Why does your brain cling to bad news? Why do worries feel so real—even when nothing's happening? This new post explains how our minds evolved to protect us, but sometimes go into overdrive. Understanding this is the first step toward peace.

Shakendra stuck her hand out to shake, all 5 foot 2 of her and said, “Mr. Gee, you been the best white teacher I ever had. Sorry I been so bad this year. But… you been real.” We both chuckled at the inside joke of being real. During the course of the long school year and in my class made up of adolescents, whenever I’d get too wordy, someone would suggest to, Keep it real. Wally Gable, the class loudmouth, would say, “Mr. McGee there you go again talking college. We are ba

A wise mentor’s bicycle wheel analogy reveals how core values anchor us amid life’s chaos, offering profound insights and unexpected clarity

I was at a party decades ago with my then girlfriend to welcome home a friend upon his return to town. I’d introduced the crowd to my date. Cordialities were exchanged by all. Beers and a pizza were consumed and afterwards the men sequestered themselves away from the women folk for talk. “Boy!” one of the more bellicose boys of the group shouted about my date, “That… is way too nice for me. I couldn’t stand that!” I said nothing. Was that a sling? Kind of. I was at a loss

We are given two ears and one mouth to listen more than we talk, Epictetus, the Stoic philosopher, said. “When people talk, listen completely. Most never listen.” Ernst Hemingway claimed. Malcolm Forbes, the creator of the Business magazine which bears his name advised, “The art of conversation lies in listening,” A google search shows no dearth of books on how to listen. Titles abound, The Sacred Art of Listening, Why Don’t We Listen Better, and How to Listen with Intentio

Regrets, I’ve had a few but then again too few to mention. I did what I had to do………. And I did it my way, Frank Sinatra sang in the 1969 song, My Way. Set to the music of the 1967 French tune, Comme d'habitude, My Way climbed to number 2 on America's Easy Listening Tunes and topped the chart in the UK for weeks on end. It was popularized, no doubt, because the lyrics, clear, clean, and contemplative struck a chord. In fact, in 1969 and today, Regret is something most people

There are many beasts in the backwoods that come out to play from time to time. One, according to medical doctor Brian Kaplan is, The invalidator; a put-down artist, who delights in dismissing another in public. According to Kaplan, author of Almost Happy, when a person is put- down by an invalidator they experience something akin to being mugged. Kaplan paints a scenario of a person at a social gathering, everything is going fine, when out of the blue someone says somethi

I called out the man’s name, then did a sniff check of the waiting room. The briskness of Fall had softened the ripe smell of body odor which permeated the units during the summer months. From the far end of the room, a behemoth figure with a Santa Claus beard slowly rose from the institutional plastic chair. He held a paperback in his hand and ambled toward me. The Correction officer, Boyce, who sat elevated in an ergomatic behind a long counter at room’s end copped a loo