-
Control.
Control has been on my mind a lot lately for many reasons. Some things have happened that are beyond my control, and some things have happened where I am taking control. Since I frequently write about the need to control what we can control, it has me wondering why this is my desire? I would not consider myself a “control freak.” I’m actually really easygoing when it comes to a lot of things. In fact, what I’m realizing is that I may have been too easygoing in the past. Control is defined as “the power to influence or direct people’s behavior or the course of events.” If you’ve read my intro, you’ll know that I believe leadership is…
-
Rise Above.
Lately, I’ve been having a hard time keeping my mouth shut. Having made sacrifices for people who don’t acknowledge or appreciate how I’m hurting myself for their benefit has been tolling. So badly, I want to just yell at them and say, “You did this! You didn’t do that! You are this way! It is your problem!” I’ve had to muster up a lot of strength to not blame and shame. In the age of social media, moving on from people who have hurt us can be difficult. With each post that pops up on our feed, it is a painful reminder of what could have, should have, was or isn’t. Being the stubborn person that I am,…
-
Happiness.
Philosophers caution against focusing on happiness as the ultimate good in life, and I tend to agree. Happiness is subjective; it’s not a constant. I think we’ve put happiness on this unobtainable pedestal. It’s something that we haven’t actually defined for ourselves as individuals, and we strive for an unrealistic, curated ideal (however it is we perceive that ideal). Basically, we really don’t even know what we are searching for. What we talk about in our culture as happiness is really kind of a revved-up version of happiness. It’s a high-energy [state] — scientists call it a high-arousal positive affect. It’s a feeling, it’s transient, it’s not quality of life, it’s not so…