Why, the much-maligned three-letter word, is actually one of the most powerful cognitive tools we have at our disposal. Sure, as kids we’re sometimes shut down for asking Why? too many times, about everything. Little Joey: Why are we going to the store? Dad: We ran out of coffee. Little Joey: Why? Dad: Well, we […]
Sometimes, a few words say as much as many more could. Here’s my blog for January 1, 2021: Dr. Keith Ablow
Beginning in 2015, I began publishing a list of ways to improve your life. Last year I published, “Twenty Ways to Improve Your Life in 2020.” The year before that I published “Nineteen Ways to Improve Your Life in 2019.” You get the idea. The tradition continues this year, with the addition of No. 21. […]
Just a few days ago, I posted this quote on my Facebook page. I believe it is from Carl Jung, but I can’t be certain. This is perhaps the most frightening piece of surrender: the laying down of who we have constructed as ourselves in order to make space for who we truly are. One […]
Mark Twain said, “Tell the truth and then you don’t have to remember what you said.” George Washington and Abraham Lincoln each told famous childhood tales about the importance of honesty. Truth, as a guide to life learned early in life, is freedom. Truth is eternal, critical and consequential. If one is spiritually inclined, God may […]
Human beings have an understandable habit that seems to be hardwired in our nervous systems. When we are the object of someone’s scorn or anger or disappointment, we tend to immediately internalize it. We feel scorned or attacked or judged. And, all too often, we take offense or become defensive. There’s another possible reason others […]
I’m not the biggest fan of social media. I think it ultimately runs the risk of dispiriting people and alienating them from one another when it is used to create fake narratives showcasing lots of fake moments of glee staged by people with fake friends. But I have to admit that some activities on social […]
Somehow, the idea of talking to yourself got a bad reputation as a sign of instability. Think of the stereotype of the troubled man mumbling to herself at the bus stop. But the truth is that talking to yourself can be a very powerful way to fight anxiety and depression and set the stage for […]
One thing that has been highlighted by the testimony of Facebook and Twitter executives before Congress and from the documentary The Social Dilemma is the fact that we—our habits, likes and dislikes, relationships, travel habits, etc.—are being monetized by big technology companies that harvest that data and sell it to third parties. Those third parties—including […]
Whether you voted for Donald Trump or Joe Biden in the Presidential election, you would likely agree that all the polls were wrong. They predicted a massive win for Biden. They predicted massive losses for Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate. Neither happened. They got it wrong. The polls were wrong back in 2016, […]