What is social anxiety? In my book, The Quiet Rise of Introverts, I define social anxiety as the fear of social or performance situations where embarrassment, judgment, criticism or rejection are perceived dangers. Somewhere along the line, as someone with social anxiety, we learned that we do not fare well under scrutiny. We fall short in [...]
At the top of our agenda we must place the task of collecting our children — of drawing them under our wing, making them want to belong to us and with us. — Gordon Neufeld, Hold On to Your Kids In our busy culture of independence, it is easy to lose connection with our kids and [...]
People who have a growth mindset and who see themselves as agents in their own lives are more open to new experiences, more willing to take risks, more persistent and more resilient in rebounding from failure. — Susan David, Emotional Agility This sense of agency intrigues me. I admit a low tolerance for people who don't [...]
I believe it is important to pay attention to our thoughts, emotions and intuition. They can serve as compasses as we navigate our lives. They often surface involuntarily. We react to them quickly and often without prior reflection. Sometimes this is good because our internal computer ably makes leaps in judgment based on past experiences. Sometimes [...]
I'm a brooder or over thinker. I hang on to emotions, memories, failures and perceived injustices for a long time. I know it doesn't do any good and only keeps me stuck in a bad mood and/or a bad situation. Brooders tend to be women. It's a statistical fact. Men are more likely to bottle their [...]
I turn 49 tomorrow. According to author Jonathon Rauch (The Happiness Curve: Why Life Gets Better After 50), I'm at the bottom of the happiness curve, but things will be on the upswing very soon. He says our 40s are the bottom of the joy trough. Our values change in our 50s to create upward momentum. [...]
