Years ago, I was visited by an elderly woman who came to see me because her feet burned relentlessly, from her ankles to the tips of her toes. She could hardly walk. She wept from the pain. It was so hard to bear that she considered taking her own life. Internists and neurologists and an […]
When everything goes according to plan, when successes flow without reversals, we consider ourselves fortunate. And we are. But, more often, success either comes after putting forth great effort to clear significant hurdles or after experiencing actual reversals—sometimes profound ones. A reversal, followed by a comeback, is God’s favorite story. Why? Because that story requires […]
Yes, you will be tested. If you are looking for immunity against deep despair in this world, those five words may provide it. Mind you, the immunity is not against pain and suffering. It is against throwing in the towel. It is against believing all is lost. It is against believing that you have been […]
Whether you believe God is in charge (as I do) or the Universe is in charge, you have a purpose in this world. God or the universe will see to it that you walk through a very complex labyrinth of events in your life—including victories and defeats and lots of soul-searching—before your purpose is made […]
Mindset matters. Everyone knows this who has competed in a sport or simply attempted to complete a long distance run or walk for the sheer self-satisfaction of it. When we begin such efforts we envision the goal we need to achieve, fix it in our minds and commit to it. Few would doubt that envisioning […]
Almost all of us live at some distance from the painful truths about our lives, sometimes going to great lengths to continue avoiding them. To the extent that we do, we actually diminish ourselves. To find the self-esteem we need to live full lives, we have to look back to when and how we were […]
We human beings sometimes devote 100 percent of our attention to what we consider the reality unfolding in front of us—the day-to-day events that occupy our time. Did we complete a task? What are the results of the efforts we put forward yesterday or a week ago or a month ago? What should happen next […]
When you try to outdistance your past, instead of turning to look at it and understand it, you will find that it can do damage to your future and that of your children, and perhaps their children as well. The very pain you deny can become your destiny—and theirs. That’s why it is your moral […]
Okay . . . did that get your attention? I hope so. That was my goal. Because I want you to focus on what really matters in life. And the way you want your epitaph (the words describing you, after your death) to read might help you do just that. First, it’s worth noting what […]
Viktor Frankl was a world-famous Austrian psychologist who survived Auschwitz and Dachau, two Nazi death camps. While his theory about the central importance of having meaning in one’s life had already taken shape in his mind, his insights only sharpened during his imprisonment. He wrote them out on bits of stolen paper, and they became […]
