Dr. Linda's Blog - Page 4 of 7

Guest Blog: A Letter to a Friend by Michael Cameron

April 29, 2018

This week my significant other lost his 17-year-old son–a cancer warrior. Grief is a suffocating, all encompassing emotion that I am just now realizing I know nothing about. My friend Michael, though, does know a thing or two about grief. His girlfriend, Colleen, who was also my junior high friend and track teammate, was murdered by an ex-boyfriend in 2015. Michael wrote the following blog entry sometime thereafter. I have found and continue to find Michael’s post one of the best things I’ve ever read about grief. Only now, though, am I turning to it for my own purposes rather than

Don’t Pursue Happiness; Follow These Steps to Get Happy!

April 25, 2018

There is no point in pursuing happiness. That is, there’s no point in doing stuff that you think will one day lead to being happy. I can almost hear you thinking, “wow, this one’s going to be a downer. No thanks!” Before you stop reading, stay with me for a minute or two. You’ll be, um, happy you did. I am a huge fan of Shawn Achor, positivity psychologist and author of The Happiness Advantage. His Ted Talk is among the most watched of all time too. Here is a link to it. Shawn Achor’s Ted Talk In both his book and Ted Talk,

Why We Should Tell Others What We Think About Them

April 18, 2018

I was reminded this morning that it is a really good idea to tell others what we think about them when what we think is positive. There’s a woman at CrossFit who started coming to the 5 a.m. class a while ago. I’ll call her Ali because, well, that’s her name. I’ve watched Ali work out with both fascination and admiration. Ali is often the last person to finish the WOD. I’ve been very impressed by how precise and patient she is as she executes the various parts of a work out. Ali’s focus seems to be on maintaining good

Food is Not the Enemy

April 15, 2018

We’ve got to stop seeing food as the enemy. Let’s stop beating ourselves up and shaming others, consciously or unconsciously, about what and when and how much we eat. Let’s just do our best to put good fuel into our bodies so we can use them to do things we want to do.

We owe it to ourselves to find ways to be active. We need to feed our bodies what and how much they need to do the things we ask them to do. Being active and eating well are ways of being nice to ourselves.

Why We Should Measure Success on Our Own Terms

April 8, 2018

As an undergraduate student, I did not start university with any goal other than to do my job to the best of my ability. I followed three rules from day 1. Rule number one was “never miss a class.” Rule number two was “go to class prepared.” Rule number three was “begin assignments and/or study for tests well in advance of the due date.” I used my grades to measure success. I printed those rules and they were posted in my home office throughout my university career. I followed them religiously and they paid off. I was, and am, proud

“I Can Only Imagine”

April 1, 2018

“I Just Can’t Imagine” When bad things happen to other people, we often say “I just can’t imagine….” Usually, we say this to acknowledge that something bad has happened and to express sympathy or regret. However, the phrase “I just can’t imagine” does neither of those things. In fact, saying “I just can’t imagine” is a bit of a cop-out. Our language needs to align more closely with our intentions. So, instead of saying “I just can’t imagine,” we should say “I can only imagine.” Whatever our intentions, words speak for themselves. “I just can’t imagine” is code for “I