What kinds of things disappoint you?" I once asked a friend out of curiosity. "Yuck! Don't ask me that!" she exclaimed. "I'd rather focus on the positive!" Disappointments can be quite painful, regardless of their magnitude. My friend Nancy1 terminated a long-term relationship in which she'd struggled for decades. Harsh words, bitter memories,...

Got lingering anger, stress or high blood pressure? You may need to forgive someone (or to be forgiven yourself). That's the conclusion of an increasing number of social scientists. Religion has long held that forgiveness is an important component of a fruitful life. A recent Christianity Today article outlined secular research that also supports...

Happy with your grocery bills these days?  Do those gasoline pump meters seem to whir like Vegas slot machines, except you never hit the jackpot? The two issues are not unrelated and they’re affecting pocketbooks and bellies at home and around the globe.  Some Westerners might react with detached shock to stories of food riots in places like...

Comedian Michael Richards—“Kramer” on TV’s Seinfeld—saw his racist tirade at African-American hecklers ignite a firestorm. Mel Gibson, whose earlier anti-Semitic rant made headlines, said he felt compassion for Richards.{1} Lots of people have dark sides. Maybe everyone. Maybe you. I do. Remember Susan Hawk? Her infamous diatribe...

Does the world still need a superhero? Watch out, bad guys, as Superman Returns … fighting movie villains, rescuing the imperiled, desiring Lois Lane (now a single mom), saving the world. The guy is everywhere. Superman’s promotional ties include Burger King, Duracell, got milk?, even a dating website. NBA star Shaquille O’Neal has a...

Want happiness and fulfillment in life? Then practice giving, advises an influential medical professor. “It really is good to be good,” claims Stephen Post, Ph.D., professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. “Science says it is so.” Post and coauthor Jill Neimark present evidence in their recent book, Why Good Things...

I still can’t figure out how he did it. A televised plate-spinning act captured my imagination. As I recall, the performer set up several upright sticks about six feet tall each. Atop each stick he spun a china dinner plate, creating a small forest of spinning plate trees. He then scrambled furiously to keep the plates spinning, lest one crash...