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4 Ideas to Help Unleash Your Loved One’s Creativity

Posted on March 11, 2026March 12, 2026 by Julie Hayes

Julie Hayes is the Content Manager at Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging.

Maybe your loved one studied painting as a young man or woman. Or maybe he or she has never drawn more than a straight line, but wants to experiment with a watercolor of a tree outside. It could be that she has a sudden desire to write down childhood memories or that he has mentioned wanting to try ballroom dancing. Regardless of your loved one’s skill sets and abilities, when it comes to creative expression, it’s the spark that matters. Meaningful artistic pursuits of any sort can promote personal growth and well-being in older adults, and as a caregiver, you can encourage your loved one to get on board.

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Gene D. Cohen, a psychiatrist specializing in geriatric mental health, documented the different phases of creativity in late life in his book The Creative Age. Cohen suggested that older adults aged 70 and over experience a “creative burst” fueled by the desire to resolve unfinished business, fulfill long held dreams and make a lasting and final statement through creative works (Cohen, G.D. (2000). The Creative Age).

According to research, taking part in artistic endeavors can have a wide range of positive impacts on older adults. Participating in the arts can allow them to:

· Reflect on their lives and experiences
· Improve their physical and mental health
· Make connections and share their knowledge and thoughts with others
· Increase morale and improve mood
· Foster personal growth and lifelong learning (Rogers, N. (2001). Person-Centered Expressive Arts Therapy. In J.A. Rubin (Ed.), Approaches to Art Therapy: Theory and Technique, second edition (pp. 230-237) London: Routledge.)

Whether your loved one is flexing an artistic muscle for the first time, or returning to a pursuit from the past, it’s never too late to get started. After all, Grandma Moses took up a career in painting at the age of 78. You can help by suggesting your loved one explore a creative outlet, and offering your support throughout the process. Among the possibilities you might present:

1. Dancing

Your loved one may enjoy moving to music as a means of both physical and creative exercise. Dancing is a great way for older adults to improve their:

· Gait
· Balance
· Range of motion
· Body image
· Muscle endurance
· Flexibility

If your loved one has memory loss, dancing can also help exercise his or her ability to remember and retrieve information through learning and recalling steps and routines (Keogh, J.W., et al. (2009) Physical benefits of dancing for healthy older adults: A review. Journal of Aging and Physical Activity, 17, 479-500).

It’s not even necessary to leave the house to get immersed in dance. You could provide your loved one with instructional DVDs or find some YouTube tutorials, many of which are designed specifically for older adults. Playing his or her favorite music or trying out moves from back in the day can make the experience more personal. If you’d prefer to work with an instructor you may want to check with your local senior center. Many offer dance classes and socials for older adults. There are also national programs such as BeMoved and SilverSneakers that tailor dance lessons for older adults.

Don’t forget to consult with your loved one’s doctor before starting any program of physical activity.

2. Writing

All forms of writing—fiction, nonfiction and poetry—can allow your loved one to capture thoughts, emotions and memories. Research shows that writing can also decrease depression, reduce stress and improve self-esteem.

You can begin by asking your loved one what sort of writing appeals to him or her. Many older adults enjoy life story writing to reflect on their past experiences, while others prefer journaling or creative fiction. Regardless of which writing form your loved one likes best, you can facilitate the process by providing writing tools, a comfortable environment and any other necessary guidance to help get the words down. There are also national programs that can help get your loved one writing, such as the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project and LifeBio. If your loved one has an interest in publishing his or her work, you may want to look into Passager Books, which is dedicated to showcasing the works of writers over the age of 50.

3. Singing, Playing or Listening to Music

There are many ways for older adults to express themselves through music, and doing so can have healing benefits. Music therapy, the clinical use of music to strengthen overall wellbeing, can give your loved one the opportunity to listen to and make music, while helping him or her manage pain, improve sleep and decrease anxiety. A research study centered on the Making Connections Through Music program, developed by the Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging, also showed that musical programs for individuals with dementia can increase social interaction, improve mood and contribute to an overall sense of belonging.

