The powerful lesson she taught me — When I was growing up, my Mom was fat. She hadn’t always been a large person. In her youth, she’d won trophies in the discus throw, long jump, badminton, and table tennis. In black and white photos I saw her slim and smiling, with shining dark braids, dressed in beautiful…

No Wonder They’re so Confident, I thought — French women. The phrase connotes images of sophistication, savoir faire and understated beauty. They don’t wear tons of makeup or baubles. They smoke and eat fatty cheese. They talk in husky voices like Edith Piaf. Whatever they do, they are sexy. Those are all stereotypes, of course. I’ve been to…

Debating what is selfish in my situation — About three weeks ago I collapsed; turns out I had a brain tumor. They did surgery, removed the tumor and now I’m recovering. The tumor was a stage IV brain cancer. It has metastasized. Since mobility is an issue, a friend is looking after my German Shepherd Snowy. I miss…

Reason and Faith are not necessarily incompatible — I became a Christian at MIT. Think about that for a second. MIT, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is associated with high-achieving technologists and scientists. It’s a place where logic, rationality, and dispassionate reason are supposed to reign supreme. …

The downside of industrialization and economic growth — Currently, India’s economy is twice the size of Australia’s, and has overtaken the United Kingdom. It has become the fifth largest in the world, and if it continues it’s growth trend, could overtake Japan and Germany to become the third ranked economy in the world. Its growth has been due…

It felt great to feel like a normal person again after battling cancer — Prior to getting married, when I lived in Colorado, I would often hike several times a week. Sometimes I would hit the trail at 7 in the morning and get off the mountain around 1 or 2pm. Since I usually took a break when I got to scenic vistas and…

He sees us differently than we see ourselves — Failure is part of being human. Whether it’s meeting a weight loss goal, a financial goal, or a spiritual one — failure can hit us hard. Yet failure is inevitable in life, because we are only human. How do we view ourselves after we fail? We might feel discouraged, particularly…

Listen to your body, not the schedule — Many people fast to lose weight, and if you are carrying extra pounds you’d like to lose — fasting could be the solution you are looking for. Of course, everyone’s situation is different. When it comes to our bodies, we have to recognize we are all individuals and there isn’t…

For a thief, he’s very polite — bears are large mammals that are notorious for their sweet tooth. From Winnie the Pooh with his honey pot to Yogi Bear and the treats in picnic baskets, bears and sweets are fictional tropes we are all familiar with. What people don’t expect, however, is to actually face a candy…