February 13, 2025

Hockey players talk in periods, so quick update on William’s first intermission. The first period is over. Iron Heart’s large “weed” (as Grandpa calls it) was fully removed and confirmed by MRI. He’s already building his new Lego Audi (with his left hand again, two days after brain surgery) around his physical therapy and progressing beautifully with his recovery. He also got a nice visit from Mystic, a large black Newfoundland. The MRI suite couldn’t believe his calm (both times).... Read more

February 10, 2025

Perspective. The world looks so different now in ways that I could never have imagined. As a husband, father, athlete, coach, medical device professional, and writer, I thought I had leaned into incredible feats of adversity philosophically and in my own life. I now have to laugh at how little I thought I knew – and how real, personal, and harrowing this journey has been (and will be). At the same time, I’ve seen a faith and strength modeled by... Read more

February 9, 2025

Brain surgery on a seven-year-old. First hill is to remove the large tumor. As William has strengthened and inspired me more in the last week than I’ve ever been in my life, I thought I would share some encouragement from Iron Heart’s pre-surgical protocol: Build full Lego Police Station with non-dominant hand (Lego building sucks with an IV on the right, so he just switched sides) Watch hockey highlights with Dad from last night’s games Drawing and reading with Mom,... Read more

February 8, 2025

“Am I going to die?” are harrowing words I pray no parent will ever be asked by their seven-year-old child. Hearing that question posed by my son William after the ER physician closed the door and told him, me and his mother “I don’t have good news” – I can easily say Feb 1st, 2025, has been the worst day of my and Naomi’s lives. I’ve written on the problem of evil and suffering as well as several famous Stoic... Read more

November 17, 2024

It’s a scary thought, Descartes’ challenge for truth seekers: “If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.” This quote touches upon that having a spirit of critical thinking. Doubt towards established beliefs or dogma is necessary if one is truly seeking after truth. A spirit of doubt, however, is the only the start. When we do come around to something where... Read more

August 31, 2024

I love the Japanese concept of Ikigai. You may have come across in this popular figure from Héctor Garcia and Francesco Miralles’ book Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life. They give a nice definition of Ikigai being the “happiness of always being busy” which is “like logotherapy, but it goes a step beyond.” It’s the place where purpose, meaning, and motivation are harmonized – a coherence of mind, body, and spirit – a flow state where... Read more

August 18, 2024

Epictetus drops the mic on the famous Stoic “dichotomy of control.” “The chief task in this life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can clearly say to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own.” This dichotomy of control is just... Read more

April 21, 2024

If you haven’t seen A League of Their Own, you need to. It’s based on the true circumstances of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) that existed from 1943 to 1954. There is one very memorable scene when one of the players and team’s leaders plans to quit the team the moment her husband returns from the war – specifically right before the championship game. In a classic scene, he challenges her not with her life decision to move on... Read more

April 13, 2024

Theodore Roosevelt was highly influenced by Stoic philosophy. Difficult people and situations become an opportunity for development and character formation. Conversely, without adversity, we’re without that perspective that may have been on offer. In Roosevelt’s words: “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led... Read more

March 13, 2024

Lao Tzu is a famous Chinese philosopher and widely recognized as the founder of Taoism. In many of his writings, we see guidance on “The Way” and living in harmony and balance. The famous yin yang symbolizes the balance of interconnected opposites like light and dark, hot and cold, and order and chaos. His writings are often poetic. To say he has a way with words would be an understatement. Whether metaphysics, morality, or an overall life philosophy, Taoism deals with finding... Read more


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