Pursue Happiness and a Life Well Lived

happy woman enjoying life What makes you happy? If you were to list 25 things that make you happy, what would they be? How many of your listed items would be things that make you uncomfortable? Normally, we tend to avoid what feels risky, preferring to stay in our comfort zones. Yet, that may not be the best way to stay happy. Here’s why…

In the Declaration of Independence, the founding fathers listed our Rights as “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”? The word pursuing involves obtaining something that you don’t have yet. We can pursue happiness by doing the things we know we like. But there is more to it than that. A recent article in Psychology Today, “What Happy People Do Differently”, makes this statement, “One of life’s sharpest paradoxes is that the key to satisfaction is doing things that feel risky, uncomfortable, and occasionally bad.”

Does that surprise you that doing what is risky and uncomfortable contributes to our happiness? We all need to experience new things, overcome new challenges that take us outside of our comfort zones to grow emotionally and spiritually. We need to fuel our curiosity.

The article also lists the following four other unique habits that happy people have:

  • They have a balanced view of details, not taking things too personally or striving for perfection.
  • They celebrate others’ successes and build relationships with others who do the same.
  • They have psychological flexibility – they accept negative emotions as a signal that they need to examine and possibly change the situation they’re in.
  • They balance pleasure and purpose – they enjoy life but stay on track with long-range goals.

Happiness isn’t about always being on an emotional high. It comes when you combine it with “occasional sadness, a sense of purpose, playfulness, psychological flexibility, autonomy, mastery and belonging.” Rather than chasing happiness, perhaps the founding fathers should have said “and the pursuit of a life well-lived.”

Are there anxieties or chronic depression that prevent you from fully enjoying life and your relationships? Life is too precious to miss out on, so maybe it’s time to consult with a therapist who will work with you as you discover the best ways to keep your anxieties or depression under control. Are you near Portland Oregon or Vancouver, Washington? Contact my office to set up an appointment.

Raising a Child with Asperger’s Syndrome

father and child playingYou think it can only happen in the movies, but sadly that’s not the case.

Raising any child is hard work and when your child has autism it is all the more challenging. I see so many parents educating themselves and working hard to care for their children and these efforts are making a difference. They deserve to be recognized and commended for their hard work. So I wanted to just take the opportunity to tell parents with children who have Asperger’s Syndrome that we appreciate all of your tireless efforts.

Parents need support and training to keep their own lives and emotions balanced when they care for the special needs of a family member. If you’re feeling like it’s more than you can handle, contact my office and make an appointment in Portland, Oregon or Vancouver, Washington.

How to Give Your Creativity a Spark

man holding light bulb is image of creative ideas sparking Do you feel like everyone else is creative, but that you’re not? True, some have a greater aptitude for creativity than others. This doesn’t mean, however, that creativity is a rare gift reserved for only a few. Creativity comes when you learn to look at the world in a different way. You see relationships between things that others can’t see.

Learn all you can about your chosen topic. When you know how things work, all the ins and outs of it, you can begin to see it from a variety of perspectives. This can lead to developing an innovative or creative solution, which is particularly important for entrepreneurs, since they need a basic understanding of all aspects of their new product, service or business venture. Reading extensively, talking with other experts and customers, attending workshops, etc. will all contribute toward this.
Allow yourself time to think it over. Let your subconscious mull over everything you’ve learned. Go for a walk, put on your favorite music, do some gardening, or simply sleep on it. This will allow your creativity to emerge.

Evaluate if your idea is workable and then implement it. You’ll need courage, self-discipline, and perseverance at this step because you will most likely encounter setbacks. Thomas Edison said: “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. I never did anything worth doing entirely by accident…my inventions were achieved by having trained myself to be analytical and to endure and tolerate hard work.” So, be prepared that your ideas may fail several times before they successfully develop into your very best ideas. Perhaps they may even take you in an entirely different direction.

If you find that you’re prone to jumping from one project to the next, take a look at my website – Personal Growth/Gifted Adults for why this might be happening and how you can develop your abilities more fully. 
If you live in the Portland, Oregon or Vancouver, Washington area, you can contact my office and set up an appointment so we can explore this further.

Man with ASP Contributed to his Community

man with Asperger's took pictures Most people would like to rise above their life and work challenges and make a real difference in the world around them. It’s important to all of us that what we do matters, even if we do lead seemingly average lives.

