More on "Niceness"

One of the interesting things I note is how much we let other people, particularly “not nice” people, control our lives. Sometimes people behave in ways that offend you. But whose problem is this offending? Certainly not the person who is “not nice” – for long after the “offense”, they have gone on with their […]

Niceness

I have a dear friend who is very opinionated, direct, brusque, dogmatic even. He does not mince words. He says exactly what’s on his mind. He is tough with his statements and with his questions. He does not care what people think or say about him. In the past few days, two people have complained […]

My Toenails

I love my toes. In fact, I love feet. Nothing fascinates me so much as the perfection of the 10 tiny, perfectly formed toes of a newborn baby. I love my toes so much that even when I spent 2 winters at business school in Boston, my toes were always beautifully pedicured. I love my […]

Diligence

I always wondered why this word, DILIGENCE, was the one chosen for display on the lectern at my place of worship. I asked myself, why weren’t words that we typically consider indicative of the nature of God chosen? Why weren’t words like LOVE or PEACE chosen? What is the message the person or people who […]

The Gifted

I cringe when I hear people talk about “the gifted”. I have always felt that by categorizing some people (a minority) as gifted, we automatically create another category of “non-gifted”. This has very harmful effects on the latter as it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy – if children are labeled “non-gifted”, then they start to believe […]