Treat Everyone As If They’ll Be Dead by Midnight
Is Your Life Really as Perfect as It Looks on Facebook?
“Most men would rather deny a hard truth than face it.” ~George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones
So would most women.
This is the way we have encountered life so far. Better to show the world just the socially acceptable and shove the rest under the rug. That’s where the hard truths go.
But we all know the trouble with the rug. Stuff builds up under the rug and eventually you land on your face. Hard truths don’t go away.
Social media is exacerbating the historical tendency to present only the pretty, so we’re justifiably, and understandably, really scared …
The Good News About Feeling Bad (And How to Get Through It)
“To honor and accept one’s shadow is a profound spiritual discipline. It’s whole-making and thus holy and the most important experience of a lifetime.” ~Robert Johnson
There’s nothing worse than having a bad day (or week or years…)
Or when emotions take over and carry us away.
Or when our relationships bring challenges.
Or when we endure great loss.
Or when we wish that just once when things started getting good, they stayed that way.
But difficult times are really offerings that show us what no longer serves us. And once they’re cleared, they no longer have power over …
Calmness Is Contagious, Even If You’re Faking It
“Peace of mind is not the absence of conflict from life, but the ability to cope with it.” ~Unknown
We had just reached cruising altitude, and my friend and I were settling in for the eight-hour flight from Tokyo to Honolulu. Exhausted after spending the day in the airport, we were excited to finally be in the air with beaches awaiting us at our destination.
Jered and I were on an adventure around the world flying with standby tickets to any destination that had open seats. Even though we had been trying to get a seat to Bangkok, then Sydney, …
21 Easy Ways to Create a Calm Mind (Without Meditating)
“Learn to calm down the winds of your mind, and you will enjoy great inner peace.” ~Remez Sasson
While juggling a full-time job and my writing, I found it easy to lose track of the days. Weekends ceased to exist and my life ebbed and flowed between working and writing, the two constantly blurring into one another.
I dragged myself from day-to-day without a moment’s rest in between. When I did rest, I’d feel guilty for taking a break from working on my dreams, and it didn’t take long for the guilt to turn into frustration.
I wondered whether I’d …
3 Ways to Cultivate Gratitude and Boost Your Happiness
“Gratitude can turn common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” ~William Arthur Ward
Living in India for more than two years now has been an eye opening experience for me, as I’ve realized how I used to take so many things for granted. While growing up and living in my home country (Bosnia and Herzegovina) in Europe, I was lacking gratitude for all the blessings that surrounded me.
While sitting in our penthouse apartment in the New Delhi suburbs, in an air-conditioned room, still feeling the need to chill with a cool …
How Complaining Rewires Your Brain for Negativity (And How to Stop)
“Spending today complaining about yesterday won’t make tomorrow any better.” ~Unknown
When I was about sixteen or so, one of my parent’s friends got into some trouble with the law. When we’d visit him he’d often shake his head from side to side and mumble, my life is in the toilet.
He said it many times, for many years, even when things seemed to have gotten better for him.
My life is in the toilet was his mantra.
At the time I thought it was funny, so I adopted it for myself, until one day I started to believe it. …
20 Life Lessons I Learned In My Twenties
“The Universe is not outside of you. Look inside yourself; everything that you want, you are already that.” ~Rumi
I remember when I was a kid, “thirty years old” sounded very old and mature. “Someone who is thirty clearly knows everything about life and has it all figured out.” That was my assumption.
Life taught me that not only thirty-year olds, but most people in general have no clue what they’re doing with their lives and why they’re here.
Although I’m far away from knowing all the answers to life’s biggest questions, I feel like my twenties have been such …
5 Simple Words That Can Turn A Bad Day Around
“If your heart is beating, if your lungs are breathing, if you are still alive… then it is not too late to do something kind, creative, generous, satisfying, and courageous. Today.” ~Alexandra Franzen
It was one of those days.
You know the ones—when nothing really bad happens, but everything just seems to go wrong. When lots of little annoying things happen and the day seems to spiral from there.
This was one of those days.
I had woken up with a headache and decided to hit the snooze button on my alarm (twice) so I didn’t have to face the …
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