It doesn't matter what goals or resolutions you set, dreams you launch, ideas you create, or relationships you make; it is inevitable that at some point or other, you're going to screw it up. I know, I know; it's the first month of the year new--of the new decade!--and the blankness of the slate laying before us is so sparkly white that my hinting at a blemish may make you cringe. Only, it's the ...

  After I moved out of my parents' house, there was a time when returning for visits was terribly depressing. Everything that’s hard about being there (chronic illness and the chaos that goes along with it) would smack me in the face upon entry, and I would wilt away like lettuce. Eventually, I realized my reaction wasn’t doing anyone any good, and I vowed from that moment on that I would bring the sunshine. Everything ...

  Forgiveness is a spiritual reset button. “Begin again,” Forgiveness instructs. Release the offenses incurred, the standards unmet, the judgments rendered. View the situation, or that person, or yourself with compassion. Remember that everyone, including yourself, is sorting through hardships, and (probably!) doing their best to play the hand given. Begin (forgive) again, and again, and again. Forgiveness isn’t a once-in-a-while thing. It needn’t be reserved for only the big time blunders. Forgiveness is an ...

I can't be totally sure, but I've heard rumblings that there are people out there who naturally embrace change. The same thing over and over again starts to feel boring, stifling. They take it upon themselves to move to new cities, get new jobs, make drastic decisions at the hair salon. I envy those folks. When I was young, change felt like a betrayal, or like the sheepskin throw getting continually pulled out from under ...

If perfection were possible, we would have attained it by now. If telling ourselves perfection is an impossible goal were enough to convince us to cease striving to attain it, we would have given up long ago. Yet so many of us (myself included) continue to want perfection, and live with the constant disappointment of it continuing not to show up, like a predictably flaky dinner guest. Expecting perfection is the ultimate cop-out. It’s a ...