To be clear, I don’t endorse suicide. I value life and consider the act of someone taking theirs (from themselves and others) to be among the greatest of all possible tragedies. Nonetheless, I fully understand the ways in which suicide is a tremendously bright idea.

The human mind can be easily deceived. In its perennial effort to accurately interpret our world, it is unfortunately prone to making some very serious mistakes.

So many relationships suffer with trust issues. In fact, only the very most extraordinary relationships—relationships founded upon true harmony and intimacy—are exempt from patterns of dishonesty and mistrust…

Many people come to counseling for help making a decision about the fate of a particular relationship—typically one with their romantic partner or current employment. Inevitably, they have doubts about staying, for sure, along with similar doubts about leaving…

One of my fondest memories is from one night in Thailand. I was alone at a café on the banks of the Mekhong River, looking across into Laos on the other side…

There’s nothing like the feeling of falling in love. There's that spark of aliveness and vibrancy, energy, passion, and epiphany, like everything has fallen perfectly into place and just makes sense. Life seems so full of meaning and beauty and purpose.

People are always changing, flowing through shifting emotional states. Throughout time, one of the things that fluctuates is our desire for emotional and physical distance. Sometimes we want closeness; sometimes we want space.

We tend to think of falling in love as something that happens between two individuals. If we fall in love, perhaps we're lucky enough to have those feelings reciprocated and build a lasting relationship with this person, maybe get married, have kids, form a family, you know, all that conventional stuff (not that that's the only way to do things). Then, upon this path, life happens.

There's a lot of talk on the internet about success, how you can do anything you set your mind to if you just believe in yourself and follow a certain set of tips or guidelines, buy a particular book, or register for this or that class or workshop. We're in the throes of a "YOU CAN DO IT!" era, for sure, which isn't necessarily such a bad thing.

So, yes, I officially turned 45 years old today. 45 years! What does this even mean? How does thinking about it effect me? Does it cause me to re-evaluate my life? Or mourn the passing of my youth and youthful vigor? Does it conjure a slew of thoughts about my own mortality?

I was about ten years old. My family was taking a road trip to Ocean City, Maryland when we stopped at a fast food restaurant for a quick bite. We got our food, took it to one of the tables outside, sat down, then realized we had no ketchup. When my parents asked me to return, alone, to ask the cashier for some, I refused.

Sleep is one of the primary contributors to physical wellness and mood. Having just survived two years of having infants in our bedroom, my wife and I know this all too well. When either of us don't get enough sleep, we inevitably grow more testy and irritable.