Have you hugged your kids today? This isn't just "bumper sticker" philosophy. Today, let's talk about the importance of affectionate touch to "kids" of every age.
 
A child's experience with touch is crucial to his or her ability to relate affectionately later in life. Now, it's certainly true that no one would expect a mother, for example, to indulge in as much physical behavior with an adolescent as she would with an infant. Our needs for affection change in degree and kind at different times in our lives.
 
However, demonstrated love and affection is important to our mental… >>>

Have you ever thought of "The Wizard of Oz" as a story about the power of beliefs? With the new 75th Anniversary edition now out on Blu-ray, perhaps it is time to take a look at the "story beneath the story" of this classic film.
 
You see, Dorothy and her pals all wanted something. As is often the case, they looked for someone else to give it to them, someone in authority who had "the power." They teamed up because they figured their efficacy was greater together than it was separately, and they were right. They were a real… >>>

Do you know that the words you use are not only a reflection of your attitudes, but that the words you choose can also create an attitude?  Today, let's take that thought a little further.
 
Research has proven that human beings think with words. Those words create pictures in our minds, and because of past experiences and personal histories emotion (or emotions) automatically get attached to those pictures. This happens regardless of each individual's native language, and it is the words that are the initial trigger.
 
As an example, Seattle basketball legend Lenny Wilkens recently was asked what… >>>

There is no better way to assure an ample supply of pain in your life than the destructive habit of self-blame.
 
Unreasonable expectations and self-blame can make our lives miserable. For example, how often do you hear yourself say something like, "I left the car lights on. How could I be so stupid?" Or, "I really put my foot in it that time. I guess I'll never learn."
 
Sound familiar? Self-blaming statements like these are commonplace for far too many of us. Now, there is nothing the matter with the first part of these statements. They are just… >>>

There is a strong, direct relationship between low self-esteem and shame. Today, let's explore this relationship.
 
We all experience shame from time to time, that horrible sinking feeling that strikes at the very center of our being and launches a fundamental assault on our self-esteem.
 
Shame truly does have a damaging effect on the development of healthy self-esteem. Perhaps the most important step we can take to rid the world of this malignant emotion is to avoid raising another generation of shame-based people.
 
Psychologist Susan Miller once wrote in the Atlantic Monthly, "A child's experience of being… >>>

Do you believe that you create your own reality? Or do you believe that reality is something "out there" over which you have no control?
 
As adults, we generate our experiences in life. While we can't control everything that happens to us, we can control how we respond. We can take responsibility for the results we experience in life. And when we do this, we grow enormously.
 
Television newsperson Dan Rather once said that John Kennedy became a true leader when he stood before the American people and said that the Bay of Pigs was an atrocity that… >>>

It is a great gift to be able to find the good in bad situations, and it is a gift you can give yourself, if you choose to.
 
Many people, when they come upon a stumbling block or an obstacle in their path, become discouraged and quit. But highly successful people know how to turn stumbling blocks into stepping stones.
 
In December 1914, Thomas Edison's laboratories in West Orange, New Jersey were almost entirely destroyed by fire. In one night, Edison lost two million dollars' worth of equipment and the records of most of his life's work. The… >>>

As we talked about yesterday, knowing what your personal values are is important. But knowing what other peoples' values are can be important too.
 
Are you interested in knowing how to motivate other people? If so, how much do you know about what these other people value, what they hold near and dear? Lou Tice often told the story of working with three quarterbacks, when he was a high school football coach. He asked each one what was important to him about playing the game.
 
One said he did it for the glory of God and to make… >>>

A couple of questions for your Monday: First, what do you absolutely love to do? And secondly, how well do you do it?
 
Now, whatever your answer to the first question may be, the answer to the second question will be somewhere between, "very well" and "superbly." Because, if you love doing something, you are probably good at it.
 
Do you know anyone who has achieved tremendous success doing something he or she hates? Probably not. Mark Twain once said, "The secret of success is making your vocation your vacation," and that is exactly what successful people seem… >>>

How good are you at focusing your attention? This is an extremely valuable skill, and something to talk about today.
 
Building on yesterday's message, if we are to grow and reach our full potential, it is absolutely necessary to take risks. By its very nature, risk implies the possibility of loss. But at the same time, there is also the possibility of benefit or gain. Whether a risk feels frightening or exhilarating depends, almost entirely, on whether you are paying attention to the loss or the gain.
 
If you focus on the loss, you will be tense, fearful… >>>