Your loved one could also get involved in music by:

· Practicing an instrument he or she has always liked to play, or picking up a new one
· Joining a choir, band or orchestra
· Being part of a music group at a local senior center
· Studying with a vocal coach or singing along to to old albums or online music at home
· Whistling and humming

4. Making Art

As with musical expression, many older adults find art making to be therapeutic, and studies show that it can enhance cognitive function, reduce depression and soothe anxiety (Castora-Binkley, M., Noelker, L., Prohaska, T., & Satariano, W. (2010). Impact of arts participation on health outcomes for older adults. (Journal of Aging, Humanities, and the Arts, 4(4), 352-367). Your loved one can pick from an array of ways to create art. Something basic, like finger painting, may be a good choice for someone with no experience, while oil painting or sculpting may be better for a person with some art background. You could encourage your loved one to experiment with:

· Coloring books
· Clay sculpting
· Crafts such as weaving, jewelry making and pottery
· Sketching with colored pencils or chalk
· Mixed media collages
· Watercolor painting
· Pressed flower art
· Scrapbooking

There are endless ways for older adults to get creative. For more ideas and information, you can search for lessons online, or reach out to local senior and community centers and libraries to explore their offerings. You may also want to check into online locators for music and art therapists.

The important to thing is to give your loved one as much support as possible since creativity is cause for celebration at any age!

4 Faith-Based Tips for Overcoming Fear and Stress

Posted on March 11, 2026March 12, 2026 by Shelby Spear

Everyone stresses out sometimes. A few years ago, my stress became intolerable. I realized I needed a spiritual solution for a problem I could no longer manage on my own.

I’ve always been a high-stress person. I was sexually abused as a child, and that trauma affected my whole life. My fears take the form of a type A personality. I plan. I’m hypervigilant. I want everything safe, under control.

Imagine how I felt when a mass shooting occurred at my kids’ school in 2012. My kids survived, but it was as if all my worst fears had come true. I doubled down on my protective instincts. Worried about absolutely everything.

Somehow I managed until four years ago. By then, all three of our kids were out of the house. My oldest son, Johnny, had graduated from college. His younger brother, Kyle, was a senior at Ohio University.

It was my daughter, Kahrin, who put me over the edge. She was in college and planned to spend part of her summer on a mission trip to Ecuador, followed by a six-week study-abroad program in Spain.

The thought of Kahrin jetting off by herself filled me with worry and anxiety. I kept envisioning worst-case scenarios. Often, when I talked to Kahrin and her brothers, I nitpicked their plans and made them promise over and over they’d stay safe.

Finally all three kids called me on it. “Mom, your fear is making us worried,” they said. “We need to keep living our lives.”

They were right. My fear-based thinking was holding them back. And me. I even developed a mysterious allergy to dairy products. We traveled to Spain to visit Kahrin, and I felt sick every time I ate gelato.

When we got home, I knew I had to do something. Trying to pray away my worries wasn’t working. It was only adding more stress because I blamed myself for not having enough faith.

One day, while praying, I remembered a line from Matthew 5:7, The Message translation, one of my favorites. It says: “You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.”

Your inside world. That’s where my problem was. I did a deep dive into understanding my emotions, the mind-body connection and the science behind how stress affects health. Science backs up what Jesus says. Your mind and heart have a huge effect on your mental, emotional, spiritual and even physical well-being.

One study I read really jumped out at me. Researchers in 1995 found that just five minutes of anger suppresses one of the body’s primary immune responses for up to five hours. My constant state of stress was taking a huge toll on my body.

I needed to act. I did more research and developed a plan that changed my life. Here are a few things I learned. I hope they help you too.

1. Start with self-awareness

Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians instructs us to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” Great advice. But how can we do that when we have thousands of thoughts a day and a huge percentage of them are negative?

My mind was a mess of fears, worries, plans, regrets. Our bodies respond to stress the same way whether the threat is real or imagined. I had to make some changes.

I began waking up early to meditate, what Christians call contemplative prayer. I sat silently in God’s presence and simply observed my thoughts and emotions without judgment. I became aware of being aware.

Gradually I developed the ability to question each stressful thought as it came: “Is the story I’m telling leading me toward or away from inner peace? Is it even true? Does it help me love and serve others?”

Jesus promises us peace “greater than the human mind can understand.” Every stressful thought I clung to was leading me away from that.

I let go of those thoughts. Literally loosened my grip and surrendered them to Christ. To remind me to keep up the habit, I made the verse from Corinthians the screen background on my phone.

2. Become like a child

Jesus tells us in Matthew, “Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Children live in the present and appreciate the beauty and wonder of God’s creation. They are trusting, loving and nonjudgmental.

I was too often caught in the trap of past regrets and future worries. To help me become more childlike, I chose to do things that I knew would keep me living in the moment, enjoying what I already had instead of fearing what might happen.

I started playing cards and doing puzzles with my kids when they visited. I taught myself to play the piano. I took more walks and hikes, paying attention to the details of beautiful trees and flowers and taking photos.

My perspective shifted. Before, I had been focused on potential risk and danger. Now I was more in tune with the beauty all around me.

Keeping my focus on the here and now helps me feel that God is close. As close to me as this present moment. Fear gives way to love in the presence of God.

