Page 2 – Tiny Buddha

The Year I Tried to Optimize My Way into Love

“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” ~William Bruce Cameron

I noticed it halfway through the conversation.

We were outside a café on a warm Saturday, close enough to the next table that I could hear someone laughing behind me. The person across from me was telling a story about getting lost on a hike, because they had been certain they could manage without a map, and they were laughing at themselves as they told it. I laughed in the right place.

Then my attention slid. Sense of humor, strong. Conversation, easy. …

Emotional Maturity Is…

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

Little Pieces of Ourselves

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

If Life Isn’t Gentle with You

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

Why Rest Should Be a Priority, Not a Reward

By Lori Roach in Blog

“In an age of constant movement, nothing is so urgent as sitting still.” ~Pico Iyer, from his TED talk “The Art of Stillness”

It was a Tuesday in late September, the kind of afternoon that feels borrowed from summer. I had a work deadline at 5:00. I went to the park anyway.

I spread a blanket on the grass, unpacked a little cheese and some fruit, and poured tea from the thermos I’d filled mostly out of habit. I had a book in my bag that I never opened.

For two hours, I sat outside in the middle …

You Deserve Better

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

One of Life’s Greatest Glimmers

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

When Others Expect a Reaction

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

Why People Do Unkind Things

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

The Hope of Joy Returning

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

How “Doing Fine” Was Actually Holding Me Back

By Chris Sund in Blog

“The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.” ~Carl Rogers

For most of my life, the story looked like a straight line going up. I never hit bottom. This isn’t that kind of story.

And for a long time, that was exactly the problem.

From the outside, my life looked good. I had built things I was proud of and a family I love. If you knew me, you would have said I was doing well, and you would probably have been right.

So this isn’t a story about hitting bottom. …

We Often Mistake Certainty for Peace

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

Emotionally Overwhelmed? 5 Simple Practices That Can Help

By Dr. Mary Kate Roohan in Blog

“Whatever you’re feeling, it will eventually pass. You won’t feel sad forever. At some point, you will feel happy again. You won’t feel anxious forever. In time, you will feel calm again. You don’t have to fight your feelings or feel guilty for having them. You just have to accept them and be good to yourself while you ride this out. Resisting your emotions and shaming yourself will only cause you more pain, and you don’t deserve that. You deserve your own love, acceptance, and compassion.” ~Lori Deschene

One cry a day. I have used this four-word phrase to defend …

Be the Kind of Person Who…

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

Micro Joys

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

When the Old Life Doesn’t Fit but the New One Isn’t Clear Yet

By Stefania Dragojlovic in Blog

“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” ~Maya Angelou

There’s a strange season in life when the old ambitions no longer fit, but the new ones haven’t fully formed yet.

A year ago, I asked myself a simple question. Not a vague one. A very practical one.

Is there something I need to do right now to begin fulfilling my purpose and be happy?

And for the most part… nothing. No inner wisdom. No clear message. No cinematic download from the universe. Just silence.

At one …

You Don’t Have to Be Just One Thing

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

I Will Keep Talking About the Hard Things

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

When “Protecting Your Peace” Is Really Avoidance

By Dakota J. Dawson in Blog

“Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to cope with it.” ~Anonymous

My sister called four times before I picked up.

Not four times in one day—four times over three weeks. Each time, I watched her name light up my phone, felt something tighten in my chest, and set my phone face-down on the counter.

I told myself I was protecting my peace. I’d read that phrase everywhere that year. It was on water bottles, on Instagram infographics, on the lock screens of women I admired who seemed to have figured out something I hadn’t. Protect your

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