Isn’t it great to sit down with your spouse or partner in the evening and talk about everything that’s happened that day? Or maybe meet an old friend for a cup of coffee or a drink and catch up on the news from old friends? One of the magical things about those...
Turning Points – Understanding The Decision-Making Process
Reaching a turning point in life is almost always a combination of exhilaration and anxiety. You know there are going to be consequences to whatever decision you make and you want to make sure you get it right. That’s why many people, when confronting an obvious major...
Great Leaders Are Made, Not Born
High school and college kids spend a lot of time thinking about majors they’d like to pursue and ultimately about a lifetime vocation or profession. There’s a lot to consider. You have to reflect on what you are truly passionate about. Then there is the issue of...
Cognitive Bias In The Internet Age
In our sports-crazed world it’s easy to find people who practically live and die by their team’s victories and defeats. If you ask them who the best team in the league is, or who their favorite athlete is, no surprise! It’s their home team and their team’s superstar....
When Will This Heartache End?
There’s a good reason that country music songs have a long tradition of lamenting romantic breakups. From What If I Never Get Over You to Die From a Broken Heart, breakup songs are popular because almost everyone can relate to them. The simple fact of life is that...
Tips For Becoming An Expert Conversationalist
One of the joys of parenthood is witnessing your child’s “firsts.” Their first smile, their first step walking and, most preciously, their first words. Many parents sit in awe as their child almost magically learns to talk. Although this is a natural process — with...
New Fronts In The Battle Against Addiction
It’s a sight that verges on both the comical and the tragic: teenagers in a social setting all with their eyes locked on their smart phones. Research is piling up fast that there’s a lot more going on here than kids keeping tabs on their friends’ social activities. In...
Five Seconds To A Better Life
Evolutionary biologists keep discovering new ways that our physiological development affects our everyday behavior. One of the fascinating things about our development is that brain function that developed over countless millennia may simply not have a good use for...
How Science Can Help Us Understand And Cope With Grief
There’s an old saying: Grief is the price we pay for love. This simple statement reflects the reality that loss is inevitable. The only tragedy would be if you never loved anyone and so never had to endure their loss. Because grief is a virtually universal human...
Who’s Really In Control Here?
The “feel good” hormones that we’ve discussed in previous blogs can have wonderful benefits for your mental and even physical health. (See The Virtuous Cycle of Feel-Good Hormones.) But, as we also touched upon, hormones do not function according to a value system —...