It takes courage to be a teen. Courage is not the absence of fear but the confidence to take a known risk for a known purpose. It takes courage for a teen to work at making good friends, trying out for a school play, or telling...
I was fourteen years old when I saw Robert eat the baby mouse. He and his friends found five nearly-naked rodents under a hay bale outside of Midway Junior High and dared each other to eat one. I watched from a distance as Robert excitedly took...
Last week we discussed the nature of panic attacks—sudden episodes in which one feels intense emotional and physical sensations associated with a sense of doom or dread. These “attacks” don’t directly result from anything dangerous; the sense of panic is spurred by perceptions that something...
A sudden sense of impending doom; something awful must be happening! Your body doesn’t feel right—heart pumping, breathing fast and difficult, your insides feel like Jell-O. There is no real danger, at least not anything obvious. There must be something wrong with you… Panic attack—a sudden...
In the 1970’s comedian Flip Wilson created a ridiculous character whose signature line was, “Here comes the judge! Here comes the judge!” That phrase has often passed through my mind as I work to help people recognize the problems with judgment—even those small, seemingly-harmless thoughts that...
As I work with couples to help restore love, and individuals to enjoy life more fully, I am wracked by the price we pay for judgment. “What a jerk!” “You have no right…” “They have no idea…” “I was so dumb.” “Utah drivers!” Judgment has many forms but comes down to...
As the month draws to an end so does this series regarding dating, courtship, engagement and marriage. It reminds me of the young bride on her wedding day who told her mother, “I am at the end of my troubles!” Mother wisely responds, “Yes, but...
I would bet that at least 50 couples in our reading area got engaged in the past week. (I understand; I proposed to my wife on V-Day as well.) Even if you did not make or accept a proposal of everlasting love and commitment in...
“Courting” sounds so old-fashioned, so unhip, so…well, so much like my parents. The idea of working hard to know someone, to demonstrate your value and your values, and practicing cooperating with another adult seems awfully dull. Perhaps that is one key reason our parents generally...
Dating is dying. I am not suggesting that going on dates is akin to death. I am simply pointing out that dating—the time-honored activity of sharing your time and interest with someone of the opposite sex for two or three hours—is on a sharp decline. The most...
