One of the most common fears young people face early in their lives is trying something new. The uncertainty and apprehension of failure can be crippling. And if it’s not overcome as a child, it can haunt someone throughout life. One person who’s earned some valuable wisdom struggling to find courage is Kerri Whitfield. Moving [read more]

When Richard Pascoe was seven years old, he recalls doing something most honest people will admit doing at least once or twice in their childhood. He was trying to find his presents before Christmas. He recalls stealthily walking around the house looking in every hiding place he could think of. Then, opening up one particular cupboard, [read more]

If you’re a parent of a teenager, you know this unfortunate truth: You love your child. But sometimes you don’t like them very much. And you know all too well that they don’t always like you very much either. My guest this week has some great insights into why that is, as well as some [read more]

To understand humility, it’s often easiest to start with its opposite: pride. In his book The Seven Deadly Sins, Reverend James Stalker defines pride as “the inordinate assertion of self.” In other words, pride is an inflated sense of our own importance or status or accomplishments. When we’re prideful, we hold ourselves in such high [read more]

I think the most memorable lesson I ever learned about becoming an adult occurred at the most unexpected place and time: in a crowded restaurant on Secretary’s Day, April 1986. Still a teenager and a freshman in college, I had a part-time job at a local furniture manufacturing company. My dad was an executive there, [read more]

The most unforgettable lesson I ever learned in school was when four masked gunmen burst into my high school history class. It was the first day of classes my junior year in a small-town high school in Arkansas in 1983 – Jim Owen’s World History class. Mr. Owen had a reputation for being one of [read more]

Bob Woolley* had been running his Astronomical Adventures program in Arizona for several years. He gave tours of the Grand Canyon and other sites during the day, and at night his guests enjoyed tours of the night sky with his massive homemade telescopes. A tour of the Canyon On one particular tour, Bob and his [read more]

Giving some of what you have to those less fortunate is one way to think about charity. But what if you don’t have anything? Does that mean you can’t be charitable? Of course not. A beautiful example of that from Marvin Abrinica. When Marvin was growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, his family wasn’t the wealthiest [read more]

We’ve all heard “It’s better to give than to receive.” But the relationship between giving and receiving is a bit like the relationship between a leader and a follower. Before you can be an effective leader, you have to learn to be a good follower. So it is with giving. You’ll be a more caring, [read more]

HERE’S A RIDDLE FOR YOU: You‘re driving along on a wild, stormy night and along the way you pass a bus stop. There are people waiting for the bus: an old lady who is about to die; an old friend who once saved your life; the perfect man or woman you have been dreaming about. [read more]