In 1969, Joseph Stein together with John Kander (music) and Fred Ebb (lyrics) adapted the novel Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis into a Broadway musical. The show opens (and ends) with the song "Life Is," with lyrics that bolster Alexis Zorba's credo that you must grab life while you can.
In 1978, I was a graduate student and teaching assistant with the philosophy department at Miami University. One interdisciplinary course that I taught was "Confronting Death." During class one day, I asked my students, "If you were given the option to know when you were going to die, would you want to know?"
While some said no, others were adamant about their yes. Pressing on a bit I then asked, "What would be the benefit of that knowledge?"
Many students thought it would help them to plan their lives. I recall comments such as:
Read full blog...
Have a joyful day everyone. And remember to live a flourishing life.
Rita
www.ritaschiano.com
To learn more about how you can live a flourishing life, please visit my web site, www.liveaflourishinglife.com.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Saturday, October 15, 2011
How Distracted Are You?
It is not surprising that modern day life is often referred to as the "culture of distraction." We are bombarded with information 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And yet, most of us cannot get enough. We channel surf, search the Web, talk and text, drive and text, drive and talk, drive and talk and text. It is no wonder we are driven to distraction.
The term "multi-tasking" originated in the computer engineering industry, and refers to the simultaneous execution of more than one program or task by a single computer processor. What we engage in is human multi-tasking -- the performance by an individual of appearing to handle more than one task at the same time. The operative word being "appearing."
When you stop and think about it, the human brain is really quite amazing. According to a study conducted at the University of California, San Diego, the average American consumes 34 gigabytes worth of information a day, that's about 100,000 words. Now, clearly we don't parse a full 100,000 words each day, but that rather staggering figure does infiltrate our eyes and ears and minds via the Internet, television, radio, iPods, text messaging, cell phones, video games, Wii and oh so much more.
Read full blog...
Have a joyful day everyone. And remember to live a flourishing life.
Rita
www.ritaschiano.com
To learn more about how you can live a flourishing life, please visit my web site, www.liveaflourishinglife.com.
The term "multi-tasking" originated in the computer engineering industry, and refers to the simultaneous execution of more than one program or task by a single computer processor. What we engage in is human multi-tasking -- the performance by an individual of appearing to handle more than one task at the same time. The operative word being "appearing."
When you stop and think about it, the human brain is really quite amazing. According to a study conducted at the University of California, San Diego, the average American consumes 34 gigabytes worth of information a day, that's about 100,000 words. Now, clearly we don't parse a full 100,000 words each day, but that rather staggering figure does infiltrate our eyes and ears and minds via the Internet, television, radio, iPods, text messaging, cell phones, video games, Wii and oh so much more.
Read full blog...
Have a joyful day everyone. And remember to live a flourishing life.
Rita
www.ritaschiano.com
To learn more about how you can live a flourishing life, please visit my web site, www.liveaflourishinglife.com.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Connect With Your Friends
When is the last time you heard the voice of a friend or loved one who you don't see regularly? How often do you find yourself thinking, "I need to give (fill in the name) a call" and then days, weeks, even months later you have the same thought because you never made the call?
One of the main reasons we don't make the call is because "life" gets in the way -- family obligations, kids ballgames or concerts, household tasks, to name a few -- and we let those friendships slide. While we have good intentions to get together, to share a meal, we unintentionally keep delaying and delaying that get-together or phone call, putting it off to tomorrow, the next day, and then the next. And as the old maxim goes: The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Time slips past us much too rapidly. I learned this lesson all too well and too painfully a few years ago. I had a lovely friend named Lydia. She didn't live that far from me -- about seven or eight miles away. Whenever I would bump into her at the grocery store, or see her at a gathering, I'd relish our brief time together.
Read full blog...
Have a joyful day everyone. And remember to live a flourishing life.
Rita
www.ritaschiano.com
To learn more about how you can live a flourishing life, please visit my web site, www.liveaflourishinglife.com.
One of the main reasons we don't make the call is because "life" gets in the way -- family obligations, kids ballgames or concerts, household tasks, to name a few -- and we let those friendships slide. While we have good intentions to get together, to share a meal, we unintentionally keep delaying and delaying that get-together or phone call, putting it off to tomorrow, the next day, and then the next. And as the old maxim goes: The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Time slips past us much too rapidly. I learned this lesson all too well and too painfully a few years ago. I had a lovely friend named Lydia. She didn't live that far from me -- about seven or eight miles away. Whenever I would bump into her at the grocery store, or see her at a gathering, I'd relish our brief time together.
Read full blog...
Have a joyful day everyone. And remember to live a flourishing life.
Rita
www.ritaschiano.com
To learn more about how you can live a flourishing life, please visit my web site, www.liveaflourishinglife.com.
Friday, September 16, 2011
About Resilient People
Resilient people have a penchant for learning. They have the ability to reflect upon and recognize objectively their strengths and weaknesses. This self-reflection helps them gain insight into their current circumstances, opening them to new ideas and new tactics for dealing with crises.
Resilient people have the ability to look at critical situations in a new way, finding creative approaches towards solving a problem. They recognize that life is a series of good times and not so good times, and that you need the bad to appreciate the good. Hard times build character, creating positive lessons that better equip us to cope in the future.
