Our society often sends messages that the Holidays are to be a time of joy and happiness. We are inundated with images of family gatherings that show people of all ages enjoying their time together, yet we know this isn’t always the case. The holidays often invoke anxiety. For many it is the one time of the year they feel forced to spend extended time with people they normally don’t see, and sometimes don’t get along with. Family gatherings often consist of people who hold differing political and religious views. Our nation has just finished a very long tiring election cycle. A cycle that left many people with a feeling of uncertainty for the future, while fueling others with a sense of hope that change is coming. This clash of ideals may only contribute to anxiety felt during this holiday season but, there are many things you can do to try and make...

The cold is coming.
December's winter solstice.
Start of the season.

~Robert Pettit

The facts about bullying are staggering, 160,000 children skip school every day because of fear of being attacked or intimidated by other students. Reports also confirm that bullying is starting at younger ages and is more frequent and aggressive than before. Staying at home is no longer protection from bullying as reports indicate that 42% of middle schoolers have been bullied on line and 53% of them admit having said something mean or hurtful to another person on line.

Bullying is not new, but it is pervasive, not to mention scary, embarrassing and humiliating. Repeated...

You can tell you ate too much at Thanksgiving when you have to let your bathrobe out.

-Jay Leno

Thanksgiving brings about so many wonderful thoughts of the quintessential American holiday.  Good food, shared with a happy family, and filled with welcoming conversation.  Everyone gathers to break bread with our loved ones and pay homage for the many wonderful things in our lives.  Indeed, our hopes are for a Norman Rockwell drawing from the Saturday Evening Post.

However, Thanksgiving can be a time of stress and tension for some.   Somewhere in all families there is  a...

If you are really thankful, what do you do? You share.

— W. Clement Stone

 

 

“Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, of opinion and expression, and that education should promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups”.  Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948

 

The United Nations’ (UN) International Day for Tolerance is observed on November 16^th...

Life is like a camera…

Focus on what’s important,

Capture the good times,

Develop from the negatives,

And if things don’t work out,