I hope you are okay with my weekly reflections, observations, and reveries. I try to keep my thoughts on mental health, but my mind often wanders and ends up in a philosophical orbit around life and living. Please know I appreciate our conversations each week. Lucy listens with excellent eye contact and cocks her little head back and forth as I chatter, but its’ not the same as … [Read more...]
Newspaper Column, "Mental Matters" published each Wednesday in the South Platte Sentinel Health Section
Who’s inspired you?
Someone asked the other day, “Who’s inspired you?” It was an easy question but hard to answer. Initially, my brain returned empty—it seemed my mind swam in a sea of bubbles. On my second lap, I recalled too many people to list. The question has stayed on my mind, and it uplifts me to think about all the people who, through words and examples, have influenced how I move through … [Read more...]
Three little words could add up to Happy New Year!
As we begin 2023, I am motivated to remember three words: Failure, fun, and fear. Three different presenters used them. Embracing failure was a central theme of the speaker at my granddaughter’s graduation ceremony at Colorado State University. The engineer encouraged everyday failure, emphasizing how it leads to innovations and inventions—failure is the root of … [Read more...]
New Year’s is a universal occasion for change
Jennifer Goble Deepak Chopra, on CNN, said, “We spend money we don’t have on things we don’t need to impress people we don’t like.” Welcome to the week after Christmas. Our credit cards are likely bulging, and our bank accounts are starving. New Year’s Resolutions come to the rescue; commitments to improve our lives. We might want to lose weight, quit smoking, exercise, show … [Read more...]
Never be afraid to say, ‘I need some help’
Jennifer Goble Thanksgiving to the end of the year is a fun time for many people–family gatherings, social happenings, and wonderment. But for many, it isn’t easy. Any factors could be the culprit for holiday blues: financial pressure, commitments, unrealistic expectations, fatigue, stress, over-commercialization, and inability to be with one’s family and friends. Any or all of … [Read more...]
Learning and growing involve a variety of classrooms
Education is one of my highest values. Knowledge, based on learning, is in the background of my activities and conversations. When my kids were in school, I had elevated expectations for their studying and grades. Classroom learning was far more important to me than sports. I have learned from my three kids and seven grandchildren that sports matter too. My head is hard, but … [Read more...]
I feel love in my home this holiday season
My Lucy just turned six months old, and I’ve decided we’re tenacious females because we’re both still alive and kickin’. As I write this week’s article and look forward to holiday festivities, I ask Lucy to forgive me for all my unkind thoughts and words. This week we had a conversation. I said, “Lucy, I promised not to get so upset with you when you pee or poop on the … [Read more...]
Embrace the past and present magic
“Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November. All the rest have thirty-one, excepting February alone, and that has twenty-eight days clear, and twenty-nine in each leap year.” This Mother Goose “Leap Year Poem” I found on Google isn’t exactly how I memorized it many decades ago, but I smile when I use it. The last time was a few minutes ago when I started this … [Read more...]
Let’s count our blessings
Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as national Thanksgiving day. That was in 1863. Various sources claim the first Thanksgiving to be in 1619, 1621, or maybe even 1598. No matter the day of origin, I’m glad, through recorded history, we know people have given reverence to what is good in their lives. Meister Eckhart, a medieval German theologian, … [Read more...]
You are the boss of your circle
American author, Leo Buscaglia, also known as “Dr. Love,” is credited with saying, “To love others, you must first love yourself.” Sounds easy. Who doesn’t love themselves? I recently listened to a Chopra meditation titled “Journey to Well-being: Self-Love” by Dr. Sheila Patel. She spoke about loving ourselves by honoring our natural abilities and giving ourselves the … [Read more...]
Win a little—lose a little
After surviving another election with supposedly intelligent adults being mean, nasty, and rude to each other, I’m thinking of how the rest of us can have conflicting points of view without putdowns, character defamation, talking over and louder, and permanent damage to relationships. Most of the candidate commercials, uninvited into my living room between my few TV programs, … [Read more...]
Twelve hugs a day
Hugs have always been a natural part of my life. Raised in a family of five girls, throughout the decades, we hugged when we came together, when we left, and many times in between. In fact, as children, our mother made us hug and say, “I love you” when we fought with each other. Hugging is natural in my world. The comforts of hugs carried forward to my love relationships; … [Read more...]
Halloween—Participate big or small or not at all
We don’t have to look far to know goblins, witches, and ghosts have joined us in the transition from summer to falling leaves, sweaters, and football. Over the years, I’ve wondered why Halloween is so popular and seems to grow more colorful and lively each year. I’ve decided it’s because the holiday holds no vast responsibilities such as big family dinners, presents, or … [Read more...]
Join me in brainstorming, “What do I want?”
I enjoyed two particular Ted Talks this week. One was “The 4 phases of retirement” by Dr. Riley Moynes, and the other was “The Question I Almost Didn’t Ask And How It Changed My Life” by Rita Wilson. Both struck accuracy as I thought of my own experiences. Finances are a vital retirement consideration, but we often don’t consider psychological impacts. The topic is relevant … [Read more...]
I’m paying attention and taking my time
My grandson told me the date of his first basketball game. He is a senior, and I don’t want to miss his games this year because I love watching him play and know this could be another last in my life. I’ve had many lasts recently, and I find with things I do and people I see, I’m thinking, this could be the last time. I’m not feeling negative, just realistic. I was lucky … [Read more...]