Humanist Thought of the Week

Holiday Cheer

I’m in Las Vegas right now with my son and my mom and her husband.

We are taking a little vacation before joining my sister’s family for the holidays.  

Which holidays?

Well that depends on which family member.

Christmas? Certainly.  Hanukah? Definitely. Saturnalia? Probably. 

This is the first time I’ve spent this holiday away from my husband, but this trip couldn’t be cancelled.

We have to clean out my father’s house to prepare it for sale. 

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone in my extended family. Aunts, uncles, cousins and more.

They are all loving wonderful people.

To me, regardless of the holiday you celebrate, the people you celebrate with it are what matters.

But then, I’m a Humanist.

Saying No

I get asked for my time a lot. 

I am asked to give talks, write articles, and respond to reporters’ questions.

Being in demand is wonderful. 

But like all wonderful things, it also has a downside.

I don’t have unlimited time or resources.

Every choice is a tradeoff.

If I accept talks on the weekend, I take time away from my family.

Every magazine article I write, takes time away from writing new books or programs for Humanist Learning Systems.

I find myself saying no a lot.

The more I say it, the more confident I am in standing up for my priorities.

It helps that when I’ve had to tell a client no, I seem to gain their respect.

Not everyone is confident enough to say no. Saying no is scary. It’s like closing a door. 

But I find it is necessary.

It allows me to focus on the things I think are important.

If I didn’t say no, I would not be able to promote Humanism and have a life.

I’d have burnt out years ago.

So please respect my need to shut down this podcast and join me in my newsletter, at Humanist Learning Systems and at my blog, Happiness Through Humanism.

Priorities

As I mentioned last week, I am ending this podcast at the end of the year.

The reason has to do with priorities. 

I don’t have enough time to do the stuff I want to do so I have to choose which things are the most important to me and that will have the most impact. 

My goal is, as it has always been, to promote Humanism and to help people lead more ethically fulfilled lives. 

My company, Humanist Learning Systems is reaching a lot of people. More people than who listen to this podcast. 

And those people are paying for my time so I’m giving them more of my time. 

This is a good thing. It allows me to do what I do full time.

If I did not prioritize, I would not get much of anything done and I would not have the work life balance I currently enjoy.

Prioritizing isn’t easy.

Sometimes you have to choose to stop working on a project you enjoy. 

But that choice opens up other opportunities and possibilies.

So as I say goodbye to my podcast, I want to thank you for your support and encourage you to join me in my other projects.

Join my newsletter to keep up with me and visit me at my blog, Happiness thru Humanism.

Plans for the Future

I have decided to end this podcast. 

I started back in 2007 with a goal to post weekly. 

And I’ve met that goal for the past 8 years.

It’s time for me to move on.

I have too many projects and not enough time to do them all.

Something has to give.

That something is this podcast.

It is ending to make room for other Humanist education programs I am creating through Humanist Learning Systems.

I will still be publishing my Happiness Through Humanism blog so if you need a weekly dose of Humanism, please join me there.

I will continue posting podcasts through the end of this year.

Thanks for your support. I hope you will continue to support me though my other projects.

Removing Fear

The first step to removing fear is to recognize it.

That may seem like a silly thing to say.

After all, fear is a pretty easy emotion to recognize.

The problem is that we don’t always feel fear when we are afraid.

Sometimes we feel anger or frustration or any other number of emotions that help us mobilize to fight the thing we fear.

When we are angry – we don’t always recognize that it is fear that is making us angry or frustrated.

In order to move past these negative emotions into happier emotional states, we have to solve the problem that we face.

And we often can’t do that until we recognize that the heart of our problem is that we are afraid.

It is amazing how many problems go away once we face our fears by acknowledging our fears. 

Often, that acknowledgement is all that was needed.