Jan 4, 2014 3 min read

Here’s my list of notable quotes from 2013, offering an interesting perspective into our collective consciousness.

• “We are waiting to learn if someone is going to make us happy,” said by a woman waiting to hear if her bid to buy a house was accepted. It’s concerning when people feel that their happiness is dependent upon someone else selling them a house. So many kids and parents seem to be looking for happiness in all the wrong places. My experience is that happiness comes from relationships built upon honesty, humor, a positive outlook and an appreciation of our daily blessings.

• “Dreams don’t come easy … they take hard work” is the tag line for American Family Insurance. Wishes without work accomplish nothing. Let’s emphasize the latter to help kids achieve the former.

• “I’ve got to do what makes me happy. That’s it,” said by NBA basketball star Dwight Howard. Our daily actions should not be governed by what feels good in the moment. Doing the right thing may not always make us happy. We may need to study boring material, work hard on a repetitive task, or control our emotions when confronted with ignorance or insults. We need to do what is right, even if it causes some discomfort or pain.

• “Teach your kids how to be more than a bystander” is the tagline for www.stopbullying.gov. This is a government campaign to end bullying that focuses on the real solution to this problem. Bullying continues because bystanders give tacit support or simply acquiesce to this offensive behavior. Bullying stops when other people speak up and act. What a great message for our kids.

• “Winning takes care of everything,” is a slogan by Nike to promote golfer Tiger Woods. This gets my award for the most offensive ad campaign of the year. This is the type of ad that parents should bring to the dinner table to stimulate a conversation with their kids. It’s great to compete and strive to win. However, victory in a sporting event doesn’t erase bad behavior either while competing or in your personal life. Winning may make you popular, but we all know that such acceptance can be very transitory and illusory.

• “Enjoy everything,” is a tagline for Coke Zero. I realize there is a bit of hyperbole here, but I like this ad. The message of appreciating every moment is in conflict with a culture that often seems in a state of malaise, looking for more stuff or mindless actions to fill some void. At some point we realize that what we’re looking for is already there in our genuine relationships with family and friends.

Dr. Gregory Ramey is a child psychologist at Dayton Children’s Hospital.