Uncertainty and dealing with the unknown is something we all must learn to cope with. John Lennon once said, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” If that’s the case, are there ways to live with the unknown with a greater sense of mastery and ease? I believe so!

Living with uncertainty certainly isn’t comfortable and can show up on both a macro and a micro level. On the macro level, you may have been hit by one of life’s curve balls like a relationship meltdown, a workplace restructuring, a health scare or some other significant shift in the landscape of your life. On the micro level, Mercury goes retrograde again and your computer crashes right before you need to pull your major presentation out of it. You are working on something that you thought was your heart’s desire, but you …. Read more »

Q. I’ve just started to date casually and I’m not sure how much I should share with my boys, who are 10 and 13. What’s the best way to introduce a new partner to my children?

A. If you’re getting out into the dating world, I recommend you give yourself permission to have fun and enjoy yourself first. Trust your own gut on how much and how often you need to share about how this part of your life is developing. You definitely don’t need to share the daily ups and downs with your children. Let your children know that you have a social life and that you are meeting new friends. This tells them you have a life outside of your children that makes you happy and most children want to see their parents happy. Keep it light and open and… Read more »

Musical theater is one of my true loves. I had the absolute joy recently of seeing the Broadway tour of the musical “Rent” with my children when it came to my hometown. This award-winning rock musical, written by the late Jonathan Larson, has captivated me since it first came out about 15 years ago. Not only do I find the music beautiful and moving, but its message of love and living with an attitude of “No day but today” completely resonates with me.

This is the 5th time I’ve seen it, yet this particular production was one of the most powerful theater experiences I’ve ever had. How could it be that I was so captivated and engaged? After all, I know the music, lyrics, plot, seen the show a number of times, and seen the movie quite a few times too! I had thought it had the potential of “been there, done that, bought the T-shirt” and I prepared myself for what I thought would be a simply pleasant event. Yet the experience was so moving, fresh and… Read more »

Q. “My husband said he was unhappy in our marriage for years. Now, he wants a divorce. I can’t understand how I couldn’t have seen this coming!”

A. One person wants a divorce and the other person feels blindsided by the decision. This is a tricky, yet not uncommon, situation. There is definitely a lot for you to look at if your perceptions were so significantly different than your spouse’s. But the first step for you to start to look more deeply at this situation is to put down your bat of self-criticism and judgment. As one of my spiritual teachers says, we must love ourselves forward. When you go through a heartache like divorce, we add salt to the wounds when we let our negative inner dialogue rule our emotional process. Be with your sadness and grief about the relationship ending, but it won’t serve… Read more »

Setting a theme for your year can be fun and a very useful strategy to your success this year. Each holiday season for at least the past 20 years, I’ve carefully selected my theme, and this year was no exception. In a minute, I’ll share it with you. (I’m so excited about it I can barely keep myself from spilling it to you now!)

But first, here are a few pointers to selecting a good theme and then some examples from my own life about how to make a theme work for you.

Your theme:

• Will serve you best when it comes from your big picture and vision
• Should excite or inspire you
• Should stretch you
• Should be kept to a simple, memorable phrase

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