Do Americans even know what they want any longer? Most of the knee jerk answers people offer when asked what they really want seem to offer up something that, realistically, they aren't ever going to have. Some say they want to be wealthy, but that's a profoundly subjective goal. Others want to be happy, but…
New Year's Eve hasn't been the same since Dick Clark passed and his ball could no longer dropped to commemorate the New Year. What's the point in even staying up if you can't see Dick? Then there is the truth that as we age staying up until midnight becomes less a celebration than some kind…
Attachment to outcomes is never a good idea, yet in our culture we receive messages from all sides telling us we are absolutely, personally responsible for the success of every movement that we support. The messages quite often are formatted in an "if, then" way. "If our effort doesn't succeed, then disaster looms and so…
...with all that toilet paper? This is a serious question. For weeks now, you have been buying every last roll of toilet paper you can get your hands on. I am trying to decide what you are doing that you continue to need more. Mind you, I have plenty. I bought two nine packs about…
I know this is asking a lot, but I wonder if we might have an honest discussion about religion. This project will require laying aside our sacred cows for just a moment and electing to suspend knee-jerk reactions for a bit. I know those things are difficult for just about everyone, but the potential reward…
My wife laughed when she saw the title of this post. She knows that my number one pet peeve is when a store rearranges its shelves. I've reflected on this, and determined that there are two reasons it irritates me. The first is that it takes me longer to find what I came to buy.…
If you are one of those people who patrol the Internet looking for things you don't agree with in the Hope's of finding someone doing something you don't agree with so you can "correct" them, I have a suggestion. Just stop. Find a hobby, grab a good book, learn to knit, or buy some rechargeable…
We are an extremely competitive society. We can turn anything into a competition - to our detriment, I am afraid. If you can measure it, we can fight over who does it best. If you can quantify it, I guarantee you mine is bigger - unless being smaller is better, but to be honest most males…
Tennis player Naomi Osaka currently appears in a television commercial for Citizen watches in which she says, "I can control my future." No, Naomi, you can't. None of us can, an we have a collection of lovely (and sometimes trite) pieces of folk wisdom and spiritual teachings to remind us that we can't. Even wearing…
The problem with relationships is they ask us to trust someone else, and that opens the door to being hurt. This leads some people to choose not to trust (and quite often to be control freaks), the result of which is those people hurt themselves through the stunted life they lead. The self-protection of attempting…
Craig Bergland 