The Resolute Woman

Author: resolutewoman

  • Lunch with Ranna

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    resolutewoman
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    Fayteen and I had lunch with Ranna recently. Lunch with friends is always pleasant, but I usually don’t stop to consider what a wonderful blessing it is to have good friends with whom I can share interesting conversation and delicious food. However, we did stop to count our blessings at this lunch. Ranna has been…

  • Take time to look at the clouds

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    resolutewoman
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    I plopped down in my seat, pulled out my book and started reading while the rest of the passengers filed into the airplane. I probably wouldn’t have taken my eyes off my good book until the stewardess inquired about what I wanted to drink, but I suddenly heard an excited, small voice ask, “Are we…

  • Do you need to repack your bags?

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    resolutewoman
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    While I was in New Mexico recently visiting my brother, I read an article in the Albuquerque Journal about a lecture by Richard Leider, author of Repacking Your Bags: Lighten Your Load for the Rest of Your Life. I like Leider’s metaphor, which originated when he was on a walking safari and a tribal elder,…

  • Some advice from Gloria Steinem

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    resolutewoman
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    We recently saw the HBO documentary “Gloria Steinem: In Her Own Words,” which tells the story of a remarkable woman. Gloria Steinem spent her teenage years taking care of her mentally ill mother in Toledo, Ohio, founded Ms. Magazine in 1971, became a spokesperson for feminists and married for the first time at age 66.…

  • Rethinking middle age

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    resolutewoman
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    In a recent blog post, we shared some quotes from Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s lovely, little book Gift from the Sea. We thought about one of those quotes recently when we read an interview with Laura Cartensen in the October 11, 2011, issue of The Dallas Morning News. In 1955, Lindbergh asked: “For is it not…

  • Be nice to your spouse

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    resolutewoman
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    My husband Jerry came home recently with a question: “What’s the worst thing you can do to upset your plans for a financially secure retirement?” I hesitated. I knew he had been reading about retirement planning, and I knew that I hadn’t been reading about retirement planning. How was I supposed to know the answer?…

  • Do you make others feel significant?

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    resolutewoman
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    We talked about the importance of significance in our last blog post. If feeling significant is a central issue for all of us, think about how important it is to help others feel significant. When you’re talking to someone, are you distracted or are you really listening and trying to understand? Making the effort to…

  • Do you feel significant?

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    resolutewoman
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    During a class that I attended last summer, the teacher said that he believes that the central issue for all of us is the need to feel significant. Fayteen and I have been thinking about the importance of feeling significant. We’ve decided that whether or not we’re feeling significant makes a big difference in our…

  • A Resolute Woman in Afghanistan

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    When the Taliban seized control of Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1996, Kamilia Sidiqi suddenly found herself responsible for supporting her five siblings. Although she had just earned a certificate from the Sayed Jamaluddin Teacher Training Institute, she couldn’t get a job teaching. Girls weren’t allowed even to attend school. In the book The Dressmaker of Khair…

  • Can money buy happiness?

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    Maybe, answers Time magazine in its October 10, 2011, issue. But buying things like a new car makes you happy “only in the moment,” warns Michael Norton, a Harvard Business School professor, who researches the psychology of happiness. Spending on experiences like leisure and travel or on friends and loved ones can bring longer-term happiness.…