Dear Neil: Could you write an article about dealing with loneliness after the death of a spouse? I found myself missing male companionship—not romance necessarily—just conversation and activity. I have friends experiencing this same issue. Can you offer any advice? Alone in Vail, Colorado Dear Alone: There are four main tasks for you to do […]
Dear Neil: I’m a 24 year old male in my final year of university. Sometimes I can be extremely confident, with high self-esteem. But sometimes, I plunge into the darkest of places, looking for affection, recognition, praise and love, and I can be very afraid of what other people think of me. I lack confidence […]
While alive, live. And don’t die until you’re dead. In a nutshell, that constitutes my philosophy about aging well. And I am something of an expert on this subject, because I’m in my mid-60’s and I have no honest choice but to pay closer attention about how not to grow old and about how to […]
Because bad things continue to happen to good people—be it through flood (fire, earthquake, illness, disease, financial reversal, accident, the death of someone near to you, or just plain bad luck), I would like to summarize how people begin recovering from a devastating loss. When a major loss occurs, you will grieve or mourn for […]
I remember hearing this tale years ago. I am recounting it here to the best of my memory. Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there was a village in which everyone acted considerate, polite and friendly toward each other. Walking down the street of this village, you would be likely to hear one […]
Dear Neil: I was a full-time parent for 20 years while my husband traveled extensively, and the last 5 years of our 30 years together was all about crisis management because my husband was diagnosed with Leukemia. He fully recovered, but I was all used up, and felt very spent. So I initiated the divorce. […]
What is a successful life? How do you know if your life is successful? What criteria defines success to you? Yes, I know. Many people first think about whether they have enough money. It’s hard to feel terribly successful if you’re afraid of losing your house, not able to pay your bills, not able to […]
We all want to do our best. Nothing wrong with that, is there? Well, yes and no. It’s healthy for all of us to do our best because we can feel pride in our skills, our knowledge, our competence and our mastery. But it’s not so good to be a perfectionist, because then we are […]
Your life runs busy these days, doesn’t it? How busy are you? Very busy? Extremely busy? Ridiculously busy? Ever noticed how many people talk about how busy they are? It’s as if we live in a culture where most everyone is addicted to busyness. Even kids are busy these days, scheduled with extra-curricular activities after […]
A woman falls in love with a man. She is wild about him, and will follow him anywhere. But he has a hard time believing that she loves him, and interprets her love as neediness or loneliness. However, she is so smitten by him that she simply won’t let him go. He finally accepts that […]