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Beyond Blue

Time Magazine recently featured Mother Teresa’s crisis of faith as its cover story. Click here to read the full article by David Van Biema. It begins . . . On Dec. 11, 1979, Mother Teresa, the “Saint of the Gutters,” went to Oslo. Dressed in her signature blue-bordered sari and shod in sandals despite below-zero…

Associated Press also covered the revelation about her dark years that the new compilation of writings, “Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light,” has unearthed. You can read the story, join the Beliefnet conversation, and take a poll about feeling the presence of God by clicking here. The AP story begins with a quote from my…

There was an interesting dialogue on the message board of my “Optimism Versus Hope” post. Reader Larry Parker began the conversation with this differentiation between optimism and hope: Optimism is a mirage in this world (for anyone, not just those with depression); it says that everything in this world can go perfectly for you if…

Thanks to reader Babs for directing me to the Rev. Dr. Michael Foss’s commentary on wishful thinking, optimism, and hope. To download a podcast of his August 12, 2007 show dealing with this topic, click here. (Or to get to his website “Day 1” click here.) Foss is senior pastor of Lutheran Church of the…

Find out how grateful you are by taking Beliefnet’s gratitude quiz (by clicking here). Do me a favor, and don’t tell me your results. Because knowing yours is higher than mine will have me in the same funk I felt when my friends and I had to take the practice SATs.

I’ve mentioned psychologist Martin Seligman, author of “Authentic Happiness” (also the name of his website) and the father of positive psychology in past posts because his approach to depression and mood disorders has been helpful. Wendy Schuman of Beliefnet recently interviewed him about how his work has influenced his views on happiness and spirituality. It’s…

I was relieved to know Jane Chin, Ph.D., of Chinspirations.com agrees with my doctor that persons who are severely depressed should stay away from self-help books. On the message board on my post “What the Secret Can and Can’t Do For Depression,” (where I compare the philosophies of positive psychology and The Secret-esque law of…

Sorry, I couldn’t resist the parentheses. It’s just that I’m a realist, a grumpy one at the moment (more on David’s hour anxiety attack this morning coming this week). And I’ve never been into cooking, so I don’t believe in recipes. Especially regarding happiness. If that were the case, I wouldn’t have enough material to…

I’ve mentioned my self-esteem file in previous posts. Of all my weapons employed in the war against negative thinking, this simple exercise is among the most effective and easiest. So start one. Now. Follow these directions: 1) Get a folder (this might require driving to Rite Aid), and write the words “self-esteem file” on the…

There is a Buddhist tale that the prominent meditation teacher and American Buddhist Lama Surya Das tells in his book “Letting Go of the Person I Used to Be” (I tried that, by the way, and it’s not all that easy): The Buddha was once approached by a grieving mother whose little child had just…
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