Conventional wisdom says we gain strengths from overcoming adversity, which I don’t disagree with. However, I also believe that tapping into our strengths helps us deal with adversity while going through it. From this …

s part of this month’s theme of exploring character strengths, we’d like to add our thanks to the gratitude that Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman expressed to 40 social scientists who contributed to the book, …

I propose the addition of Piety to the collection of character strengths. Piety reflects acceptance and recognition of social order through reverence, fidelity and devotion to parents, elders, teachers, mentors, homeland, God, or other higher order. It is unilateral love and kindness, more than respect, honor and duty.

We all think, but may not think well. Critical thinking, however, is a reflective process that is clear, precise and purposeful.
“I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.” …

As I read Fredrickson’s book, I couldn’t help recalling a wonderful episode from my mini-vacation two weeks ago on a private rain forest island in Malaysia. I find restaurants a great place to practice positivity, and very often, receive great service in return. Positive customer behavior begets positive service. Here’s what I do in restaurants.

Growth occurs not through the suffering itself, but through the individual’s struggle and reconstruction of shattered assumptions. Many people then make dramatic life changes and shift priorities based on this new way of seeing the world. In doing so, they can also change the world.

Are you always the same person?  In some situations, you may feel stressed but strong, moving forward knowing that an adversity is at least partly within your control. In other situations, you may feel like …

Do right-brained people find it easier to express love than left-brained folks? I have been reflecting on it for the last month during a trip to India with my mother for the dedication of the new building for the Evershine English school for disadvantaged children. My gut tells me that folks who are more right brained have an easier time expressing love because they lead with their hearts over their heads and are more adept in the universal non-verbal language of love.

As a kid, did you love taking a bath every day? I didn’t. Fast forward 25 years later, taking a shower is so ingrained in my habits that I couldn’t possibly fathom the idea of going to work without a prior healthy dose of body wash. …When a man at least ten years older than my Dad raced by me effortlessly in a 3-mile run, I realized that physical activity is an important part of personal hygiene. Why did I resist a practice I know is good for me, and then how did I break out of the resistance?

When did we start calling kids “self-motivated” if they responded to someone or something outside themselves? Doesn’t the word “self” mean that it comes from the individual himself? Is someone truly self-motivated if they are doing something to get a reward from someone else? Teens who are not top students may appear to be unmotivated when we look only at their school performance.