The Happiness Connection
Don't hide your brokenness
Can you remember a time when you or someone else broke an ornament or some pottery that you really loved? Last Christmas I knocked a piece of my German village...
Create your new normal
A few years ago, I gave a presentation about emotions. I used the word normal to describe what was typical for most people. When the session was over, I was...
Find happiness in creativity
Are you feeling bored, frustrated, or tired of being in lockdown? If so, perhaps this is the time to increase your creativity. I don’t say that simply to...
Mystery or certain doom?
Balance: a condition in which different elements are equal or in the correct proportions. — Oxford Dictionary There has been a lot of discussion over the...
Put yourself on paper
Happy Easter! In my family, it didn’t matter what I cooked for Easter dinner, as long as we had devilled eggs. I remember many years when they were tinged...
Stay positive during virus
When I decided to make happiness the centre of my work, I struggled with feeling dismissed by traditional businesses. I knew how important a sense of positive...
Toilet paper philosophy
The last time I went to Costco was the first day of their social-distancing initiatives. They were only letting a limited number of people in at one time. I was...
Silver linings hard to see
The pandemic is something that will be remembered and recounted long after it's over. This is probably the biggest global event since the Second World War....
Keep your social distance
I remember a neighbour’s 12-year-old daughter declaring that she had a boyfriend. That wasn’t unusual, but finding out she had never met this boy...
Change is OK
I recently heard about a new way of packaging shampoo and conditioner. Rather than being liquid in a bottle, you can buy it in a bar like soap. What a great...
Worry won't change things
As I drove my dad to an appointment, he broached a subject on behalf of my mother. Knowing that I have a road trip coming up, they wanted confirmation that I...
Depressed, yet happy
I am a clinically depressed, happiness maven. Does that sound weird? I guess it’s a little like a professional skier saying they are allergic to snow....
The person you overlook
For me, Valentine’s Day has always been about more than just romantic love. Don’t get me wrong – when I was growing up, I couldn’t wait...
Practice makes... success
What are you good at? You might think about work skills, like sales or negotiation. Perhaps your mind goes to leisure time and you think about a sport or craft....
What on earth led to Brexit?
It finally happened. On Friday, 1,316 days after voting to leave the European Union, Britain severed its ties with Europe. The result of the referendum on June...
It's OK to talk to yourself
Do you talk to yourself? I do. Let me clarify. I don’t have conversations where I ask questions and then answer them. I verbally process my thoughts. It...
Broken ankle, crutch phrase
If you read my column regularly, you may have been wondering what happened to me last weekend. For only the second time in three years, I didn’t manage to...
Leaping into the new year
Would life be easier in January if we didn’t celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25? There is so much happening during the holiday period that it is easy to let...
SMART 2020 resolutions
Even if you aren’t a fan of new year’s resolutions, there is a good chance that you are thinking about what you want 2020 to be like. January seems...
Christmas will be perfect
There are two sides to every coin. What may seem like heaven to you, can be purgatory to someone else. It depends on the viewpoint you choose. This is...