So often, people of a certain age feels less important or forgotten, but not these women from Mount Olivet Senior Care Center.
Volunteers from the group I Am Kindness surprised them with glamorous makeovers, and they all look absolutely beautiful. But it’s not the makeup or bling that did it. It’s the light that shines through their eyes, and that’s the power of love, kindness, and attention.
“To know yourself as the Being underneath the thinker, the stillness underneath the mental noise, the love and joy underneath the pain, is freedom, salvation, enlightenment.” ~Eckhart Tolle
Years ago I found my self at a low point. It wasn’t a big, life-changing event that got me there; just a sudden realization that life sucked. Every day of that horrible summer, this question nagged at me: “Is this as good as it gets?”
My sons were very young then and always happy, a joy to be around. My marriage was healthy and my husband was doing great. The problem was …
“Embrace each challenge in your life as an opportunity for self-transformation.” ~Bernie S. Siegel
I’d been having mild pain for about a week—a consistent, dull ache in the center of my chest.
I’m thirty-nine years old with no personal history of heart disease, or of anything else for that matter. Worry hadn’t yet consumed me, but I was keeping an eye on the pain to see if it got better or worse.
Once a week I drive ninety Los Angeles miles round trip for work. I say “Los Angeles” miles because I should theoretically be able to make the journey …
“All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become.” ~Buddha
Have you ever heard the phrase “your thoughts create your reality”? Have you ever wondered what this means?
Go back to your childhood and recall a time when you got into trouble. I am sure you have at least one of these memories. This doesn’t have to be a major event. It can just be a time where you were scolded for knocking over your drink.
Now remember your parents’ reaction. Were they angry or frustrated? Did they …
“The danger is not that the soul should doubt whether there is any bread, but that, by a lie, it should persuade itself that it is not hungry.” ~Simone Weil
For most of my life, I was hungry all the time. My belly only ever felt full for a few precious seconds while eating the last few bites on my plate.
One night after having dinner with friends, we stood outside the restaurant on the sidewalk, chatting and saying our goodbyes. I launched into an enthusiastic description of the next restaurant where we should eat, how fantastic their desserts were, …
“Never be ashamed of a scar. It simply means you were stronger than whatever tried to hurt you.” ~Unknown
Heartbreak. I have never felt anything as torturous.
It’s been just over a year since my first real heartbreak, and finally, after more pain and tears than I can describe, I have started to move on.
The loss of a love you believed to be true can leave you feeling shattered. No matter how independent you believed you were, and how many positive things everyone else believes about you, you may feel like the better half of everything you know has …
“Tart words make no friends; a spoonful of honey will catch more flies than a gallon of vinegar.” ~Ben Franklin
While I was pregnant, a friend told me to prioritize, in this order: self, marriage, kids.
My priorities tend to be backward: kids above all else, maybe a date night once in a while, and self-care only when there’s an important meeting at work, so momma finally makes a point of grooming her eyebrows.
So far, I appreciate the wisdom to try and shift priorities whenever I can. I feel mildly successful at putting marriage first, and it seems to …
“Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we’re supposed to be and embracing who we are.” ~Brené Brown
Now that the fog of what everyone else wanted for me has lifted, it seems so clear to me that we need to be who we truly are—not what society expects us to be. But it wasn’t always this way.
For decades, I bought into a model of success that belonged to someone else. I was studying for my MBA, but I didn’t want my friends to think I was weird, so I didn’t reveal that …
“When we can no longer change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” ~Viktor Frankl
Over the last two and a half years, I have made some big changes in my life. And by big, I mean enormous.
First, I moved with my husband and our children from a home I loved for ten years. Shortly after, my husband and I ended a twenty-year relationship and marriage. With that separation, I made the decision to buy the house we had moved to, which on paper, I shouldn’t have been able to buy.
