I’m a big fan of the Oscars. I love the build-up and the fanfare, and I enjoy everything from the red carpet—especially the red carpet—to the final announcement of Best Picture. (I will admit, however, to occasionally DVRing...

A great way to boost your happiness is to watch a happy or funny movie. Researchers found that when people watched a funny video, for example, anger and sorrow dropped 98%, and the improvement persisted for more than twelve hours. I started m...

I love snappy words of advice. At a recent meeting of my book group, after we’d finished talking about the book we’d read -- Isak Dinesen’s Out of Africa , we all loved it -- I asked, “What’s the best piece of advice...

Exercise has always been my stress reliever. Even when I didn’t feel like I could control anything else in my life, at least I knew that I was in charge of my physical health, and breaking a sweat often lowered my anxiety levels...

Now that Christmas is behind me, I’ll be waiting for my credit card bills to roll in—and dreading the balances. Every year, I feel like I spent more than I planned during the holidays, even when I think I’m being reasonable.