Check out this terrific little video called The Secret Powers of Time by Philip Zimbardo.  And, then let me know which time zone you hang out in!  (I’m living in the Future Positive one.)

Here’s an interesting solution to help you keep your elderly family members safe and close to home.

My mother died in 1988.  My father died in 1991.  Most of the time, if I’m missing one of my parents, it’s my mom that I’m missing.  But, today I miss my father.  He had strong, gentle hands and a big and gentle heart and oh how he loved his daughters!

Phillip Toledano’s dad loved him, too.  And, today, Phillip misses his dad, too.  Check out his story here.

Last week one of my favorite clients said that she is really struggling with how to design her life now that her kids are leaving home. If that resonates with you, too, then here’s an exercise to help you determine what is really important to you as you start to plan your future.

• Gather a stack of blank index cards.
• On each one, write a different goal – things that you would like to do, be or have before you die.
• Set your resignation aside.
• Don’t worry about how you will accomplish it, embody it, or obtain it.  For now, just write . . . capturing as many ideas as you can.
• Consider and include what goals you may have that extend beyond your lifetime.  Include possible projects that others can assume once you are gone.
• This is an activity that requires brainstorming so nothing is too silly or inappropriate if it is something that you really want.

In other words, allow yourself to dream!

On Monday, September 20, 2010, Broncos’ wide receiver, Kenny McKinley, was found dead in his home.  The cause was quickly ruled suicide.  Today, Woody Paige, wrote a very personal article in the Denver Post urging survivors to not ask “why”; instead he stressed that we should ask “what can we do to prevent these deaths?”

The statistics on suicide are staggering here in Colorado.

• In 2007, more Coloradans died by suicide  – 805 – than by automobile accidents  or from illnesses like pneumonia, diabetes, and breast cancer.
• According to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and Centers for Disease Control, Colorado ranks 6th in the United States (behind Alaska, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, and Wyoming) for completed suicides.
• The U.S. Public Health Service estimates that there are 12, 800 suicide attempts each year in Colorado.
• Only 1/4 of those suicide attempts result in hospitalization.
• The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment states that the largest number of suicide deaths – roughly 1/3 per year – occur among men ages 35 to 54.
• By contrast, women in the same age group account for 10% of all suicide deaths each year.

If you or someone you know is thinking about end a life, there is help for you.  Call me. Call another licensed mental health professional before it’s too late.