CLICK HERE to read this short article by physicist Alan Lightman and learn more about why we owe it to ourselves (and children!) to spend quiet time alone each day. Lightman explains how we need slow down, build in time for reflection, privacy, silence, and work on our ability to sit quietly without external stimulation in order to cultivate our creative capabilities and healthy habits of mind. A short and inspiring read!

CLICK HERE to watch a short clip by Simon Sinek on why effective leaders speak last – especially in the boardroom.

Click here to hear Dan Harris openly share his story about having a real live panic attack in front of 5 million TV viewers on Good Morning America and how it led him to discover meditation.

Key points Harris makes about meditation:

• A simple brain exercise that can have an extraordinary impact on your brain and your body
• Can lower your blood pressure, boost your immune system, and literally rewire key parts of your brain that have to do with self awareness, compassion, and stress
• A scientifically tested simple thing to do everyday that will make you significantly happier
• Can change the relationship between you and the voice in your head that you’re probably most embarrased about

My advice to other disabled people would be, concentrate on things your disability doesn’t prevent you doing well, and don’t regret the things it interferes with. Don’t be disabled in spirit as well as physically.

An old Zen story goes like this: An old Chinese farmer had a mare that broke through the fence and ran away. When his neighbors learned of it, they came to the farmer and said, “What bad luck this is. You don’t have a horse during planting season.” The farmer listened and then replied, “Bad luck, good luck. Who knows?”

A few days later, the mare returned with two stallions. When the neighbors learned of it, they visited the farmer. “You are now a rich man. What good fortune this is,” they said. The farmer listened and again replied, “Good fortune, bad fortune. Who knows?”

Later that day, the farmer’s only son was thrown from one of the stallions and broke his leg. When the neighbors heard about it, they came to the farmer. “It is planting season and now there is no one to help you,” they said. “This is truly bad luck.” The farmer listened, and once more he said, “Bad luck, good luck. Who knows?”

The very next day, the emperor’s army rode into the town and conscripted the eldest son in every family. Only the farmer’s son with his broken leg remained behind. Soon the neighbors arrived. Tearfully, they said, “Yours is the only son who was not taken from his family and sent to war. What good fortune this is…”

By Caren Goleman

What do you do when you’re really up against a challenge?

Do you give up, thinking it’s too hard for you to solve? Or is your mindset that you just haven’t solved it “yet”?

Click here to watch this TED talk by Carol Dweck where she talks about the power of believing, establishing a growth mindset, and how we can grow our brain’s capacity to learn and to solve problems.