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 stood in the hallway shaking as tears streamed down my 10-year-old face. My teacher, apologizing as he did so, dug into my pockets and patted me down. I was scared, humiliated, and confused. Why would anyone accuse me of stealing a turtle? I didn’t even like them. I had one, briefly, as a pet […]
Not So Special Education Read More »
“So what do you think of Trump?” my eighty-eight-year-old father-in-law, Arnie, asked. Internally, I winced. I am under standing orders from my wife, reinforced by kicks to my shin under the table, to never discuss politics with her dad. Then I remembered she wasn’t there. Besides, he asked my son, not me. “He’s the most
Fox News Is an Oxymoron Read More »
My three regular readers are probably cleaning up the coffee they spit out upon reading the title of this missive. But people who know me understand that I don’t fit into any easily identifiable political/social box. I am neither Liberal nor Conservative but agree with both depending on the issue. For example, I protested vigorously
Trump Is the President We Both Deserve and Need Read More »
Now that the Donald has admitted that health care is more complicated than he thought, it might be a good time to consider what we really want from a health care system. The failure of the Trump/Ryan AHCA bill illustrates the great disconnect between Republican rhetoric and reality. We’d all be a lot better off
The Health Care Dilemma Read More »
I was sitting on the wooden bench in the train station in New Haven, Connecticut when I spotted her. I poked my mom with my chubby four-year-old finger. “Why is that lady chocolate?” I asked, pointing at the African American woman who was walking across the station platform. “Don’t point,” my mother said while pushing
Attack of the Rabid Hamsters Read More »
I’m not the first person to notice the many similarities between Donald Trump and Richard Nixon. And if events in Washington unfold as I think they will, I won’t be the last. Roger Stone, Trump’s friend and author of a book about the 2016 election, makes a strong comparison between the two presidents. There even
Donald Trump as Tricky Dick Reincarnated Read More »