Category Archives: Relationships

Great Relationships: Getting Your Message Across

In our relationships we often want to share things with others — we want them to know what we’re thinking and feeling, or convince them to think in a certain way.  To do this, we have to carry out a …   Continue reading →

Insults And Counter-Insults — Is There A Better Way?

Why is it that when we get insulted, it helps us feel better to insult the other person back?  On the face of it, our counter-insult does nothing to refute whatever negative thing they just said about us.  For example: …   Continue reading →

Our View Of The World, And Selling It To Others

We all have our own understanding about the way the world works.  I like to refer to this individual way of viewing things as our “view of the world”.  Our view of the world might include that, say, Obama is …   Continue reading →

On Being Yourself

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.  — Ralph Waldo Emerson “Be yourself!”  We hear this phrase in many contexts — as advice for children worried about how …   Continue reading →

Great Relationships: What Makes Them “Great”?

It’s all well and good to talk about trying to have a great relationship.  But what do we mean by “great relationship”?  Everyone probably has their own ideas about this, but since I think everything that matters is ultimately about …   Continue reading →

Social Relationships And Health

There is a new study out which suggests that lack of good social relationships can actually be as detrimental to your health (measured by mortality rates) as being a smoker or an alcoholic!  The study is actually a “meta-analysis”, meaning …   Continue reading →

The Facts, And The Stories We Tell About Them

Facts happen.  But in order to know how to feel about the facts, we create “stories” — we decide which of the facts are important, and what the big picture is underlying the facts, and relate that to our own …   Continue reading →

Great Relationships: More Than Just Being Nice?

We would all like to have great relationships — relationships that are fun and deeply satisfying.  Relationships that make us feel great.  But what is it exactly about a relationship that makes us feel great?  One simple answer might be …   Continue reading →

How To Like People

Sometimes we find ourselves dreading being around people — small talk with co-workers, holidays with the relatives, a birthday party with people we find annoying.  And it’s true that people can sometimes have characteristics which aren’t the most pleasant — …   Continue reading →