Over the years, I have been amazed to see the difference workplace culture can have on a person’s ability to succeed. An environment that fosters fear and incivility, versus one that is based on kindness and respect, will never result in a positive culture.

In the past, I never had much difficulty with age. Never worried about getting older and rarely gave it a thought. Then I had a certain birthday, which clearly indicated I was at midlife. I knew I was the same person but fear started to creep in around getting older which included financial security, health and even relationships. I let the number take control.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month.  So often, we don’t know how to approach our friends and family who might be suffering. We shy away from reaching out because we’re afraid, or we don’t think we have anything to contribute.

I woke up this morning thinking about something I couldn’t figure out, and for which I really didn’t have an answer. I got increasingly agitated as I went back and forth between "Should I?" and "Should I not?" Then I caught myself, I realized this regurgitation of thoughts was not serving me.

One thing I have realized over time, through the ecstatic highs and the deepest lows, is that we never know what the next minute, the next hour or the next day will bring. We can predict and expect, but, ultimately, factors out of our control can create significant change—sometimes joy, sometimes tragedy.

Yesterday, I woke up thinking about a conversation with a friend. She was expressing regrets for not having more “end-of-life” conversations with her father before he passed. This is not uncommon.

Fears around end-of-life are common. Marylyn (not her real name) was a late-stage cancer patient with an end-of-life story that resonates strongly. She came into my office, shut the door and said, “No one will talk to me about dying. My family won’t talk to me; my doctor won’t talk to me. I need to discuss it.” 

When I work with clients about the benefit of flipping negative thoughts, my mother is often in the back of my mind. A good woman, but her nature was to respond critically and abruptly and sometimes get angry about little things that ultimately didn’t matter, especially when dealing with my father.

Before you read this blog, please allow me to add a disclaimer. I'm going to talk about gratitude, a subject that has been talked about so much that, in many cases, it is approached in general terms. That’s not where I intend to go with it. Gratitude is too important and too unique to generalize or tell someone what he or she should be thankful for.

A woman I worked with had become very depressed from what was literally a life-altering job change. Her passion in life was being a law enforcement officer. Being out in the community was where she felt she belonged. Then, an illness caused tremors in her hands to the point where she could no longer handle a gun the way she needed to