 

Sometimes, it can be something small that matters the most. Take the story of Leon Ricks, an 85-year-old man who recently died in California. He had Asperger’s Syndrome, and even though he had trouble interacting with others socially, he was beloved by his neighbors. Plus he made a real contribution to his community, although it wasn’t recognized until he was gone.

Mr. Ricks spent his life walking the streets of his town, Altadena, taking photographs of everything. When his family was sorting through the boxes of photos, they discovered that his lifetime of photography documented the history of the town. So much so that the president of the Altadena Historical Society said his photo collection was “every historian’s dream.”

What struck me as I read this article was that we all contribute to our communities in one way or another. And if we take time to be grateful for what others do and even what we can do ourselves, it’s another way of contributing to society. Especially when we make a habit of expressing our appreciation, it becomes a really valuable contribution. How nice it would have been for Mr. Ricks if he could have enjoyed the appreciation from his town.

Sometimes, though, our thoughts and emotions get out of balance and we don’t see things or even the people in our lives in such a positive light. Then it’s a good time to seek professional guidance. If you live in the Portland, Oregon or Vancouver, Washington area, and would like to talk about it, contact my office and set up an appointment.

Characteristics of a Gifted Child and their Problems

gifted children at school All children face the challenges of growing up and fitting into today’s society. However, gifted children quite often go through these stages earlier in life and have the additional challenge of facing a world that is not designed to accommodate their unique way of thinking. It’s not uncommon for gifted children to be diagnosed as ADD.

Unusually large vocabularies for their age. This may lead to boredom at school and with their peers.

Ability to read earlier than most children, often before entering school. Being ahead of the others can lead to boredom, lack of motivation, cynicism and depression.

Greater comprehension of the subtleties of language. They may use words to manipulate others.

Longer attention span, persistence and intense concentration. They become so focused that other duties are forgotten or they stubbornly resist being interrupted.

Ability to learn basic skills more quickly and with less practice. They are impatience with others and dislike routine.

Wide range of interests. They may jump from activity to activity without completing any, appearing to be disorganized and are frustrated by lack of time.

Highly developed curiosity and a limitless supply of questions. They may tend to ask embarrassing questions and be excessive in their interests.

Interest in experimenting and doing things differently. They may be viewed as disruptive and uncooperative.

Tendency to put ideas of thing together in ways that are unusual and not obvious (divergent thinking). They may be very creative and not fit in with peers.

Ability to retain a great deal of information. They may be very sensitive and worry about issues of fair play, equality or truth, and they desire logic rather than tradition or feelings. They may be perfectionists or intolerant of others.

Unusual sense of humor. They may become the class clown to gain attention.

Working Moms Create More Flexible Work Schedules

working moms juggling work and home life “I never miss one of my child’s ballgames.” Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to say that? With the busy work schedules that working couples have, especially entrepreneurial couples, it seems like it’s nearly impossible to accomplish something like that. One of the things working moms and dads regret most is that family time gets sacrificed in order to keep their job or stay in business.

In today’s world, very few women want to be stay-at-home moms. Most women prefer to have a career. However, statistics show that many are working much more than they’d really like. A recent New York Times/CBS News poll showed that only a quarter of mothers with school age children want to be working full-time if money were no object.

That’s where thinking outside the box and taking the initiative is beneficial for creating a flexible work schedule. One great alternative is working from home one day per week. That’s what one enterprising mom did. After 9 years of working full-time for her employee, she mustered up the courage to ask to work from home on Fridays. You can gain inspiration from her story in The New York Times, Coveting Not a Corner Office, but Time at Home.
Some advocate that women should seek careers of leadership positions while depending on a partner to help with the childcare, however not everyone wants to live that way. It’s important for you and your partner to figure out your work-life priorities, and then not be afraid to ask the boss if you can work in an out-of-the-ordinary way, e.g. part time or from home. True, the boss may say, “no”, but there’s a good possibility you’ll get a “yes” instead.
But what if you are the boss? Of course, if you and your partner are in business together, then you have more flexibility of how and where work is done. If you’re having trouble coming to a satisfactory arrangement for your work-life circumstances, you might benefit from talking with a family therapist. Contact my office and set up an appointment in either my Portland, Oregon or Vancouver, Washington office.
If you have a loved one on the Spectrum, please check our private MeetUp group. We have members from around the world meeting online in intimate video conferences guided by Dr. Kathy Marshack.
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