top of page
"I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world." John 16:33
The Take Courage Blog
Finding meaning and joy in the modern world
NEW
10 Meaningful Days
A Free Email Course on Finding Purpose and Presence
What if a meaningful life isn't something we have to wait for? Join me for ten brief reflections, practical exercises, and moments of prayer exploring how faith, wisdom, and psychological science can help us live more meaningfully in the present.
Search
The Monk and The Minister: A Case Study in True Wealth
Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of mentoring several psychologists. When they take the leap into full-time practice I gave each one the same book. If you’ve been following along here, you’d safely assume it would be something by C.S. Lewis or G.K. Chesterton. Or a book by the Stoics. Or certainly some psychology related book. No. It’s actually a personal finance book: The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins. The reason?
Bobby Jakucs, Psy.D.
Jul 26
A Diamond and an Emperor
Often, the best true stories become embellished with a bit of legend. While it makes them less accurate, it somehow also makes them more true.
This one’s no different. In fact, we’re not even certain how it begins. But we are certain of where it ends. Well, that’s not entirely true - but we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
For now, legend says that this story starts with a slave in a faraway country.
Long ago, a slave was working in a diamond mine under dreadful con
Bobby Jakucs, Psy.D.
Jun 15
Are There Waves in Heaven? What Surfing Has Taught Me About Life and Faith
For as long as I can remember I’ve been fascinated by the ocean. The raw power. The primal mystery. The indescribable beauty.
I’m so fascinated by it that I’ve spent nearly three decades of my life riding waves. For 30 years I’ve been surfing. The only identity I’ve carried longer (thanks be to God) is a Christian.
Few things, have had a more profound influence in my life. I’m not alone. The Catholic philosopher Peter Kreeft, also a surfer, wrote a whole book, I Surf
Bobby Jakucs, Psy.D.
Jun 1
Carrying the Things They Carried: Meaning, Moral Injury, and the Veteran’s Burden
I remember as a young boy, going to visit the traveling Vietnam Veterans War Memorial, The Wall That Heals. The Wall, like its original, has etched upon it the names of over 50,000 American service members who were killed in Vietnam.
It’s one of those memories that mold you.
There I saw grown men silently approach the wall, touch an etched name and bow their heads. Some had families standing quietly behind them, watching and waiting, unsure what to do but knowing they
Bobby Jakucs, Psy.D.
Apr 20
Oh Happy Fault: Gratitude, Grace, and a Broken Washing Machine (Finding Meaning in Suffering)
“Of all the times…” I caught myself saying, staring at the washing machine dials, hoping for signs of life.
One of our children was sick, we had travel plans and desperately needed to wash laundry. Life was full. As the faint smell of burnt electronics reached my nose, I felt my cup was starting to overflow.
Those very human emotions started to come up – frustration and even mild resentment. This was just one more inconvenience, one more thing I had to deal with in a
Bobby Jakucs, Psy.D.
Apr 6
Humor and Resilience in Hard Times: The Psychology of Humor (Part I)
The Marine Corps does two things really well – suffering and humor. My time at The Basic School, the last step before young lieutenants begin leading Marines, was filled with both.
One of the evaluative events, night land navigation, was a particularly challenging time of stepping through (depending on the season) the bramble filled or snow-covered forests and hills of Quantico. Interspersed with wide streams that, if you weren’t careful, became a night-time swim.
Bobby Jakucs, Psy.D.
Feb 23
What Being a Parent Teaches You About Your Parents: The Three Stages of Seeing Clearly
There’s a moment in early childhood when your parents are everything. They are superheroes. They are wise, powerful, and seemingly invincible. They can fix what’s broken, heal what’s hurt, and make sense of the world’s chaos. If something goes bump in the night, they make it go away.
Then, at some point—often in adolescence but sometimes later—you see the cracks. You realize they don’t have all the answers. You see their flaws, their inconsistencies, their fears.
Bobby Jakucs, Psy.D.
Jan 26
Feeling Good vs Living Well (Part 2): The Desire for Happiness and the Home We Were Made For
In Part I of this series, we looked at all the ways we seek happiness – often by trying to mitigate suffering.
And, in doing so we often add to our suffering. We looked at how trying to control the way we feel, by eliminating negative emotions, is doomed to failure. It does not eliminate them, in fact, it often brings on more suffering.
But the question remains: why are so we so obsessed with happiness in the first place? For that answer, we need to go all the way back t
Bobby Jakucs, Psy.D.
Dec 30, 2025
Feeling Good vs. Living Well (Part I): The Cost of Chasing Happiness
Modern culture is saturated with the promise of happiness. From advertising to self-help, the message is clear: if we buy the right product or manage our emotions correctly, we’ll finally feel good. Yet experience tells a different story—once we buy that product or follow that prescription we are left wanting more.
Like trying to cram every ounce of fun into a vacation, the more we seek happiness, as an end, the less we have it. We usually end up exhausted at best and mise
Bobby Jakucs, Psy.D.
Dec 16, 2025
Jesus of Nazareth: Liar, Lunatic, or Lord? A Psychologist Reflects on C.S. Lewis, Sanity, and the Only Truth That Holds
“Who do you say that I am?” This is the question Jesus asked His disciples two thousand years ago. Peter answered with the clarity only grace can give: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” But every generation must answer that same question again. And in our age—one marked by anxiety, despair, and a deep confusion about identity—the stakes feel even higher. A few years back, in the middle of studying for my psychology licensure exam, my mind wandered
Bobby Jakucs, Psy.D.