3. Breathe

The biblical creation story says that God brought humans into being by breathing life into us. Our breath is a physical embodiment of our soul.

When I’m stressed, my breath becomes rapid and shallow. It’s a fight-or-flight response that takes a huge toll on my mental and physical health. To calm down, I needed to change how I breathe.

Skeptical? Try this experiment. Take a series of short, rapid breaths. Do you feel calm, at peace? Now do the opposite. Count to four slowly as you breathe in. Pause for four beats without exhaling or inhaling. Count to four as you exhale. Pause for another four. Do that 10 times. How do you feel now? More relaxed, right?

Do you feel a stress attack coming on? Try a few minutes of slow breathing. Breath work also helps calm you for prayer.

It’s a lot easier to talk to God—and hear what he says—when your mind isn’t anxious and noisy.

4. Create a “to-be” list

In Matthew, Jesus says, “First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean too.” Getting your mind and heart in order is what enables you to effect change in the outside world.

When I was stressed, my whole focus turned outward. I feared the worst and tried to prevent danger by controlling the world around me. Being a control freak felt like a source of power. Really, I was letting my fears control me.

One of the most common sentences in Scripture is “Do not be afraid.” A peaceful heart is unafraid because it trusts God to be there, no matter what.

I discovered that a good way to cultivate peace in my heart was to create a “to-be” list. Alongside my to-do list, I made a list of inner qualities I wanted to improve, such as love, kindness, patience, gratitude.

I now measure the success of my day not by the number of tasks I complete but by how I do them. Whatever I do, I look for ways to be kind and loving. I try to be joyful and patient. I am grateful for my blessings.

You would think easing up on my inner taskmaster would make me feel less effective.

It’s the opposite. I make progress on my goals every day. I am slowly becoming someone who trusts God enough to give him my fears so I can focus on loving myself and others well. I am becoming someone new.

I still get stressed. I still worry about my kids. I’ll never completely forget the trauma of my childhood.

But I am nothing like the scared mom who nearly had a breakdown as her adult daughter traveled abroad.

I’m calmer. More loving. More patient. More grateful.

Oh, and that dairy allergy? Gone.

For more inspiring stories, subscribe to Guideposts magazine.

4 Easy Ways to Feel More Empowered

Posted on March 11, 2026March 12, 2026 by Holly Lebowitz Rossi

With large, global stressors continuing to make their energy-draining presence known, many of us might be struggling with feelings of helplessness. Positive, resilience-based psychology offers resources to face this feeling and nudge us toward empowerment. Which of these tips can reorient and uplift you today?

1) Use Your Body

Experts in trauma recommend “embodied practices” as part of the healing process. Moving in intentional ways, whether through cardiovascular exercise or mindful practices like yoga, empowers people by grounding them in their bodies rather than leaving them feeling trapped in overactive minds.

When you are feeling disconnected and helpless, try taking some deep, focused breaths. Do a “body scan” in which you pay attention to each part of your body and notice how it feels or do some other movement that can help empower you by doing what trauma expert Bessel van der Kolk calls “befriending the sensations in your body.”

2) Focus on Inner Strengths and Resources

“We all have resources within us, such as memories of comfort and safety, experiences of being powerful and courageous,” writes Laurel Parnell, a trauma specialist and the author of Tapping In.

“These memories, qualities and images are stored in our body-mind network and can be accessed, activated and strengthened.” Take a moment to identify some of your strengths and inner resources. Focus on them next time you are feeling stressed or helpless.

3) Start and Finish Something (Anything)

At certain moments during the coronavirus closure, I have confronted a sense of helplessness by finding something very small to do—and then doing it. It is important that the task be small, like emptying the sink of a few dishes, sorting through one stack of t-shirts or reading one short chapter of a book. It isn’t important what the “accomplishment” is, the goal is to experience any amount of the positive, empowering feeling of having completed a task.

4) Be Decisive

Personal empowerment is sometimes a matter of decisiveness. Positive people are generally thoughtful and methodical in considering different choices at any given moment, but Lucy Hone, the author of Resilient Grieving, recently told The New York Times that it is empowering to focus on one simple question with each decision we make: “Is this helping me or harming me?” Narrowing the field of decision-making can transform helpless passivity into positive, active empowerment.

3 Ways to Take a Vacation from Your Problems

Posted on March 11, 2026March 12, 2026 by Holly Lebowitz Rossi

One of my favorite summer movies is the 1991 comedy, What About Bob? Bill Murray plays a psychiatry patient, Bob Wiley, who follows his therapist, played by Richard Dreyfuss, on vacation to Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire. Bob heads north because he is afraid to be without the support of his frequent therapy sessions.

