In a World Where You Can Be Anything, Be Kind
You Don’t Have to be Shaken Up to Wake Up
“They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” ~Andy Warhol
I’m in my late thirties now, but I remember getting my first car like it was yesterday.
Even though I would have loved a shiny new car, my dad had suggested I go for a reliable junk box instead. Since I had been known to take out a few mailboxes and was somewhat of a menace on the road, I begrudgingly agreed.
Dad had a friend who worked on cars, and I proudly purchased my first clunker for $1000.
The catalyst for wanting my …
How to Thrive at Work (Even If You Don’t Love Your Job)
“Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present.” ~Jim Rohn
We spend so much of our days at work, it makes sense that we should enjoy it, but many of us are not that lucky.
Too many people work in jobs they dislike or for people who make them unhappy.
Perhaps we don’t get the meaning of our jobs or are caught up in the corporate rat race. So quit, our friends say, but it’s not that easy. I have bills to pay, kids to feed, or things I need …
How to Make Life More Exciting and the Benefits of Switching Things Up
“If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much space.” ~Stephen Hunt
Isn’t it funny how metaphors for life exist in all of our everyday experiences?
I found myself on a mountain the other day (no, that’s not the metaphor), where the route through the particularly rocky bits was marked with cairns. (For those non-mountain runners, a cairn is a man-made pile of little rocks indicating the pathway.)
Even though I was following a fellow runner, I liked to lag behind to enjoy the solitude and absorb the surrounding energy of nature. That’s the hippie in me.…
10 Ways to Cultivate a Positive Mindset and Change Your Life
“Each morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.” ~Buddha
I remember how I used to think; it was always, “People suck” and “I hate (fill in the blank).” I was constantly focusing on the bad side of humanity, so that was all I could see. It cast a shadow, which took the joy out of life.
It should have been obvious that I was creating my own misery, but I wasn’t able to see how my own thoughts affected my mood.
I had to change my entire outlook by training my mind to see …
Abuse Isn’t Always Physical, and We Never Deserve It
“A bad relationship is like standing on broken glass. If you stay, you will keep hurting. If you walk away, you will hurt but you will heal.” ~Autumn Kohler
It happens little by little, bit by bit. So very slowly that before you know it, you can’t recognize the person you lie next to at night and you hate the person you see staring back at you in the mirror.
Who is that person?
Where is the strong, capable, unflappable, and carefree person that you once were? When did you become someone so pathetic, so small and malleable?
I have …
Breaking Free from Manipulative, Narcissistic Parents
“Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we’re supposed to be and embracing who we are.” ~Brené Brown
I happened to catch the last scene of the movie Moonstruck on TV a few nights ago. The scene marks the happy resolution of various plot threads, and yet I felt as if I was witnessing the sinking of the Titanic.
It was like watching a demonstration of what I have come to understand as the two ways of being in this world: dominating vs. accepting, narcissism or bullying vs. kindness.
Having come from a narcissistic …
3 Ways to Build Stronger, Deeper Friendships
“No friendship is an accident.” –O. Henry, Heart of the West
Recently I was telling a friend how grateful I was that she had initiated a get-together.
“No one ever reaches out to me,” I complained. “I feel like I am the one driving all of my relationships.”
“Well,” she responded, “don’t think too highly of me. I almost never reach out…to anyone.”
I mulled this over on my way home that evening. I have often felt like the driving force behind many of my relationships. But I have also felt on many occasions that I’m just as bad at …
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