Archive | Mental Health

Purr more; Hiss less

Purr more; hiss less. This could be a good mantra for our lives. In other words, look for the good things in life instead of focusing on the bad things. Find solutions to problems instead of whining and complaining about them. When someone spills an entire glass of iced tea (after sweetening it with sticky […]

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It is sometimes difficult in today’s polarized world to remember to purr more. There are so many things to hiss about. But, as my now 102 year old friend Dr. Fran Kinne reminds me, be positive. Melissa and I have a purr reminder in the form of a Siamese cat named Rex. Pick him up, […]

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Common Sense (fill in the blank)

A growing pet peeve of mine is the use of phrases like “Common Sense” as in “Common Sense Legislation” or “Common Sense Rules.” (Fill in the blank after common sense with immigration reform, gun control, tax reform, health care reform, etc. and you’ll get an idea of the topics I’m thinking about when writing this.) […]

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I’m not sure what sparked David’s sudden interest in common sense. Many people I know believe they possess common sense, defined as “sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.” Upon close examination of this, dictionary, definition of common sense, I will agree that many people have a simple […]

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Same as it Never Was

With apologies in advance to David Byrne and others who wrote the song Same as it Ever Was, and which I recently heard, I was prompted to change “ever” to “never” for this post. Better stated, perhaps in the context of this post, it is perhaps Sane as it Never Was. As has been written […]

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Everyone experiences dementia, and other psychological maladies, differently. In addition, families and friends of people with psychological problems react to the changes in their loved one’s behavior in their own, unique, ways. There are no two people who are alike and this truism applies to coping with mental health issues in oneself and one’s family. […]

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Chris’ Dad

This morning I learned of the death of the father of one of Melissa’s lifelong friends. Chris and Melissa have known each other since childhood. Melissa provided guidance to Chris in recent years as he and his family dealt with health and end of life issues related to his father. These included those issues related […]

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The power of human touch cannot be underestimated. Pioneering psychological research, conducted by Dr. Harry Harlow and his colleagues, beginning in the 1930s, established that physical contact is an essential part of human development. Although Dr. Harlow’s studies were primarily focused on the establishment of a bond between mothers and their offspring, it is well […]

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Dodged Bullets

We’ve all heard the expression, “I dodged that bullet” to indicate that one missed something that, in hindsight, would have been bad, or at least, less than positive. I was recently reflecting of at least 3 bullets that I have, or Melissa and I have, dodged. Two of these involved the beginnings of Magnus, way […]

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As John Lennon famously wrote in the lyrics of his song, “Beautiful Boy,” “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” It is interesting to see where our lives take us, including when it takes us in directions different from those we had planned. David and I founded Magnus in 1993 with big […]

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Celebrate all occasions of importance

I recently wrote about my mom’s philosophy, “Enjoy yourself. It’s later than you think.” This post is a follow up and a continuation of the theme that I choose to live my life as joyfully as possible. Once again, credit is due to Mom, who believed each day should be lived to its fullest. When […]

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Too often, life seems dominated by the negative. We live in a time of stress and strife. As readers of this post know, Melissa and I have dealt with, or are dealing with, difficult issues with the aging and illness of family and friends. But, we have to have some rays of sunshine in life, […]

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Facing Aging

If you are wondering what this topic of Facing Aging has to do with our trial consulting world, I’ll state right off the bat, not much. Except that, when we’re living with these issues among family and friends, it does impact our lives. It hits very close to home! And, some of the issues impact […]

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My friends and I have reached the age when we are facing many maladies, both physical and mental. When various friends of mine lament about their ailments, I remind them that we either get older or we don’t. There are only two alternatives and one is death. With the other, getting older, there exists the […]

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It’s later than you think

My late mother used to say, “Enjoy yourself. It’s later than you think.” Many years ago, Magnus used to have a restroom in our office on which we wrote graffiti. We had colored markers and we invited people to write positive, uplifting messages on the bathroom walls whenever they had a creative urge. On one […]

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I think another way this concept is captured in a phrase is “you only live once” – YOLO. Whether YOLO or going with Leola’s phrase, the point is to live life while the living is fun. There are those who save for retirement, or some target age, and may not be in good enough health […]

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Growing Old is not for Sissies…

The title of this post, Growing Old is not for Sissies, was a favorite saying of my grandmother, whom we called Olie (see https://magnus.lisawhitsell.com/2015/02/olie/). Bette Davis is pegged as the source of this insight, sometimes reported with a variation from this exact language. But, the bottom line is clear. And, it is clear that with […]

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David and I have reached the age when we, as well as most of our friends, have succumbed to many of life’s maladies. I recently had a get together with some long time friends who regaled our group about the various ailments from which they suffered. I sat by quietly, until I could no longer […]

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Laugh at yourself

Some people take themselves too seriously. No one is infallible; everyone makes mistakes. Some mistakes are made by us, other mistakes are made by someone else, and many are more situationally than personally based. How each person chooses to respond to mistakes, negative situations, and life, in general, is an important part of his/her personality. […]

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I see the humor – the absurdity – of showing up at the fancy hotel, feeling like I was Jed Clampett limping along in his jalopy. In my defense, my lack of humor in this situation was primarily fear that we would not safely make it to our destination. There was no way I could […]

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