Hearing Bob’s anxieties, the doctor’s advice is pat but profound—while I’m away, why don’t you take a vacation from your problems?

Of course, Bob takes the suggestion hilariously seriously, choosing to vacate his problems in the doctor’s own backyard. But that phrase—“take a vacation from your problems”—has always resonated with me, all comedy aside.

There’s a fine line between living in denial of our problems and taking a break from being weighed down by them. In denial, we pretend there’s nothing wrong, nothing going on that we need to solve, no challenges to our inner peace and happiness.

But when we “take a vacation from our problems,” we acknowledge and own our challenges while choosing to step away from them for a period of time. Problems, however you define them in your life, can occupy your thoughts to an unhelpful degree, leading you to spiral into worried rumination.

And even the best problem-solvers among us can’t be wrestling issues to the ground all day, every day. Which is why during summer vacation season, I highly recommend scheduling a vacation from your biggest challenges.

Here’s what such a “vacation” looks like to me:

1. It’s Short but Sweet

Few of us can afford to walk away from, for example, a financial stress for a month or even a week. But setting a boundary of a 24-hour period when you are not chasing a solution to your problem can help refresh you for the decisions ahead.

2. It’s Non-Negotiable

If a friend tempts you to discuss your problem, if an article pops up on your social media feed or if a worried thought floats into your mind, you need to be firm, just as you (hopefully) would be if the boss called during a physical vacation: “Sorry, I can’t talk about this right now. I’ll touch base when I’m back from vacation!”

3. It’s Purposeful

At the end of your scheduled problem-vacation, take some time to reflect on what the space has shown you about the problem. Perhaps it’s not actually as big and scary as you thought. Maybe a new approach or solution comes to your mind. Or maybe you just feel more rested and ready to face it anew.

Would you consider taking a vacation from your problems? What would that look like for you?

3 Ways to Stand Strong When Storms of Life Attack

Posted on March 11, 2026March 12, 2026 by Holly Lebowitz Rossi

Not long ago, I sat outside on a sunny but breezy afternoon, watching a bird. At first, I thought the bird was struggling against the wind, working extra hard to get back home to its food source or just to anywhere safe. But after observing for a few minutes, I realized it was interacting with the wind, not being bullied by it. It was being carried—maybe not in the direction it had planned to travel, but in a supported, energetic way.

This struck me as a beautiful metaphor for positive living.

Autumn breezes are different from spring or summer winds. There’s a bite to an October gust, a hint of impending chill, a rustling sound as drying leaves swirl in the wind. Fall air is crisp—clean but edgy.

Similarly, life blows and flurries sometimes. Challenges crop up as organically as a breeze. And if we see a gust coming at all, we might worry it will sweep us away from our foundation, from our place on the solid ground before we can make a plan to handle it.

But like the bird, we can feel carried and held by the winds of life, instead of battered by them. How? Try to cultivate these three qualities within yourself and see how they can hold you aloft in gusty times:

1) Confidence in the strength you have to hold yourself steady in the face of a squall. Sometimes all you have to do is recognize the power you already possess to stand your ground against a challenge that threatens to push you over.

2) Patience with the time it takes to reach the goals or destinations you have in mind for yourself. Recognize and accept that the prevailing winds might require a little more time to navigate than you had originally planned. Take your time, and let the breeze carry you as it will.

3) Flexibility with your life plan. Not to put too fine a point on it, but sometimes you have to see which way the wind is blowing and adjust course. Letting go of one path can be disappointing, but if you let the breeze wash over you, it might gently guide you in a new, more positive direction.

What qualities help you stay strong when life gives you a blustery day?

3 Ways to Seek God’s Favor

Posted on March 11, 2026March 12, 2026 by Michelle Medlock Adams

Last week, I was privileged to teach at the Florida Christian Writers Conference (FCWC) once again. It was my third year on the faculty, and each year I make great new friends and reconnect with some of my favorite people in the industry.

This year, I taught a class called, “The World of Writing for Children.” During the first session, one student asked, “I’ve heard that the children’s picture book market is the most difficult to break into…are there any tricks to getting your manuscript into the hands of editors?”

It was a valid question.

After sharing that it’s important to attend writers’ conferences such as the FCWC and the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI) workshops so you can meet with editors face-to-face and pitch your books in person, I proceeded to share my slush pile success story.

(Yes, some authors actually make it through the massive mound of manuscripts that arrive via snail mail and live to tell about it!)

I sent my manuscript for “Conversations on the Ark” to Ideals Children’s Books without having met any of its editors. I simply liked this company’s books, so I found the submissions guidelines in my “Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market” and sent it off–but not before praying over it.

