by Kristen | Apr 4, 2021 | Resilience
“Lawnchair Larry” Walters flew 16,000 feet above Los Angeles in 1982, thanks to 45 helium balloons. What a lift! We’ve had our first day over 50 degrees up here in the Colorado Rockies, so it’s really starting to feel like spring. I enjoy winters and cozy...
by Kristen | Mar 30, 2021 | Resilience
Having hope – either as a personality trait or about specific things in the moment – has benefits for our mental and physical health: An optimistic outlook reduces your risk of heart attack because the opposite outlook – being stressed, especially for long periods of...
by Kristen | Mar 30, 2021 | Resilience
When I was a little girl living on a U.S. Air Force base in Japan, we used to get these crazy typhoons. There was a grassy quad in front of our house, and I remember seeing the trees bending almost sideways, whipped by the rain and wind. Trees that fare worst in...
by Kristen | Mar 30, 2021 | Self Confidence
Regardless of how well we know each other, here are some things I know are true: You’ve always given your best and tried your hardest. You did the best you could with what you knew at the time, how much energy you had and what resources were available to you. Yes, you...
by Kristen | Mar 7, 2021 | Resilience
Our son, Max, is moving from Colorado to Oregon tomorrow. It will be the first time in 25 years that he’s lived more than an hour and a half away from home. Now both our kids will live in other time zones; our daughter, Sarah, lives a thousand miles in the other...
by Kristen | Mar 5, 2021 | Resilience
A world distorted: Print Gallery by M.C. Escher, 1956 If you’ve ever received life-changing news, you know how disorienting it is. One minute the world is familiar and the next it isn’t. It might look the same but it feels — or at least you feel — different. Forever...
by Kristen | Mar 4, 2021 | Resilience
This story starts almost three years ago, in May 2018, when cancer interrupted my life. I’ll tell you the whole story someday, but for now I just want you to know that if you have felt blindsided, shocked, overwhelmed and extremely vulnerable, I feel you. It’s hard!...
by Kristen | May 6, 2020 | Helping Kids be Confident
Sometimes asking the right questions — and giving a little love — is all that’s needed. If you care about someone who’s struggling with coronavirus or any other stressor right now, you may want to help but not be sure how to do it. The method...
by Kristen | Mar 29, 2020 | Self Confidence
Two years ago, cancer sent me into home quarantine, the way coronavirus has driven people into their houses all over the world. The transition was jarring and disruptive, but spending tons of time at home hasn’t been all bad. Here are some of the things...
by Kristen | Mar 13, 2020 | Self Confidence
Using no strengths — like kindness or perspective — to deal with frustration. My husband has just returned from the grocery store, where shelves were empty, people were tense and he waited in the checkout line for an hour. It’s stressful out there. As...
