appreciation

Grace and Gratitude

May 20, 2019

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by

Ron Johnson

in appreciation, emotional maturity, feelings, positive psychology, self-awareness, social esteem, Spiritual

Deb and I have a special procedure the very first moment of our entering out cabin “up north” as we say in Wisconsin: whoever is first in the cabin walks over to the light above a sign that simply reads “gratitude.” Gratitude We are grateful to have the cabin, grateful to come and to…
The Essential Ingredients of a Good Relationship

May 18, 2019

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by

Ron Johnson

in appreciation, emotional maturity, feelings, marital, positive psychology, relationships, self-awareness

I suspect you have some ideas of what a good relationship looks like. Certainly, you would identify love as a central ingredient, and perhaps things like honesty, commitment, trustworthiness, or family connections. You might think a good relationship should be composed of good communication, lots of play, or lots of work. I agree that a…
Temperament VII: Lovers: Challenges and Opportunities

Apr 29, 2019

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by

Ron Johnson

in appreciation, Connection, emotional maturity, feelings, marital, mindfulness, Opportunity, Personality, relationships, self-awareness, social esteem

This is the seventh of a series of nine blogs on “temperament.” Previously, I have discussed the four temperaments that we have used to understand people for the past nearly 50 years. As we have defined these four temperaments, we identify players, lovers, analysts, and caretakers. Briefly stated, players seek experience, lovers seek connection, analysts…
Friendly “Street People”

Apr 28, 2019

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by

Ron Johnson

in appreciation, emotional maturity, feelings, morality, Spiritual

Deb and I just got back from a two-week journey of the country The Netherlands, otherwise known as Holland. We had the privilege of having some ideas of where and what we might see and do but not have anything in stone allowing ourselves the freedom of seeing what seem to be the right thing…
The Best of Times. The Worst of Times

Mar 1, 2019

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by

Ron Johnson

in appreciation, emotional maturity, feelings, mindfulness, morality, positive psychology

This is a quote from the first page of Charles Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities, and it represents a profound statement of a good portion of life, namely that there is always a combination of good and bad to every experience we have in life. Dickens was speaking, now 200 years ago, about the good…
Seeing Unicorns

Dec 14, 2018

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by

Ron Johnson

in appreciation, Discovery, feelings, mindfulness, Spiritual

There was once a small village in a mountainous region of the world. There lived in this village a wise man. He had seemingly always been both old and wise as no one could remember him being anything else. The people in village went about their normal responsibilities taking care of their property, persons, and…
One taxi, two taxi, three taxi then four. Taxi (Life) Lessons in Portugal

Nov 6, 2018

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by

Deb Brock

in appreciation, Connection, Discovery, emotional maturity, feelings, grief, happiness, mindfulness, morality, Opportunity, positive psychology, relationships, self-awareness, Spiritual

Taxis: the good, the bad, and the ugly When Ron and I travel in a foreign country, we rarely use taxis, so the whole experience of using them is a bit “foreign” to me. We’re usually driving, riding the train, or just walking. But when I recently went to Portugal by myself, I had planned…
Life of Ryan I: The Easy Life

Oct 1, 2018

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by

Ron Johnson

in appreciation, emotional maturity, grief, mindfulness, self-awareness

(NB: this and following Life of Ryan blogs are coming under my personal blog rather than from him directly. The reason for that will become obvious to readers. “Ryan” (not his real name) has given me permission to post these blogs. Read and consider your thoughts and feelings. If you choose to respond, do so…
Feelings IX: Joy From Intuition

Sep 30, 2018

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by

Ron Johnson

in appreciation, feelings, happiness, mindfulness, positive psychology, self-awareness, Spiritual

This is the ninth in a series of “feelings”. Our most recent addition, Feelings VIII had to do with the feeling of joy, specifically related to the joy that one experiences in one’s five physical senses. Here we would like to explore joy that comes from what we might call our sixth sense, which I…
The “we” of me

Sep 21, 2018

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by

Deb Brock

in appreciation, Connection, emotional maturity, family, feelings, grief, mindfulness, relationships, self-awareness, Spiritual

2:37 AM; September 20, 2018 I haven’t been sleeping well. Not since I booked Portugal. By day I am excited and mindful of my internal excitement of a new space, a new trail, a new breath in my senses, especially sight and sounds while I hike. At night however, when I lie beside my beloved…