The headmaster of New College in Edinburgh, Scotland used to ask the blessing at the noon meal by praying, "O Thou who has endowed us with so many gifts, now grant to us just one more—a grateful heart." If there is one universal human failure, it is our habit of...
In the inaugural conference of the International Center for Self-Care Research held in Rome, Italy, they concluded that people with chronic conditions need to assume responsibility for their own health and be actively involved in self-care. Many other similar research...
Fond of pressuring and seeing others bow to your point of view? Are you in the habit of dictating others on stuff they're quite capable of doing, or giving advice even if they're not asking for it? Do you catch yourself doing all the talking and cut others off if they...
“As long as the Arabs hate us more than they love their children,” said Golda Meir, “there will be war.” The schoolteacher-turned-politician was a tough lady who saw plenty of hatred-driven conflict in her life. But could not an Arab living on the east bank of the...
Living our lives freed from our past can be refreshing. We can embrace an identity liberated from any cynicism, pride, fear, distrust, self-doubt, anxieties, etc. While self-reflection is necessary, reliving our past can be disturbing. Dwelling and magnifying our past...
"If you know anyone who is colorblind," said the late psychologist John Money, "then you have a good idea of what it means to be love-blind." What Professor Money is talking about isn't the starry-eyed young person who falls in love, but the individual who seems...
Everyone needs encouragement. I don’t know anyone who is always positive about life, work, or ministry. We all have our moments of concern and sadness and discouragement. Courage means “heart” (from the French word ‘couer”) or inner strength. Sometimes we lose that...
One of the strangest of all musical compositions ever conceived was that drafted by the avant-garde American John Cage. He wrote it in 1952 and called it “4’33”.” It was written for any instrument or instruments, as the case may be, and each of the three movements has...
Fond of talking in whispers? Well, don't! Whispering is not healthy. I once overused my vocal chords. The doctor ordered: No talking. No singing. And no whispering. For three straight months! These happened thrice in a space of three years. And with these, a lengthy...
THRIVE (verb): to grow vigorously, to progress toward or realize a goal despite or because of circumstances (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) "It is possible to heal. It is even possible to thrive. Thriving means more than just an alleviation of symptoms, more than...