The world would benefit from less writing—or, as George Orwell might have put it, less writing without purpose.

Eventually I narrowed my list of ultimate powers to four. Ponder each of them carefully, then ask yourself: Which power would I choose over the rest, and would I trust myself to wield that power responsibly?

At some point during my vacation, the switch was flipped. This moment was my Mental Breakthrough, and the resulting conviction was that my life deserves the benefit of a positive mindset.

Religion is at once the most divisive and the most essential of human characteristics. It is the gateway to philosophy and freedom, yet may also be a conduit for conformity and oppression.

Well, it happened again. Someone on a grand stage forgot the lyrics to our national anthem. This time Christina Aguilera was the unfortunate victim of circumstance, but the same thing has happened many times before.

There are three principles which I believe are vital for living a life that is satisfying: empathy, balance, and loyalty. I use the term satisfying to mean the various positives that one might use to describe such a life: successful, virtuous, self-actualized, finding inner peace.

It’s a useful thing for a man to know his limits. Once those boundaries are clear, life’s choices become much less of a gamble. But some folks, bless their hearts, just love a good risk. I should know.

I recently endured one of the most cathartic, heart-wrenching, emotionally taxing experiences in my entire life. I am of course referring to the 1999 World Series, wherein my beloved Atlanta Braves delivered one of the great pathetic performances in sports history.

Above all else, I try to make decisions based on logic and common sense. Many people corner themselves into doing things solely because most others do them or solely because most others don’t do them.

The last ten years have been retired. Time for a fresh start. If I could adequately describe the last couple of weeks, the theme would be new beginnings. And there is an odd but unmistakable parallel between these events and the overarching themes of my existence.