http://www.bouncebackcafe.com Dedicated to finding useful, resilient solutions to life's adversities. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:03:46 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2012/gen/together-we-can-do-more-3129 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2012/gen/together-we-can-do-more-3129#comments Wed, 18 Jan 2012 08:01:10 +0000 PattiAnn http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/?p=3129 It’s only the middle of January and already it’s been a challenging year. Within my small group of friends and coworkers, there have been three deaths in our families and two major automobile accidents. Today, the Ladies of Literature had their annual meeting to toast the new year and pick our books for 2012. One of our members said that 2012 had to get better from here. Another member predicted that we just might look back on 2011 as a really good year once we saw what ...Continue reading » Together We Can Do More]]> http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2012/gen/together-we-can-do-more-3129/feed 0 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/gaga-over-the-lady-3025 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/gaga-over-the-lady-3025#comments Thu, 01 Dec 2011 08:01:13 +0000 Ellie http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/?p=3025 Ever made a snap judgment about someone and then discovered (too late) that you could be waaay off base? The second we see somebody on the street or meet someone, we make snap judgments about them, about who they are and why we wouldn’t necessarily sit with them or why we would or what’s cool or not cool. — Max Cannon Last week I watched the TV special, A Very Gaga Thanksgiving. It was an entertaining, 90 minute program conceived, produced and directed by the Lady Gaga herself. And – knock me down and call me shorty – I find I’m gaga over the Lady G. Despite her off-putting personas and her contrived costumes, Lady Gaga’s not only an amazing performer, she’s an amazing ...Continue reading » Gaga Over the Lady?]]> http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/gaga-over-the-lady-3025/feed 0 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/tomorrow-is-another-day-2914 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/tomorrow-is-another-day-2914#comments Thu, 06 Oct 2011 07:01:25 +0000 PattiAnn http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/?p=2914 Last week, I wrote about the idea of making tiny changes. It seemed like a good idea at the time and still does, but before I got very far into the whole experiment I discovered one of MY big problems… I never leave well enough alone. I have two tendencies that get me into trouble – ramping up too quickly and visualizing ahead. Today, as I was walking the dog, we came back past the local church. As we headed for it, I wondered how well I would do as we climbed the hill. Usually, I set a good pace and then stop and catch my breath at the top of the hill. Well, we got to the top of the hill and I wasn’t out of breath. There was only one conclusion to draw ...Continue reading » Tomorrow is Another Day]]> http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/tomorrow-is-another-day-2914/feed 0 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/deliberately-finding-joy-2905 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/deliberately-finding-joy-2905#comments Tue, 04 Oct 2011 07:01:35 +0000 PattiAnn http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/?p=2905 Wouldn’t it be great if we could find joy in our lives every single day? More and more, research is indicating that it is our habits, of thought, of action, and of belief, that determine how we feel. In fact, our thoughts are so important that we can change our lives by changing our thoughts. This may seem so obvious as to be redundant for me to write it in a blog, but the fact is that while we may consciously know that our thoughts affect how we feel, many of us don’t consciously listen to that little ...Continue reading » Deliberately Finding Joy]]> http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/deliberately-finding-joy-2905/feed 0 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/lots-of-little-changes-2898 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/lots-of-little-changes-2898#comments Wed, 28 Sep 2011 07:01:37 +0000 PattiAnn http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/?p=2898 You and I both know that we have lots of self-improvement projects that we’d like to get to. But just like our home improvement projects, we don’t have the time or the energy to make the changes that we’d like to make. Not being able to make the changes we’d like to make, we get discouraged and give up. Recently, an old idea has been reshaped and moved into a new discipline. Kaizen – the Japanese word for ...Continue reading » Lots of Little Changes]]> http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/lots-of-little-changes-2898/feed 0 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/figuring-out-how-to-make-things-better-2879 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/figuring-out-how-to-make-things-better-2879#comments Tue, 20 Sep 2011 07:01:40 +0000 PattiAnn http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/?p=2879 Over and over again, in the self-help literature, you read, “It’s all a matter of how you look at it.” In other words, you can choose a viewpoint which could help you feel better. While this may be good advice on the surface, it may be ignoring an underlying problem. If over a long period of time you are finding it hard to accept your life as it is, it’s quite possible that ...Continue reading » Figuring Out How to Make Things Better]]> http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/figuring-out-how-to-make-things-better-2879/feed 0 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/how-to-become-consistently-cheerful-2873 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/how-to-become-consistently-cheerful-2873#comments Wed, 14 Sep 2011 07:01:06 +0000 PattiAnn http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/?p=2873 We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit. — Aristotle If Aristotle is correct, and I believe that he is, then the key question is “What habits do I need to develop to improve my life?” I could answer this with things like: * Walk 30 minutes every day. * Get eight hours of sleep each night. * Eliminate sugar, salt and anything that tastes good from my diet. Although doing any of these could be good for me, if I truly want to improve my life, I need to ...Continue reading » How to Become Consistently Cheerful]]> http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/how-to-become-consistently-cheerful-2873/feed 0 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/republished/tug-the-thread-2-2841 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/republished/tug-the-thread-2-2841#comments Wed, 31 Aug 2011 07:01:11 +0000 Ellie http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/?p=2841 Have you ever looked back and wondered over a thread that, when tugged upon, changed your life? During these last few weeks of 2010 I find myself drifting into a nostalgia that’s tempered with curiosity about the future… a comment in The Power of Flow: Practical Ways to Transform Your Life with Meaningful Coincidence by Belitz & Lundstrom prompted my reverie: ...Continue reading » Tug the Thread]]> http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/republished/tug-the-thread-2-2841/feed 0 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/seeing-things-differently-2798 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/seeing-things-differently-2798#comments Tue, 09 Aug 2011 07:01:06 +0000 PattiAnn http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/?p=2798 I love stories. I’ve been making my way, very slowly, through Michael Yapko’s Hand-Me-Down Blues. As with most good books on a specific topic, Yapko uses stories to illustrate his points. The minute he starts telling about a person or a family, I’m hooked. The thing is that these stories are carefully crafted to ...Continue reading » Seeing Things Differently]]> http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/seeing-things-differently-2798/feed 0 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/sucking-on-lemons-2745 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/sucking-on-lemons-2745#comments Tue, 12 Jul 2011 07:01:07 +0000 PattiAnn http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/?p=2745 Depression – whenever you encounter it – is inconvenient, sometimes painful and can be life changing. There are many kinds of depression: Situational: a major change, expected or unexpected, throws you for a loop and until you get your feet back under you, there’s discomfort, anxiety, uncertainty, and lots of blue days. Chronic: like any chronic illness, this form of depression is ...Continue reading » Sucking on Lemons]]> http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/sucking-on-lemons-2745/feed 0