Have you thought about giving up on life? It’s quite possible that shutting down, avoiding, and dissociation are what got you to the point you’re at now, and if so, ask yourself this: Have any of those behaviors given you any happiness? Let’s assume the answer is no. And that’s because in order to really [...]
God’s main gift to us is not our personal happiness; it’s that we get to be an integral part of the bigger plan—to give life and give it abundantly. That includes what we learn by pushing past our fears and tasting all life has to give. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at [...]
Some thoughts for people who are overweight : If you think you look like a beached whale, you might be over-exaggerating just a tad... If people keep asking you if you're pregnant, be thankful that all that delicious food went straight to your belly and not more practical things like your hands or feet. That'd [...]
Imagine you’ve worked incredibly hard to get to where you are. You’ve written more than ten books. You’ve taken every class on speaking you could find, and you’ve taught for free wherever they’d have you. You’ve spent decades working on your artistic skills. You’ve served in every position you could find that would teach you [...]
I've been thinking about engagements and marriage lately, why people choose the ones they choose, and how all that played out in real life over the years once married. I have no regrets, but when I think of the standards I had for a future spouse back in my early 20s, I think they'd be [...]
I have a friend who did something that hurt me about ten years ago. She's not that close of a friend anymore, and it's not because of what she did; it's because she can't let it go. Every time she sees me, she brings up "the thing," as if her focus on it will somehow [...]
We all reflect something, but if the only time we sparkle is when we're reflecting other people's light, it begs the question: Why is your own light so dim? And if the only time you feel good about yourself is when other people give you attention, it begs the question: Why can't you give yourself [...]
"The first step in asceticism the desert will teach you is purification from haste, agitation, impatience, pressure. In the desert you have to get rid of the 'master of the situation' complex. You find that you are little, insignificant, squeezed in on a waiting bench. No one takes any notice of your needs. Your name [...]
A Moment My four nights of night shift were over. Sleep was very much enjoyed. And now I was alone in our flat in Dublin, Ireland, with the dulled sounds of the city suburbs moving around the walls protecting the tiny patch of grass, and my washing on the line, three floors down. I leaned [...]
I've been thinking a lot these days about obedience and how big of a part it plays in our relationship with God. In recent years, there has been what seems to be a downplay of the word, of the acts that imply mute submission to a supreme God when the reality of his love and [...]
