What’s the difference between hope and false expectations? How do we know when to hope for the best and when we’re deluding ourselves? In each case, we’re throwing ourselves open to faith, to things we can’t control or predict. Is there such a thing as healthy and unhealthy hope, and if so, where’s the line? On the one hand, I’ve often found the …
Fé, No Miedo
¿Alguna vez has conocido un ángel en persona en un lugar cotidiano que te dice algo tan profundo en el momento justo cuando más necesitas escucharlo? Ayer, el dependiente del servicio postal cerca de mi casa fue ese ángel. “Cruza tus dedos por mí, Roy” Le dije, pasándole mi libro en un sobre dirigido a un revisor de guiones en …
The Light from Within the Tunnel
It’s 6 am, the morning I’m due to fly from Boston to Chicago for a cable TV interview. One thousand miles away, an FAA employee takes his own life by setting fire to Chicago Airport’s air traffic control tower. All flights in and out are cancelled. I get the last seat on a 25-hour overnight train. To my right, a petite woman …
Look Closer for Hope
A couple of weeks ago, I became inspired to feng shui my house. The biggest area that needed improvement was my front door. Your entranceway is supposed to be “the mouth of Chi,” where you welcome in opportunity. Since my front door is also in the north, that’s the career area of my home. According to the feng shui map, …
A Bug Story
Emma. That’s what I decided to name the unusually large mosquito eater that was zooming around my house. Those bugs are creepy looking, like spindly daddy long legs with wings, but anything that eats the annoying, disease-carrying stingers that constantly welt my sweet skin is a friend of mine. I turned around from my computer and saw Emma suddenly dive-bomb …
Que No Te Enreden En Sus Redes
¿Has estado con tu familia en días festivos, cuando de repente, regresas a una etapa mucho más joven? Tal vez tus papás o hermanos dicen o hacen algo que te volvía loco y te encuentras a tí mismo como un adolescente resentido. O quizás vuelves a ser el mismo niño de cinco años tratando de complacer a todos y mantener …
How’s that Workin’ for Ya’?
One of my favorite quotes is, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Many of us get stuck in patterns of thoughts and behaviors that prevent us from getting where we want to be in life. For example, I would very much like to get married someday, yet I’ve frequently …
Waiting for Godot
In my graduate school library, there’s a really old, unreliable elevator. It’s so slow that it often takes a full ten minutes to get from the third floor to the first. Sometimes, it doesn’t come at all. As a joke, we nicknamed it “Godot,” referring to a Samuel Beckett play about two men waiting endlessly. Right now, my whole …
The Wisdom of Willy Wonka
“I want an Oompa Loompa, and I want it NOW!” screams little Veruca Salt to her father in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. While I dislike her spoiled brat character, I can certainly relate to her impatience and desire to get what she wants right now. Have you ever been in a “holding pattern” in your life, taking steps toward where …
Happiness on Hold
“Please hold. A happiness representative will be with you shortly.” Why do so many of us put our happiness on hold? How many times have I heard friends and relatives who hate their jobs say, “It’s only for another 2 more years, 5 more years, 10 more years…?” So many people I’ve talked to who are in relationships that aren’t …