I am a big fan of the television series Fawlty Towers. The series is set in a small hotel in England. The hotel’s owner, Basil, is played by John Cleese. Basil is self-centered, he cannot read the mindset of others, and is prone to outburst of anger that are hilarious...

I got on the bus to the parking lot at Denver Airport. It felt crowded and a woman on crutches got on the bus. Being a gentleman, I stood up and offered her my seat. She said: “thank you, this is so kind you.” And when she sat down, she continued by saying “by the...

Do you recognize the experience that you are being challenged in some way, and that in response you become unreasonable, you might be angry and say things that you later regret? It can feel as if an alien force within takes control. Maybe I am the only person who gets...

Last summer my daughter Julia and I ran a 24-mile loop in Lost Creek Wilderness, Colorado. The spring had been wet. At one of the creeks that we crossed the water level was too high to use stepping stones to cross to the other side with dry feet. So we just stepped...

Spring has sprung in Colorado … with a snowstorm that dumped about 4 feet of snow. The snow was heavy and wet, and the snowplow could not clear our driveway. We live remotely and clearing 1200 feet of driveway by hand was not realistic. But we had food, the house was...

I was driving to work and felt stressed because I had a very busy schedule. But when I reflected on the day ahead, it dawned on me that most of the meetings of the day were with fun people addressing topics that were important to me. Yes, I was busy, but I became...

Sometimes we are in a routine and live our life in a repeatable pattern. As we do this, we may feel that something is not right. Perhaps we are not satisfied, or we are unfulfilled. Perhaps we have recurrent unpleasant experiences, such as conflicts, that we cannot...

I spotted a fat black spider sitting in chaotic web in the corner of our kitchen. In order to remove the animal, I picked up the spider with my hand and proudly showed it my lovely wife Idske. She dryly remarked “honey, you are holding a black widow.” I walked over to...

When my plane arrived at Amsterdam airport, the gate was occupied and our plane had to wait at the apron for the gate to open up. Once we deplaned and cleared immigration, we waited a long time for our luggage. My brother Janwillem picked me up, and I felt bad for him...

A sharp pain radiated into my leg, walking was extremely painful, and my walk had turned into a pathetic shuffle. I could not believe this happened to me, a fanatic runner who ran an ultra-marathon a year before! It is true that my daughter Julia told me for years to...