Author Archives: Ellen

What a Way to Go!

This past Saturday, May 21st, 2011 was prophesied to be the day of the “Rapture,” otherwise known as the “End of the World.” Of course, we’re all still here, so someone was thankfully very mistaken. But it did make me … Continue reading

Dying, End of the World, Rapture, Trail Running

Receiving Compliments, Giving Compliments

Every Tuesday morning, I meet up with friends at Berkeley Marina for our ritual Tuesday morning run. Today, there were 8 of us, mostly from Berkeley, Albany and Oakland. And it was a beautiful sunny morning, with views of San … Continue reading

Compliments

Get Your Instant Happy Fix Here!

Many people don’t realize it, but our happiness has very little to do with our current external circumstances. Happiness is an internal mindset, and each of us has the ability to instantly increase our level of happiness, simply by what … Continue reading

Happiness

Happy Mothers Day, Earth

Today is Earth Day. Earth Day is sort of like Mothers Day. It’s a day when you are really nice to your Mom, let her sleep in, serve her breakfast in bed or take her out to brunch and a … Continue reading

Uncategorized

A Funeral and a Wedding

In my previous post, I talked about a dear friend of mine, Sue (Susie) Adams, who died in January after a long battle with Scleroderma, a degenerative disease that affects the connective tissue. She was just 53. Her death was … Continue reading

Funeral, Life and Death, Wedding

What Does Your Obituary Say?

A very dear friend of mine died two days ago after a long struggle with Scleroderma, “a chronic connective tissue disease generally classified as one of the autoimmune rheumatic diseases.” In recent years, her condition rapidly worsened and she had … Continue reading

Obituaries, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Scleroderma

Go Confidently in the Direction of Your Dreams

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you’ve imagined. – Henry David Thoreau If you have dreams for 2011, now is the time to write them down. Then start moving in the direction of your dreams. … Continue reading

Happy New Year, Henry David Thoreau

How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie

I’m a big fan of Google Books. This free service allows you to sample large excerpts from books – and you can then decide if you want to buy the book or not. Here’s a book from Dale Carnegie that … Continue reading

Dale Carnegie How to Stop Worrying and Start Living

In Thanks to the French

July 14 is Bastille Day – or French Independence Day – France’s version of the Fourth of July. It celebrates the storming of the Bastille, a fortress-prison, and the citizens rising up against the Monarchy (Louis XIV) and the beginning … Continue reading

Bastille Day, France, Marcel Marceau

Embrace the New

“It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in … Continue reading

Alan Cohen, change