“Peace of mind is not the absence of conflict from life, but the ability to cope with it.” ~Unknown
Like many people, I lived my life for a lot of years failing to understand inner peace is a choice. I am not sure what I thought. Perhaps I didn’t believe anyone could feel a lasting peace inside.… Read More
“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make our world.” ~Buddha
Your life is much like a radio.
If you’re in control of it, then you can actually tune in and make sense. Then you can set your dial on the talk-back radio show, listen to that, and learn some things, or you can set your dial onto music and have an enjoyable time.… 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
“Some people think it’s holding that makes one strong. Sometimes it’s letting go.” ~Unknown
I will never forget the moment my marriage ended.
My husband and I had fought the night before, about many of the same things we’d been fighting about for the entirety of our four-month marriage.
He was dissatisfied with our sex life and my lack of respect for him.… Read More
“Smile, breathe, and go slowly.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh
One morning I woke up and noticed a few, strange red bumps on my arms—bug bites, I thought.
Then, the next day, more bumps. Within one full week, my skin went from being clear and tan to being covered with red, scaly, teardrop spots all over my body, including my face.… Read More
“Fear is a natural reaction to moving closer to the truth.” ~Pema Chodron
By the end of 2011, I was trying my hardest not to see it: burnout.
I’d been going full steam ahead since I turned my part-time business into a full-time vocational mission, back in 2009. When people remarked that I was doing a lot, I would wave away their comments and say facetiously, “Well, you know—I’m a Sagittarius with three planets in Virgo.”
Part of the reason I didn’t want to really look at what was going on was that 2011 had been a banner year.… 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
“Our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world as being able to remake ourselves.” ~ Gandhi
What if we lived the way we travel?
It’s been my experience that we let go of many things when we travel. I’d like to propose that those things—the things we loosen our grip on while travelling—are things that don’t need to be held quite so firmly.… Read More
“When you doubt your power, you give power to your doubt.” ~Honore de Balzac
A while back I began to feel out of sorts with my writing. It happened after coming down from the high of creating almost nonstop with my inner muse. I noticed that I began to feel down, like the feeling one gets after being at the amusement park when the excitement is over.… Read More
“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” ~Melody Beattie
I’ve never had a problem with forgiveness.
In high school my mother and I would argue endlessly. Her lectures and my rebellion both had no end. While it was true that my mother had her faults, my independence caused me to be less than willing to follow her direction.… Read More
“You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” ~Buddha
I have just eaten enough pizza to satisfy three people and I’m feeling awful for having done it. Awful because my stomach can only hold so much, awful because I know I’m going to pay for eating it (dairy and I have a difficult relationship), and awful because I know I shouldn’t have done it.… Read More
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The winners:
If you read this site regularly, odds are you’re familiar with mindfulness, and you may even meditate regularly.… Read More
“Use what language you will, you can never say anything but what you are.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Imagine using a new language that prevents you from blaming others, being reactive, manipulating, fearing anything in the outside world, needing social approval, being offended by others, and being controlled or controlling others.… 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
“If you worry about what might be, and wonder what might have been, you will ignore what is.” ~Unknown
Lifestyle. Opportunities. Wealth. Just think how far we’ve come in the past 100 years—especially when you look at what we have today compared with our great grandmothers’ generation.
My great grandmother married very young, lived in the same place her whole life, and had 11 children.… Read More
“If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” ~Oprah Winfrey
I’ve often compared myself to others and imagined that they have a better life than I do.
The youngest of eight children, I grew up with a mother who often said, “So and so must really be happy!… Read More
“Don’t think you’re on the right road just because it’s a well-beaten path.” ~Unknown
Growing up in Appalachia, women always had grace, class, and sweet iced tea in the refrigerator for unexpected visitors. They smiled when called ma’am or darling and kept an immaculate home.
Many Appalachian women also abided by two rules: It’s impolite to say no, and (my mother’s favorite adage), be as nice as you possibly can and everyone will realize you’re the better person.… Read More
“If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking.” ~Proverb
Five years ago, I decided to fulfill my dream of getting a doctorate. I knew from talking to friends who took on the same endeavor that it would mean many sleepless nights and tons of reading and writing.… Read More
“If we are not fully ourselves, truly in the present moment, we miss everything.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh
A person I work with recently left me an article about the unproductiveness of multitasking. On it was a sticky-note saying, “I think you’ll like this article. I wish I could do better in this area.… Read More
“Begin at once to live and count each separate day as a separate life.” ~Seneca
“Where do you envision yourself in five years?”
This is a common interview question. Managers like to find employees who set goals for themselves. They think it is a sign of a person who is motivated and wants to get ahead in life.… Read More
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