Emotional Health and Well-Being

As life continues to roll along, I'm realizing how important it is to trust my instincts with people - ignoring our gut feelings can lead to enormous heartache and wasted years.

It's a fact of life that some humans are intent on taking advantage of others.  They want you in their life only if they can consistently use you for their benefit with little to no thought of being a good friend in return.  And quite often, such people have enough interpersonal skills to fool most decent people into believing that they, too, are decent. Read more

I can't comment on other cultures, but I can attest that most Korean parents derive a lot of satisfaction from discussing how well their grown children are doing with their careers.

A while back, I stumbled upon the following priceless commercial that aired in Malaysia over the Chinese New Year holiday several years back. Most of it is painfully familiar to Asians of my generation and I'm guessing to many from other cultures as well. The closing scene never fails to leave me with a heavy lump in my chest. Read more

From Our Mailbag:

Hi Dr. Kim,

I read with interest your article on Jason and people like him who frequently take advantage of others. I've been struggling with this very issue for several years, wanting to be helpful to a friend and wanting to see the best in him, but with passage of time and countless disheartening "favors" I've realized that this person will not stop taking advantage of me until I put an end to it. Read more

What if we could see everyone's date of death in an imaginary bubble above their head?

How would knowing the day that people will die impact the way we see and treat them?

Take a moment to think about the people around you, those you know best.  Are you consistently treating them as you would if you knew the precise day when they will be gone?

What would you change about your approach to life if you knew your own date of expiration and that of those around you? Read more