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  Human Politics        Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, once famously said…      “Our maturity will be judged by how well we agree to disagree and yet continue to love one another, to care for one another, to cherish one another, and to seek the greater good of the other.”…

  Onward, Upward, and Backward        For a 10-year-old, camping and fishing in the wilderness of Florida’s Withlacoochee River was a true Huckleberry Finn adventure. Trips to those unspoiled backwoods with my grandfather are among the best memories I have of experiencing the freedom of untethered childhood. But the childhood freedom I found…

Worry’s Wild Ride      During a particularly challenging time in my life, I was given a card that illustrated a beautiful oak tree on a hillside overlooking a stunning sunset. Below the picture were the words, “When the day is over, and you have done the best you can, await the results in peace.” In…

KNOW THYSELF Throughout the 5,000 years of Earth’s recorded history, there is one piece of advice that was consistently taught by our species’ greatest philosophers and sages. In 1400 B.C., this advice was inscribed on the walls of Egypt’s Luxor Temple; in 700 B.C., it was etched above the temple entrance to Greece’s Oracle of…

Depression’s Maze of Mirrors      In my hometown, there was once a tourist attraction called, The Mystery Fun House. One of its many chambers was a dimly lit mirror maze built with serpentine, mirrored walls. In the maze, inevitably you’d get turned around and completely lose any perception of where you were or how to…

The Illusion of Chance      The Universal language of mathematics is truly beautiful. Transcending culture and spoken word, the elegant logic of math is one of the most powerful tools on Earth. It plays a critical role in our evolution, enabling us to understand the physical world around us. Statisticians and scientists build forecast…

The Power of Free Will      Free will is defined as, the power to act without fate as a constraint. It can be argued that most animals do not have free will (or at least the contemplative free will that humans experience). Animals’ reactions to their environment are based, for the most part, on…

The Perfection Paradox      “Perfect” is a word we rarely use seriously about ourselves. Like meticulous mechanics, there’s usually something about our lives that we want to tweak, change, improve, add, or remove. Just when we think we’ve got the perfect balance or set of circumstances, life steps in and prompts us to shift…

The Absolute Paradox      There’s an ancient and cleverly self-contradicting, Buddhist saying that goes something like this: “Enlightenment can be summed up in two words: Not Always So.” This playful adage implies that we should use caution before casually using words like… only, every, always, and never. But if – as the ancient Buddhist…

     Welcome to this ongoing blog about topics in the book, A Glossary of Life – Deeper Meaning Behind Our Common Words. As I stated in the introduction of the book, none of this material is being offered to tell you what to think, but rather, to prompt you to think. This is an…