The Power of Smiling

I have frequently written about the power of smiling. When we smile, there is a chemical reaction which causes us to think we are happy, even if we were not feeling happy before that moment. In addition, smiling at others usually causes them to smile back at you. (In fact,…

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Kindness & the Common Good

In an op-ed piece in the New York Times, David Brooks wrote about Pope Francis’ New Year’s Eve commentary that the people who have the most influence on society are “normal folks,” and their everyday gestures of kindness make them “artisans of the common good”. The pope used driving, of…

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“The Kindness Cure” Book

Because gratitude, happiness, and positive leadership are favorite subjects of my blog posts, I was given the opportunity to read a pre-publication edition of The Kindness Cure, by Tara Cousineau, PhD, which will be published on February 2. "Be Nice" is the second of my Six Simple Rules and when I…

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We Are All the Same

I do not attend many religious services over the course of a typical year. There is one service I love attending more than the others. It's an Interfaith Thanksgiving service, held on a rotating basis, in one of a group of participating houses of worship from the towns surrounding where…

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Giving Away Your Stuff

I love reading. And I love books. I haven't switched over to e-books yet, and I'm not sure if I will. Over the years, I've kept bookshelves full of the books I read. There were three reasons why I collected books: I liked how they looked on my bookshelves. I…

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Six Rules for a Simple Life

I was playing with words in my head earlier this year, as I often do, and the title of my book, Six Simple Rules for a Better Life, became "Six Better Rules for a Simple Life". (I wrote about it in my monthly newsletter.) Simple things of all types appeal…

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A Simple Empathy Example

Empathy is an important skill for all of us. The ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes helps you to understand their situation. And if you understand, you will be able to treat them with compassion. I recently heard an example of someone putting himself in the shoes of…

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