challenges and move forward.  Practicing positive thinking allows people with ADD to focus on our strengths and accomplishments, which increases happiness and motivation. This, in turn, allows us to spend more time making progress, and less time feeling down and stuck. The following tips provide practical suggestions that you can use to help you shift into more positive thinking patterns: 1. Take Good Care of Yourself It's much easier to be positive when you are eating well, exercising, and getting enough rest. 2. Remind Yoursel...

"A Piece of Blarney Stone" 10 ways to empower your communication The Blarney Stone is a historical stone, or actually part of the Blarney Castle in Ireland where it was believed that kissing the stone can grant you the gift of gab. Yeah, it seems strange in this day and age, but who are we to question tradition? It's not like I'm saying that Santa Claus doesn't exist (OOPS!). There is so much to know about conversation that anyone, even I, could ever realize. You can go though watching talk shows; radio programs; clubs dedicated to public speaking; ordinary conversations; certain rules still apply when it comes to interaction through words. It may sound tedious, I know, but even though it's your mouth that's doing the work, your brain works twice as hard to churn out a lot of things you know. So what better way to start learning to be an effective communicator is to know the very person closest to you: yourself. 1. What you know. Education is all about le...

"What Really Makes You Tick?" 10 questions you should ask to yourself: a preparation to self-improvement Be all you can be, but it's not always in the Army. I often see myself as somewhat contented with my life the way things are, but of course it's hard to think of anything else when where are real issues to be discussed. Still I aspire for something deeper and more meaningful. So we're all pelted with problems. Honestly it shouldn't even bother or even hinder us to becoming all we ought to be. Aspirations as kids should continue to live within us, even though it would be short-lived or as long as we could hold on to the dream. They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks… or can they? 1. What do I really want? The question of the ages. So many things you want to do with your life and so little time to even go about during the day. Find something that you are good at can help realize that small step towards improvement. Diligence is the key to know that...

Starting a conversation is not always easy. Especially when you don´t feel comfortable with the people you are conversing with. There could be an eerie feeling of awkwardness at the start of the interaction unless you know the five secrets... Here are five secrets to starting a great conversation with a group of people: 1. Get everyone involved. When starting a conversation, introducing people to each other could be necessary. That is if you don´t know each other or some of those present don´t. Then, connect one of your group to the topic you are talking about by inviting him to contribute. Or you might simply relate one person to another with their commonalities to encourage dialogue. 2. Choose a topic. When starting your conversation, choose a general topic. One that everyone can relate to. This will let everyone feel that they belong. This is a great way to encourage everyone to share ideas. 3. Do not drill with questions. This should be avoided especially when asking one person onl...

Fear is your enemy – no other way to describe it.  I’m not talking about that natural life preserving action along with a major boost of adrenaline that happens if a wild animal is coming at you.  I’m talking about the fears people live with day in and day out.  Fear is your enemy.  Someone once described fear as, “Sand in the machinery of life.”  Fear doesn’t help you, it hinders you.  Fear doesn’t get you through an open door; it keeps you in the hallway.  Fear never helps you put your best foot forward; it just keeps both of your feet in cement. The psychology of today is, “Learn to live with your fears”, “Embrace your fears”, “It’s normal to have fears – everybody does.”   It’s true; lots of people do have fears. And there are people who are trying to learn how to live with their fears, and embrace them. But if it’s “normal” to have fears, then why would the Bible talk about being delivered from all your fears? Think about it - if it’s no...

In this article we will discuss the concept of life and its underlying principle. We will be going through a step by step procedure, exploring your feelings and options, and by the end of this article, you should have a fairly solid tool you could immediately employ in your life, to give it a meaningful direction. There are three steps to the process of discovering the purpose of your life: Understanding the principle of choice Creating your underlying principle Aligning your life with the underlying principle Understanding the principle of choice Norman Vincent Peale has this to say about the power of choice. “The greatest power we have is the power of choice. It is an actual fact, that if you have been groping under unhappiness, you can choose to be joyous, instead. And, by effort, lift yourself into joy. If you tend to be fearful, you can overcome that misery by choosing to have courage. The whole trend and the quality of anyone’s life is determined by the choice that are made”. Cho...