Tag Archives: encouragement

Reality Check: Doing the Hard Thing

“I don’t even know why I am doing this.” My friend, who we’ll call Julie for this little story, had hit a rough spot on her way toward a goal that’s important to her. Because I’m a loyal friend with … Continue reading

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Reality Check: Adaptability and Optimism

A commentator on morning radio recently said, “The world needs a dose of optimism now.” Maybe that’s true. Optimism can help us turn around, look up, and find hope again. Are you a natural optimist? Some people seem to be. … Continue reading

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Reality Check: Agreements Among Friends

My old friend passed away. After a century of life, he’d reached his natural end. While our friendship was not so very old; it spanned only about a decade, it had huge influence on me. It was a special friendship, … Continue reading

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Reality Check: The Compassion of Listening

If you have an active imagination, you may have a conversation going on in your head right now while you’re reading this. Perhaps you are arguing with yourself over whether you should have said that thing you said to your … Continue reading

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Reality Check: Choosing Your Advisors

Whether we ask for it or not, we are often on the receiving end of advice. For example, when your mother-in-law tells you that you should have put your snow tires on two weeks ago, you might not have identified … Continue reading

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Reality Check: Choosing Hope

When you consider the future, do you see better days ahead? Or are you more likely to think, “Things are going downhill fast”? Attitude matters. There’s almost a sense of virtue that’s associated with choosing to adopt a positive attitude … Continue reading

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Reality Check: The Face of Kindness

A common bit of advice for living a good life is, “Be kind.” I certainly agree. Kindness will likely result in better relationships, quality of life, and more happiness than being nasty. It’s obvious what it means to “be kind.” … Continue reading

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Reality Check: Much Ado About Recognition

The onset of summer is a great time of year. There’s fresh grass, baby birds, the promise of warmth, and maybe even some leisure time! For me, this time of year often coincides with finalizing some activities and interactions. Thus, … Continue reading

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Reality Check: Choosing Hope

Catastrophizing. It’s a dramatic word, isn’t it? When we look ahead, whether it’s to a new year or just an ordinary new day, we can look with a perspective that’s filled with hope for the promise of things to come. … Continue reading

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Reality Check: Look Back, What Do You See?

As we approach the end of another year, many of us like to take stock. Part of taking stock involves looking back over the past year or over many past years, to assess where we’ve been and where we are … Continue reading

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