BeliefNet article: "10 self-destructive thoughts to eliminate to be happier"
The hosts work through a "10 self-destructive thoughts" listicle, riffing on each: (1) too much pride — pushing back that "no man is an island" doesn't mean letting every thought in, with a corporate-culture tangent; drugs and alcohol ("stop doing drugs and getting drunk," thirdhand smoke from the smoke shack); staying in bad relationships; frivolous spending ("Get behind me, Satan" / Starbucks); guilt — the one substantive stop, distinguishing a broken and contrite heart from arrogantly refusing to believe you are forgiven; repeating the same mistakes; instant gratification, which detonates into an extended ceiling-fan-replacement debate (stopping a running fan, apartment fans, the power bill) and a Long John Silver's / long-johns digression; second-guessing (a host is married to a chronic second-guesser — "it can be paralyzing"); restaurant-ordering comedy (the Szechuan chicken plate thrown away, the "chicken tenders across America" blog idea, Olive Garden's lack of tenders, ordering defensively so nobody steals food, the "bacon Grinch" story); and choosing the wrong friends ("any drive more than twenty five minutes is harvest," the third-generation-farmer song). Verdict: mostly thin, but the guilt entry lands.
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Dear LFTP 1: the burned-out friend
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Dear LFTP: husband's slot-machine addiction and a lost life's savings
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Dear LFTP: dessert-free days, discipline, and soul over dirt
- How do I stop eating dessert on days I deemed dessert-free?
A listener allowed dessert only Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and can't stop on the other days. The hosts land on the simplest answer: you just stop; Dan's Atkins bars,…
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Dear LFTP: AA member who witnessed a life-support withdrawal
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An AA member writes that while visiting a hospitalized fellow member with cookies, he arrived at the exact moment doctors withdrew life support and witnessed the family's raw grief; he now fears he intruded and caused harm.
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