Page 31 – Tiny Buddha

How Slowing Down Helped Me Reclaim My Dreams

“For fast acting relief, try slowing down.” ~Lily Tomlin

“Are you the owner?” asks, well, yet another customer at our local Italian eatery.

“Nope—I’m just old!” I reply, all sheepish but pleased.

It’s true. At fifty, I’m not exactly your classic, college-struggling part-timer.

Actually, I’m the oldest employee at our restaurant—the staff “mom,” if you will. I’ve been at this serving gig three years now and haven’t looked back. Which might seem weird considering how I got here in the first place. What a contrast to the world I once lived in.

I co-owned a financial services company with my …

Manipulation Is When…

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

At Some Point You Gotta Be Real with Yourself

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

When Families Pretend That Everything Is Okay

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

A Clear Sign of Healing

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

Finding Light in the Shadows of an Invisible Illness

By Shurbelle John Baptiste in Blog

“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.” ~Albert Camus

Life has a way of throwing us curve balls when we least expect them.

For years, I had been managing the usual ups and downs of life when I was blindsided by a diagnosis that would forever change the way I lived: psoriatic arthritis. It’s one of those illnesses that most people don’t quite understand because it doesn’t always show on the outside. I looked fine, but inside, my body felt like it was on fire. The pain was constant, an unwelcome …

The Good Old Days Are Happening Right Now

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

Free Offer: One year of the Happier Meditation App

By Lori Deschene in Blog

Since you follow Tiny Buddha, I’m guessing you might be familiar with the benefits of meditation and perhaps have already experienced many of them yourself.

I first found meditation through yoga, which I initially started at a gym solely because I was curious.

I didn’t know then that meditation can help with depression, anxiety, stress, and insomnia (all of which I’ve experienced); that it can literally rewire the brain to help with healing from trauma (also a battle I know very well); or that it can help prevent and heal numerous physical conditions.

Now here I am, over two decades …

I’d Die for My Family

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

How 10 Days of Silence Brought Me Perspective and Peace

By Sophia Reeder in Blog, mindfulness & peace

“Removing old conditionings from the mind and training the mind to be more equanimous with every experience is the first step toward enabling one to experience true happiness.” ~S.N. Goenka

I just spent ten days sitting in absolute silence with about 100 strangers, time I previously thought I should’ve spent networking and applying for jobs as an unemployed twenty-something with little savings and no assets, living in a completely new country with no network or job prospects.

There were no conversations, no eye contact, no listening to music, no exercise, no reading or writing—just silence, with twelve hours of meditation …

The Work of Love

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

I Love Raw Connections

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

Tiny Buddha’s 2025 Day-to-Day Calendar Is Now Available for Purchase

By Lori Deschene in Blog

Hi friends! I’m excited to share that the 2025 Tiny Buddha Day-to-Day Calendar is now available for purchase!

Uplifting and healing, this calendar offers daily reflections from me, Tiny Buddha contributors, and other authors whose quotes have inspired and encouraged me.

Featuring colorful, patterned tear-off pages, the calendar is printed on FSC certified paper with soy-based ink. Topics include happiness, love, relationships, change, meaning, mindfulness, self-care, letting go, and more.

Here’s what Amazon reviewers had to say about the 2024 calendar:

“I love how the quotes are diverse and relevant, offering something for everyone regardless of where they …

October Mood

By tinybuddha in Fun & Inspiring

Families Who Have Regular Dance Parties

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

The Perspective Shift That Helped Me Overcome My Perfectionism

By Wayne Simmons in Blog

“Perfectionism is the exhausting state of pretending to know it all and have it all together, all the time. I’d rather be a happy mess than an anxious stress case who’s always trying to hide my flaws and mistakes.” ~Lori Deschene

When I got my start as a math teacher, it was 2012, and I had not been in a classroom in over ten years. I really wasn’t sure how teaching got done anymore.

I came into my first class with a piece of paper and many examples to share. I got up and started writing the examples on the …

Why People Ghost and Advice for Coping (or Stopping)

By Marta Castella in Blog, love & relationships

“Life is a balance of holding on and letting go.” ~Rumi

A few months ago, someone I had dated briefly seven years ago reached out to apologize for his past behavior.

Many of us know how being ghosted can evoke a mix of frustration, bursts of anger, and an underlying sense of utter powerlessness. Degrees of intensity can vary, of course, depending on the depth of the relationship and personal circumstances. This was not one of those heart-wrenching cases, and in a way, an apology seemed excessive. I had long forgiven and forgotten.

Nonetheless, I almost immediately realized I was …

Fear Isn’t a Sign of Respect

By Lori Deschene in Fun & Inspiring

Lost, Scared, and Broken: How Self-Awareness Saved My Life

By Eddy Green in Blog

“The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance.” ~Nathaniel Branden

I felt lost. I felt broken. I felt scared.

As I sat alone in that cold, dark jail cell, I felt like I had hit rock bottom.

My feet chilled against the cold stone floor. The creaky wooden bench, stitched together with narrow strips, tormented me.

Inmates shouted all around me. Their voices echoed in the dark. It was like the noise of the outside world had finally caught up with the noise inside my head. I just wanted to scream.

I was sixteen, but I …