In Praise of Transience

On the Spring of My 75th Year

The Zen of Bowling

Many people tend to think of bowling as Neanderthal, if only because it was a key recreation in the Flintstones cartoon.

Yet, as in all sports, competence and enjoyment is enhanced to the extent that one can be Zen about it.

Even if you’ll never again pick up a bowling ball, life lessons are embedded in the Zen of bowling. I describe them in my PsychologyToday.com article today.

Live One Second at a Time? An approach to life.

In my PsychologyToday.com article today, I make the case for living one second at a time, and with minimal looking back and forward.

Addressing Sad Athlete Syndrome

We think of athletes as happy, doing what they love. But I've had clients who, despite their love of sport, suffer psychologically.  I call this, Sad Athlete Syndrome. 

I discuss how to ameliorate it in my PsychologyToday.com article today.

Why "Live in the Moment" is such potent advice

The advice to live in the moment is ubiquitous but has merit. Reasons:  

• It gives you a fresh start--without the baggage of your past or fears of your future

• It precludes your being overwhelmed--If you're only contemplating your next one-second task, you're unlikely to feel overwhelmed.
• It maximizes pleasure: You are fully savoring what you're eating, reading, feeling, listening to.

It can even work while you're working. For example, as I'm writing this, I'm not particularly enjoying the effort to figure out what to say. But I make sure to take a moment of pleasure with every completed paragraph, when I'm done with the first draft, when I reread it and find ways to improve it, when I click, "publish post" and see it published, and whenever I get a positive or edifying comment on that post.