Being different is the difference that makes you stand out. See, many of us hate being different. It makes us feel alone, ostracized, alienated. I know. I remember being one of the few Asians in my elementary school class. And, yes, people made fun of me for being different. It hurt. I cried. But later,…More
Tag Archives: mental health
Post-pandemic life
You can take us out of a pandemic, but it will be hard to take the pandemic out of us. Here’s what I mean. It’s true; the pandemic is almost over. With the vaccines and their delivery scaling, we can be confident that the pandemic will end shortly. The problem is that its scars are…More
A stronger you is often born from weakeness
Weakness often begets our greatest strength. Most of us hate the idea of being weak. It conjures up images of being needy, helpless, desperate. But that is one of the best ways of unleashing our greatest strengths. It’s often when we’ve hit a place where we feel the most vulnerable, exposed that something is catalyzed…More
A time to grieve
Grieving can be one of the best things we can do. Life isn’t all rainbows and unicorns. Sometimes it sucks. Sometimes it almost kills us. Sometimes it sends a pandemic. Those are the times we need to grieve. We need to face the terrible state of our life or the lives of others or our…More
Become true for yourself
Don’t be true to yourself; be true to the truth. “Be authentic.” We hear it all of the time. It’s about being true to yourself. But often, being ourselves is the last thing we should be. Often we can be awful. We make mistakes, fail others, hurt our loved ones. I mean, sometimes, I’m a…More
Endings are new beginnings
By embracing the end, you will start to see new beginnings. Sure, some endings are good, like getting out of a bad job or unhealthy relationships, etc. But I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about the things we don’t want to end, the ones that aren’t good. It can be as trivial as a…More
Civil war? I doubt it
Everyone’s talking about it. It’s in vogue. It’s the “it” thing. You would think we are talking about a new gadget or the newest Tesla. But, no, we’re not. We’re talking about this. Civil war. Yes, it’s a possibility—but so are Martians landing on Earth. Civil war is possible, but I don’t think it’s likely. …More
One of the best ways to stay motivated
Many of us push ourselves to stay motivated. We force, cajole, pressure, sometimes even yell at ourselves to get going. But pushing yourself isn’t as effective as being pulled. I don’t mean being yanked or dragged like a prisoner, no. I mean something summoning you by an irresistible force, like being in love, where you’re…More
Is remote learning hurting my kid?
The school year kicked off and it’s nerve wracking. Many classrooms are empty and our living rooms have replaced them. Our kids are sitting in front of a device all day, and they aren’t physically interacting with anyone. They’re remote learning. And we, parents, are wondering, Will our kids remotely learning anything? And let’s face…More
Use your mind to change your brain: changing your temperament
We all have aspects of ourselves, our temperament, that we wish we could change. Me—I’ve had a temper all of my life. It can get ugly. But that’s not the most interesting part. What is is that it has changed, improved as I’ve aged. I get angry less and with less intensity. I ultimately attribute…More
John Pa 