If all the stories of vicious bullying have left you fearing for humanity, take a couple of minutes to hear from five inspiring boys who took a peer with special needs under their wing and made him part of their gang.
“When you love someone, the best thing you can offer is your presence. How can you love if you are not there?” ~Thich Nhat Hanh
I love to pose a question in my journal and watch carefully for the myriad responses from The Universe. I always know how much attention something needs based on the quantity and clarity of the answers I receive.
Lately I’ve been pondering the question: How can I be a better sister, daughter, and friend? The Universe has been responding with a metric truckload of answers.
The common theme?
Get present.
With our busy lives, we’re …
“Some people come into your life as blessings. Others come into your life as lessons.” ~Mother Teresa
Going by experience, I should have been petrified of men and marriage.
Forced into an arranged marriage at twenty, something that is common in India, it took me over a decade to draw up the courage to leave a toxic, abusive situation and to chart my own path in a conservative society, with two little kids to fend for.
But due to an inner conviction in the workings of a larger universe, I somehow made it through with my sense of wonder (and …
“Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.” ~Kahlil Gibran
Does a loved one have a favorite photo of you? A photo by their bedside or on their screensaver that reminds them of a special time and place and memory?
Can I also hazard a guess that this isn’t your favorite photo of yourself? I bet you look at yourself critically and dislike how your face looks, or maybe your body is not cast in its most flattering light. I was reminded of this recently, and it made me think of how I view photos …
“To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh
There I was, reading yet another diet book.
It was the spring of 2013. I was routinely doing intense workouts in my living room at 5AM. Then I would go teach group fitness classes later in the day. By that point, I had tried all kinds of diets. In fact, I had lost count.
As I sat there in front of the latest book, looking for someone to finally give me the answer, the words began to …
“Instead of wondering when our next vacation is we should set up a life we don’t need to escape from.” ~Seth Godin
I was a senior human resources professional at the biggest company in New Zealand. I had a great team of people, a flash company car, and got to stay at the posh hotels and dine at the nicest restaurants.
I was paid more than I thought I’d ever earn, I had a house overlooking the beach, and got to vacation at some fantastic destinations. My life had all the hallmarks of success from the outside, but inside there …
“We dream to give ourselves hope. To stop dreaming—well, that’s like saying you can never change your fate.” ~Amy Tan
Pursuing dreams…
How you wish it were a smooth ride. Right?
The twists and curves you’ve encountered may have left you full of negative thoughts and doubting your ability to succeed.
In fact, you may be accepting your situation as fate and settling for defeat.
But don’t give up yet!
To keep your dreams alive, you must avoid making certain mistakes. You must realize that you’re the pilot, and you can take charge of your dreams and fly to places …
“Morning is wonderful. Its only drawback is that it comes at such an inconvenient time of day.” ~Glen Cook
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Time’s up.
You’ve got twenty minutes to shower, get dressed, eat, and get to work.
Screw it—skip the shower today. And you can wait till lunch to eat.
Go! Go! Go!
We all know the feeling. These mornings suck.
From the moment you wake up you’re in a constant rush to get ready for work and out the door on time.
By the time you arrive you’re stuck in a frenzied state of mind, never able to settle …
“Anger is like a storm rising up from the bottom of your consciousness. When you feel it coming, turn your focus to your breath.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh
There is an elderly lady—I’ll call her Ms. A—living in my mum’s village. She regularly shouts at people as they pass by her house walking their dogs.
She can be quite intimidating really. She even followed my mother up the road on one occasion, much to Mum’s alarm. My mum, unlike me, now avoids walking past her house, even though it’s a good route for her to take when walking her dog.
Ms. …
“Only something as insane as human beings would ever asked themselves if ‘I’m good.’ You don’t find oak trees having existential crisis. ‘I feel so rotten about myself. I don’t produce as much acorns as the one next to me.’” ~Adyashanti
The feeling of not being good enough is widespread among the population regardless of age or social status. Even people who, from society’s standards, are highly successful may very well feel they are not good enough and that something is missing.
For most of my life, I suffered from that feeling of not being good enough.
When I joined …
“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” ~Confucius
My son was only a year and a half old when I left his father and began my journey as a single parent. I never in a million years thought I would be raising my child alone. But away I went, with no clue as to what I was doing. I figured I’d learn as I went.
I knew I wasn’t going to be one of those moms that are too strict, too overbearing, and too controlling. I wanted my child to grow up with some freedom, some …
“Pain can change you, but that doesn’t mean it has to be a bad change. Take that pain and turn it into wisdom.” ~Unknown
Sometimes other people’s words can stir up very painful emotions in us.
Do you remember when you felt so disempowered by someone’s remarks that you froze on the spot and couldn’t think of anything to say back to them?
Or maybe you did say something, but it was so lame that you wished afterward you’d kept your mouth shut and just sucked it all up.
This happened to me recently when I was helping someone and, …
“A challenge only becomes an obstacle when you bow to it.” ~Ray Davis
I remember very clearly the first moment I saw our dog, Carmichael, or Carmy, as we called her for short.
One tiny pup in a litter of eight Golden Retrievers, it was love at first sight, and I knew she was “the one.” As the years progressed, she became my best friend, confidante, and companion. We were inseparable.
Opening the front door when returning from school, she would be there waiting, wagging her tail, with the biggest grin on her face.
She would patiently wait for me …
I’ve been guilty of thinking there are certain things I may be too old to do—things I formerly loved and things I’ve always wanted to try. Sixty-year-old teacher Shirley Clements holds no such belief.
To celebrate her upcoming retirement, she joined her students in an epic dance routine to Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk,” starting with a rap and ending with a move many of her younger counterparts likely wouldn’t try. I don’t know what’s more impressive—the choreography or her vibrant spirit!
“It hurts to let go, but sometimes it hurts more to hold on.” ~Unknown
When we’re deep into something it’s hard to see clearly and to hear advice from others. It’s hard to focus on a solution when we are consumed with the problem.
It’s the difference between playing and watching a game of chess. It’s so much easier to see checkmate when you’re not the one playing the game.
That’s what happened to me for the last five years.
I spent every breathing moment consumed with a man, unable to listen to those who watched me struggle. I spent …
“The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.” ~Carl Jung
Often when people want a new relationship, they either look for someone to complete them or they imagine sharing their life with someone just like them. So they try to present themselves in the best possible light for their imagined future partner—either as one perfect half of a whole or as an ideal version of what they believe their future partner will want.
In my experience, finding your soul mate requires a different, far more soul-enriching approach. Here are six steps that worked for me:
“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” ~Robert Brault
One of the things I love about the Native American spiritual path is the focus on appreciating the simple things in life.
Simple things are often hard to relate to in today’s world of overwhelm.
Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google, says we human beings currently create as much information in two days as we did from the dawn of civilization up through 2003!
And yet our bodies were, and still are, designed to be in tune with the sun, …
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