“Your belief determines your action and your action determines your results, but first you have to believe.” ~Mark Victor Hansen
Screech!
The car engine’s loud revving got quiet. The tires came to a screeching halt.
This towering, slender, intimidating man, with a beard like the skin of a shaved porcupine, shut the driver side door behind him and approached me with thunder.… Read More
“Don’t be pushed by your problems; be led by your dreams.” ~Unknown
A little over forty-eight hours from now, I’ll be on a plane to Europe where I plan to spend three months traveling (and working) with my boyfriend.
Saturday is the first day of a dream I’ve held for well over a decade.… Read More
“The pain you feel today will be the strength you feel tomorrow.” ~Unknown
“How did you get so wise?” My friend’s voice on the other end of the telephone line was genuinely curious.
I took a moment to think, wanting to be just as sincere in my response as she was in her inquiry.… Read More
“To wish you were someone else is to waste the person you are.” ~Sven Goren Eriksson
Recently, I met with a jeweler of whom I am quite fond. My husband decided that he wanted to have a mother’s ring designed for me symbolizing the love I have for my three children.… Read More
“The pain you feel today will be the strength you feel tomorrow.” ~Unknown
“I’m done here. It’s time for me to move on,” she spoke softly as if unsure herself. For a moment, I swore she said “I’m not done here,” but she didn’t. She was leaving me.
The poison in the words numbed my body and my soul. … Read More
“It isn’t what happens to us that causes us to suffer; it’s what we say to ourselves about what happens.” ~Pema Chodron
Have you ever had something happen in your life that completely changed everything?
Wham. Suddenly you haven’t left your bedroom in days, you can’t remember what it feels like to shower, and it’s clear the only friend you can really count on is your cat.… Read More
“Our sorrows and wounds are only healed when we touch them with compassion.” ~Buddha
I have always struggled with self-compassion. In fact, I’m not even sure I have been aware of it all that much throughout my life.
I’ve always thought the only way to truly grow was to push myself, both physically and mentally, so without even realizing it, I set myself up for that.… Read More
“Once you have learned to love, you will have learned to live.” ~Unknown
We are powerful, vivacious, brilliant creatures. Our thoughts and ideas create the very world around us. We constantly, and often unconsciously, exude and radiate palpable energy that permeates through every crack and crevasse of our lives.
Our words hold especially powerful energy and the ability to uplift and inspire others and ourselves, or send us spiraling down the ladder to Bummersville.… Read More
“The grass is always greener where you water it.” ~Unknown
Is there really such a thing as being lucky? Are some people genuinely luckier than others, blessed with a mysterious predisposition toward regular good fortune? And what does that mean for the rest of us? Are we all doomed to face the worst possible outcome at every roll of the dice?… Read More
“The poor man is not he who is without a cent, but he who is without a dream.” ~Harry Kemp
We’ve all been there. You’re having a great time playing a game with your friends, and then all of a sudden, things start to get tense.
What started out as fun turns into a fierce competition, as everyone is desperately trying to collect gold coins, red flags, or whatever happens to be the game’s currency.… Read More
“Nobody can give you wiser advice than yourself.” ~ Cicero
“I don’t know what to do.” “I can’t figure it out.” “How do I know which choice to make?” “Which one is right for me?”
Sound like someone you know? Here’s one thing I know for sure: You’ve got the power.… Read More
“Happiness is not a matter of intensity, but of balance, order, rhythm, and harmony.” ~Thomas Merton
I’m not someone who enjoys busyness or sees it as a sign of importance. In fact, I’ve often sacrificed money and opportunities to have more time to watch movies, roam around my neighborhood, and generally live life at a slow pace.… Read More
“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
The first thing many of us think of after someone has wronged or disrespected us is how to get even—how to hand out a dose of that person’s own medicine in an attempt to feel totally vindicated.… Read More
“The obstacles of your past can become the gateways that lead to new beginnings.” ~Ralph Blum
I think we all have this issue: guilt, followed by its sister, regret.
I didn’t realize how dark a blemish it was on my heart until I fully felt the anguish of my mother’s death.… Read More
“I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.” ~Lao Tzu
I recently took seven weeks off of work and rented a place in Laguna Beach.
The trip was meant to be a relaxing vacation and possibly a change of residence; it turned out to be a wakeup call.… Read More
“If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place.” ~Lao Tzu
For most of my life I had the overwhelming feeling that I was lacking something; I felt like I was not good enough, smart enough, or pretty enough.
I was nothing but an unattractive, chubby girl of little worth.… Read More
“Letting go give us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh
I stood alone in what had been my childhood bedroom, staring at the dresser with a familiar discomfort. My fingers clutched at the handle of the second drawer from the top and pulled hard, straining from the weight of its contents.… Read More
“When you blame others, you give up your power to change.” ~Dr. Anthony Robins
I used to be an angry person. And I was happy about that. In fact, I prided myself on that identity during high school.
So devoted to the young and vapid demographic, I would stand in front of the bathroom mirror and practice the eighties version of the mad dog stare.… Read More
“The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction, not a destination.” ~Carl Rogers
I had just gotten settled into my hospital bed after two hours of preparation. I had 32 electrodes taped to my bandage-wrapped skull, plugged into a machine that monitored my brainwaves, with just enough room to go from the bed to the bathroom.… Read More
“Dwelling on the negative simply contributes to its power.” ~Shirley MacLaine
I love her to death, but it’s draining to talk to her.
Every time I call this friend of mine, I know what I’m in for: a half-hour rant about everything that’s difficult, miserable, or unfair.
Sometimes she focuses on the people she feels have wronged her, and other times she explores the general hopelessness of life.… Read More
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