Taking Personal Responsibility

Ben Franklin is famous for saying, "God helps those who help themselves." Years later, Calvin Coolidge echoed Franklin, saying, "there is a very definite point beyond which we cannot go. We can only help those who help themselves." Unfortunately, as a nation, we seemed to have moved away from the notion of personal responsibility... it worries me.

Taking Chances

H. Jackson Browne is quoted as saying, "Don't be afraid to go out on a limb. That's where the fruit is." And in these tough times, it is good to realize that while extremely risky behavior is still (always!) a bad idea, it is still necessary to make investments in order to realize returns.

New Discoveries

Marcel Proust wrote, "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes." I find this is true in two ways:

1) As a mom, I am constantly exposed to new perspectives as my kids explore the world and share their experiences.

2) As a writer for TheInsiderTravelGuides.com, I often find myself acting as a tourist in my own town. Developing travel stories about places I know well forces me to look at them differently.

Make Your Own Happiness

While the notion of taking responsibility for your own happiness and well-being is old hat among various self-help gurus, I certainly think it bears repeating (again and again) in this era of victimization and buck-passing. So go ahead - take charge of your life and make your own happiness!

Points of View

Adam Savage of Mythbusters likes to say, "I reject your reality and substitute my own" which for me, pretty much sums up how most of us see the world. Everything we see and do is filtered through our own personal perspective -- no two people experience things quite the same way.

New Year's Resolutions

It's been said that all the good things in life "are either immoral, illegal, or fattening." I think that's why so many of us tend to make resolutions each year to avoid those things... and then fail to keep our resolutions because, after all, what good is a life lived without chocolate, after all?