I placed my hands on top of my manuscript, and I prayed:

Father, I thank You for calling me to write for children. I pray that this manuscript arrives safely and ends up in the right editor’s hands at the right time.

I thank You, Lord, that Your Word says that You’ve crowned me with favor, and I believe I am walking in that favor today and every day. I give You all the glory and honor. In the Mighty Name of Your Son, Jesus, Amen.

After sharing this story and prayer with the class, I could tell not every one in the room agreed with praying favor over a manuscript before submitting it.

“You asked if there were any tricks to getting a manuscript into an editor’s hands, right?” I said.

“Well, I don’t have any tricks. I simply do all that I know to do–work on my craft, write the best story I can, find the best publisher for that particular story, and most importantly, pray for the Lord’s supernatural favor that is promised to us as His children.”

I always pray favor over every piece of writing that I submit for publication. In fact, I pray favor over every aspect of my life. It’s not a formula; it’s simply putting God’s Word to work in my life.

It works because God’s Word never returns empty. And, it’ll work for you, too, because God is no respecter of persons.

With that in mind, here are three ways you can begin walking in the Favor of God–the F.O.G.

1) Draw near to God for favor and success.
Matthew 6:33 says, “Seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

It’s important to let your love and devotion be first and above all else unto the Lord. In other words, you don’t seek after favor. You seek after the Favor Giver–make sense?

Live to be a blessing to others and the blessing will come to you. You can’t out-give or out-bless God. Confess: “Today I will be a blessing to the Lord. Today I will be a blessing to others.”

2) Keep a positive outlook.
Don’t allow tough situations to determine your future. Keep a positive outlook. Expect good things to happen! God can give you favor–even when you’ve been WAY off in the past.

Think about David in the Bible. He wasn’t exactly a model citizen. He slept with another man’s wife and impregnated her, and then to cover his tracks, he had that man put on the front lines of battle so he would be killed (2 Samuel 11).

Yet God called David a man after His own heart (1 Samuel 13:14) and promoted him to king (2 Samuel 5:1-5) and even allowed Jesus to be from his bloodline (John 7:42). Now that’s favor!

3) Praise God for the favor operating in your life.
Praise will change the atmosphere! Begin praising God for His favor in even the smallest situations and give Him credit.

So when your daughter gets the teacher you were hoping for, praise God for His favor working in your family’s life. And, never apologize or downplay His favor and blessings in your life. Don’t be afraid to brag on God.

When you let success live in your spirit, then God will do what you once considered impossible, and you’ll experience the F.O.G. every single day.

To learn more about the favor of God, read this book, “Favor the Road To Success: How to Receive Special Favor with God and People” by Bob Buess. It made a big impact on my life. I hope it will on yours, too.

3 Ways to Pray for Someone in Recovery

Posted on March 11, 2026March 12, 2026 by Rick Hamlin

Over the years I’ve seen more than one loved one enter rehab and deal with the challenges of recovering from alcohol addiction and drug addiction. Even now as I write this, my wife and I are praying for a loved one who is in a really intense, tough three-month rehab program. It got me thinking: how do you pray for someone in recovery? Here are three things I remember when I pray for my loved ones in recovery:

1) You’re not in charge.

This is a hard one to remember. When someone you love is slipping down a rabbit hole you want desperately to rescue them. You want to fix them. You want to do everything to help. But as they’re learning how to trust their higher power, we loved ones must do the same. Recovery is something that can only happen with God’s help. It’s not us.

That also means trusting the professionals. Not engaging in any tit-for-tat. Not allowing yourself to be manipulated. Practice a response of “Gosh, have you asked your counselor about that?” or “your sponsor” or “the person who’s running the program?”

2) Let helplessness help you pray.

Make helplessness your ally. It is your friend. It is why you can throw all your clever ideas away—all your perfect plans to fix things—and just trust. If you’re at all like me, you always want to tell God just how He should help and what should be done and, in fact, what kind of time line would work best. Helplessness can’t do that. Helplessness will leave you with the power of silence.

Helplessness will leave you with the power of silence.

3) Be in touch.

Depending on the program, you should be able to write your loved one or possibly visit on special days. I remember seeing a loved one in rehab on a family day and feeling the power of recovery in that room. The relief family members had at seeing someone sober and clean. The opportunity to begin mending fences. The chance for honesty. The Spirit seemed to be at work.

You can also send a letter or a card. The old-fashioned way. Snail mail. We’re so used to texts and emails I find it a relief to take my pen to paper, telling someone I’m praying for them and then putting it in the mail. When you let someone know you’re praying for them, you are acknowledging a powerful force. You are becoming the “two or more” that Jesus talked about.

