A race is by definition competitive. But the millions of people who enter weekend running races around the world are not competitive runners. And that can set up many of us for disappointment.

You name the distance -- 5k, 10k, 10-mile, half-marathon or marathon. It's the same. The first...

Where is your treasure?

I write not of bank accounts or investments, but of what you value in your heart.

Please take a moment and reflect. What brings you a sense of wholeness and balance and joy? Where and how did you find it?

Joseph Campbell, a...

We are trying to remember too much.

Without any screening, the great server cloud banks save everything. All email. All photos. All Facebook posts. All webpages visited. Forever.

Jack Dorsey says Twitter got its name because it represented "short bursts of inconsequential information and chirps from the birds." But...

My 7-year-old son and I arrived early for school one day. In order to pass the time, I turned to the dozen second graders lined up outside my son's classroom and asked:

"How many of you have ever got a hug?"

All 12 children put their hands up.

"How many...

Why does fear call us to be courageous?

Why is patience often the best course when we're in a hurry?

Why does our hostility often dissipate when we realize the role our own frustrated desire plays in stoking resentment?

Opposites are complementary. The contradictory things that most folks believe...

God has the biggest social network on the planet. Have you joined yet?

I write not of a religious God used to divide people. This concept creates doctrines that turn faith into a members-only club. I write of a God who connects people regardless of culture, religious belief, nationality,...

There's a new little book on spirituality with a special claim -- its authors are spirits.

Compiled by Stanford-trained urologist and author Dr. David Cumes and Santa Barbara educator Maryellen Flynn Kelley, the handsomely designed, pocket-sized book confirms that its real authors were no longer living when they composed its...

First the sun, then the rain.
Darkness fades away, light begins.

I have spent a ridiculous amount of time on this wedding song. I am revising and revising. I play it for my two sons. The 4-year-old wanders off to play indoor soccer in the lounge before I get...

This is the story of me finding hope again.

It's much longer than any other post in this series. So be forewarned. If you want to read it while you heat up the leftovers in the microwave, you might not have enough time.

"First the sun, then the rain.
...

Mother Teresa once said there is good in everyone. Of course, to my knowledge, she never experienced separation or divorce.

Mother Teresa went on to say that some of us hide this goodness and some of us aren't even aware of its presence.

I like her idea. It reminds...

All men are sons.

Simple truth. But important.

You might feel alone. Especially following a relationship split. But in fact, you are a part of a long tradition of fathers and sons. You are a link in a chain stretching to antiquity. Though your dad might be distant, might be...

Separation meant that many of my life plans became redundant. I felt I had to start from scratch in many ways. My marriage was so much of my identity, I even felt the need to get to know myself again.

Who was I? Where did I want to go?...

I have a lot of respect for the penis imperative. Without it, I wouldn't be alive. I am the product of generation after generation of wild men able to do the wild thing.

But my wild, surging sexuality can cause serious trouble.

I learned this lesson before I was married....

I met her in a supermarket. By the eggs. She was eating corn chips. I caught her eye. She said: "These are the best corn chips. No sense getting a small bag. Have to get a big one."

I have always liked a woman with an appetite.

Eight months after...

Many men who go through separation are dads. We know that the separation not only impacts ourselves and our partners, but also our children.

Sometimes that impact is strongly negative. This is the stinging lesson I learned:

Out-of-control conflict between parents is bad for children to witness. They remember...

Chuang Tzu, an ancient Chinese sage and one of the inspirations for Taoism, wrote that life was about wandering through ceaseless changes.

Separation is also about wandering through changes. My journal tells the story. This happened about 18 months after my partner and I first split.

June 28, 1997

Separation can bring sorrow to a family, but it also brings freedom.

Psychologist and writer Eric Fromm wrote this about "dissolving an unhappy marriage":

"The stock argument of parents in such a situation is that they cannot separate in order not to deprive the children of the blessings of...

I think of love as a beautiful backyard garden -- homey, friendly, natural, surprising, beautiful, sweet, peaceful... and laced with mines that will blow me to smithereens.

Risk goes with romance. Danger with delight. Pain with passion. If I am open enough to love and be loved, then I am...

MEMO TO: All Governments, Religious Leaders, Soldiers, Protesters, Suicide Bombers, Lovers, Liars, Freaks, Squares, Parents, Children, Sons and Daughters

SUBJECT: Ten Points for Peace in 2012

1.1

God's on everyone's side.

1.2:

All is made to continue,
And the continuing is all.

...

Appreciation is everyday magic.

It grounds me. It lifts me. It expands my mind and spirit while contracting my ego.

When an investment appreciates, it grows. When I appreciate, I make an investment in my own growth.

Naturally, I try to appreciate as often as possible -- in...