What do binging, hypochondria, and hoarding have in common? On the surface they appear to be unrelated. Yet all three of these behaviors have the same source in our psyche. That source—inner passivity—is an unconscious sense of identity situated in our psyche that determines, … [Read more...] about The Common Ingredient in Human Misery
Consciousness
The Infantile Basis of Our Fears
This post is a revised and expanded version of an earlier story, “How Inner Fear Becomes Our Worst Nightmare.” Some people like digging around in the past---geologists, historians, archeologists, and genealogists---because the past is the foundation of the present and has a … [Read more...] about The Infantile Basis of Our Fears
Cynicism: The Battle Cry of the Wimp
Cynicism is the bravado of the faint-hearted, the strut of the weak-kneed, the battle cry of a feeble voice. This negative mentality, while self-defeating for its practitioners, seems to be gathering like storm clouds in the West. Barack Obama delicately brought this dysfunction … [Read more...] about Cynicism: The Battle Cry of the Wimp
Being Seen in a Negative Light
Many of us have had experiences of walking into a social situation and feeling shy, awkward, hesitant, and even fearful. Other times we can feel that people are scoffing at us because we apparently said something silly or foolish. We can also believe that our physical appearance … [Read more...] about Being Seen in a Negative Light
The Need to Believe in Yourself
This week’s post consists of comments on a reader’s email. This reader (I’ll call him Tony) presents some details of his life and his struggle to find happiness, and he asks for my thoughts and suggestions. In this post, I interject my comments as if we’re having a dialogue. … [Read more...] about The Need to Believe in Yourself