Consumption Today, we address consumption—what we load into our bodies.  More than forty percent of us are obese, and suffer a multitude of severe health problems for it.  Something has to give; we consume more than the amount needed to maintain our weight and nearly 25% more calories than we did fifty years ago.  Moreover, we now eat less nutritious foods and dine out more frequently than eat...

No, I am not talking about your place for religious services but your physical well-being, a prerequisite to a fulfilling life.  Its importance is evident but not adequately pursued, given our country’s obesity epidemic and sedentary lifestyles.   Since you already know that the better you take care of your body, the better it takes care of you, these messages will not belabor on the obvious but...

Failure to Launch If it only requires one step to begin the journey of 1,000 miles, why do we fail to take it, and how do we overcome our resistance?    It is not the lack of or inadequate planning.  In fact, planning may cause paralysis by analysis.  You are still in the profession you wanted to leave years ago because contemplating the innumerable possibilities put you in a state of suspended...

Enough of the congenial tone of the past two weeks; as fair-minded as we think we are and aspire to be, we are often hypocrites.   Good for the Goose, Good for the Gander? We particularly delight in criticizing things we have not and will not do.  Many believe homosexuality is a sin, and some heterosexuals use this position to condemn homosexuality enthusiastically since they do not indulge in...

Casting the First Stone. Even our most exalted heroes have done something reprehensible.  Peaceful changemaker Ghandi was racist and slept naked with his teenage grandniece.  Humanitarian Mother Teresa allegedly provided inadequate, unhygienic care.  Anti-imperialist revolutionary Che Guevara was a racist, homophobe, and mass murderer. If we performed an honest self-examination, we would uncover...