Each of us can point to circumstances not of our own doing to justify a lack of accomplishment (economically poor family, "bad" parents, fat genes, surname ends in a vowel, etc.).  All of them may be an impairment, but do not consign us to defeat.  By taking responsibility for our response, we may prevail against them.  They Did It Bad upbringing?  Oprah rose above an impoverished childhood and...

You need to answer it.  And sometimes it rings when we are unprepared or wish they called someone else.  We need to respond even when the timing is terrible, we do not want to, or we do not feel suited for the task. It Rings We would immediately jump to the aid of a heart attack victim and perform CPR, armed only with the knowledge acquired from Instagram reels.  Without a moment’s hesitation...

Better Left Undone? We fancy ourselves facing the world like a swashbuckler standing on the ship's bow with our saber upraised.  In reality, the fear of failure too often confines us in our safe harbor and stops us from pursuing what we want.  Missteps confirm our present inability, create feelings of shame and disappointment, and potentially subject us to ridicule.   How do we move forward when...

It is a dirty word, and we seek to avoid it.  JFK famously said, “Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan.”  However, failure is often better than the alternative, inevitable, hastily decided, and the fertilizer of success.     The Alternative? An evil man died and found himself in a splendid casino with an open bar and beautiful women who would not say no to him, and every time...

Hold Your Horses We all have a nemesis: a sister who insists you watch her newborn every Saturday night, a boss who calls you on the weekend, or a friend who is always an hour late for dinner.   We reach a breaking point and threaten the end of the relationship if they ever do "that" again.  In one fell swoop, we go from accepting the behavior to issuing a relationship-ending ultimatum.  ...