I just finished reading a book called "Mindfulness" by Ellen J. Langer. While it wasn't the best psychology book I've ever read, there were a couple of key takeaways I'd like to share. First, mindfulness is the exact opposite of mindlessness , and Langer seems to suggest that most of society suffers from the latter. When you're mindful, you don't take everything at face value. You don't merely assume, for example, that a toothbrush's only function is to clean and whiten your teeth, or that a person missing an arm must be lousy at sports. Langer stresses that in order to achieve full mindfulness, we have to throw our preconceived notions, biases, and stereotypes to the wind. Most of us do seem to go through life in a rote, mindless fashion. We seldom question our own beliefs and the reasons why things around us happen as they do. She points out that because we begin discriminating against the elderly at an early age -- perhaps as a byproduct of...

Although the list of gender stereotypes that exist in the world today goes on forever, there are two in particular that seem firmly ingrained in many people's minds: 1. All women should be good cooks. 2. All men should be handy.  Here's a reality check for those who still subscribe to these decades-old stereotypes: Many women don't know how to cook, nor have they ever been interested in preparing anything other than a TV dinner. At the same time, many men -- including me -- are neither interested in nor adept at home repairs and do-it-yourself projects. And there's nothing wrong with that. Some of us have a keen sense as to the things we like to do, and those we detest. As I've stated in earlier posts, I bought a condo instead of a house for one simple reason: I loathe maintenance. I'm not good at it and, quite frankly, would rather shell out the money for someone else to do the job. I love reserving my time outside of work for things about which I...