We read about John Adams last week, who was our second President. Benjamin Franklin was another Founding Father in the United States. In 1726 at the age of 20, he determined 13 character traits or virtues that he wanted to model his life after. He set about creating a daily and weekly system in order … Continue reading Improving His Character
Inner Resilience
Historically, Character Mattered
John Adams Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ruled Rome as an Emperor from 161 to 180 BC and is a philosopher of Stoicism. There were Five Good Emperors and he was the last one. Ryan Holiday wrote a book about the Stoics and here is what he said about Marcus Aurelius’s character and his teachings: “Marcus Aurelius … Continue reading Historically, Character Mattered
The Book of Mormon Teaches Character
In the Book of Mormon we read how 2060 stripling [young like a new stripling tree] warriors were strengthened spiritually and emotionally for years on the inside of themselves, before they went into physical battle: "They were exceedingly valiant for courage and also for strength and activity but behold this is not all, they were … Continue reading The Book of Mormon Teaches Character
Character–What Is it?
You have agreed to make a trip in a boat. It would be a three or four hour trip across the harbor for a generous fee in order to deliver something. You have never sailed but the boat seems seaworthy, you like the water and so you push off from the shore. What seemed like … Continue reading Character–What Is it?
Understand the Differing Capacities and Seasons In Others
Sometimes we can't see or understand how stressed out our spouse is. Meridian Magazine is an online magazine for Latter-day Saints that has a Friday column where people can write into a therapist, Geoff Steuer, who will answer their questions. One week, a mother of four wrote in, worried about the birth of a … Continue reading Understand the Differing Capacities and Seasons In Others
Being Honest About Our Own Behavior
The following story was told by C. Terry Warner, a professor emeritus of psychology at Brigham Young University. This is one of my favorite talks given at a BYU devotional, ever. It is called Honest, Simple, Solid, True. In his speech he talks about a larger shift, a foundational transformation as this woman wrote to … Continue reading Being Honest About Our Own Behavior
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Dr. John Gottman and his wife, Dr. Julie Gottman, have formed the Gottman Institute. They are famous for predicting the probability that a marriage will last or not with a 90 % success rate by spending an hour with the couple whose marriage is floundering. How do they do this? The Gottman Institute uses a … Continue reading Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Learning Packets: Relationships Part 1
We know water is a big issue in the Western United States. The story of Hoover Dam situated outside of Las Vegas is a remarkable tale of vision and compromise between seven of these states sharing the water from the Colorado River. We have driven over this engineering marvel many times, when we lived in … Continue reading Learning Packets: Relationships Part 1
The Collapse of Parenting
This is a repost from Feb. 2020: This week we were getting on a chair lift to ski and the young skier in front of us brushed by the attendant who was checking everyone's ski passes with an electronic gun. The attendant yelled something at him like, "If you do that again---" and I didn't … Continue reading The Collapse of Parenting
Long And Short Suffering
This is a repost from 2017. I have had this scripture below posted in my office for over a year. The two reasons it speaks to me is the actual idea of fruits of the Spirit and a powerful list of Christ's attributes I want to develop in myself. The other reason is my puzzlement … Continue reading Long And Short Suffering
"Peace Like A River…" 