What Happiness Depends On
Your Struggle Does Not Define You: 2 Steps to Start Breaking Free
“Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start.” ~Nido Qubein
It’s difficult to remember the exact moment when things fell apart.
By now, so much time has passed that when I think back to that evening, the chain of events is clear up until everything stood still. I don’t remember how I slept after midnight or when he left.
Just the eerie glow of the flip phone in my darkened apartment as I ignored the calls after I sent the text. The text that set my whole life into forward motion after …
Using Our Passions While We Can And Never Giving Up
“Never underestimate the power of passion.” ~Eve Sawyer
I am a runner in my heart and in my body. Running has provided me with so many life lessons that I cannot even count them. But having to fight for running has given me the most important ones.
I still remember that day in September of 2002 when I went to my first cross-country practice. The coach told me it would only be an easy six-miler.
Only? Easy? And a six-miler?
“How does that even belong to the same sentence?” I wondered. I didn’t even know what miles were (being originally …
How to Be Happier Without Really Trying
“Happiness is the absence of trying to strive for happiness.” ~Chuang Zi
I sat in the café wondering why I wasn’t happy.
I had been listening to all the happiness and self-help gurus. I was meditating every morning. I ate a healthy diet. I exercised four times a week. I was working hard on projects I was passionate about. I wasn’t wasting time and watching my life tick away.
Yet somehow, as I sat in the café, I wondered how I could have been “doing it all right” and yet everything felt incredibly wrong.
There is no mistaking the feeling …
Getting More Out of Life When You Have Less Money
“The real measure of your wealth is how much you’d be worth if you lost all your money.” ~Unknown
When we find ourselves not having “enough,” times may be rough; however, this is only our first glance, our perceived perception.
Not all who have little are poor. None who live simply fit into the status quo. And none of us deserves to be judged for what we do or do not own.
Poverty lines are a general measure of separating the classes, but they fail to feel emotions, see our genuine qualities, or tell the stories of our lives.
They …
Emily’s Hair: The Tale of an Inspiring 3-Year-Old
At three year old, Emily had hair long enough to make a wig for a child with cancer. In this short clip, she tells us why she decided to do it. To learn more about this adorable, inspiring little girl, visit flypressfilms.com.
How to Heal a Broken Heart and Wounded Spirit
“We do not heal the past by dwelling there; we heal the past by living fully in the present.” ~Marianne Williamson
My life fell apart on a warm August evening a few years ago. It had been a full summer: family visits, plans for a cross-country move, barbecues, and plenty of travel. We were happy, my husband and I.
Or so I thought.
On that August night, my husband came home to our cozy New York apartment, sat down, and told me, behind a smother of hands and hunched shoulders, that he’s in love with another woman. Well, not so …
Stop Waiting on Your Dream: Take Tiny Steps to Make “Someday” Now
“The beautiful things about setbacks is they introduce us to our strengths.” ~Robin Sharma
It was morning, March 2009. My alarm announced another ho-hum weekday.
On the outside, I had it pretty together. I was living the corporate NYC life with a great apartment, a steady relationship, and a solid paycheck. But in the back of my mind, I knew I wasn’t as happy as I made myself out to be.
I didn’t know what I really wanted, and I constantly felt like I should just stop complaining in my head and make the best of things.
So, with every …
Knowing What to Do When the Path You’re On Feels Wrong
“Don’t let yesterday use up too much of today.” ~Cherokee Proverb
Age is a funny thing, isn’t it? It’s both an internal and external measurement by which many of us, consciously or not, judge our successes and failures, and it’s how others often judge us: “She’s so young to be CEO.” “He’s too old to be a quarterback now.” “Those guys should have stopped touring years ago.” “How old is that woman he’s dating?”
Measurement is part of our culture.
Paradoxically, we initially choose our life paths when we are the least prepared to understand the significance of our decisions.…
Worrying About the Future: On Trusting in Uncertainty
“Worry pretends to be necessary but serves no useful purpose.” ~Eckhart Tolle
The other day my good friend from back home called me hysterically crying. She felt certain she just blew a second job interview, and she’d hit a breaking point.
She’d been struggling for months, just barely paying her bills and wondering if she could afford to keep her apartment.
Every purchase had become an exercise in extreme deliberation. In fact, I’m fairly certain that when I visited last, I saw her stressing in the grocery store about whether she really needed that box of Twinkies that beckoned from …
How to De-Stress Dating and Stop Tying Your Worth to Relationships
“Your value doesn’t decrease based on someone’s inability to see your worth.” ~Unknown
I’m all too aware that dating can feel like a grinding, painful roller coaster to nowhere.
If you’ve hit your head against the wall as many times as I have, you know how frustrating, depressing, and downright disheartening it can be. Meeting someone new, going on a few great dates, getting excited, having one/both of you sort of stop calling; then repeating the process over and over is enough to make you want to give up for good.
The ups and downs in this cycle can make …
How to Live a Full Life and Smile Your Way Through It
“There are only two mantras, yum and yuck, mine is yum.” ~Tom Robbins
I recently had my thirty-first birthday. I am officially in my thirties. This leads to reflection; what have I accomplished with my time as an adult?
I recently started over yet again, making this the fifth state I’ve lived in seven years. I have a roommate, half of the stuff in my room is hers, and I’m temping for a living. I was more prosperous at twenty friggin’ three…
…externally.
If you were to see a photo of me at the age of eighteen next to a …
21 Swings: Awesome Musical Interactive Installation
This interactive installation, which comes to Montreal every spring, serves as a giant instrument, allowing passerby to hop on a swing and help create the music.
From the Vimeo page: “Each swing in motion triggers different notes, all the swings together compose a piece, but some sounds only emerge from cooperation.”
What a beautiful representation of what we can create when we work together!
How to ROCK Your Rock Bottom and Reinvent Yourself
“When something bad happens you have three choices. You can let it define you, let it destroy you, or you can let it strengthen you.” ~Unknown
I wasn’t always the ridiculously attractive (and humble) Jason you see before you. No, from a very young age I was overweight. I am an only child raised by a single, very hard-working mom. Her crazy work schedule meant that cooking meals was rarely a feasible option. This meant we ate at restaurants or had fast food quite often.
Couple that with my extreme TV watching habits and only going outside when forced, and …
Overcoming Fear and Perceived Threats to Work Toward Your Dream
“Fear is a natural reaction to moving closer to the truth.” ~Pema Chodron
I awoke with a jolt. I heard the steady breathing of my sleeping partner next to me. I checked the clock; it was 3:30 AM. With a deep exhale, while rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I reached out to my bedside table to grab my phone.
For a moment, I hesitated. I knew that tickets went on sale at 4:00 AM New Zealand Time and that they would be going fast.
The U.S. event I wanted to attend would require a considerable financial investment (air travel …
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