I wish that I could say that I am always focused on the task at hand, that I am always paying attention to what is important, etc. The truth of the matter is that 80% of the time, I am watching some sort of movie in my head and not truly being present even though it totally seems like I am.

Thomas was a 22-year-old Hispanic-American male born and raised in New York. He entered the room and sat on the edge of the most comfortable seat in the space. He explained that it was his first time seeking a therapist. I noticed his breathing seemed a bit heavy and his leg was shaking.

One of the steps of being a Hard as Nails missionary is FFS (Formation, Follow-Up, and Service). Just like all four of the other steps, it is essential to being a missionary.

Leadership is not about being loud. It is not about being persuasive. It is not about being flashy. It is about living in such a way that people around you desire to live the same.

Why can't I find happiness in my life? Why must I be depressed, angry, and anxious? These are questions that come into our minds all the time, but everyone keeps saying "I want happiness, but I can't find it." The thing is happiness is actually a by-product of Joy.

Since I was an early adolescent, my mind automatically compared spewed harsh internal talk and left me feeling hopeless, consumed and totally hating the way I looked.

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He wanted to provide a place for every single player in the game to hit the ball, and in little league that is all that a 7-year-old kid needs.

Add an Excerpt of the Blog here (Make it alluring, something that would make you want to read it)

At first, I didn’t believe it when I said “Jesus, I trust in You,” but I desired to trust in Him. All I had left within me was a desire to grow closer to Him. Watching Sunday Mass online made me miss going, something which I had only tolerated in the previous months.

Now don’t run away. I know sharing your greatest struggle is scary but hear me out for a second. Before you say no and run, let’s think about why you share your story. You don’t share it for you, you share to help someone suffering.

Let me tell you, dear reader, this is crap. I did not need a guy in my life, I didn't need a relationship, and I didn't need those toxic people I surrounded myself with. And what I'm trying to do here is tell you neither do you. You are complete on your own. You are fulfilled without another person

Let me be clear: Divorce was never, ever an option for my husband and me, nor was it even in our lexicon. But there was a time in our marriage when tensions were high, feelings of affection were low, and things had generally broken down. Communication was terrible, and we had ceased assuming the good intent of the other. For my part, I had lost respect for my husband, whom I felt was not "a real man" (gosh, it's hard to type those words!).

I immediately started crying and could not stop. This was the first time where I recognized someone else in the world has/had a parent with cancer. This was the first time I felt not alone.

A thought occurred to me, to what end? Why was I actually doing all these things? I saw how fast I had gone from my wrestling season being over right into trying to achieve the next thing. If I couldn’t be perfect in that area, I might as well go be perfect somewhere else right? For the first time, I realized that there was no satisfaction in any of those things I had been trying so hard to achieve. I finally got everything I wanted. Yet still, there was something lacking in me.

was a corpse when I first came to Hard as Nails. He then added that I had gained JOY since being here. The staff and my fellow teammates could see a change in me that had taken place in the past six to seven months. They saw that I had joy.

Not long after that I woke up with severe cramping. My husband had already left for work and I was completely alone. The cramping would come and go, and it would feel like the pain experienced during childbirth. There is nothing in the world that will ever compare to that physical torture, but the mental pain of knowing what was happening and the spiritual pain of feeling like God had abandoned me was crushing.

My math teacher was a gorgeous, smart, tall woman. She was everything I wanted to be. Looking back, I realized I didn’t desire to be like her because of her looks or skills; it was her hope and how she knew she was loved; it was a hope I didn’t have and a love I thought I didn’t deserve.

Growing up seemed inevitable, filled with hardships and failures, but In that moment I was reminded that God sees me, takes care of me, and remembers the desires of my heart…

Suddenly my brain felt different – I was convinced I had run someone over. I remember looking in my mirror and seeing nothing but darkness behind me. I arrived home and felt like I had left my body and entered into a new, worse, version of it. That was the first time I can remember experiencing OCD...