Articles about purpose, identity, resilience, adversity, gratitude, personal development, starting over, and becoming who we were created to be.
There is something fascinating about the lodgepole pine. Unlike many trees that release their seeds before a fire, the lodgepole pinecone holds onto its seeds. It remains closed, protected by a layer of resin that keeps the seeds sealed inside. Then something unexpected happens. Fire comes. To someone walking through the forest afterward, it can … More The Lodgepole Pinecone: New Creations Forged in Fires
A man once told me something his father taught him: “You’re either in a storm, coming out of a storm, or heading into a storm.” The older I get, the more I realize how true those words are. Life is not a straight path. It is not a constant climb upward toward success, happiness, and … More The Mountain Range of Life: The Valleys Nobody Sees
“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” – Jeremiah 17:9 Every morning we look into a mirror. We adjust our hair. Straighten our shirt. Notice another wrinkle. Maybe we smile. Maybe we don’t. The mirror faithfully reflects our appearance, but it tells us almost nothing about our character. … More Are You Really You?
“When your ideology becomes your identity, you disappear.” Read that sentence again. Not because it’s controversial. Because it’s uncomfortable. Every one of us wants to be judged as an individual. We don’t want people assuming they know us because of our age. Our race. Our religion. Our profession. Our political party. Our gender. Our generation. … More When Your Ideology Becomes Your Identity, You Disappear
Every generation has something to worry about. Wars. Politics. The economy. Crime. The culture. The future. If you watch enough news or scroll long enough through social media, you’ll find no shortage of reasons to be angry. Some of those concerns are legitimate. Some deserve our attention. But here’s the question we rarely ask ourselves: … More Don’t Let the Storm Become Your Home
I watched a movie about Young George Washington recently, and it left me thinking about something far bigger than one man’s life. History has a way of convincing us that extraordinary people were born extraordinary. We look at Washington and see the Father of a Nation. We look at great inventors, leaders, entrepreneurs, athletes, and … More The Myth of Extraordinary People
This morning I found myself watching Deep Impact again. The movie came out in 1998. I was 26 years old when I first saw it. At the time, one scene stood out to me. The government announced that anyone over the age of fifty would not be eligible for the lottery that determined who would … More The Movie Didn’t Change… I Did.
Ten years ago this month, I was carrying around a worn-out index card. At the time, it was one of the most important things I owned. I was facing a decision that felt enormous. I was considering leaving my home, my house, walking away from a job I had held for sixteen years, and moving … More Stop Trying to Solve Tomorrow
One of the greatest frustrations in life is being judged by a test you were never designed to take. Imagine asking a fish to climb a tree. Imagine asking a mathematician to compose a symphony. Imagine asking a gifted musician to prove their worth by rebuilding an engine. None of those people are incapable. They … More You’re Not Failing. You’re Taking the Wrong Test
Most of us have seen thousands of trees in our lives. We drive past them every day. We walk beneath them. We rake their leaves in the fall and seek their shade in the summer. Yet despite being surrounded by them, very few of us ever stop to consider what a tree actually is. We … More More Than a Tree, I See…