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I recently heard the term “Success Sequence” which is a promising path that helps young adults avoid poverty. The term has been around for a few years and suggests a series of certain time-honored life events that lead to a more successful adult life. The most common sequence is to first obtain at least a high school education, then find a full-time job, followed by waiting until at least age 21 to marry and have children. Of American adults who follow this sequence, just 3 percent are in poverty. Flipped around, that means 97% are not poor by the time they reach their prime young adult years (ages 28-34). Now that is a great success rate! The Success Sequence is widely attributed to social policy experts, Ron Haskins and Isabel Sawhill of the Brookings Institution, who popularized the term in their 2009 book, Creating an Opportunity Society. The authors defined

Earlier this month, I suggested we must learn how to celebrate diversity every day, not just during Black History Month. Likewise, the above quote from the Greek philosopher, Epictetus encourages us to become devoted every day to making continual progress. For example, progress in learning how to engage in conversations and disagreements with grace and understanding, especially about sensitive topics such as racism, gender issues, politics, and yes, even our sports teams! Epictetus (c. 50 – 135 AD) taught Stoicism, a philosophy about developing self-control as a means of overcoming destructive emotions. Born into slavery in what is present-day western Turkey, he taught that external events are beyond our control and that we should accept whatever happens calmly and dispassionately. This philosophy doesn’t mean capitulating or surrendering your values and beliefs. It doesn’t mean becoming passive because we have no control over our lives. Conversely, it means we have a

Recently, the loveable Muppet character, Elmo posted a kind-hearted check-in this week on X (formerly known as Twitter). Unfortunately, with the thousands of replies and a few interventions from his “Sesame Street” pals later, it’s pretty clear that some people are not doing well. As CNN Health writer AJ Willingham posted here, the world is experiencing a grinding war in Ukraine. There is a potential famine in Gaza and a seemingly endless drumbeat of mass shootings in the US. Many young Americans are struggling with anxiety and depression as the country faces a well-documented mental health crisis. And in many places are in the middle of a cold, dark winter. So many people are not doing very well. But that shouldn’t keep us from asking.  The men’s group at our church occasionally does something called a “Guy Talk” which is a casual conversation about random topics. We’ve covered how we use