Before the hometown crowd of Atlanta, Georgia, the 1996 United States Olympics Gymnastics Team began the competition with high hopes. Shannon Miller, Dominique Dawes, Kerri Strug, Dominique Moceanu, Jaycie Phelps, Amy Chow, and Team Captain Amanda Borden shared a combined 94 years of training for this event. Perfection was a goal they strived to achieve but they understood that a perfect 10 was extremely rare. In fact, their coach, Béla Károlyi, was the coach for Nadia Comăneci, who was the first Olympic games gymnast to score a perfect 10. This occurred twenty years prior in the 1976 games. Yet, perfection was not as much of a goal as beating the Russians in the team competition. The Russians previously won the team competition gold in every Olympics it entered since the 1950s! The competition was fierce and the need to win was worth the struggle.

The family is the foundational building block of society, and the marriage is the foundation of the family. Since the marriage is so foundational to all aspects of life, how often do you have a marital checkup? Below is a link to an assessment that I created in 2005. Its purpose is to be a conversation starter.

The Christmas season is obviously about celebrating the birth of Jesus. Every year people complain about how commercial this season has become. Yet, it continues to become more and more commercial because people respond to the commercialism. A few years ago, stores opened at 9:00 a.m. on black Friday. In recent years, there seems to be a competition between stores to see who can open the earliest. Some stores are even requiring employees to work during the dinner hour of the day before black Friday in hopes of catching those early shopping deal seekers. Have people forgotten that is Thanksgiving Day when families are enjoying their turkey, dressing, and/or other family favorites?

Thanksgiving is approaching, and this is a time when families get together. Yet, for some individuals, that is not a real possibility. Because of geographic distance, work-related commitments, or even severe family dysfunction, some individuals do not have family with whom they can celebrate the holidays. Please allow me to share with you a very special and personal story of how a stranger joined my family’s Thanksgiving celebration.

As a marriage and family therapist, I often interact with couples in which the lady is frustrated at the man’s lack of continuing to be “romantic” following the nuptials.

“I think we all need a pep talk.” These are the now famous words of Robby Novak. Robby, who was also  known as “Kid President,” made a video approximately ten years ago about choosing a positive attitude. This video is a true inspiration. At that time of the video, he was a 10-year-old young man who struggled with osteogenesis imperfecta, or brittle bone disease, as it is commonly known.

I assert that this need that men must provide and protect contributes to a man’s need to feel strong and not reveal behaviors that lead to the perception of weakness. However, this need to appear strong can cause a man to refrain from asking for help, which only perpetuates the problem toward inevitable chaos.

One topic that is fiercely debated in our world today is the legalization of marijuana. The United States Federal Drug Administration has long held that marijuana, also called cannabis, does not have any medicinal value and that recreational use is addictive and destructive. Proponents of legalization cite a variety of benefits ranging from the income produced through taxes, to the release of individuals in prison for “non-violent offenses,” to the benefits of medicinal marijuana.

Individuals who have bipolar disorder can have psychotic features such as hearing voices or seeing things that are not there in reality. Yet, this is not the primary feature. This disorder used to be called “Manic Depressive Disorder.” A basic understanding of this disorder requires individuals to understand the difference between mania (or manic) and depression.

Suicidal thought is something that is very difficult to understand…unless you have been there.

Just for a moment, imagine yourself at a local shopping center. A friend of yours walks up to you and has a stressed look on his face. He is sweating even though the temperature in the shopping center is quite cool. You ask him if he is ok. He states “I don’t think so. My chest is tight and hurts; I have a weird pain in my left arm, and I am having trouble catching my breath.” Hopefully, you recognize these as the primary symptoms associated with a heart attack, and would quickly call 911.

Have you ever noticed that people have a tendency to laugh or otherwise discount individuals that have a struggle that is not easily understood?

The well-known phrase, which is reflected in the title of this article, is often used to “Biblically” justify physical punishment or spankings of children. For many, this has included spankings with a switch, paddle, or other representative of the “rod.” However, this exact phrase is not directly Biblical, and the associated imagery from the verse, to which the phrase is attributed, does not affirm physical discipline. As a general rule, people who believe this statement is from the Bible will point to Proverbs 13:24. Yet, careful reading of this verse communicates a different meaning.

Imagine receiving this invitation: “I have invited a few people to come over so we can stare at our phones and ignore each other. Want to join us?” We live in a time with we can communicate with almost anyone in the world. Yet, too often, we use our phones to ignore the primary people in our lives who are only a few feet away.