'Tis the season for making resolutions for the new year. "Out with bad habits -- in with the new!" We make resolutions, draw up lists, and put sticky notes on the bathroom mirror to remind ourselves of our new commitments. Our enthusiasm is high and we're optimistic about the "new...

I can't believe I've finally found an amazing artist who is also a savvy businesswoman! What a happy surprise to discover an artist who uses both sides of her brain equally well. She goes by the name of MONA!, she lives and works in North Carolina and she...

Joe Donlan has been many things in his life -- an athlete, a businessman, a husband and father, a Marine, a good friend and... a lifetime smoker.

"I smoked for 40 years," Joe told me. "Back in my day, everybody smoked. We didn't have all the health information that's...

WE GIVE THANKS BY ...

AWAKENING each day with an attitude of gratitude.
BEING HUMBLE about our role in the universe.
COUNTING OUR BLESSINGS ... often.
DELIGHTING in simple pleasures.
ENCOURAGING those who need our support.
FORGIVING those who have disappointed or hurt us.

This Veterans Day all across the America, patriotic music is played, parades march down Main Street, speeches are given, and small flags stand silent sentry on military graves. We pause to honor generations of veterans from wars past and wars present. We are deeply grateful for their service and sacrifice.

A few months ago, I met a man named Kiley Jon Clark who teaches meditation to the homeless in San Antonio, Texas. My curiosity piqued. I asked him to tell me more about what he calls HMP Street Dharma (HMP stands for Homeless Meditation Practitioners).

What's the purpose...

Stories. We all have them: "My father was a critical perfectionist and I was never good enough to please him." "My mother was jealous and competed with me." "My father is an alcoholic." "My mother beat me." "My children don't respect me." "My ex is a jerk." "I'm too fat."...

I was intrigued by Cherie Meagher's perspective on the subject of choices and habits, so I asked her to share her story with my readers. At one time, she weighed 260 pounds and wore a size 24. Today she wears a sexy size 6.

"I make a choice every...

Joseph Campbell, the mythologist, pointed out that, throughout history, people have always been able to tell the dominant social institution by the height of its buildings. The more important the institution, the taller the structure. In early civilizations, the tallest were the altars and churches, then the great cathedrals and...

The Buddha was the smartest psychologist I've ever read. More than 2,500 years ago he was teaching people about the human mind so that they might understand themselves better and discover that there was a way out of suffering. Buddha wasn't a god or a messiah -- he was simply...

"You need to come home; Michael's been hurt," the voice on the other end of the phone said. It was my next-door neighbor, her voice frightened, but controlled. "What happened?" I asked. "Just come home. There's been an accident," she answered, then hung up.

My body tensed; every ounce of...

"Please help me" are three of the most powerful words in the English language, according to therapist Cathy Conheim. People like to help others, they like to feel generous, especially if they share something in common (a spiritual connection, a shared belief, devotion to a common cause, etc.) For those...

Each week I meet with a group of Los Angeles business owners and entrepreneurs -- men and women from very different fields who share a common vision of being self-supporting through self-employment. Among the group are doctors, accountants, attorneys, real estate agents, writers, architects, artists, actors, PR agents, personal trainers,...

Diet books, exercise books and fitness books fill row upon row in bookstores across the country. Each book promises that it will change your life, give you rock-hard abs, help you shed unwanted pounds while eating the yummiest foods and show you the way to the fountain of youth. I...

Author, activist, and therapist Cathy Conheim is a woman who knows how to make things happen. "Wishing, waiting, and hoping - that's the language of victims," Cathy asserts. "Those are all passive words. They're not active. If you want things to happen in your life, you have to get moving...

Fear comes in many forms. Some fears are rational and healthy -- they keep us safe. Other fears are irrational -- they keep us living small. The fear of what others might think of us, the fear of failing, the fear of looking foolish or the fear of letting others...

The goal of many dog owners is to be as wonderful as their dogs think they are. Annie Brody's story is one of love, companionship, personal challenges, and heroism. She was every bit as good a best friend to him as he was to her.

"Someone once told me...

"What a concept!" I marveled to myself as I read Janelle Barlow's book, A Complaint is a Gift. It's a business book about customer service and the importance of getting feedback, especially negative feedback, from customers. Barlow, and her coauthor, Claus Møller, assert that complaints are not problems...

Chellie Campbell loves money. She is a money magnet who knows how to attract money, earn money, invest money, and make her money work for her. She writes books about wealth building and developed a class on "Financial Stress Reduction" which she taught for many years. But she had to...

I watched an episode of Cesar Milan's "The Dog Whisperer" a few weeks ago and was fascinated by the dynamic between man and dog. It looked like Milan had taken on "Mission Impossible" with this particular mutt -- a wild, willful bundle of energy. The dog was acting...