“Slow Down” — it’s the mantra I’m stepping into 2021 with. Do I really need to be reminded to slow down after a year spent indoors without much to do? Yes. Yes, I do.

The way I think of a mantra is a short phrase I keep in mind and say to myself often. A reminder to do something or lean in a certain direction. For me, a mantra is more like self-talk, rather than something that might be found in Transcendental Meditation or Kirtan Music.

I didn’t always think mantras and self-talk possessed value. For many years I believed…

Angels walk amongst us. Not the winged kind with halos and white robes, nor the chubby spooky baby kind that comes out every Valentine’s day. There are real flesh and blood angels who walk through life just like you and I do. They don’t draw attention to themselves but when we meet them, we know it. They smile a lot, laugh a lot, and give everything of themselves without a hint of self-righteousness or expectations of getting something in return. They draw from a deep internal well and pour love into the world. I know they exist. …

When I tell someone that my college degree is in philosophy I nearly always get the head tilt to the side look of “really?” Despite the quizzical looks or the quick, “I could never study that” response, I’m confident that my deep interest in philosophy is not weird or special. It’s one of my defining characteristics. However, if not for a small kindness shown to me when I was in High School, I may never have allowed myself to pursue my natural curiosity and find my ‘love of wisdom’.

My wife and I have been watching the show, “The Good…

“Life will bring you pain all by itself. Your responsibility is to create joy.” Milton Erickson

After getting up early each morning to swim, bike, and run for months, I had done it. I’d completed a triathlon. Jolene and some of my training friends were at the finish line waiting for me. It was an intense day of overcoming obstacles and pushing myself to achieve something I had never done before. I expected to feel the joy of accomplishment. The reward for all the work.

And I did for a brief time.

But then a thought began to creep in…

Have you ever been in a conversation that raised your levels of fear and anxiety? So much so that it seemed like people were drawing out your frustrations like a snake charmer?

What if there was a way to take part in conversations that left you feeling curious and not anxious? Excited and not fearful?

The way to better conversations is to put down your ego and listen.

Listen with curiosity.
Listen to understand.
Listen with empathy,
with compassion,
with your heart.

Greg McKewon referred to listening as magic in this most recent 1-minute Wednesday newsletter:

I want to be…

“Is it useful?”

Joseph Goldstein, the meditation instructor asks us this simple question when we find ourselves worrying and fretting about the future.

I was introduced to this question while utilizing the 10% Happier Meditation app (I recommend it) by the television anchor, Dan Harris. Like him, I have tended to want to answer this rhetorical question in the affirmative. I get wrapped up in the importance and strategic value of my worry. I have convinced myself that my worry keeps me sharp and ready for the challenges ahead. …

It was 2016. I was turning 40 and feeling listless and adrift. Everything was going well, but I didn’t feel excited about where I was headed. I triumphantly decided that I was going to set some goals. I was going to move away from the mediocre and into something that looked unequivocally like success. I would set motivating goals in each domain of my life.

I was listening to Zach Even-Esh who, on his podcast and Instagram missives, preached to break out of mediocrity and to fear being stagnant like it was a terminal condition. …