Never Take for Granted the People Who Travel the Journey with You
The One Question You Need to Ask Yourself When Deciding What to Do
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” ~Mary Oliver
I’ve recently discovered that for fifty-odd years I’ve been asking myself the wrong questions. Uh-oh.
Maybe you are too.
The questions we ask ourselves habitually—even when the process is totally unconscious—guide our lives in a very profound way. For me, the two questions that dominated my thinking had very different, but equally pernicious results. They are: What am I supposed to be doing? And What do I feel like doing?
The first question is all about hitting the numbers. What looks good …
How to Release Shame and Stop Feeling Fundamentally Flawed
“But shame is like a wound that is never exposed and therefore never heals.” ~Andreas Eschbach
Shame. Everybody has it. Nobody wants to talk about it. The less we talk about it, the more power it has over us.
Shame goes to the core of a person and makes them feel there is something inherently wrong with them.
I remember when I was a young girl, I struggled so much with feeling I was ‘less than’ others.
There were many nights when I would say prayers to help change me. I didn’t like my freckles. I was …
The Power of Off: Staying Sane in a Virtual World (Interview & Book Giveaway)
UPDATE: The winners for this giveaway have been chosen. They are: Akshay Bhat and Kaitlyn.
Have you ever found yourself mindlessly surfing the web, hopping from one site to another, when you didn’t have any specific reason to be online?
Maybe you were looking at a cute cat video on Facebook, and then you ended up taking a quiz to determine which Westworld character you are. And then, five listicles, four memes, three tweets, two comments, and one hour later, you realized you’d spent a whole lot of time doing a whole lot of nothing.
Worse, you may have been …
How to Stop Doubting Yourself So You Can Go After Your Dreams
“The gap between what we do and what we’re capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems.” ~Gandhi
I have lived most of my life with a challenging contradiction.
I am a hopeless idealist and dreamer. And I have also dealt with high levels of anxiety, worry, and doubt, especially as an adult.
You can probably already see how this can go horribly wrong!
I’d have an idea of something I’d like to do.
An idea that would excite and thrill me. I would feel energized—enthusiastic and excited about the possibility of making a dream …
How a Hobby Can Boost Your Motivation and Change Your Life
“If you want to be happy, be.” ~Leo Tolstoy
We’ve all hit a low motivational point in our lives at one time or another. I am completely aware of that feeling of having nothing to fight for. In those reoccurring periods of despondency, I couldn’t find a reason to get myself out of bed.
It’s funny that I got the life-changing question at a job interview. It was a stressful situation, and the hiring manager made it even more overwhelming when he looked at me straight in the eyes and asked: “What motivates you in life?”
I can’t remember …
4 Tips for Raising Happy, Emotionally Healthy Children
“Emotional intelligence begins to develop in the earliest years. All the small exchanges children have with their parents, teachers, and with each other carry emotional messages.” ~Daniel Goleman
I consider myself an expert on the emotional needs of children. Mostly because I was one.
No one goes into parenthood anticipating the ways they will psychologically damage their children. At least I don’t think they do. I hope not. It’s far more likely that most go into parenthood wanting the best for their children, hoping to do more for them than their own parents were able to do.
So, why is …
Anxiety, Your New BFF: How It Can Help You If You Let It
“Be grateful for whatever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.” ~Rumi
Anxiety—a frequent, uninvited visitor.
It hovers; it comes and goes. It underlines. It overpowers. It stops you in your tracks. It pursues you as you run away.
My anxiety’s appearance is often marked by a buzzing, electric-charge energy. I used to jokingly compare it to a predatory yellow jacket. They used to terrify me. Since I was stung too many times, this insect was definitely not on my list of BFFs.
Once I was driving my then seven-year-old daughter and her friend to …
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