For me, New Year’s Eve usually involves blowing horns, laughing and acting silly, toasting with champagne, and stealing a kiss as the clock hits midnight on Dec. 31. I’ve also enjoyed many pleasant New Year’s Eves curled up on the sofa watching THE ball drop on Times Square. Most of us remember the panic of 2000, better known at Y2K. Included in all was singing the beloved, … [Read more...]
Newspaper Column, "Mental Matters" published each Wednesday in the South Platte Sentinel Health Section
Merry Christmas to YOU
Thank you to all of YOU who keep me writing, sharing, and trying to encourage hope and new ways of thinking. Attempting to help through this column, even though I no longer have a Counseling Center, has been and continues to be a gift. For over nine years, you have opened the South Platte Sentinel, found my picture, and given me time. You have thanked me in person, passed kind … [Read more...]
What we need this CHRISTmas
Jennifer GobleWe are one week and two days away from Christmas; memories of childhood; love in the air; Christmas music, cookies, candies, and festivities abound. Our blessings are immeasurable. This side of the holiday is ideal and joyful. There is a flip side to the story: The family who have been hit hard by the shut-downs. The senior citizen who is alone because of COVID or … [Read more...]
What are you waiting for?
Standing in line, all masked up, with nothing to do but wait, I people watch and think about how much time I spend waiting—just waiting. I’m not saying it’s miserable, it isn’t, but time waiting does seem to be increasing in my life. I wait for the time to get up, coffee to drip, elevator to arrive, maid service, shuttle, customer service, laundry to wash and dry, 8,000 steps, … [Read more...]
Can Santa and Jesus honorably share a holiday?
Christmas is a Christian holiday intended to celebrate the Son of God, Jesus, or Christ’s birth. Simple enough, it is a birthday party. Instead of shepherds and lambs, we now have illuminated pine trees and Santa Claus. There aren’t many similarities between Christ’s birthday and Christmas as we know it. Or is there? The birth of Christ brought joy and hope to the world, and … [Read more...]
What’s on your giving thanks list?
Jennifer GobleAbraham Lincoln gets credit for proclaiming, in 1863, the last Thursday in November as a national day of Thanksgiving. Various sources claim the first Thanksgiving to be in 1619, 1621, or maybe even 1598. That is over four centuries of acknowledging and celebrating the good in life. Meister Eckhart, a medieval German theologian, philosopher, and mystic, said, “If … [Read more...]
What is your reputation worth?
Jennifer GobleAccording to Forbes, a global media company, we and our businesses have seven seconds to form a first impression. Similar thoughts apply to job or scholarship applications and submissions to book agents. Acceptance or rejection happens in seconds. Reputation, on the other hand, takes far more time. For example, hiring can happen readily, but it could take a long … [Read more...]
S-T-R-E-S-S-E-D?
Jennifer GobleStress is an emotion associated with anything, and these days, seemingly everything. Unless you are unconscious or in a coma, everyday living, plus politics, COVID, and mask-wearing, equals s-t-r-e-s-s. Stress is normal, and it looks and acts differently in each person. Fear is often at the core—fear of poverty, disease, injury, death, conflict, rejection, natural … [Read more...]
Somebody has to lose; everybody can’t win
Jennifer GobleWriting this before the election, I don’t know who is president or what political party controls the senate. I hope it is truly over, and we can check off one more event on my “Awful’s of 2020” list. Like many of you, I have been worried about our country. Very worried. I fear the election being over will not reset civility, compassion, or a sense of, “… love thy … [Read more...]
Enjoy your good in life
Jennifer GobleLike many women, my sweet mother-in-law had a china cabinet. On the west dining room wall, it had closed storage on the bottom and glass doors on the top. If I put my nose close to the glass, I could see stacked wedding china, etched water glasses, pressed glass snack sets, her mother’s crystal salt cellars, a variety of serving trays and bowls, and an assortment … [Read more...]
Fear is not always an enemy
Jennifer GobleQuotes have been on the “My Favorite Things” list for many years. When teaching, I wrote a different one on the blackboard nearly every day. When counseling, I shared fitting quotes with my clients. One-liners, especially when said by someone wise and respected, can have a lasting impact. For example, Thomas Edison said, “I have not failed, I have found 10,000 … [Read more...]
Autumn is a gift to open, enjoy, and say, “Thank you!
Jennifer GobleMy husband and I like to travel, and we also snowbird to Arizona in the winter. The weather is often the topic of conversation as we meet and visit with people. I hear, “I never want to scoop snow again,” “This dry heat is not as hot,” “I miss the four seasons,” and, “The sunsets here are hard to beat.” My comment to help shift the weather conversation is, … [Read more...]
An idea on how to combat crazy-making?
Jennifer GobleSince writing this column a week ago, I had a birthday, watched the first 2020 presidential debate, learned close family in another state tested positive for COVID (they are doing okay). Three granddaughters went back to college campuses, and the unfamiliar aspect of fall sports and schools makes me sad for our kids. In other words, my world seems full of … [Read more...]
Liberty and justice for all
Jennifer GobleI once had a job as a middle-school counselor, and one morning on bus duty, a sixth-grade boy bounced out of the bus, picked up handfuls of gravel and threw it at other kids. With a firm grip on his forearm, I took him aside and said, “Jeremy, what are you doing?” He looked up at me with his big brown eyes and quietly said, “Ms. Goble, sometimes my bad side comes … [Read more...]
I’m getting old—er
Jennifer GobleGetting older is surreal, at best. I am experiencing a conflict between my aging body and my younger attitude. It’s helpful to ask, “What was Mother doing when she was my age.” The answer anchors my thoughts, calms my fears, and guides my choices. Although it isn’t everything, I realize genetics runs strong. I lost both my parents in 2007, and memories of their … [Read more...]