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A long time ago, a therapist told me that if one person in a relationship over-efforts all the time, the other person will inevitably under-effort. I no longer stay in relationships where that dynamic is at play. But I haven’t grown out of the tendency to over-effort or overextend myself unsolicitedly. I’ve had a lot on my plate lately. As a result, I’ve had no choice but to ask people—friends, colleagues, family—to be a little more accommodating than usual. This hasn’t been a…

It’s customary for many of us to think about limitations as being impediments, barriers to overcome. This week, I spent a lot of time thinking about how limitations can be freeing. This was initially on my mind because, in my never-ending effort to heal my tortuous relationship with time management, I’m reading Oliver Burkeman’s Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals. I think it’s an insightful book, and I’m its target audience: a person who has trouble letting go of the fantasy that,…

Each Sunday, I publish a post that includes personal musings and articles on medicine, science, and the human experience. These are reminders that health and wellness extend far beyond what's on our plates.