“How are you?” “Fine.” (usually the pleasantry ends here) “Are you really fine?” “Honestly? No.” Sadness is dark, thick and sometimes invisible. When you fall into it, sadness can be a very difficult thing from which to pull up and out. And when you do, it clings, taking a while to wash away. Sorrow is strong—it wraps around and squeezes …

“Can this possibly get any worse?!” Yes, actually, it can. No living person is free from life’s unquestionable challenges, trials, hurts, devastations, frustrations, tears or seeming impossibilities. Sometimes life falls down so hard upon us that we feel like we can barely breathe under its weight. It’s so easy to abandon hope and cry out, “Why me? Can this possibly …

So many of the troubles that exhaust your mind and weigh heavily upon your spirit are those which are taken from an unknown tomorrow. “What if?” is a strange beast. As his enemy, you find yourself shackled with despair—subdued, drowning, and unable to overcome. But make “what if?” your friend, and you will find yourself lifted high upon his shoulders …

True love is not what you see on TV or what makes your heart swell from some movie. You never hear wedding vows that say, “I take you for better or even better, for richer or even richer, in health and in more health, until death do us part (which will never, ever happen).” There is worse. There can be poorer. …

Why do you set your mind solely on the bad? Why do you focus on the negative things about people or situations? It’s easy to get frustrated and angry and spiteful when you soak your soul in a pool of pessimism. The sad fact is that if you continue to stay there, you will eventually drown. Instead, get out. Wash …