This post is about enjoying your present life: not perfecting it, and definitely not missing out on it while awaiting heaven or some other afterlife.

A friend one day told me he admired my courage. After I laughed and thanked him for the compliment, I came up with a saying that, whether I’m the first to coin the phrase or not, has worked for me many times in the past: “courageously fearful.”

At one time or another, all of us have worn other people’s beliefs and personalities. Being ourselves is so much more demanding than attempting to become someone else.

Professional training for therapists working with religious or spiritual issues doesn’t really exist and there are no requirements, at least for psychologists.

THE BIBLE SAYS: IS IT OK TO DRINK ALCOHOL? Below are the Scriptures that many people are conflicted about.

With spiritual and religious abuse, the social context is completely different from any other recovery situation. In the case of religious abuse, a person is often pressured by family and church members to return to the church, is reminded in many ways that they are to blame for their suffering and is readily condemned. In essence, they are forced to return to the perpetrator of their abuse.