Blame God! Or be quiet.

I heard it when I was diagnosed with cancer and in other less-potentially-lethal situations. I hear it said to and about other people in precarious financial positions, in unenviable health crises, in situations with their kids or their siblings or their parents. “It’s God’s will.” Is it supposed to relieve the afflicted of guilt? Comfort … Read more

Self-awareness in helping other people

Piggybacking on last week’s post about knowing your strengths—if you don’t know what skills you have that other people don’t, you typically can’t help them or teach them very well. For example: I’m not good at starting conversations with people I don’t know without context. Not one of my strengths.  In a variety of contexts … Read more

Empathy does not equal enabling

I got some pushback on Tuesday’s post about we the people needing more empathy. Let me muddy the waters a little. You can have empathy for a person’s situation without letting them do whatever they want. You can—often—help a person who is struggling without enabling bad choices. An example: You give your kid an objectively … Read more

Kids aren’t good at technology

In the last two years and change, Rocket Kid did a fair amount of schooling online, including a full quarter in an online self-guided program. Fortunately, the work was rarely a problem—he typically understood and could complete assignments. How to navigate on the computer? That’s another matter. Much like his course work, I could show … Read more