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Posts by Lori Deschene

Lori Deschene is the founder of Tiny Buddha. She started the site after struggling with depression, bulimia, and toxic shame so she could recycle her former pain into something useful and inspire others do the same. She recently created the Breaking Barriers to Self-Care eCourse to help people honor their needs—so they can feel their best, be their best, and live their best possible life. If you’re ready to start thriving instead of merely surviving, you can learn more and get instant access here.

Lori Deschene's Website

Tiny Wisdom: On Everyday Kindness

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“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” -Aesop

Recently I read about a research study that suggested kindness is literally contagious. According to Science Daily:

“When people benefit from kindness they ‘pay it forward’ by helping others who were not originally involved, and this creates a cascade of cooperation that influences dozens more in a social network.”

One simple act of generosity, consideration, or thoughtfulness can literally have a domino affect, eventually touching people you may never meet. In a very real way, a simple act of kindness can expand your positive impact on the world …

Tiny Wisdom: On Not Knowing

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“I would rather have a mind opened by wonder than one closed by belief.” -Gerry Spence

Many of the beliefs we consider facts are really just things we wish were true–comforting ideas that we’re scared to release.

The world and people feel a lot safer when you think you have them pegged, but the truth is that there’s far more we don’t know than do know, and that will likely always be the case.

If we can let go of our need to know and be right, we can be amazed, inspired, motivated, challenged, and filled with wonder every day.…

Tiny Wisdom: On Freeing Your Mind

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“I know but one freedom and that is the freedom of the mind.” ~Antoine de Saint-Exupery

In his book Wisdom 2.0, Soren Gordhamer explores a concept he calls cup mind.

The mind, he explains, can be like a cup or the ocean. When you place a drop of blue dye in a cup, the entire contents may change color, whereas when you place that same drop in the ocean, it barely has an impact.

Our thoughts and feelings can affect our minds similarly. They can completely consume us and alter our entire experience of a given day; or, if …

Tiny Wisdom: On Being Who You Want to Be

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“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” -George Eliot

I’ve talked to a lot of people who say that this is a lot easier to believe when you’re young–that it’s near impossible to believe anything is possible when there appears to be a lot less time left.

But do we ever really know how much time we have? When we’re young, we’re not as conscious of our mortality and the unpredictability of life, but that doesn’t mean we’re immune from unexpected hardships. It just means that we don’t yet know to focus on them.

The …

Tiny Wisdom: On Creating

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“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.” -Mary Lou Cook

To be fully alive is to always be creating, whether it’s love, joy, connection, purpose, passion, or possibilities. What are you creating today?

Photo by gfpeck

Available Today: Ebook, Tiny Buddha’s Handbook for Peace & Happiness

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Tiny Buddha’s Handbook for Peace and Happiness is the ultimate guide of Tiny Buddha wisdom, based on some of the most popular posts and quotes from the site. You’ll also find 4 posts not previously published on tinybuddha.com.

Through this eBook, I’ve shared myself authentically and vulnerably, and have also offered countless action-oriented suggestions to improve your state of mind, enhance your relationships, identify what makes you feel passionate and purposeful, and find the courage to overcome obstacles and seize your dreams.

These are my most popular, value-packed posts, as viewed by over 1.2 million readers in the last year …

Tiny Wisdom: On Why We Change

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“You change for two reasons: Either you learn enough that you want to, or you’ve been hurt enough that you have to.” -Unknown

What are you waiting for?

Photo by Mary Sherman

Tiny Wisdom: On Life’s Beauty

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“It takes both sunshine and rain to make a rainbow.” -Proverb

There are some things in life that just don’t make any sense. There are things we can’t explain or understand, no matter how hard we try.

There are events that seem to have no reason and mistakes that appear to bring no lesson. There’s darkness that can feel completely unbearable and light that can seem far too fleeting to trust. One day’s happiness gives way to tomorrow’s sadness. One day’s loss is tomorrow’s gain.

The only guarantee in life is that everything will transform, whether we’re ready for it …

Tiny Wisdom: On What We Imagine

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“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” ~Albert Einstein

For the past four weeks, I’ve been spending my off days at Disneyland. My boyfriend said that Walt Disney created something brilliant primarily because it gives the illusion of diverse experiences contained under one umbrella brand.

In addition to exploring a variety of fantasy lands, a Disney guest can also experience the western frontier, New Orleans Square, Hollywood, and the remote jungles of Africa and Asia. He can ride a steam-powered locomotive, a monorail, a double-decker bus, and a horse-drawn streetcar.

One day and $94 …

6 Tips: Work/Life Balance for People with Big Dreams

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“Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.” ~Thomas Merton

The vast majority of people I know have two different types of work: the kind that pays the bills and the kind they wrap their heart around.

For some people, those are one and the same, but often that takes time, dedication, and a willingness to blur the traditional boundaries that separate work and social life.

Because let’s face it: It’s not always easy to make a living doing something you love.

The first challenge is to figure out what that is, and it’s …

Introducing: The Tiny Buddha Quote Widget

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The first Tiny Buddha quote appeared on Twitter in 2008. Since then, the archives have grown to include over 1000 wisdom quotes, with new quotes added every weekday.

