The Child Who Falls Apart After School

The Child Who Falls Apart After School

The teacher describes your child as pleasant, cooperative, and helpful. You briefly wonder whether there has been a clerical error. At home, the backpack lands, complaints begin, a meltdown follows, and a simple request becomes a major production. You listen,...
The Power of Enough

The Power of Enough

There is a peculiar habit many of us have mastered. We spend years building a life we hope will make us happy-and then become too busy improving it to actually live it. We need more money. More success. Better health. More productivity. More recognition. Apparently,...
What Can Wait—and What Cannot

What Can Wait—and What Cannot

“Let me just finish this.” It is a reasonable thing to say. We have work to complete, messages to answer and responsibilities that do not disappear because someone wants our attention. Yet we can say those five words so often that they become the way we...
I’m Not Arguing. I’m Just Explaining Why I’m Right.

I’m Not Arguing. I’m Just Explaining Why I’m Right.

I recently came across a cocktail napkin bearing this wonderfully honest sentence: “I am not arguing. I am just explaining why I am right.” It is funny because most of us recognize the character immediately. It may be a spouse, coworker or that relative...
Waiting for the Next Finish Line

Waiting for the Next Finish Line

Most of us have become remarkably skilled at postponing our lives. We tell ourselves that things will settle down after this week, after the project is finished, after the kids get through this phase, after the house is organized, after the vacation, after retirement,...