One thing I know about happiness is that it comes from the narrative of our life. The story we tell ourselves. But too often, we let others write that story for us. Unhappiness and discontent inevitably follow. The only person who can write the story of your life properly is you. In order to change our narrative to an authentic one, one we write ourselves, we must change our perspective, and thus our perceptions of our world. This is not a new idea. Plato explained it in “Allegory of the Cave” over 2,300 years ago. A small change in perception can mean a huge change in what we see. And changing how we see lets us write a new narrative. The Dalai Lama also explores this idea of the relationship between perception and a good life in his book The Art of Happiness (99¢ in the remainder bin . . . maybe you can buy happiness after all!).
I had just secured Michael’s KangaRockaRoo in the back seat of my Nissan when I felt a tap on my shoulder. “Excuse me, young man.” I turned and saw a woman who was clearly in her late 60’s or early 70’s. She wore a heavy coat, hat, mittens, and a scarf. All well-suited to the […]
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As I walked out to my car, juggling coffee, lunch and books, I sensed something was wrong before I saw it. Flat tire. I briefly considered just trying to air it up and even turned on my air compressor. But I knew better. For some reason that only the universe understands, the passenger side rear
“So tell me about the first time someone called you n****r,” I said. My lunch companion paused and got a far-away look in his eyes. “That’s an interesting question,” he said. Del thought for a while before he answered. He and I have lunch together at least once a week. We frequently discuss political and
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As the nurse wrapped the rubber tube around my arm, she saw my ID badge. “You work at the Center?” she said. She tapped my inner arm to make the veins stand out. “Yes, I do,” I answered. I was grateful for the distraction. I hate getting my blood drawn. “Well God bless you. You
“Where in the hell is the damn church key?” yelled the senior football player. It was after midnight, the pony keg was empty, and it was time to break into the cases of beer. But a can opener was needed and could not be located using only the light of the fire. Someone found a
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the Chinese company is banking on Americans being too ignorant about what polarized lenses really are and how they work.
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