Happiness in this World

In 2002, my third-youngest brother and his wife announced they were going to have a baby.  The news absolutely floored me.  This would be the first baby of our generation and represented a significant life change for us all.
I left their apartment that night thinking about life stages and transitions and found myself wondering why [...]

People all over the world know the story of Helen Keller, the deaf blind girl Annie Sullivan taught to communicate by spelling letters on her hands, whose story was depicted in the play and movie The Miracle Worker. What most people don’t know is the story of how Helen’s parents found Annie Sullivan in [...]

From quitting smoking to eating healthier to exercising regularly to getting more organized, most of us have a list of behaviors we’d like to begin (or end) that resist our attempts to do so.  As a physician, I find myself giving advice about changing habits on a daily basis.  Even though many of my patients are able to succeed in [...]

I leaned back in my chair and breathed a heavy sigh. My patient, Mr. Rodriguez (not his real name), noticed my discomfort. “I know I should quit,” he told me with a guilty shrug of his shoulders. “Have you ever tried?” I asked. “Once,” he replied, “but it didn’t stick.” Mr. [...]