Recovery is a chance to reset the dial. To reembrace hope. This is a time of necessary change for both you and your loved one. Take it one day at a time in prayer.

3 Ways to Grow from Difficulties

Posted on March 11, 2026March 12, 2026 by Therese Borchard

“The worst thing that could ever happen would be for everything to go right,” writes Father Jacques Philippe in his book Interior Freedom, “for that would be the end of our growth.” Trials and difficulties do one of two things: render us bitter and childish or make us wiser and kinder. Failures and catastrophes shave off the protective, outer layer of ourselves, making us more vulnerable and sensitive. We can hide or shut down in fear, closing ourselves off from the world. Or we can allow the pain to open us in new ways, to pave the way to a fresh wisdom and resilience.

The second route is harder, of course. It requires that we risk further ache, humiliation, and rejection to live courageously in faith, hope, and love. It means that we put all of our trust in God and believe that even in the most unfavorable of circumstances, God can make good things happen.

When Wrong Becomes Right

In his book, Falling Upward, Franciscan priest Richard Rohr says, “We grow much more by doing it wrong than by doing it right.” It is important to contribute our skills and gifts in appropriate ways, and to use our unique talents in the pursuit of goodness, truth, and beauty. However, we put ourselves at risk for an identity crisis when we depend on our professional success or our material acquisitions or our appearance – anything other than God — to make us feel secure. We are bound to be disappointed if we rely too much on what wecan do, versus what God can do in us.

The Trappist monk Thomas Merton warns, “We may spend our whole life climbing the ladder of success, only to find when we get to the top that our ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.”

Trials, setbacks, and humiliations re-establish God as our ultimate source of identity. They allow us to look at our life trajectory, our vision, our values and make sure that we aren’t leaning against the wall of accolades, materialism, fame, success, achievement, or another kind of false security. Most setbacks force us to do the first three steps of any 12-step program: declare powerlessness and decide to trust God with all things, big and small.

There is freedom to be gained by establishing our identity in God and trusting wholeheartedly in His mercy. Even in the ugliest of circumstances, we know that a loving God is at the helm, directing us toward ultimate fulfillment and peace. Fr. Philippe writes, “If we have learned to let this inner space of freedom unfold, then even though many things may well cause us to suffer, nothing will really be able to oppress us or crush us.”

The Way of the Wound

One evening a few years ago during a severe depressive episode, I knelt in church and begged God to take away my panic and anxiety. Hardly a coincidence, one of the readings was Paul’s letter to the Corinthians about the thorn in his flesh. Three times Paul pleaded with God to take it from him, but the Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Paul goes on to write that for Christ’s sake, “I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).

Rohr says this spirituality of imperfection, this principle of “going down to go up” is often called “the way of the wound.” The books of the Old Testament present a God that is on the side of the downtrodden. Jesus declares repeatedly throughout the gospels that the last shall be first. The Beatitudes state, “Blest are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of God.” St. Francis of Assisi extols the way of poverty.

St. Therese of Lisieux espouses a “little way” or small actions with great love. In one of her letters to her sister Celine, she writes: “In times of aridity when I am incapable of praying, of practicing virtue, I seek little opportunities, mere trifles, to give pleasure to Jesus; for instance a smile, a pleasant word when inclined to be silent and to show weariness….Even though this fire of love might seem extinct I would still throw little straws upon the embers and I am certain it would rekindle.”

Falling into Something

Falling is never comfortable. We lose our balance. We feel out of control. Sometimes we get hurt. During the most frightening times of my life, when I am without direction or vision, I have imagined myself falling back into the arms of Jesus, as if He is my buddy at Girl Scouts during a trust fall.

All falls are trust falls.

Rohr says, “It takes a foundational trust to fall or to fail – and not to fall apart. Faith alone holds you while you stand waiting and hoping and trusting. Then, and only then, will deeper love happen.” Great love, he asserts, is always a discovery, a surprise, a falling “into something” much bigger and deeper that is beyond us. It’s “transrational,” larger than rational that can be difficult to comprehend.

When we die to ourselves, when a misfortune has damaged our ego, we give birth to our real selves. Impoverishment gives us new eyes to see our unique value apart from what we do or produce or accomplish. Only when our superficiality is shed by some painful circumstance can we begin to see ourselves for what we are: children of God.

I hope I’m done growing for a while. But I acknowledge that each of my difficulties over the course of my life has made me kinder, wiser, and more dependent on God. This last time I had to pick up my ladder and lean it against a different wall, one that is much more secure. The result is more peace, even in the midst of pain.

