The Helsinki Bus Station Theory

My son just turned four. One of the things I love most about the age is the unbridled curiosity with which he explores the world.He's deep in the classic "why" phase, taking me down explanatory rabbit holes that go long past my point of comfort.But one of the most interesting pro ...  Afficher plus

A few years ago, as part of the research for my ​first book​, I asked a group of centenarians for the advice they'd most like to give to their younger selves.One of them offered this piece of wisdom:"The most damning lie you can tell is the lie you tell to yourself."Those lies di ...  Afficher plus

All optimistic beliefs can be dangerous because they’re so comforting, so easy to accept without asking further questions. Hope often masquerades as optimism when you think things will improve only because the alternative is too scary to contemplate. 

Every optimist n ...

“It’s easy to be a naive idealist. It’s easy to be a cynical realist. It’s quite another thing to have no illusions and still hold the inner flame.”       Marie-Louise von Franz To be a philosophical pessimist is to be acutely aware of the tragic side of life and to believe that ...  Afficher plus

We live in a culture obsessed with hope. We are trained to believe that being hopeful is the key to success. Stay positive. The sun will come out tomorrow. Keep the faith. But maintaining that kind of blind hope is hard. When our hopes are dashed, we often feel defeated. In a wor ...  Afficher plus

As we advance through life, we will not only be visited by good fortune. Dangerous times will also make an appearance.
 
I’ve come to realize, as the years etch more notches on my belt, that troubles are actually precious friends, in disguise.
 
They serve to…< ...