Sharing is Caring

Dear, Readers, I’m speaking for all Wise & Shine writers when I say that we so appreciate your continued support of this blog.  To show how thankful we are, we want to ask you to share a link to your blog or site in the “thoughts” or comments section at the bottom of this page.  … More Sharing is Caring

It’s Been Pouring

Most of us are familiar with the old saying, “When it rains, it pours.”  I’ve been thinking a lot about that adage recently because there’s been quite a lot of pouring rain in my life over the past few months. A few weeks ago, I wrote about needing to take a leave of absence from … More It’s Been Pouring

BELOVED, REST

Ping! Email notifications. Ping! Calendar reminders. Ping! Family duty calls. Ping! Alarm rings! Work beckons! Repeat. We live in a world where information moves faster than it ever has before. Your niece with a lisp just got married. Nigeria held its elections and the brodas (Nigerian pidgin for brother) were treated to a Nollywood blockbuster. … More BELOVED, REST

How to Relate Successfully – The Art of Cultivating Human Relationships

The art of cultivating human relationships is so important that it is not surprising that the book of Dale Carnegie, How to win friends and influence people, published a long ago (1936) but still very current, has sold the most copies worldwide. Carnagie’s book needs to be interpreted under the current circumstances, where technology has changed dramatically … More How to Relate Successfully – The Art of Cultivating Human Relationships

Encouraging Goodness: How Moral Actions are ‘Awe-Inspiring’

I’ve written before on the downstream effects of small any seemingly insignificant acts of goodness. Through our deeply interconnected world, we can never fully appreciate how our actions will impact others and our broader communities. Recent research being done on the science of awe-inspiring moral behaviour has begun to validate some of these claims. In … More Encouraging Goodness: How Moral Actions are ‘Awe-Inspiring’

Sunday Blues, How to Tackle the Sunday Sadness about Monday

We wait long for the weekend and sometimes we start from the mid of the week to dream about what we would do. But has it ever happened to you on Sunday afternoons,  to feel discomfort, sadness, nostalgia, sometimes a very annoying sense of emptiness? And you don’t know how to explain it? This is … More Sunday Blues, How to Tackle the Sunday Sadness about Monday

Question of the Day (Inspired by the Red-headed Stranger)

I’m currently reading The Tao of Willie:  A Guide to the Happiness in Your Heart, with “Willie” being the great Willie Nelson, musician and songwriter extraordinaire. As you might guess from the title, the book, coauthored by Nelson and Turk Pipkin, elucidates the singer’s philosophy of life, which was strongly influenced by Buddhist and Taoist … More Question of the Day (Inspired by the Red-headed Stranger)

New Podcast:  What Can the World Learn from Africa?

In the latest installment of the Wise & Shine podcast, I talk with Billy Osogo—one of our writers and a brilliant young man who lives in Nairobi, Kenya—about what the world can learn from Africa.  In Billy’s very insightful response, he tells me about “Ubuntu” and a variety of other subjects.  Have a listen and … More New Podcast:  What Can the World Learn from Africa?

New Podcast Today!

Hi!  We’ve just posted a new episode of the Wise & Shine podcast.  Have a listen as I talk with the uber-talented and insightful Art Russell.  In this podcast, we attempt to answer the question “What’s Really Important?”  Thanks for tuning in! 

That’s Punny!

I’m pretty upset with myself.  I grew up in the Austin area (and yet!) I never once heard of El Arroyo restaurant, not until a few days ago. Since the 1980s, besides serving fine Tex-Mex cuisine to countless customers, the eatery has been posting imaginably funny and clever signs in its parking lot.  In fact, … More That’s Punny!

Building the Muscular Mind (Final Installment with Exercises)

Note:  I’ve included some thinking exercises in this piece, toward the second half of the blog.  Please participate in completing those and leaving your answers in the comment section. I hope you don’t feel that I’m beating a dead horse here, talking so much and with such passion about thinking.  It’s just that I’m reminded … More Building the Muscular Mind (Final Installment with Exercises)

The Power of Habits

Habits give you great power, perhaps the greatest in absolute. Sometimes we think that habits are good for ordinary people, and maybe we don’t consider ourselves ordinary people (at least I don’t consider myself like that, I have always tried to be a bit out of the status quo). We would like to get rid … More The Power of Habits