“Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action.” ~Benjamin Disraeli
I used to get paralyzed with fear in the face of any load of work.
Suffering from crippling depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, and severely low self-esteem, I’d find so many thoughts battling me, making it hard to take action:
“The real measure of your wealth is how much you’d be worth if you lost all your money.” ~Unknown
Standing, getting crushed on the metro at peak hour, I look around and my heart sinks. I’m surrounded by sullen faces, their eyes focused intently on games on their iPads and smart phones.… Read More
“Don’t be afraid to go out on a limb. That’s where the fruit is.” ~H. Jackson Browne
When I close my eyes and ponder the dreams that I have, the hopes and wishes that I cradle in my heart, I wonder what has prevented me from reaching for and achieving them. … Read More
“With ‘I’ eliminated, this is Nirvana, here and now.” ~ Buddha
I remember when I started learning Spanish in college. I wanted to visit Spain. I had grand ideas about a romantic voyage. And yes, I had a foreign language credit to fill.
If you know the Spanish language at all, you know that the Spanish construction for pleasure is the reverse of our English language.… Read More
“What I am is good enough if only I would only be it openly.” ~Carl Rogers
From the time my grandmother gave me a copy of Little Women when I was five years old, I knew I wanted to be a writer and create books like that one.
As I grew up, I devoured books left and right, working my way up from The Babysitters’ Club Little Sister to 1984.… Read More
“Sometimes questions are more important than answers.” ~Nancy Willard
My twenties and thirties were an endless quest for “The Answer.” As if there were only one.
The one answer that would change everything. Make everything right. Make me happy.
I searched high and low for answers. I’d read the latest book, hoping it held the key.… Read More
“To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived, this is to have succeeded.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
I used to refer to myself as a white crayon in the coloring box of life.
Have you ever wondered what purpose a white crayon serves? There are all of these other beautiful colors to be put to good use, but the white crayon just kind of sits there and tends to get overlooked.… Read More
“Above all, be true to yourself, and if you cannot put your heart in it, take yourself out of it.” ~Unknown
As I left the San Francisco head office of the clothing company I worked for, I felt anxious and scared. I knew, in the depth of my heart and soul, that I did not belong there and that I needed to do something about it.… Read More
“Information is not knowledge.” ~Einstein
A few years ago I was lost. Frustrated. Scared. Unsure. Anxious. Trapped. Unfulfilled. Stuck in a dead-end job. Smothered by society’s expectations. Didn’t have a clue what I wanted to do with my life.
I cared for myself enough to change my life, but I didn’t have the slightest clue where to start.… Read More
“Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.” ~Matsuo Basho
Once, one of my friends shared a line of wisdom that summed up the dance of wholeness and aspiration I often find myself absorbed in:
“Everything is quite all right; our worth secure and true. Everything’s not quite all right; we’ve worthy work to do…”
Part of the longing and neediness I tend to feel comes from a rift between who or where I am, and where I believe I should be to be “successful.”
My life has been colored by this dichotomy: the strange see-sawing dance between achievement and room to grow.… Read More
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The Winners:
If you’ve spent any time traveling, you likely know the amazing sense of freedom and possibility that comes from exploring the world.… Read More
Update: The winners for this giveaway have already been chosen. Subscribe to Tiny Buddha to receive free daily or weekly emails and to learn about future giveaways!
The Winners:
Have you ever felt like the present moment is passing you by while you’re caught up worrying, analyzing, planning, and trying to protect yourself from pain and loss?… Read More
“It is not uncommon for people to spend their whole life waiting to start living.” ~Eckhart Tolle
It was on the anniversary of Scottish poet Robert Burns’ birthday, or “Burns Night” as it is affectionately known as in Scotland, that my sister rescued a terrified stray dog who came to be named BraveHeart (or Brava for short).… Read More
“Excellence can be obtained if you care more than others think is wise, risk more than others think is safe, dream more than others think is practical, expect more than others think is possible.” ~Unknown
After several excruciatingly painful and profoundly frightening years of undiagnosed symptoms, I was diagnosed with a “progressive and incurable” neurological disease, Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy/Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (RSD/CRPS), which is characterized by unrelenting pain that is disproportionate to the inciting event, usually an injury or trauma.… Read More
“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.” – Charles R. Swindoll
For twenty-something me, a college drop-out utterly overwhelmed with choice and bewildered by unemployment, it can easily feel like a void of nothingness, so black and dense there is little point in considering a future beyond it.… Read More
“Don’t let today’s disappointments cast a shadow on tomorrow’s dreams.” ~Unknown
As a little kid I liked to dream—big, whether it was believing my red-Huffy bicycle would one day turn into a Transformer or convincing myself that as an adult I’d be spending much of my time in Hollywood hosting “The Price is Right.” As I said, I liked to dream big.… Read More
“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” ~Abraham Lincoln
I used to think that I would motivate myself to really live up to my full potential by reminding myself how much I wasn’t.
Well, that didn’t work.
Not that I didn’t get any results from chanting “You are so not living up to your full potential!” while getting out of bed, driving to work, doing the dishes, and combing my hair.… Read More
“Not what we have but what we enjoy constitutes our abundance.” ~John Petit-Senn
Yoga retreats in rural getaways nestled in tropical mountain spaces. Exploration trips for pleasure and business on the east and west coasts. Bike riding and people watching on Santa Monica Boulevard.
Recognition and sponsorship from leaders in my professional circle.… Read More
“Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.” ~Paul Boese
I’m trying to meditate but I find myself overcome by sadness; I’m still grieving after all this time.
I’ve gone through phases of forgiveness recently that have shown me how to acknowledge the painful relationship I had with my mother, the anger and resentment we shared, and the loss of each other that we both went through the older we grew.… Read More
“Don’t fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of life contains three descriptions: could have, might have, and should have.” ~Unknown
Too often, we allow fear, worry, and doubt to dominate and define our lives. We allow them to steal our joy, our sleep, and our precious dreams.… Read More
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