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A Most Difficult Lesson: People Are Just Doing Their Best

By in Blog, love & relationships

“People are doing the best that they can from their own level of consciousness.” ~Deepak Chopra

My father passed away suddenly and not so suddenly several weeks back.

He had been sick for a long time, but it was a gradually progressing illness and not what ultimately caused his passing. So, it did come as a shock, and the last few weeks have been filled with all the random things you need to do when someone dies—change the names on insurance policies and automobile titles, call social security, etc.

The list seems endless, but now that the tasks are …

How to Stop Arguing and Start Understanding

By in Blog, love & relationships

“Raise your words, not your voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.” ~Rumi

One of the most common sources of conflict among people is in the way we communicate. Often times, conflicts arise because of the variety of our opinions and beliefs, and also from the way we express our thoughts and communicate disagreement.

A blaming, sometimes even aggressive tone of voice can seep into our language, which invites confrontation instead of collaboration, and conveys a closed “my way or no way” kind of approach.

Looking back on my past, I can recall myself during my childhood years, …

What Really Matters

By in Fun & Inspiring

Learn to Trust the Journey

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Happiness Starts with You

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How Amazing You Can Be

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Twisted Love: What I Learned from Being in an Abusive Relationship

By in Blog, love & relationships

“Never wish them pain. That’s not who you are. If they caused you pain, they must have pain inside. Wish them healing. That’s what they need.” ~Najwa Zebian

Most of us don’t grow up and say we’re going to be killers.

Most of us don’t grow up and say we’re going to hurt people.

We don’t grow up thinking and planning to hurt ourselves.

But there are moments in our lives in which we’ve stepped outside of ourselves and made decisions that impair our lives. Decisions that remain with us for a lifetime.

Then we have difficulty forgiving ourselves …

The Problem with Forgiveness and What I Now Do Instead

By in Blog, love & relationships

“Change is the end result of all true learning.” ~Leo Buscaglia

I cringe writing this. I have eaten so much humble pie that my pants don’t fit. This was a really hard lesson to learn.

I had a forgiveness problem.

When I was a kid, I learned to say sorry when I messed up and forgive other people when they did. With three sisters all two years apart, I got plenty of practice in as a kid (we all did).

It was a pretty standard routine:

1. Someone would mess up—say something horrible, lose something, break something, or hit someone.…

I Will Sit With You in the Dark

By in Fun & Inspiring

Be Patient – Good Things Take Time

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There’s More to Life Than Work: Goodbye Hamster Wheel, Hello Balance

By in Blog, happiness & fun, healthy habits, mindfulness & peace

“Most of us try to do too much because we are secretly afraid we will not be able to do anything at all.” ~Rick Aster

I’m standing in my art studio. My palette is loaded with paint. My canvas has been prepped and ready. There is a paintbrush in my hand, but I can’t move. I don’t know what color to pick or what shape to make. I start questioning my color selection, the size of my canvas… and everything else under the sun.

A few months ago, I wrote myself a reminder to allow my art to flow through …

Live How You Want to Be Remembered

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I’ve Learned

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There’s Nothing Wrong With Being Single: Releasing the Shame and Stigma

By in Blog, love & relationships

“Single is no longer a lack of options, but a choice. A choice to refuse to let your life be defined by your relationship status but to live every day Happily and let your Ever After work itself out.” ~Mandy Hale

In our society, being single is still heavily stigmatized. Being single is often perceived as something out of the norm. It is more acceptable to be part of a couple (even a dysfunctional one!) than it is to be single. And it is even more acceptable to be divorced than it is to be single.

Unfortunately, our society makes …

Make Yourself a Priority

By in Fun & Inspiring

Everlasting Friends

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How to Pick Your Best Idea (Especially If You Suffer from Idea Overload!)

By in Blog, work fulfillment

“It’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen.” ~Scott Belsky

In virtually every human pursuit, from personal growth to the arts to business, ideas and the execution of those ideas is what drives us forward.

And when it comes to ideas, there are basically two kinds of people:

  • Those who struggle to come up with what feels like good ideas
  • Those gifted with a ton of ideas, but who struggle to pick the right idea to pursue

And because struggling stinks, the good news is that no matter which of these two camps you’re from, what follows can help …

You Did the Best You Could

By in Fun & Inspiring

As Long as You Keep Trying, There’s Still Hope

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What If We Listened and Opened Our Minds Instead of Shouting and Judging?

By in Blog, love & relationships

“If you can laugh with somebody and relate to somebody, it becomes harder to dehumanize them. I think that most of what we are constantly bombarded with in terms of media leads you to a creation of ‘the Other’ and a dehumanization of ‘the Other,’ and it’s very much an us-versus-them conversation.” ~Jehane Noujaim

People are really hard to hate up close.

In today’s acrimonious political climate, whole groups of people seem to be pitted against one another based on various political, ideological, class, geographic and racial classifications. And yet, spend a day with “the other” and it’s difficult to …