October 27, 2027- Biographical Pain is a term used by British Professor and gerontologist, Malcolm Johnson, to describe the psychological and spiritual suffering that older persons can experience when they reflect back on the experiences and personal interactions they had in their lives and they do not
have closure. This causes psychological distress. They recognize they have a limited time on
earth and before they die they fear they will not be able to have the closure they desire on many
things. These include such things as not having said goodbye to persons, behaving contrary to
spiritual or moral beliefs, wondering if a parent or someone else really loved them, why did they
philander, why did they treat persons poorly, broken promises that cannot be resolved, why was
a parent or someone close to them so mean or cruel to them, general regrets about life, wanting
answers from persons who long ago died and never can be answered, unfulfilled dreams that
never were appropriately sought, and wanting to say they are sorry to persons no longer alive.
These and other situations can result in true urgency to close things out in their lives on a
positive note. Biographical Pain can occur in persons regardless of any successes they may
have experienced. Causes for this Biographical Pain would include feeling guilty, needing
answers that cannot be answered, negative self evaluation that cannot be changed, long-term
guilt, long-term grief, believing their life has been wasted, they can no longer make decisions to
make their life meaningful and bad relationships with family and friends that cannot be resolved.
Persons who are relatively young and living their lives day to day in an active way are clearly
not thinking about the end of life when they may have so many questions and concerns that
need to be answered that have not been answered and cannot be answered. Good advice to
not have this situation happen to you is to try to resolve questions that you have in the present.
Try to get them answered as best you can. If you did not do this and you find yourself in the
twilight of your life and having many concerns that you would like to have resolved, it can be
helpful to find a trusting person or more that you can discuss your feelings and try to get them
all out and resolved as best you can at this time. It also could be helpful to meet with an
experienced therapist to discuss these concerns and try to reduce the emotional and spiritual
pain you may be experiencing. Many persons who have spiritual beliefs do not focus on them
much or enough during their lives. This often changes as the person nears the end of their time
on earth. When this occurs, meeting with a pastor or priest could also be helpful to resolve
spiritual concerns you feel need to be resolved.

October 20, 2026- Persons with ADHD typically present with some combination of risk taking, not thinking before doing things, impulsivity, lack of focus, inattention, procrastination, high energy, hyper focusing, high passion, multitasking, diverse thinking, creativity, complex problem solving, anger and hyper activity. If not controlled and harnessed, these types of characteristics can lead to persons having problems being successful in work, personal and social interactions. If controlled and directed in positive ways, the person with ADHD can be successful and have a very successful life. One needs to only look at someone like Bill Gates to see how this can be true in an exceptional case. We can add to this list with previously great football player Terry Bradshaw and Olympic gold medalists Michael Phelps and Simone Biles. While every person with ADHD is different and that must be taken into account when choosing a career, successful careers for a person with ADHD would include a police officer, correctional officer, emergency dispatcher, military personnel, special forces, EMT or emergency room nurse or doctor, firefighter, skilled trades such as electrician, plumber, carpenter, mason or landscaper, etc., journalist, high pressure chef, high variety and varied work experiences, inventor, business owner, high risk capitalist, and a financial advisor. The important thing is to be able to channel the unique skills that someone with ADHD has to have the person be as successful as they can be. The potential creativity of a mind that is always restless and ready to look at things from many different angles can lead to success in life and even great achievement. Problems occur when the person with ADHD does not channel their abilities in the right direction and they can feel lost in life and often stuck in relationships and work environments that fail. Even worse would be substance abuse and problems with the law. In many cases, a combination of medication and therapy can help someone overcome potential problems with the characteristics of ADHD. The positive thing about many ADHD characteristics is that moderate to great success is possible if a person is able to channel them in the right direction.

09-22-2026-
It is very difficult for a person when they try medication and counseling to overcome negativity and depression and the negativity wins out, and they find themselves constantly finding the negative in life. When this occurs, it is important the person look at their life and decide that there is definitely a need to change their whole outlook and approach to life. One way to look at this is called “stinking thinking” or constantly finding negativity in whatever happens. After hitting a home run and winning the game, the person is depressed and negative because the home run barely went over the fence and did not go far enough. Find 100 examples like this and you get the point. While it seems it would be easy for a person to simply not think negatively and look at things positively, it is a very difficult thing to do when a person spends a lifetime finding negativity regardless of what happens to them. This is particularly sad when one realizes that life is a one time shot and one’s attitude has so much to do on whether they have a negative or positive life experience. If you find yourself in this situation, things to do to overcome it would include cognitive restructuring, which is replacing negative thoughts with positive thoughts, daily exercising, good physical hygiene, a good balanced diet, spending time away from all the electronic disturbances, including the phone, spending time in nature and simply trying to take in life without a lot of thinking other than experiencing it without the negative thoughts constantly coming into the mind, and consistent sleep habits. Add a positive mantra every time unreasonable negative thoughts come into your mind. A good mantra would be, “I am done thinking negativity and will replace each negative thought with a positive one.” If this were a simple thing to do, then there would not be so many people who find negativity as a major part of them that they cannot get rid of and results in an unhappy life. For emphasis, this is the only life they have on earth. Why waste such a precious thing as your life with negativity and depression? The first thing to do is look at yourself and ask how unhappy you are with your negative approach to life? You then need to honestly say you are not happy and this negativity is psychologically kicking you in the butt. You then need a plan to combat negativity with positivity and implement it. It is realistic to accept that bad things will happen to us in life because life is never just lollipops and ice cream. With that said, life is far more bearable when a person can enjoy and appreciate the good times and does whatever they can to overcome
negativity and depression in the bad times with an approach that it will end and do the best they can to overcome it with a positive outlook for the future.