One thing is for people to blather on about the drama in their lives. Another is for them to try to whip up drama in ours. The latter is wholly unacceptable, and we should never stand for that. Whether it's a coworker who tries to turn you against someone at work who doesn't rub her the right way, someone you've begun dating who hasn't quite broken up with their ex, or a friend who tries to rope you into gambling or taking drugs, you should never take the bait. Never allow yourself to get wrapped up in other people's problems. While you certainly can lend a hand, their worries should not become your own. They have to resolve such matters themselves and leave you out of it -- otherwise, you may find yourself shouldering a heavy burden. Many people who find themselves down on their luck are so selfish as to try to bring others down with them, especially if the latter seem to be doing pretty well for themselves. Misery loves company, to be sure. In the worst ...

Entering into a relationship with the intention of changing or fixing someone is a surefire recipe for disaster. For starters, while it's possible that your influence will help change someone for the better, there are never any guarantees. And even if they do make progress, who's to say they can't revert to their old ways? It isn't your responsibility to resolve all their problems for them. You can lend a helping hand, sure, but you should never carry their burdens on your shoulders. One thing is to feel compelled to help someone you're married to or have been with for many years, and another is to start a relationship with someone who has issues -- whether financial or emotional -- from the outset and expects you to rescue them. I've heard stories of women who have resolved to change a so-called bad boy into a nice guy and seen their efforts bear little fruit. Sooner or later, it becomes apparent that the guy is unable to turn the corner in his life...

Stop what you're doing for a moment. Take a deep breath. Put a smile on your face. Tell yourself these words: "It's going to be okay." You've come too far in your life to give up. Whether you're healing from wounds of your past or stressing over the question marks in your future, remind yourself that true happiness lies in making the most of the present. Things will get better over time. If you're mired in relationship, health, or money struggles, rest assured that the worst storms often give way to much sunnier days. Never feel afraid to reach out -- whether to friends, family, a professional (or even to me) for a helping hand. I know that sometimes being positive is easier said than done. Just when we think we've come out of a hole, life seems to put us into a deeper one. But resigning ourselves to the opposite state of mind -- negativity -- will only serve to exacerbate the depression or anxiety we're already feeling. As long a...

Looking to achieve a goal? Inhale confidence. Exhale doubt.  Even if no one else believes in you (which is highly unlikely), you are your single biggest ally. If you don't believe in yourself, you won't realize your dreams -- plain and simple. Achieving goals take hard work, determination, and dogged persistence. If you want something badly enough and are willing to go the extra mile to get it, you've already won half the battle. You might cry, face sleepless nights, argue with friends and loved ones, and even have occasional bouts of depression, pushing you to the brink of quitting. But don't give up!  Things will get better. Hang in there. When everything seems doomed to fail, stop for a moment. Take a deep breath. Ask yourself whether retooling your strategy -- making a few tweaks here and there -- might get you back on the right path. If achieving a goal were easy, we'd have countless superstar athletes, actors, rock stars, and rocket scientis...

I've had a few of my readers tell me that they've hit a rough patch of late, so I thought it apropos to write an uplifting post this morning to get everyone's weekend off to a magnificent start. There's no question that life is hard and often unfair. Bad things happen to good people all the time. We're confronted with tough situations we never saw coming, and sometimes such challenges seem insurmountable. But I'm here to tell you that every storm passes. As long as you stay strong and keep hope alive, you will get through it. The only thing in life that has no remedy is death. If the problems you're facing are not life-and-death, you can -- you will -- overcome them. Whether you recently got out of a bad relationship, unexpectedly lost your job, or are not on speaking terms with a longtime friend, one day you'll look back on it all and say, "I didn't see it back then, but things really did turn out for the best." Human beings have...

If there's one thing I've learned in this unpredictable labyrinth we call life, it's that we can achieve much more by complaining less . Once you let negative thoughts creep into your head -- like "I can't do it," "I don't want to do it," and "this is too hard" -- your resolve is stopped in its tracks and you become paralyzed into inaction. So how do you avoid this mental trap? You get to work -- without even thinking about it! If you start thinking about the myriad reasons why you don't want to do something, the chances of you doing it drop precipitously. In other words, we won't be inclined to take action when we're subconsciously trotting out reasons for why we shouldn't. For example, let's say you're trying to lose weight. If you find any excuse in the book not to go to the gym -- you're tired after working all day, you don't like to exercise when it's dark outside, you hate being all sw...

How many times have you gotten upset about something, only to realize once you've cooled off that it wasn't worth getting so worked up over?  We've all been there.  Human beings are highly emotional, volatile creatures. When we're having a bad day, it doesn't take much for us to fly off the handle. Even the slightest inconvenience or annoyance can set us off.  Today I want to share with you a quick and easy way to squelch that anger in a matter of seconds. Ready? Here it goes... When you find yourself up in arms about you, take a deep breath and ask yourself a simple question: Is this something that I'll be upset about a week from now? A month from now? A year from now? Five years from now? I guarantee you that in nearly all cases, the answer will be no. You're merely caught in the moment and only thinking of the present, not the future.  Your spouse accidentally dropped and broke your favorite mug. Your co-worker spilled...