There is an experiment where two groups of individuals are shown four identical illustrations - three were labeled differently - and given an opportunity to comment on what they believe. As most humans have the ability to make an opinion the results are telling. The opinions of the four groups varied widely. Does this [...]
You have probably seen many quotes on the Internet that you thought sounded like a good idea, until you begin to consider them from another person's viewpoint and realize that they sound a bit egotistic. The Golden Rule is one of those quotes that we have come to believe in as being a great [...]
We are each tested in every minute of our lives. Yes, life is just one test after another. It has always been and will always be. There is no way to avoid the test of the moment. It is laid out in front of us and we will either pass or fail. It is [...]
Each moment of every day, many are given the opportunity to make decisions that effect their future. Be thankful that you are given the opportunity of the moment, as there are millions who do not have the opportunity to make decisions that effect their future.
As I go about my daily walk in the neighborhood surrounding my home in Cuernavaca, Mexico I am filled with awareness. Today, I am more aware than I was during my early life and my move to Cuernavaca has increased my awareness tremendously. I cannot remember a more phlegmatic time in my life; calm, [...]
I know, you are thinking that it could not possibly be that you have been wrong about everything you have said, thought or done in your life, right? Take a deep breath, believe it or not, we are seldom right.
Perhaps you are one of those extremely rare individuals who have never been wrong about [...]
How often are you faced with a feeling of being uncomfortable with the statements of others? Like when someone tells you that you are being unfair, when you know in your own mind that you never intended to be anything but fair.
The donkey has nothing on humans when it comes to being stubborn. During World War One a scientific test was undertaken to find whether donkeys could be used in combat. As it turned out donkeys are incredibly intelligent and manage to complete a series of puzzles and challenges including undoing a locked pack lock [...]
As with all things in life, we seldom see the truth. It is not normally, what is right in front of our eyes and we must search for truth. Take for example this illustration of billiard balls. How many balls are there? Most people will simply count the balls in order to come up [...]
“He loved her for everything she was and she decided
that was enough to let him stay for a very long time.” ~ Brian Andreas
Every relationship takes a lot of work and patience. Those who know me well know that I am not a perfect man. It took me years to find out what is [...]
There is not a person alive who does not meet others for the first time occasionally. Some of us meet several new persons every day, some may only meet one person a day or even a week.
But meet we will, and when we do that first meeting can bring mixed emotions into play. Some [...]
“Having someone wonder where you are when you
don't come home at night is a very old human need."
- Margaret Mead
Most of us are filled with a sense of wonderment as to what new opportunities the future holds for us. Of course, it is and will be what we want it to be. I [...]
A friend posted a meme on Facebook the other day that I find to be a bit strange in many ways. It was called the Marriage Box, originally written by J. Allan Petersen. It read...
Most people get married believing a myth--that marriage is a beautiful box full of all the things they have longed [...]
One of the master skills for individual success in life, is understanding how the mind of other people works – why people say what they do. It’s all about the lenses they use, to view the world around them. We each see the world through a unique set of lenses - our eyes. Our lenses are created from our lifetime of experiences. That experience is created from what we know and how we feel about what we know. So, when we examine others, it’s important to consider the lenses through which that person sees the world around them. [...]
Even if the past may have been disappointing, your future might be better than you could ever imagine.
The self-fulfilling prophecy is a statement that alters actions and therefore comes true. For example, a person stating “I can't have a decent relationship,” might alter his actions so that such a prediction is fulfilled by his [...]
Many would say that I was blessed at birth, not with a silver spoon in my mouth but a microphone. You know the guy, the one that a microphone is handed and he just won't give it back as he rambles on and on with lots of ah... and uh... interspersed with bad jokes. I was that guy once upon a time. [...]
Bill Hood
Cuernavaca, Mexico
April 26, 2014
Dear Friend:
I received your email this morning. You wrote to tell me that you were in love, and of course, that is wonderful news. You asked me to help you understand what you are feeling and if you should pursue the love that you have found. Of course, while you [...]
