Page 272 – Tiny Buddha

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

By Lauren Impraim in Blog, change & challenges, letting go, mindfulness & peace

“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)

By Lori Deschene in Blog, healthy habits, mindfulness & peace

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 …

Not Getting What You Want May Be a Wonderful Stroke of Luck

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

Grudges Are a Waste of Happiness

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

How to Stop Doubting Yourself So You Can Go After Your Dreams

By Alison Breen in Blog, letting go, meaning & passion, work fulfillment

“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 …

The Only Thing We Really Have Is Right Now

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

I Vow to Let Go of All Worries

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

Be Strong Enough to Let Go & Patient Enough for What You Deserve

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

12 Things to Always Remember

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

How a Hobby Can Boost Your Motivation and Change Your Life

By Jessica Freeman in Blog, happiness & fun, meaning & passion

“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 …

Never Apologize for How You Feel

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

A Flower Doesn’t Compete with the Flower Next to It

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

4 Tips for Raising Happy, Emotionally Healthy Children

By Sandra Cooper in Blog, happiness & fun, healthy habits, love & relationships

“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 …

The Sadness of the Past and the Fear of the Future

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

Discussions Are Always Better Than Arguments

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

Work for a Cause, Not for Applause

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

You Can’t Calm the Storm, but You Can Calm Yourself

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

Anxiety, Your New BFF: How It Can Help You If You Let It

By Therese Sibon in Blog, mindfulness & peace

“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 …