I also find it helpful to remind myself that every human is a mess on the inside. It’s easy to assume the good-looking and well-spoken person in front of you has it all together and is therefore your superior. The reality is that everyone is a basket case on the…

Haste is universal because everyone is in flight from himself. Friedrich Nietzsche, Untimely Meditations We are always in a hurry. Especially when we are driving. Every trip is a challenge to get to the destination as quickly as possible. I find myself doing this even when I’m ahead of schedule…

Write it. Shoot it. Publish it. Crochet it. Sauté it. Whatever. MAKE. Joss Whedon You’ve got skills. They may not be perfected. They may not even be obvious to you. But somewhere in you, there is a creator, someone who has a contribution to make to this world. You may…

A politician divides mankind into two classes: tools and enemies. Friedrich Nietzsche It’s easy to dump on politicians. But not all politicians run for office or work in government jobs. You and I can easily find ourselves thinking like politicians. When we meet someone, our brain starts running through the…

Here Comes the Judge, Again Every time you judge someone harshly, you buy into the idea that judging is a thing worth doing. It isn’t. Stop judging others so much and watch how much less you worry about being judged. Scott Adams, Reframe Your Brain: The User Interface for Happiness…

The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion. Paulo Coelho All parents are hypocrites. We don’t always follow our own advice. This doesn’t mean we are bad parents. It means we are human. If our behavior is somewhat consistent with our advice, our children might treat our…

People dislike being told what to do. You could almost say that the fastest way to get someone to do something is to tell them not to do it. Michael V. Pantalon, Instant Influence “Oh yeah? You’re not the boss of me.” Children may be the only ones who say…

Empathy recognizes that there is not one world, but many worlds. We differ, our worlds of assumptions differ. Empathy enters the other’s world as a guest. It does not forget the manners of the guest/host relationship. — David W. Augsburger, Hate-Work My dad once got a gift of a CD…

Distraction, it turns out, isn’t about the distraction itself; rather, it’s about how we respond to it. Nir Eyal, Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life We live in a world filled with distractions. There have always been distractions, but many of the distractions we face today…