Sitting next to your father’s bedside, you smile warmly. But beneath your expression, you’re hurting. For nearly a year, he has received treatment for an illness that won’t seem to pass. You love him dearly—but as his primary caretaker, you’re running out of energy. To lighten the load, you ask… Read More

You can live without a lot of things in life, but love is not one of them. I believe inside every man and woman is the desire to be loved—a desire to be accepted regardless of shortcomings or weaknesses, a desire to be what I call “someone’s favorite.” But… Read More

Relationships are risky business. While they can fill our lives with joy and delight, they can also tear us apart with heartache. And as I’ve learned the hard way, good relationships take hard work, especially when I have to mend broken bonds with the people I love most. Have… Read More

At a young age, many people begin to dream about the excitement of getting engaged. But when I got engaged, I felt terrified. Why? Because I had a secret: I was walking around with a broken heart. After being abandoned by my father—and having already gone through one failed… Read More

Guilt is always waiting. When I let down my guard or my mind wanders, there it is. Something I did wrong. Something I should be doing right now. I recently saw a study reporting that men who are married with children are more socially stable and… Read More

My childhood was challenging. I grew up in a tough area in the Bronx where survival was more important than education. Running home from school to avoid fights and gunshots was normal. Then, while already living in a small apartment, my cousins came to live with us after my uncle—a… Read More

According to the esteemed Myers-Briggs test, I am a natural introvert. I feel overwhelmed in large groups, process the majority of my thoughts internally and prefer to start (and end) my day with alone time. But by nature, I also crave friendship and community. I long for… Read More

Somebody jostles you on the street and says, “sorry!” You could lash out at their carelessness, but instead you say, “no problem.” Have you really forgiven that person? Forgiveness can be a wonderful thing, but it’s often misunderstood. In the Lord’s Prayer, we ask God to forgive… Read More

You wake up to find a note waiting in your inbox, subject line: URGENT, enforced by a red exclamation point. You wince as you click to open the message, knowing exactly who the sender is and what she wants. It’s your boss. It’s the third email she’s sent… Read More

Years ago, I found myself struggling through what felt like a solid six months of a severe “case of the Mondays.” Every morning, I tried to walk into work feeling motivated and positive. Structures had shifted, and I was told there wouldn’t be an opportunity for me to grow. Read More