When I get discouraged, I can always trace it back to a loss of perspective. I mean, it's inevitable. My challenges give me tunnel vision and I lose the ability to see beyond my own immediate pain. By the way, that's not necessarily a bad thing, but it can be....
They say there is a point of absolute clarity when a person is facing their own mortality. We've heard it all before; "Your life flashes before your eyes." Of course, this is a moment in human life we humans regularly avoid thinking about. Our mortality isn't something we like...
OK, it's a great scene: Indiana Jones and his dad have reached the cave where they believe the Holy Grail has been hidden. But, to get to the treasure Indy has to pass some tests. As he approaches the first test, he remembers the words of warning "Only the...
"How can it be wrong when it feels so right?" Probably one of the most overused lines in the history of mankind right before someone does something really stupid! Yeah, I know, I've said it myself! So, why is it we humans get ourselves into messes like this? Simple, we...
An ancient Roman writer once said "I have often regretted my speech, never my silence." I confess that has been a hard lesson for me, personally. Once, when someone asked me "Why do you talk so much?" I responded "Because the sound of my voice comforts me!" As a big...
One of the human parables of every human culture on earth is the warning against pride. As the scriptures declare " pride goes before a fall." And it seems that each human tribe has a multitude of stories that prove that truth over and over again. Once such story from...
I am blessed to be one of several trained First Responders through International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC - www.iocc.org) Frontliners Team. And, in training to be a First Responder in the field of emotional and spiritual care to victims of disasters, we learn some very valuable insights about caregiving...
"Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence." This quote by Henry David Thoreau is beautiful. But I have a problem with it since it seems to suggest that any path will do as long as it's your own path. To be...
"No life is a total waste. It can always serve as a bad example." I'll never forget when my best friend first shared this bit of wisdom with me. I was really down because someone that was suppose to be a positive influence on me was anything but. And...
Let's face it; learning the lessons of life the "hard way" is our default position as humans. Oscar Wilde said that "Experience is merely the name men gave to their mistakes." And yet, we don't seem to learn from our mistakes very often. Over and over again, we revisit some...