Do you know why your job sucks? Do you know why millions of people work for minimum wage? Why people don’t have proper health care? Why far too often you feel that life itself sucks almost daily?
Because incompetence has become a cancer in our society. Competency is the ability to do something successfully or [...]
Finding the dream is possible if you believe. [...]
Yesterday, a friend re-posted an article about "The Ideal Partner," which attempted to point out what aspects should be present in a relationship before you take the big leap. The article was simply another example of Internet Myth. The article did not have a byline for the author, nor any references to factual studies [...]
Meaning, and ‘meaningful’, are very subjective terms. Pretty much everything we see, hear, and feel is open for interpretation, and skewed by our past experiences. I believe it’s the meaning that we choose to place on things, whether deliberately, or without thought, that is the driving force to why we make all of our [...]
How many times have you been asked, "Are you happy?" and quickly stated yes, without so much as a thought? How many times have you been asked, "What do you really want in life?" and again answered quickly, "I don't know!"
In truth few people are truly happy in their life, with their current circumstances of living, work, relationships and more. [...]
How many times today, have you used phrases such as, "I don't know...," "I can't...," or a similar phrase for something for which there is no immediate answer. Have you given any thought as to how these types of phrases make you feel? [...]
As a serial entrepreneur and confirmed workaholic driven by epistemophilia I have always had a ton of projects in work at any given time and thus my life was in a constant hectic state. I had lived in Cuernavaca intermittently for a number of years until I finally made the full time move to [...]
A friend shared the quote the other day that Happiness is a State of Mind. The quote is by Steve Maraboli, from Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience in which he wrote: [...]
If you spend anytime on social media sites, you will assuredly note instances of individuals posting without giving thought to what is written. It would seem that online societies are the feeding ground for vulgarity, insensitivity, the leveraging of political views, bickering at its finest. It seems that social media is overrun with people [...]
Most U.S.A. citizens are clueless as to how the President of the U.S.A. is elected, believing that they will go to the polls and vote for their choice and the winner of those votes will become the president. However, in reality it does not work that way. In accordance with the U.S.A. Constitution, the [...]
I have a lateral thinking challenge for you. You enter a room with six doors, knowing that you are to choose one and only one to go through. Behind each door is another room with two chairs. One of the chairs will be occupied by a gentleman and the other chair is for you. [...]
The New Year is almost upon us, and is traditionally the time of year for loved ones to come together and share gifts. No, the gifts that we give at the New Year are more personal and important. They will be valued more and do not require wrapping. [...]
It rained last night. When it rains here in the mountains so close to heaven, it is like a full orchestra performing for my enjoyment. I arrive early to find the best front row seat in the house, often on the covered front terrace where I can observe my garden of bougainvillea, azalea and birds of paradise. [...]
This is a success story about a girl who couldn't sew, had no money, but turned an idea into a International phenomena in the 1940s.
This past week, I had the opportunity to spend a delightful week traveling by car though western Mexico with Juli Lynne Charlot, the creator of the Circle Skirt, which quickly [...]
Updated May 8, 2020 - My sister, Mary Rosalind, at the age of 20, left home on January 4, 1961, rather than stay in an abusive marriage. At the time, women did not have many recourses to deal with this. Fifty-seven years goes by pretty fast, but I have not stopped looking for her [...]
This week I learned that years later, people will care about right.
This story was published in the Austin, Texas' American-Statesman newspaper on Friday, March 31, 2006. I think it is important that we remember Mike Cahill and his dream. I think it is important that we realize the importance of friendship and caring for [...]
You may have read the rumor posed as an inspirational story about Thomas Edison’s school teacher referring to him as addled or mentally ill in a letter. One version of the story goes...
One day, Thomas Edison came home and gave a paper to his mother. He told her, “My teacher gave this paper to me [...]
Not all people who are your friends are truly your friends. Ask yourself this question, “Who among your friends are helping you grow or holding you back?”
The word friend is of Germanic origin, and related to the Dutch vriend and German Freund, meaning "to love". But, even more, important is the newer alternative meaning [...]
