When my doctor checked my pulse and blood pressure at a recent physical exam, my pulse was only 47—well below the 60-80 norm—and my blood pressure was a healthy 98/68. Admittedly, I exercise regularly, but leaving the doctor’s office I wondered...
Control freaks beware—those controlling tendencies can create misery in your life. A friend recently shared, “The more I try to control things in my life, the more miserable I become. In fact, the misery in my life is directly proportional to...
In Losing Control, Finding Serenity I explain how high expectations are a driving force behind our need to control our loved ones, children, friends and others. High expectations of others pressure them to do and be what we want, or what we feel...
Anger usually breeds controlling actions that are harmful to others and us, whether it be harsh words, divisive actions, or retaliation. We all too often become obsessed, possessed—and even recessed! It is therefore important to find ways in...
High expectations of others plant the seeds for disappointment and resentment. Whether assertive or subtle, expecting too much of others pressures them to act and be, as we want them to. At its core, it is our attempt to control or change...
The holiday season is a time of great stress and anxiety for most people. We are forced to plod through heavy traffic, wade through crowded stores with too few sales clerks, incur unwanted financial burdens, and attend family gatherings fraught...
“Are Alpha Males Healthy?” is the lead article in the Personal Journal section of the September 13 Wall Street Journal. Alphas are “ambitious, assertive, confident and competitive,” says psychiatrist T.Byram Karasu in the article—all...
Most people think they need to control people and events in order to get what they want, or think they want. This is quite understandable when you consider the fact that from the time we were young children we have been immersed in a...
I am very pleased that the central theme of my book (Losing Control, Finding Serenity: How the Need to Control Hurts Us and How to Let It Go) about the importance (and benefits) of letting go of excessive control in our lives is resonating with...
“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness”—Ralph Waldo Emerson Anger is as much of our daily lives as breakfast and dinner. These hectic and impersonal times constantly provoke our anger, whether it is the...
