Author: Overcoming Adversity | Buteau’s Odyssey

Luka Modricwas included Monday in Croatia’s squad and is set to play in his fifth World Cup.Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic named a 26-man roster also featuring Ivan Perišić, who has scored in the past three tournaments.Modric broke his cheekbone last month but the Croatia captain is expected to be fit when Croatia kicks off its World Cup campaign against England on June 17. It also plays Panama and Ghana in Group L.The 40-year-old Modric won the Ballon d’Or in 2018 — ending the long reign of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. He made his international debut in 2006 and is…

I live across the street from an 80-acre park and spend many mornings walking its paths, especially those in the rose garden, which is a favorite of local photographers. Young families with new babies, adult children with aging parents, graduating seniors—they’re often in the park, creating keepsakes for the family photo wall. But, most importantly, they’re building memories. I am especially taken by the young women getting their senior photos taken, leaning casually against a wall, their hair shining in the sunlight, their dresses shifting in the wind, their toenails painted. My senior photo was a different story. We had…

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Adult and senior twins often experience an extension of the emotional separation problems they first encountered (non-verbally, and perhaps even crying) when they entered this world. Slowly, as they mature, twins learn to survive alone, with their twin being away from their side and sometimes even out of sight. While twins of all ages out of necessity have learned so many ways to cope without their twin’s presence and their reactions, adulthood creates new twin issues with emotional and physical separation that can be intense and overwhelming. Facing new people and explaining who you are and what your interest is…

Personal Perspective: Cut off by war, I confided in DeepSeek. AI became a saint without a church, always listening and responding. Can we trust it?

A romantic breakup can feel much larger than the end of a relationship. For many young people, daily life loses its emotional center, the future grows uncertain, and the self becomes harder to recognize. This is why advice like “just move on” often fails: Young people may not only be grieving another person; they may be trying to reorganize several psychological foundations at once. The Theory of Universal Psychological Basic Needs (TUPG; Tagay, 2025) offers a useful lens. It proposes that psychological stability depends on six core needs: safety and predictability, attachment and belonging, autonomy and influence, competence and effectiveness,…

Blake Snell will undergo surgery to remove loose bodies from his left elbow, and the Los Angeles Dodgers expect the two-time Cy Young Award winner to return this season.Snell made his season debut last weekend, giving up four earned runs in three innings after missing the start of the season with left shoulder fatigue and inflammation, and the left-hander was scratched from his scheduled start on Friday against the Los Angeles Angels. The surgery is scheduled for Tuesday.”It’s going to be to take out those loose bodies, and it’s supposed to be a lot quicker recovery, so we’re encouraged about that,”…

Marcus, a COO I worked with, had just helped carry his company through a major acquisition. Millions of dollars secured, a decade of effort proven out, every external marker of success… yet he felt depleted, unable to understand why. What he couldn’t see was that he walked around his life as if every moment was a high-stakes meeting. He carried a substantial load of stress and spent enormous energy making sure no one else saw it. Composure was the only thing anyone ever saw from Marcus. The problem was that the cost of holding up the facade was invisible, even…

There could be something fishy about the following situation: Say you are getting closer and closer to someone, and that person dramatically changes his or her behavior. For example, he or she abruptly becomes less and less available, more and more critical, and more and more confusing in general. Well, that person could be doing what’s become known as “puffer-fishing.” What Does a Real Puffer Fish Do? This dating term grew from what a real puffer fish does when sensing danger. The puffer fish is normally quite docile and playful—a bit SpongeBob SquarePantsy. However, when there’s a possible threat around,…

Life today moves too fast to stop and look back. We rarely ask: What were we? What did we want to become? In youth, we are too busy studying, working, and keeping up. But in midlife, or at the doorstep of old age, looking back becomes urgent. Because if we don’t, we may reach the end with nothing but regret. We have heard stories of dying people who said the same thing: they had spent their precious lives on empty goals. When death comes close, we see the truth, but too late. A doctor once told me about a late…