You can now embed a daily wisdom quote right on your site with the Tiny Buddha Quote Widget for WordPress.

This plugin will display the quote of the day from Monday through Friday. On Saturday and Sunday, the plugin will deliver a random quote from the Tiny Buddha archives.

12/21/11 UPDATE: The quote widget has been changed so that it now delivers a random quote from the Tiny Buddha archives …

Tiny Wisdom: On Adapting

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“The art of life is constant readjusting to your surroundings.” ~Kazuko Okokaura

Oftentimes, when we don’t adapt to our surroundings, it’s because we refuse to see ourselves in new ways.

Maybe you think that you’re a shy person, so you let that justify sitting alone when an intimate gathering suddenly turns into a party.

Or you believe that you’re unmotivated, so you don’t make the effort to promote yourself when a potential new partner walks into your life.

Or you feel certain that you’re not tech-savvy, so you refuse to learn a new software that could make you far more …

Tiny Wisdom: On What We Believe

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“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt

Today I used the Twitter search functionality, looking for the phrase, “I believe in.” Here’s what I found:

“I believe in love.”

“I believe in magic.”

“There must be another way because I believe in taking chances.”

“I believe in people like me.”

“I believe in life itself.”

“I believe in dreams and that we control our destiny through our actions.”

“I believe in the sun even if it isn’t shining.”

“I believe in the words ‘never say never.'”

There’s something kind of beautiful about …

Giveaway: Tiny Buddha’s Handbook for Peace and Happiness

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Update: The winners have already been chosen for this giveaway. Subscribe to The Tiny Buddha List to learn about future contests, and click below to purchase this eBook for $10.97!

Since I launched tinybuddha.com in September of 2009, I’ve hosted quite a few giveaways for books that moved me.

Today is a very exciting day for me—one that’s a year in a half in the making: Today I am giving away five free copies of my book.

If you’ve been reading for a while, you may think I’m referring to my book about life’s hardest questions, which Conari Press …

Tiny Wisdom: On Impermanence

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“No feeling is final.” ~Rainer Maria Rilke

Most of the time, when we feel something overwhelming, it’s not just the feeling that weighs on us; it’s also the fear that it may persist.

That the deep sense of loss or longing will burrow a permanent hole in our hearts and we’ll never feel loved again. Or the disappointment will harden into an aching regret and we’ll never feel proud and excited again. Or the sadness will etch itself into our being and we’ll never feel happy again.

But everything eventually transforms. Happiness gives way to sadness gives way to happiness …

Tiny Wisdom: On Seeking Answers

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“Silence is a source of great strength.” ~Lao Tzu

Sometimes, when we feel stressed, frustrated, annoyed, confused, overwhelmed, or anything uncomfortable, it can seem tremendously helpful to talk about it incessantly.

But I’ve noticed that venting is often far less effective than I assume it will be. If you’ve ever talked yourself in circles instead of communicating and letting go, you know precisely what I mean.

All the words in the world can’t change the fact that sometimes we just need to sit with our feelings. No amount of validation, advice, or external support will change that we alone need …

Tiny Wisdom: On Where You’re Headed

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“The quality of your life is in direct proportion to the amount of uncertainty you can comfortably deal with.” ~Tony Robbins

One of life’s biggest challenges, I believe, is how to continually motivate yourself to keep going when you don’t yet know where your efforts are leading.

You need to write part of the book to even open the path to getting it published, but you don’t know for certain that you’ll get a deal. You need to push yourself to work toward profitability with your business, especially when the odds feel insurmountable, but you can never know for certain …

Tiny Wisdom: On Finding Your Purpose

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“There is not one big cosmic meaning for all, there is only the meaning we each give to our life, an individual meaning, an individual plot, like an individual novel, a book for each person.” ~Anais Nin

Someone asked me recently if I feel as though my life has changed since I found my purpose and started living it. This struck me as odd because it seems to imply before I discovered a professional path that felt meaningful to me, my life was meaningless.

It’s a logical conclusion: The opposite of having a purpose is being purposeless, doing without intent …

How to Discover Your Super Powers to Find Meaningful Work

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“Happiness comes when your work and words are of benefit to yourself and others.” ~Buddha

It seems like the vast majority of people compartmentalize themselves.

There are the people they show to family and friends, built upon authenticity and genuine passions, and the people who wear work-appropriate masks to make a living from day to day.

I understand how this happens. It’s not easy to identify the work that would feel meaningful for you, discover how you can get on that path, and then consistently take action to create the life you visualize.

Recognizing what you want to do can …

25 Ways to Be a True Friend

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“Don’t wait for people to be friendly. Show them how.” ~Unknown

The other night I called an old friend I hadn’t talked to in a while. As we caught up, shared stories, and laughed over private jokes that would sound ridiculous had the phone been tapped, I wondered why I let so much time go by since I’d last given her a call.

We don’t live close to each other, so grabbing a drink or hitting up a yoga class isn’t an option. But really connecting with her, sharing pieces of my life  and receiving the pieces she wants to …