How resilient are you? Visit my web site and download my free "Self-evaluation Resilience Test.
Have a joyful day everyone. And remember to live a flourishing life.
Rita
www.ritaschiano.com
Follow Live A Flourishing Life on Facebook!
To learn more about how you can live a flourishing life, please visit my web site, www.liveaflourishinglife.com.
*Excerpt from Live A Flourishing Life
Resilient people have the ability to look at critical situations in a new way, finding creative approaches towards solving a problem. They recognize that life is a series of good times and not so good times, and that you need the bad to appreciate the good. Hard times build character, creating positive lessons that better equip us to cope in the future.
How resilient are you? Visit my web site and download my free "Self-evaluation Resilience Test.
Have a joyful day everyone. And remember to live a flourishing life.
Rita
www.ritaschiano.com
Follow Live A Flourishing Life on Facebook!
To learn more about how you can live a flourishing life, please visit my web site, www.liveaflourishinglife.com.
*Excerpt from Live A Flourishing Life
Friday, September 9, 2011
On 9/11 Anniversary, Channel Your Stress Positively
It was about 7:15 a.m. Mountain Standard Time when the phone rang that Tuesday morning, Sept. 11, 2001. We were packing our suitcases, preparing for the second leg of our Colorado vacation. Suddenly, a cry rang out from upstairs. "Turn the television on! Hurry! Something horrible is happening!" As our friends scrambled downstairs, we bumped into one another in the rush to get to the television in the adjacent room. The screen came to life, and the first image I saw was the instant replay of United Flight 175, the second plane, flying into the south tower. I watched in horror over the next hour as the twin towers burned and then crumbled to the ground.
New York City had been my home several years before moving to Massachusetts. I had attended business meetings in those towers, ate at the Windows On The World restaurant. I knew tens of thousands of people worked in those buildings. And the most horrifying thought of all -- I had family and friends who worked there. Despite my psychological paralysis, I kicked into gear, calling the car rental company to see if I could change my local use contract to a one-way, 2,000-mile trip with a drop-off in Massachusetts. All I wanted to do was get home.
As the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on our nation draws near, we find ourselves bombarded with a multitude of "Remembering 9/11" documentaries and special reports featuring images ...
Read full blog...
Have a joyful day everyone. And remember to live a flourishing life.
Rita
www.ritaschiano.com
To learn more about how you can live a flourishing life, please visit my web site, www.liveaflourishinglife.com.
New York City had been my home several years before moving to Massachusetts. I had attended business meetings in those towers, ate at the Windows On The World restaurant. I knew tens of thousands of people worked in those buildings. And the most horrifying thought of all -- I had family and friends who worked there. Despite my psychological paralysis, I kicked into gear, calling the car rental company to see if I could change my local use contract to a one-way, 2,000-mile trip with a drop-off in Massachusetts. All I wanted to do was get home.
As the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on our nation draws near, we find ourselves bombarded with a multitude of "Remembering 9/11" documentaries and special reports featuring images ...
Read full blog...
Have a joyful day everyone. And remember to live a flourishing life.
Rita
www.ritaschiano.com
To learn more about how you can live a flourishing life, please visit my web site, www.liveaflourishinglife.com.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Attitude is Everything
When it comes to resilience, attitude really is everything. Having an optimistic view of yourself and confidence in your strengths and abilities creates conditions for success and healthier living.
To start, let me be clear. When I talk of optimism, I do not mean that rose-colored glasses, Pollyannaish-way of looking at the world. True optimists know bad things happen; they experience tragedy just like everyone else. But what separates optimists from their pessimistic brothers and sisters is how they move forward in their thinking and actions relative to those events.
Much of the way we view the world has been shaped by the messages we received as children. I was fortunate to grow up with women who were remarkable optimists. My mother and my maternal grandmother -- women who lived through great difficulties, such as the Great Depression, single-parenting, loss of children and spouses -- still managed to demonstrate the belief that things will always work out in the end. They taught me to live life with anticipation and a hopeful expectation towards a desired outcome predicated not on wishful thinking, but through dedication and commitment to the goal. (Read the full blog at The Huffington Post and AOL Healthy Living)
Have a joyful day everyone. And remember to live a flourishing life.
Rita
www.ritaschiano.com
To learn more about how you can live a flourishing life, please visit my web site, www.liveaflourishinglife.com.
To start, let me be clear. When I talk of optimism, I do not mean that rose-colored glasses, Pollyannaish-way of looking at the world. True optimists know bad things happen; they experience tragedy just like everyone else. But what separates optimists from their pessimistic brothers and sisters is how they move forward in their thinking and actions relative to those events.
Much of the way we view the world has been shaped by the messages we received as children. I was fortunate to grow up with women who were remarkable optimists. My mother and my maternal grandmother -- women who lived through great difficulties, such as the Great Depression, single-parenting, loss of children and spouses -- still managed to demonstrate the belief that things will always work out in the end. They taught me to live life with anticipation and a hopeful expectation towards a desired outcome predicated not on wishful thinking, but through dedication and commitment to the goal. (Read the full blog at The Huffington Post and AOL Healthy Living)
Have a joyful day everyone. And remember to live a flourishing life.
Rita
www.ritaschiano.com
To learn more about how you can live a flourishing life, please visit my web site, www.liveaflourishinglife.com.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)