Do you maintain a go bag where you keep critical documents, petty cash, a flashlight, water, a can opener, family heirlooms…? Is that theoretical survival kit starting to feel a little heavy right now? Can you imagine lugging it for miles if the roads are impassable by car? Maybe you…
Let me paint you a picture. It’s 2 pm on a Wednesday afternoon, and you’re feeling stressed out, yet bored. You’re eating your lunch at your desk because you want to give off the impression that you’re working hard. You take a personal phone call and pretend to be speaking…
Nothing else has the ability to power us through our workouts and make awkward elevator rides a little bit more bearable. That’s right; it’s hard to imagine a world without music. It’s probably an understatement to say that music is taken for granted; we don’t always recognize the mental sway…
For tens of thousands of years humans have been passionate about their fur babies. The deep bonds between Homo sapiens and other animal species seem so common and obvious that they’ve only recently been studied scientifically. So how did we get from throwing food scraps to wolves at the outskirts…
I’m about to put myself out of a job. Okay, I may be exaggerating a bit, but I do think the following idea could decrease a lot of arguments and lead to better relationships. Introducing: The Internal Emotion Thermometer Let’s first think about the concept of having an internal emotion…
As the belief that one should remain positive even in the worst of situations, toxic positivity has secretly pervaded most people’s attitudes at work—revealing a lot about the lengths to which we’ll go to avoid addressing negative emotional states. The rise and recent fall of toxic positivity in the workplace…
Shame: There is something wrong with me as a person. Guilt: I’m a person who may have done something wrong. What is the thing that causes you to lay awake at night; the thing that causes you shame? I promise that you’re not damaged beyond repair. You’re not unlovable. You’re…
Does everyone in your workplace get along well… or is there an undercurrent of negativity—or even jealousy? Jealousy can be a difficult and destructive emotion – and it can wreak havoc in the workplace. It’s technically distinct from envy: Jealousy usually involves feeling like a rival to someone else, but…
I can specifically recall eating shrimp-fried rice for the first time (it’s still my favorite food) at seven years old. I was blown away by the fact that food could taste that amazing. On the other end of the spectrum, I can remember my first solo camping trip in Bridger…
We’ve all felt a little out of place before: Plenty of life events and transitions can leave us feeling uncomfortable and unprepared. Even when we’ve done the hard work and our efforts have been recognized, there are sometimes lingering feelings of inadequacy, an undercurrent that whispers, “You’re a fraud.” For…
For years, I experienced unwanted thoughts. I’ll spare you the gruesome details, but chances are, you or someone you love knows just how bad the mind can get. In fact, we know a lot more than ever before the kinds of pain people are going through. To take some examples: The online…
Election season is—and always has been—stressful. So stressful, in fact, that Couples Therapist Steven Stosny created the term “election stress disorder,” which describes a state of complete and utter stress caused by the election. Think: Smear campaigns on both sides of the political aisle, nonstop news alerts, social media feuds,…
