Tap into the life-changing power of a new narrative.
I learned a surprising truth about happiness and meaning from a Harry Potter windshield sticker I saw while sitting in a traffic jam. On the sticker was a picture of the Deathly Hallows–an important symbol in the book series and films. But that sticker didn’t just tell me the driver was a Harry Potter fan. It showed me how important stories are to our lives.
Have you ever felt like you didn’t have a place to belong? You want to be part of something bigger than yourself — something that gives your life more meaning. Perhaps you’ve found some of…
What Jesus can teach you about nonreactive living when worry runs high
How have your stress levels been this year?
Are you constantly worried about what you see on the news or social media?
Will the mere mention of “2020” elevate your heart rate and cause stress in the coming years?
Rounding out this year, the twists and turns keep coming. The reality of how little is in your control hits close to home.
If you live in the United States — like me — you’ve just lived through a tumultuous election season. The trauma this election caused is yet to be determined. …
Your inner child knows something you have forgotten.
“What do you mean you’re writing a book?”
I’d only been married for a few months when my wife asked me that question. It was something I’d been working on — secretly — since before we were married, but I hadn’t bothered mentioning it to her. After all, creatives can’t talk about their work.
In those days, I didn’t have to be at my “real job” until later in the day so I used my extra hours in the morning to plan and write a fantasy series. News of my creative endeavor was a surprise to my wife. …
Learn to appreciate the gap.
I know something about you. You want to be further along than you are right now. It looks like so many other people are far ahead of you and you wonder what’s wrong.
Sometimes, when you’re all alone and can’t avoid your thoughts, you wonder if you’ll ever get where you want to be in life. Right now there’s a gap between where you are and where you want to be. Am I right?
You have tried to make progress. But every time you start moving forward a little bit, something knocks you down. …
Everyone needs a resurrection
The silence that morning was deafening.
The only disturbance came from the muffled shuffling of feet rushing along the dirt path. The morning sun was waking up the town as they reached the edge of the garden.
A woman’s intuition is rarely wrong, and that morning their intuition told them that something wasn’t right. Cautious, the two women approached the tomb. The spices they had carried in their tired arms dropped to the earth when they saw it.
The tomb containing the body of their executed rabbi had been plundered. The heavy stone that sealed His body inside — away…
Your decisions shape your destiny.
“Don’t be like me, don’t stay in this job and follow this path if it isn’t what you want.”
It was shocking to hear those words coming out of my manager’s mouth. He was highly regarded and well-loved by everyone in the company. He’d immigrated to the United States as a young adult worked hard for his success. Yet here he was confessing to me that this role he’d achieved was one he’d never wanted.
It was one of those moments in life that confirmed something I’d felt for a long time: that you can be successful at something you…
Don’t overthink the writing process.
Many people think of writing as a talent, something some people have and others don’t.
And while there is some truth to that, there’s a deeper truth about writing that most people miss:
Better writing is often made possible by what you’re willing to give up.
I’ve been writing on this platform for the past year which isn’t all that long. I’ve noticed some patterns in online writers who don’t write very much or make it very far.
- They blame the platform for their lack of reads and views.
- They spend more time complaining than writing.
- They assume they deserve…
Rules to live by if you’re starting at the bottom, or starting over
Let’s be honest. Entry-level jobs suck.
If you’re a recent graduate, you’ve probably figured out by now that most employers care more about your experience than a piece of paper saying you took some classes. It hits home when you start applying for that dream job only to discover you don’t have half the required experience. So you have to settle for a job you don’t want that has nothing to do with your degree.
Or you may be one of the 15% of adults who reported job loss because of the coronavirus. If so, you are facing some big…
All your dreams can come true.
By the time Walt Disney was twenty-two, he was bankrupt and had a failed animation studio under his belt.
With that kind of failure, most people would give up on their dreams and go find another job — not Walt.
Instead of giving up, he did the only thing he could: he moved west from his home state of Missouri to California in hopes of establishing himself in the film industry.
In Hollywood, Disney found a little success but soon lost the rights to characters he’d created for an unscrupulous producer. He then started the Disney Brothers Studio with his…
You must choose between a sword and a plow
The problem with the Bible is how easy it is to abuse.
Honestly, it’s not the Bible’s problem, it’s ours. It’s the way you use a tool that determines whether it’s destructive or constructive. And too many people use the Bible as a means to tear others down and cause division rather than to build up. You may have had the Bible weaponized against you, your community, or your belief system. If so, you know that words can cause more damage than any weapon.
At the United Nations headquarters in New York City stands a statue of a man beating…
