The key to healing a wound is to move toward the pain. You know the relational or financial or emotional problems that happen in life. They hurt us. We’re wounded. But if you don’t face the uncomfortable, even agonizing conversations you don’t want to have with your partner, friend, mother, it only makes the relationship…More
Category Archives: thoughts
A better tomorrow is a choice
Your past isn’t you; and your future is always being made in the present. You’re walking potential. You’re becoming. You’re changing, growing, evolving. That is, if you choose to be. You’re not simply who everyone thinks you are. You’re not stuck. You’re not just you. Decide to make new relationships, form new habits, develop new…More
The pandemic isn’t over
It’s a matter of life or death. What is? This: Who you’re listening to. Don’t listen to the stories, the ideological frameworks, the politics, businesses, even your own urges. Everyone has their agenda; campaigners want to win campaigns; businesses want your money; government officials want to be voted back in office; you just want everything…More
Is normal worth the risk?
Quarantining, not hugging, being isolated, fighting the virus is exhausting. All of it. We want to get back to living, normal. But friends, we mustn’t rush. Plunging into seeing people, going to the office, traveling, all of that, isn’t safe no matter what the politicians say, governments do, how those around you behave. I’m seeing…More
This Is One of the Smartest Things You Can Do
To get smarter you have to feel stupid, sometimes. You ask the obvious question, repeat something back, relearn something you think you should have already learned. Sure, it can be embarrassing. But, to learn you have to be open to learning. And that means you’re not the master but the pupil, not the teacher but…More
Learning From Failure Is the Key to Succeeding
Success is less about how you think of succeeding, and more about how you view failure. Maybe you made a terrible investment, messed up your work, sent out an email that was meant to be private but somehow cc’d your whole division including your boss, have a terrible relationship with so and so, etc., and…More
Should We Defund the Police?
Defunding the police isn’t the right answer. It sounds good, but will work badly. Before I proceed, know that I am for the Black Lives Matter movement. It’s right; it’s just. And I believe that law enforcement as a system and organization needs to be reformed, maybe even taken apart and restored piece by piece.…More
What Is the Value of a Black Person’s Life?
What is the value of a human life? Or to be more precise what is it for a black person’s life? Is it worth subordinating your agenda, your rights, your feelings, your privilege, your race? Is it worth getting unfollowed, unliked, ghosted, canceled, hated, arrested, despised? Is it worth protests, standing against police lines, facing…More
Peace Must Be Fought For
People in power don’t give up power willingly. You don’t see them surrendering a seat of power unless it’s absolutely necessary. Kings must be beheaded, rebellions must be incited, and revolutions fought in order to unseat tyrants, despots, and dictators. Isn’t that how America was born? Now we live in a “free” country. It’s blessed,…More
One of the Most Powerful Things You Can Do
Words are powerful, but this has even more power: Listening. When you take the time to turn your ear, pay attention, and ask good questions to others, you build bridges, change history, and move mountains. You are connecting. That will reverberate across time and space. You are making others feel loved by your act of…More
John Pa 