Posts by GrowthSkills

It felt like life was changing again for the better.  Restaurants were hanging “open for business” signs in their windows. “Come in” signs beckoned, calling out “please give us a try.”  Last Wednesday evening, I went out to a restaurant with my two older granddaughters. We sat in the dining room of a quaint little…

In The Law of Happiness,  Dr. Cloud says,  “Happiness comes as a by-product of the “life well lived.” Number one, happiness can be found and there are principles and practices that revealed that. Number two, those principles and practices of the law of happiness are the ones that God has given all along in His…

We each have a story.  Sometimes we love the story, and other times we’d rather opt out of our narrative and into another.  The beauty of your story is that even the difficult plot points, the ones that leave you a little bruised and broken, have the capacity for good and for redemption.  In fact,…

A warning shot lets you know you should move. Duck or run. Do something. Get going. Don’t just stand still. It is a call to action. I am a Jack Reacher fan. He is the fictional character of author Lee Child. Jack is a man of action. He is retired army, military police, and now as…

Here we are. Another week under our ever-expanding belts (maybe I should speak for myself). Okay, so my belt is expanding but it feels good to have another week behind me. I have been taking my own wise counsel from last week and plugging into divine strength to get through all this. I am doing better this…

Last week, I watched a video that Dr. Cloud made available on “How to Stay Psychologically Healthy in Times of Crisis.” It was great to see Henry’s face since it has been months since I last saw him. Even more than that was gleaning some very helpful and practical advice. I hope you take the time to…

These are unprecedented times – being a part of a global pandemic that’s in our country and if you’re like me, in my hometown. For myself, I’m not sleeping well and when I do, I’m having vivid dreams around the themes of not getting help, not being able to help, or someone getting sick. It doesn’t take…

Hello again friends,Here we are. Another week under our ever-expanding belts (maybe I should speak for myself). Okay, so my belt is expanding but it feels good to have another week behind me. I have been taking my own wise counsel from last week and plugging into divine strength to get through all this. I am doing…

I imagine most of us are trying to find our new normal during these trying times. Nothing could have really prepared us for this “shelter at home” quarantine. It’s not as if we had a drill to prepare us for anything like this. Many of us recall fire drills and earthquake drills from our school days. Sadly,…

When I joined Hallmark Cards in the 80’s, I was excited. I felt I had landed a fun job. I mean, who doesn’t like “greeting cards”? I had spent many hours standing in card aisles, laughing at funny cards with snappy punch lines or getting emotional at the sappy ones. I loved cards. Now I…

The importance of vulnerability has been written about extensively by John and Henry over the years. Recently, Brene Brown ignited our imagination for the power of vulnerability through her books and Ted talks. These thought leaders have helped us see that we desperately need vulnerability; but doing vulnerability well is a challenge.  Our inability to…

I Like William In the affluent Ivy League town of Princeton, New Jersey, someone like William tends to stick out from the crowd. William is sixty-seven years old, and, as is evident by his appearance, he has a disability. William has cerebral palsy. Our family had become aware of William because we’d see him riding…