…by Julie Clark Robinson “If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, ‘thank you,\’ that would suffice.”  — Meister Eckhart Choosing a china pattern with my fiancé all those years ago wasn\’t quite the love fest a young girl dreams about all her life, but it has lead to something quite lovely. There were a few things I became quickly aware of that summer evening in Marshall Fields. One was that the rolling of my betrothed\’s eyes (when he thought I wasn\’t looking) meant that such decisions were to be mine from that point forward. The second thing... Read More

In this SERIES of monthly COLUMNS Dr. Stephen will help you: • Find out more about your depressed mood • Name that tune: A description of depressive and mood disorders • Change your depressed mood through action • Decide if you need medication COLUMN ONE: FIND OUT MORE ABOUT YOUR DEPRESSED MOOD Question: Why did the chicken cross the road? Answer: To prove to the possum that it could be done. Didn\’t laugh? Two options. One, you are a dyed-in-the-feathers animal lover and find no humor in chickens or possums, nor in any irreverent combination of... Read More

…By Prill Boyle Several years ago, while teaching English at a community college, I asked a group of students to write their obituaries. Initially, they were shocked by the assignment, but when I explained that its purpose was to inspire them to become bolder in their lives and braver with their dreams, they warmed up to the idea. “Our most important creation is ourselves,” I said. “Every moment our life stories are being written whether we write them or not. So why not take up your pen? Why not make your story into the story you want?” To begin, I told them to assume... Read More

…by Suzanne Falter Barnes Summary: Love your business but hate selling and marketing? Thanks to the Internet, there are now a number of great systems you can set up to actively market your business while you\’re busy doing other things. This article outlines some of the key ones. For many Net marketers, marketing is a love-hate relationship. We love the traffic and sales that a good push brings … but we have to force ourselves to do it. So lately, I\’ve been looking for systems anyone can implement that get the job done while you\’re pursuing other interests. The Net really... Read More

…By Prill Boyle Whether you\’re eighteen or eighty, if the answer is no, it\’s not too late to make a change. Demographers estimate that one in twenty baby boomers—the generation born between 1946 and 1964—will live to be a hundred. In other words, today\’s fifty-year old might well have another fifty years ahead of her. During those decades, she could earn multiple degrees, start a new business, or even join the Peace Corps. These late bloomers didn\’t just switch careers; they blossomed into the fullness of themselves. How did they do it? Making a life shift... Read More

…ByJulie Clark Robinson “Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It\’s not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it\’s when you had everything to do, and you\’ve done it.”  –Margaret Thatcher I realize that I\’m in my 40\’s and that I haven\’t really gone back to school – truly I do. I mean, I don\’t have a shiny new David Cassidy lunchbox or anything. But, come autumn, the feeling in the pit of my stomach is the same as it was when I was a school girl choosing a new outfit, notebook, folders and pencil pouch... Read More

…by Suzanne Falter-BarnsHave you ever felt like the life you are living is not the one you originally had in mind? Back when you were a kid, there might have been other things you thought you were going to be, like a Broadway diva or a country doc. That was before so-called reality hit, back when the only voice you listened to was your own. Fast forward to today. If you\’re like most of us, you lost track of those dreams and ideas some time ago. Other factors came into play, like earning a living, the impossibility of going back to school, or the queasy fear of looking stupid. You might... Read More