Tiger and Mickelson

Sports is often a reflection of life itself.

By Marv Fremerman

The recent US Open golf tournament demonstrated two important points that we all should consider.  First, for those of you who follow my column know that I believe there’s a relationship between an athlete’s feelings of self-worth (self-esteem) and performance. This also applies to life itself.  The better you feel about yourself the more successful you’ll be – not only in your line of work, but also in your relationships.  Regarding the US Open, it’s my opinion that Phil Mickelson’s trip to attend his daughter’s eighth-grade graduation enhanced his own feelings of self-worth and his game. Athletes who are happy and whose lives are in harmony perform close to their skill levels on a …

Wellbeing is the Quality of our Journey

This write up is inspired by the posts of Pepin and Matt to reflect on my life. Thanks Pepin and Matt.

Visiting Otaru, Japan again earlier this year was a memorable event. My last visit was 56 years ago when I boarded a cargo ship to America from there. Reflecting now on how I tumbled through life, the beautiful words of Lauri Harper comes to mind:

“Each of us experiences life in our own context,

but for all of us, there is a struggle to balance

the reality of the life with our needs and our dreams.

Perhaps the most difficult thing of all

is to value our life and who we are and to direct our life

in a manner that honors it…”

(A Taste …

Baby Emma

All the Kings Horses and all the Kings Men couldn’t deliver as much wellbeing as one little itty bitty 17-month old, 30 inch tall, girlie.

Rath and Harter, in their book, “Wellbeing”, examine the Gallup results regarding our daily wellbeing. “While the five essential elements of wellbeing represent a comprehensive evaluation of our lives as a whole, our daily experience is another important piece of the puzzle. Momentary experiences accumulate and shape our lives. And it’s within these daily experiences that we begin to create real behavioral change.” (p.125). Discussing the activities we enjoy most the Gallup results categorize six elements of Overall Enjoyment. The most enjoyable is called, “Engaging Leisure and Spiritual Activities”. The poll went further, identifying the 10 most enjoyable activities, …

Genius and Success Have No Boundaries

History tells us that genius and success have no boundaries.  These notions have been guiding forces in my life and help me to understand my fellow human beings. One gains new and enriching perspectives by interacting with and learning about people “different from us” in both time and place.

Through education and travel we can move into more spaces and also other times.  We learn that a people, a nation, become great by interacting with others and conversely a people begin to decline as they refuse to interact, as they become ultranationalist, nativist and xenophobic.  Their fear or hatred or suspicion of others leads to an insularity, arrogance and selfishness that can hasten decline.

All peoples and races have contributed to the progress and perils …

The West, the Rest, and Autotelic Wellbeing

By: Pepin Hernandez Laos

To Jerry and Matt, for your inspiration and generosity

I am using the subtitle of Neil Ferguson’s book Civilization, to express the form in which I have experienced well being through my life. In one hand, as Jerry Wagner pointed out several weeks ago, the main purpose of this WholeLifeWellbeing Page is related to the expression of “potent personal stories”, and I couldn’t find a better understanding of any personal story other than my own. In the other hand, last Matt Schlegel’s posting to this page gave me the inspiration to clarify what has been my feeling of well being through the passing of the years.

Going back to my writing of this post, I began reading again the …

Spring Cleaning? No Worries!

Spring! ‘Tis the season to clean.  The sheen of newness that dons nature inspires many of us to spruce up our environs. I am undergoing a spring cleaning of sorts myself. A couple times a year I do a cleanse.  When I did my first cleanse it was rather uncomfortable, but they have grown increasingly easier over the years.  One thing that my cleansing has washed away is something I never imagined possible – anxiety.  Here is my story of how cleansing has led to an anxiety-free life.

Anxiety my friend.  Anxiety is the name that I call that feeling in my gut that was my constant companion.  It was the first thing I felt upon waking and the last thing I felt before drifting …

PEOPLE REFLECT US

If you want to know how you’re showing up in the world, all you have to do is look around you.  If you see those around you as kind, pleasant and nurturing, they are only reflecting the signals you’re sending out.  But if you see them as hateful and mean-spirited, then you can be sure you are sending out a different set of signals.

I’m reminded of the story of two young Jewish couples who moved to a new town and met with the local rabbi.  When the first couple asked the rabbi, “What are the people like here in this town?” – the rabbi responded: “First, tell me what the people were like in the town you just moved from.”  And the first young …

Making a Difference – It is within our control!

One of my favorite quotes is from Ghandi: “We must be the change we want to see in the world.” It is so easy to blame others and think that we cannot make a difference. If we would give in to that thought, nothing would change. We probably would still be hunters and gatherers.

Changing our Mindset

In the highly interactive leadership workshops I provide for Japanese corporations, there is an exercise where I hold an object at shoulder height above the ground and let it drop to the floor. I then ask the participants, “What caused the object to drop?” The overwhelming response is “gravity” which of course is a potential answer. After some encouragement, someone will softly say “you,” which is the answer …

Financial Wellbeing: Myth or possibility?

By Sonia Keffer

January first started for me like it did for millions of others, with a resolution. These goals are heart-felt and deeply desirable, yet most fail to be full-filled, even in the first month of the New Year. The resolution that I set for myself, and indeed, my whole family, was a “buy nothing” year. Technically, of course, this is impossible; one must buy some things, food, clothing, shelter, etc. What I was going for was an engaged group effort around taking control of our financial health and wellbeing.

For many years I saved and spent at will. I had income and there was credit for everything I wanted but didn’t want to pay cash for, or couldn’t quite afford at the time. …

CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT

I recently spent three weeks traveling in Japan. Of course I was on holiday so I was without the usual level of push and drive and drive to get things done. That said there were a number of factors in the context in which I was living that contributed to my sense of well-being.  These struck me as both things I observed that were present and those that were absent. In no particular order of importance here are the factors I observed and my reflections on them.