3 Ways to Find Spiritual Balance in the New Year

Posted on March 11, 2026March 12, 2026 by Holly Lebowitz Rossi

When I think about balance, I don’t think about a tightrope or balance beam—I think about a swing set. For this playground classic to be any fun, it has to be moving forward and then back, balanced in a way that is somehow both exhilarating and calming at the same time. In the physical act of swinging in a smooth arc, I see balance in motion.

As the year dawns, we typically find ourselves having swung hard and high, having launched our energies into navigating the busy holiday season. Now, in the quiet of January, we might feel ourselves yearning to swing back, to recover and replenish our reserves. But we don’t want to stop moving in order to reset. Spiritual balance is like physical balance: it’s something we have to pursue, to keep moving toward—to inhabit, seek out, and find within ourselves.

These three approaches to spiritual balance keep me swinging gently and joyfully throughout the year.

1) Take Your Body with You for Spiritual Balance

Scientists have studied how “embodied practice” like yoga, walking, and other exercise are of particular benefit to our overall well-being because we bring our whole selves to the activities. Moving with intention, self-compassion, and softness is not only physically healthy, it’s nourishing to your spirit, bringing deep, abstract prayers and practices into the physical plane of your daily life.

2) Step Outdoors for Spiritual Balance

Even if it’s cold outside, time in the outdoors is a refreshing experience for your spirit. Whether you’re taking in a majestic scenic vista, or pausing to observe a street tree persevering in the winter wind, spending time in nature is an invitation to reflect on the vastness of the world, and your place in it. Your spiritual mind will attune to the expansiveness of life, and perhaps you will open up to a new direction for your day in the process.

3) Let Go of What You Can for Spiritual Balance

Balance comes when we stop reaching past our reasonable grasp. Leaning too far forward—or back—leaves us frustrated, and at risk of falling. To achieve and sustain spiritual balance, a crucial skill is to let go. Release goals that are no longer priorities, relationships that aren’t serving your happiness, and activities that don’t affirm your worth and purpose. As you gently sway back and forth on the swing of a new year, feel what you’re leaving behind, even as you steady yourself on the path toward peace and joy.

What does spiritual balance look and feel like to you?

3 Ways to Find Peace in the Bible

Posted on March 11, 2026March 12, 2026 by Norman Vincent Peale

We could all use more peace—in our own lives, in our relationships with others, in our dealings with other nations. But how do we find such peace? Look to the Bible for answers.

Here are three practical aspects of peace that the Bible offers.

1. Peace of Mind. Just as planted seed is bound to grow, so the things of God implanted within our spirits will bring forth God’s harvest of peace and joy and many other good things. “ …the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith…” (Galatians 5:22).

I once met a man who had this statement printed on the back of his business card:

“Keep your heart free from hate, your mind from worry. Live simply; expect little; give much; Fill your heart with love; scatter sunshine. Forget self. Think of others, and do as you would be done by. Try it for one week—you will be surprised.” That man knew the peace of God. You will feel it more deeply yourself if you will write those words on your own card, read them every day, and put them into practice.

2. Peace with Others. God does not give us His peace to hoard in our hearts until it grows stale. As with all His gifts, peace is meant to be shared. And only as we share it, do we truly have it. God’s call for us to put His peace into practice in our association with others is summed up in Roman 12:18: “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.” What a wonderful formula for peace!

If someone says something unkind about you, don’t brood about it. Ask yourself if there is any truth in it. If there is, be thankful for the criticism. Then pray for your critic and do him or her an act of kindness. And you will feel better, and be better, for it.

3. Peace on Earth. While the peace that God promises is primarily an inner blessing, it is meant to be spread around the world. The Bible states that war will end eventually and everyone will live without fear of violence or disaster (Isaiah 32:17).

Let us pray that nations will not be torn apart, but will learn to live in harmony and righteousness as foretold by the prophets of the Bible.

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3 Ways to Cultivate Joy as a Perfectionist

Posted on March 11, 2026March 12, 2026 by Colleen Carroll Campbell

Are impossible expectations stealing your joy? Do you spend your days comparing, complaining and worrying you’ll never be enough for anyone—even God?

If so, you may suffer from spiritual perfectionism, a fixation on flawlessness rooted in the belief that we can earn God’s love. It drives a toxic cycle of pride, sin, shame, blame and despair that dulls our faith and leads us to view others through the same hypercritical lens we think God is using to view us.

