Know thyself: gnōthi seauton: These two words were inscribed in the vestibule of the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. They were the reason Socrates disputed the Oracle’s declaration that he was the wisest person on earth. When told what the Oracle had said, Socrates demurred, insisting that since he did not know himself, he could not […]
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The battle over health: Health isn’t a word that should invoke military imagery. However, the number of Americans dying from heart disease, specifically, President Franklin Roosevelt’s death from heart disease, led President Harry Truman to pass the National Heart Act and fund the largest epidemiological study to date: The Framingham Heart Study. From that data
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Could we have it wrong? Is it about avoiding unhappiness? ” So, are you happy now that I, Claudia is done?” I stared at my psychologist husband and grudgingly admitted. “I was happier while writing it because now I’m wondering what to do in the next book…” We had been discussing happiness. That everyone says
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Only 3 essential qualities for writers? Just 3? Actually no, there are probably about 100 but this morning, there are just 3 essential qualities for writers that pop into my head this morning: The two paradoxical thoughts about just how well we write. I doubt that I’m the only writer who believes that on the
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Perfect timing. Does such a thing exist outside of Tom Brady’s perfectly thrown and received football passes? Or Steph Curry’s three point basketball shots? Or does such a thing as perfect timing really exist? Perhaps, or if not perfect, nearly so. But of even of more interest to you and me is that the timing
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Three seconds: time for worlds to end Three seconds, the time it takes to blink, yawn or for our whole world to end. I’ve been thinking, once again, about time. About how slippery it is, about how we tend, naturally, to think we have all the time in the world, preferring not to ponder the
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Stanley McChrystal: 9/11 and leadership Leadership. Thousands-maybe hundreds of thousands, of books and articles have been written about it. Still the questions abound. Primarily these five: Despite the conflicting opinions about the genesis of the leader or whether leadership behaviors can be taught and learned, we know it when we see it. Sometimes we recognize
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Solitude. To some, the word means loneliness, a desperate and solitary state. To others, withdrawing from crowds, conversation and activity can feel as necessary as food. While searching for an image that conveys my current understanding of the concept of solitude, it seemed the majority of them depicted miserably lonely men and women. While just
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Why look back to Marcus Aurelius and Stoicism? Huh? Why would we want to return to one of the last Roman Emperors and a Greek philosophy which personified rigorous self-denial, extreme fortitude and emotional indifference? One of the very first books I devoured as a college undergrad was Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. A college professor I
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Number 12 Brady A friend from church gave me Brady’s Pro Ball 2014 shirt several weeks ago. The shirt sits in proud display in our hallway. It is brought out when a friend with an interest in football visits. Or sometimes those with no interest. Joe, giver of the shirt, joined us for one of