Relinquishee, Adoptee, MPE
Author, Speaker.

Awareness: How You Live is Who You Are

I’m always amazed at what people say about themselves sometimes, and how that really contrasts with what they do. What’s the quote? Something about what you do speaks so loudly I cannot hear what you say.

That sentiment means so much to me, because I know that in spite of wanting to be generous, patient, compassionate, and thoughtful, I am often selfish, impatient, intolerant and closed-minded.

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Are ‘Smart’ and ‘Spiritual’ Mutually Exclusive?

There sometimes seems to be a backlash in our culture against people who value their spiritual lives and try to improve their spiritual state. In effect, the idea seems to be that smart people aren’t spiritual; that people who are spiritual are somehow stupid enough to be “gulled” into believing something that obviously can’t be true. I really have a problem with this outlook for four reasons:

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Get in Touch with You and Yours: Write a Letter

When was the last time you sat down and wrote a letter? I’m not talking about an email. A real letter. By hand, preferably on your personal stationery with a fountain pen.

Writing letters has a lot of benefits, but I’ve noticed that since I entered the computer age, I have fallen out of the habit of writing letters. As a matter of fact, I actually struggle to write readably because I’m so unpracticed at it.

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Information Overload and the Death of Email: What We Can Learn from Our Kids

When my kids went off to college, I was worried, as all parents are, if they were ready to embrace today’s world and not by consumed by it. I found comfort in the fact that their schools were providing them with email accounts and that I had provided them with cell phones with endless minutes. “How did my parents ever get along while I was away at school without instant access to me?” I wondered, but was quite grateful for the technological conveniences that today’s world offered to them (and to me!).

It took me a while to learn the ‘rules’ of communicating with young people who were stretching their wings of newfound independence.

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Jon Bon Jovi: Fatherhood and Work-Life Balance

Do you think you know what it’s like to be a rock star dad? You’ve read over the years of the trials and tribulations of some of the world’s most popular icons. You’re sick and tired of hearing about their collective demise, yet feel compassion for those living the Sex/Drugs/Rock ‘n Roll lifestyle because of the insurmountable odds they face in trying to triumph over the challenges of that life and culture.

There have been troubles with the law, divorces, stints in rehabs, 12-Step meetings, illnesses, and even tragic deaths.

If you’ve heard it all before, and and just know where things always seen to lead, why do you want to know about Jon Bon Jovi’s life? Because he’s much like you and me.

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Personal Fulfillment: Why Hobbies Matter

In my previous life, before I threw up my hands (and my career as a financial trader), moved to Wisconsin and started living a life I truly enjoyed, I didn’t have time for a hobby. I was like the guy in the recent New Yorker cartoon lying on the beach with his laptop. He says to his wife, “It’s not that I’m a workaholic. I just work to relax.”

If anyone had asked me if I had a hobby I would probably have said, “Yeah, I work. That’s how I spend my free time.” Well, as you probably agree, working between eighty and one hundred hours every week is not exactly conducive to having a hobby, and no, I don’t think working really counts as a hobby.

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Mastering the Art of Living: Happiness, Success, and Fulfillment

I have been giving some thought to what it means to be a master of life. I think “mastering” life breaks down into four areas, and I want to give some attention to each of these areas. I hope that people will think and talk about these ideas. We can all benefit from discussing what it takes to live the life we want, and these are some areas I think are really important.

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Conflict: Difficult People We Can’t Avoid

I’ve often been asked the best way to deal with difficult people. My answer is that the best way is to avoid them altogether. Of course, that’s not always difficult, so I also have given some thought to how to deal with the difficult people we can’t avoid.

These are people who are part of our lives, at least now, not by our choice but by circumstance, and we just have to learn to get along. We do have the option of not getting along, but that rarely feels good or works out well, so I highly suggest learning to deal with these people in a way that causes everyone involved the least amount of damage and turmoil.

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When You Discount Yourself, You Discount Me

You’ve probably met someone like this. You’re in a class, for example, and get an A on a very hard class. The smartest person in the class, who happens to be someone you really can’t stand, says, “Well, it wasn’t all that hard a test. I wouldn’t have been able to do so well on it if it had really been hard.” This person is not being egotistical. She really believes that she couldn’t have done well on the test unless it were an easy test. She is genuinely discounting her skills and knowledge.

But she’s also discounting your skill and ability.

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relinquishment and addiction
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