The good news: We’re not the first to fight this battle. Countless believers fought it before us, even canonized saints. And one of their best weapons was joy. From Paul of Tarsus to Benedict of Nursia and Francis of Assisi, the recovering perfectionist saints all took seriously those words from Scripture, “the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Neh 8:10). Here are three lessons they taught me about cultivating joy in daily life:

1. Don’t compare and despair: Our social media age tempts us constantly to measure ourselves by the flawless personas others project online. Don’t take the bait. Those shiny, happy images we see are only one carefully curated sliver of reality, not the full picture. And while we’re gawking at someone else’s callings and blessings, we’re missing our own. Francis of Assisi cautioned his followers not to compare themselves to anyone, even him: “I have done what was mine to do. May Christ teach you what is yours.” It was good advice in his day; it’s still good in ours.

2. Make time for joy. There’s a saying attributed to Corrie Ten Boom: If the devil can’t make us bad, he makes us busy. So many of us today are crazy busy, wearing ourselves out doing all those good works we believe are God’s will for us. But what if an equally important part of God’s will—a bigger part than most of us perfectionists realize—is that we make time each day for joy? Scripture commands us to “rejoice in the Lord” even in barren times (Hab. 3:18) and “rejoice and be glad” in His gifts (Ps. 118:24). For saint Teresa of Ávila, following that directive looked like dancing on the tables to cheer up long-faced nuns. For me, it looks like blowing off my to-do list to ride bikes with my kids or scheduling an impromptu midweek date night with my husband. If joy is “the serious business of heaven,” as C.S. Lewis said, then cultivating it needs to be our business, too.

3. Get offline and outside: It’s easier to make time for joy and avoid the comparison trap when we’re not living in a virtual world. Omnipresent screens may be a new phenomenon, but even saints from centuries past struggled with distraction. To refresh their souls and renew their focus, most of them made time each day for prayer and recreation, for reconnecting with God in silence and in the beauty of His creation. Recovering perfectionist saint Thérèse of Lisieux explained some of her most memorable spiritual lessons using truths she encountered in nature. Francis of Assisi based his famous “Canticle of the Sun” on his vision of nature as a love poem written for each of us, one in which every marvel we see shouts the Creator’s goodness. Imagine what the world would have missed had these people of strong faith spent all their time distracted by screens, oblivious to God’s wonders around them—and within them.

Cultivating joy is the work of a lifetime and can bring peace to the hearts of recovering perfectionists like me. Even better, it prepares us for the perfect joy of that encounter with God at life’s end, when “your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” (John 16: 22).

3 Ways Positive Thinking Can Help Relationships Grow

Posted on March 11, 2026March 12, 2026 by Holly Lebowitz Rossi

Relationships are like plants. Rooted in the fertile soil of common interests, shared experiences and emotional connection, they grow over time, reaching sunward even when the weather brings either storms or drought.

Many of us talk to our plants, coaxing them kindly and lovingly toward fruitfulness, lush growth and long life. What would it look like to treat our relationships—friendships, professional colleagues, family relations and love partners alike—with similar positive care and attention? After all, some research shows that talking to our plants actually helps them thrive and grow!

These three aspects of positive psychology offer a foundation for tending to your garden of relationships:

1) Practice Good Relationship Hygiene

The psychologists Suzann Pileggi Pawelski and James Pawelski write in their book Happy Together: Using the Science of Positive Psychology to Build Love that Lasts that relationships need regular “workouts” to thrive. As consistent watering, fertilizing and weeding make for a healthy garden, regular time together, clear communication and positive encouragement forge vibrant relationships. “The good news is that with time and practice, it gets easier because you’re building your relational ‘muscles,’ which get stronger and more flexible over time,” they said in an interview with Brides magazine.

2) Celebrate the Little Moments

In the garden, you might do a little jig over a pea harvest that yielded a bowlful more than you picked last year. Likewise in relationships, it’s the small achievements, the little moments of joy and growth that are wonderful celebrating in each other. Miriam Kirmayer, a therapist and friendship researcher, recently told the New York Times, “Remembering obviously big life events—things like birthdays are a given—but also maybe smaller things like: They had a doctor’s appointment coming up or you know they were going to have a stressful day at work and kind of checking in to see how it went. Even a quick text message can go a long way.”

3) Focus on Each Other’s Strengths

Positive thinkers are skilled at recognizing the best in others, rather than dwelling on those things our friends, family members, or partners struggle with. Honestly assessing someone’s strengths—and arranging your time together in a way that allows those strengths to shine—makes for a mutually beneficial relationship. After all, you wouldn’t plant a tropical garden in northern Maine and expect it to thrive. Why would you invite a friend who loves books and movies but hates the gym to join you in training for a marathon?

How do you use positive thinking to cultivate healthy, meaningful relationships?