Dec 1, 2025
The One You Feed: The Meaning of the Two Wolves Story and Life’s Choice Points
There’s an old story I've heard many times, and often share with my patients. It goes like this:
“An old Cherokee Chief is walking along with his grandson one day through the woods. As they reach a ravine the chief pauses and looks intently at the young brave and says, ‘my son there is a battle going inside of me. There are two wolves: one is evil, full of pride, anger, jealousy and greed. The other is good: he is loving, humble, compassionate and grateful. These two wolv
Bobby Jakucs, Psy.D.
Nov 17, 2025
The Meaning of Memento Mori: 5 Ways Remembering Death Can Improve Your Life
John Steinbeck once wrote that we should live so that our death brings no pleasure to the world. It’s a somber thought. But also, a liberating one. Think about it - If you knew today were your last day on earth, would you act differently?
Nearly two millennia before Steinbeck, the Stoic philosopher and Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius’ wrote himself a reminder to guide him through life’s tumults: 'You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and thin
Bobby Jakucs, Psy.D.
Oct 16, 2025
The Warrior’s Return: From the Temple of Mars to the Cathedral
Being a Veteran means carrying on a legacy of discipline, sacrifice and courage. Last week, we looked at three soldier-saints, who used their scars (those seen and unseen) as gifts. We examined how it was their very desires for honor, glory and loyalty, coupled with their very real suffering, that when united to Christ became their new mission. They found their “coming home” not in running from the past but surrendering to it in the service of something greater.
Bobby Jakucs, Psy.D.
Sep 27, 2025
The Warrior’s Return: From Warrior to Witness
In our last post, we explored the profound mark war leaves on the soul. Vietnam Veteran and Oxford Rhodes scholar Karl Marlantes likened it to entering the Temple of Mars, the Roman god of war. And in the temple, soldiers are both sacrifice and priest, victim and executioner.
We discussed the psychological and spiritual implications of combat. How it fundamentally changes one’s sense of identity. We also explored how returning home is, for many, even more difficult.
Bobby Jakucs, Psy.D.
Sep 13, 2025
Finding Gratitude in Hard Times: How Thankfulness Transforms Suffering
We’ve all met people who radiate calm and even joy amid hardship. They aren’t untouched by pain, but somehow, they carry it differently—like Marcus Aurelius’ rock at sea, standing firm despite the waves, or like bamboo, bending but never breaking. What gives these individuals their strength? More often than not, it’s gratitude. Not a shallow kind of gratitude for ease or comfort, but a deeper thankfulness
Bobby Jakucs, Psy.D.
Aug 9, 2025
Carrying the Fire: Tragic Optimism on The Road
There’s a reason I return to Cormac McCarthy’s The Road every year, just like Brett McKay at The Art of Manliness. It’s not an easy book. T
Bobby Jakucs, Psy.D.
Jul 26, 2025
What If Everything We Do Matters? The Profound Weight of Our Daily Choices
There are moments in our lives we do something noteworthy and realize the weight of that choice - good or bad. Maybe it is something we said
Bobby Jakucs, Psy.D.
Jul 5, 2025
Tragic Optimism: Embracing Meaning in Life’s Messiness
"Hope mean's hoping when things are hopeless, or it is no virtue at all." - G.K. Chesterton Finding freedom within suffering - tragic...
Bobby Jakucs, Psy.D.
Jun 28, 2025
The Hills We Choose to Die On: Discernment, Courage, and Letting Go
You’ve been there. It’s after dinner and you’ve had a long day at work. You look over at your wife and realize she’s loading the dishwasher the “wrong way.”
Or maybe it’s bedtime and the kids are just not listening – the toys are not going where they are supposed to, they are splashing the bath water all over the place and you feel that mild irritation building.
Or perhaps you’re on the phone with a customer service representative and notice your voice starting to rai
Bobby Jakucs, Psy.D.
Jun 25, 2025
Take Courage: Loving Deeply and Finding Meaning in the Midst of Suffering
There’s a moment in Man’s Search for Meaning—one of those moments that marks the soul—when Viktor Frankl, imprisoned in Auschwitz, trudged through the cold before dawn on a bitter day of forced labor. Sick, starved, and surrounded by despair, he wrote that he suddenly saw, with piercing clarity, the face of his wife. In that moment, he realized something astonishing: “Love is the ultimate and highest goal to which man can aspire.”
Bobby Jakucs, Psy.D.
Jun 18, 2025
AT THE INTERSECTION OF FAITH, PSYCHOLOGY & WISDOM
It was Viktor Frankl, psychiatrist and concentration camp survivor who coined the term "Tragic Optimism." An attitude of taking meaningful action and finding purpose despite whatever the very real circumstances of life. While most of us in the modern Western World do not face specter of death in a concentration camp, so many of us face a second, more subtle problem Frankl identified - a profound sense of meaninglessness. This blog is meant to be an antidote to that problem, or better yet a series of signposts on the Way. It is an intersection of the treasures of the Catholic faith, the wisdom of the classical philosophical tradition and the latest in sound behavioral science. 80% of these concepts will apply to anyone, religious and non-religious alike.
That said, I hope it will spark an interest in non-believers, or reignite the passion of those for whom the fire of belief has grown cold, to take a deeper look at what the profound truth of the Cross really means. That is two things:
1. You are infinitely Loved
2. Your life is worth living.
Home: About Me
bottom of page