Apparently ending a long commitment and beginning …
“Calmness is the cradle of power.” ~Josiah Gilbert Holland
I was interested, recently, to find that our local supermarket had set up an area with ten self-service checkouts. For years I‘d accepted the normal method of bagging and paying for my stuff. No stress there. But they’d installed some new technology and I was keen to give it a try.
All new things bring with them hiccups or small difficulties of some kind. The self-service area was no exception.
Sure, I did receive the correct change. And, it was definitely the fun experience I looked forward to. However, a queuing …
“You cannot live with expectations because life has no obligation to fulfill your desires. You can live with an open heart, but you cannot live with expectations.” ~Osho
Will you marry me?
These four life-changing words have been haunting me for a while. Like many other girls in long-term relationships, I waited anxiously for the day I’d get to say yes. But does anyone really know what they’re saying yes to?
When you’re in your late twenties, it seems your entire network of friends and acquaintances pair up, some in a desperate frenzy to not end up alone. And not …
“When I loved myself enough, I began leaving whatever wasn’t healthy. This meant people, jobs, my own beliefs and habits—anything that kept me small. My judgment called it disloyal. Now I see it as self-loving.” ~Kim McMillen
Sometimes people ask us questions that change our lives, questions that require us to dig down deep and think about what’s really important. Questions that push the envelope and show us that maybe the direction we’re going in isn’t the one we want.
My cousin, unknowingly, asked me one of those questions over ten years ago:
“Well, this is what you always wanted. …
“When we run from our feelings, they follow us. Everywhere.” ~Martha Beck, Ph.D
I’ve tried Paleo, The 4-Hour Body, even Body for Life.
I’ve tried intermittent fasting. (That was no fun.)
I’ve tried low-carb, carb-cycling, and carb-binging. (While I don’t think that’s a diet strategy, it was what I experienced.)
Sure, I lost weight temporarily, but I never felt like I “arrived.” I never felt…good.
Ironically, it took me gaining weight to learn the secret.
Is there an image inside your head of what you “should” look like?
I …
“It is not in the pursuit of happiness that we find fulfillment, it is in the happiness of pursuit.” ~Denis Waitley
Happiness.
You want it. You seek it. You wonder about it.
You’re constantly reminded that you are living in one of the greatest times ever.
Violence is lower than ever before in human history.
The quality of life we experience in Western countries is higher than it’s ever been.
And you’re bombarded with advice, tips, and tricks on how to construct your diet for optimal physical health, with minimal time and effort.
However, you can’t help but wonder: …
Have you ever noticed that unhealthy food is a lot cheaper and easier to get than healthy food? You can zip through a drive thru and get an entire meal off the dollar menu without losing more than five minutes or five bucks.
Because I was busy and on a budget, I formerly ate a steady diet of processed, packaged food, which did very little for my energy level.
I didn’t realize at the time how poorly I was meeting my nutritional needs, or how I was poisoning my body with artificial ingredients and chemicals, but I knew I frequently …
Just breathe. Such simple advice, and yet it can be so tough to remember when we feel caught up in our emotions. Imagine what the world would be like if we all learned the power of mindfulness as kids. Imagine what it would be like if we all made an effort to practice this as adults.
Update: The winners for this giveaway are:
I have a confession to make—I sometimes cringe when someone tells me to “just be positive.” I’ve often assumed this really means, “Your sadness is making me uncomfortable, so please stop talking about it.”
To be fair, I wouldn’t classify myself as a negative person—not now, anyways—though I have my moments. I do, however, feel for anyone who might be classified that way, as I know from experience that deep negativity often comes from deep pain.
We all face our own battles in life, some more overwhelming than others. And …
“You have been criticizing yourself for years, and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.” ~Louise L. Hay
I used to give myself quite a hard time. I felt like I wasn’t measuring up or doing enough or achieving as much as my peers.
I decided to make a note of the way I was speaking to myself and treating myself. What I found surprised me.
I noticed that I’d berate myself for days if something didn’t go exactly to plan, convinced that there was something wrong with me and that was why I had messed …
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