I know that people are basically good. I know that there is suffering. (I know that….) A cold pale ale tastes especially tasty after a hard day’s physical work. I can always do better. I am a decent person. I could always do more (or less). There is no best path. Sports can simultaneously be […]

Most of us “get” this cliché. It just makes sense. It is so familiar. We have likely lived this many times. But, let’s look around its edges, see what some of its corollaries are, some of its less obvious benefits. Heck, by the end of this little passage I may even convince myself to turn

We have to be willing to throw it all away. This can be understood easily by looking at this proposal from a few different perspectives. First, nothing that we know is right anyway. Or another way, all that I know is that I don’t know. A tree is not the same as the word tree

I practice yoga and go for a long walk every day. I meditate every day. I go to the mountains to hike the countless trails through the Cascades once the snow melts out and only stop hiking once it returns. I see a counselor every week. I hug my wife at least a couple times

A powerful learning for me after several years of counseling was to understand coping mechanisms and see and own mine. We all have coping mechanisms (CM). At some point in our lives a particular CM produces more benefit than detriment. At other times, it is mostly harmful. Often, we outgrow CMs though it may take

This is something that I have been working on for many months, likely years. I know that it is the healthiest way to live. I know that I want to live this way. It is really hard, but I am making progress. I can only offer my first-hand experience embracing this, working it from my

I know what you mean. If I were you. When that happened to me. The list goes on and on. Often well intentioned, though not always. We can never know what it is like for someone else. We can never know what it is like to walk in their shoes. Even if that person checks

Something that I do every year or so is to take a very detailed inventory of how I spend my time. I try to find a week that seems that it will be pretty typical for me, no unusual plans, and carry a little pocket notebook. I record what I am actually doing for each

Good enough. Clean enough. Straight enough. Complete enough. Birthday cakes and front lawns. Lists of chores to do and places to visit and holiday cards to send. Good enough is enough. It is wonderful. It took me most of a lifetime to realize this and feel comfortable (enough) with this. Please don’t wait as long

The more we give the more we receive. I really believe this with my whole being. Also, miraculously, the more we give the more we still have that we can give away! It is like a perpetual motion machine, sorry thermodynamics. The receiving is not a quid pro quo transactional process with a rigid time