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7 Things to Remember When You Think You’re Not Good Enough

By in Blog, love & relationships, mindfulness & peace

“We can’t hate ourselves into a version of ourselves we can love.” ~Lori Deschene

Sometimes I am really terrible to myself, and I relentlessly compare myself to other people, no matter how many times I read or hear about how good enough or lovable I am.

On an almost daily basis, I meticulously look for evidence that I am a nobody, that I don’t deserve to be loved, or that I’m not living up to my full potential.

There is generally a lot of pressure to “stack up” in our culture. We feel as if there is something …

How to Reduce Stress and Focus More on What Truly Matters

By in Blog, happiness & fun, mindfulness & peace

“Beware the barrenness of a busy life.” ~Socrates

Did you ever wish you could just take off from work and get away from it all?

This past summer I had the opportunity to do just that.

I was wrapping up a twenty-four-year career in the Air Force and had saved up two months of vacation time. So my wife and I decided to visit Rio de Janeiro and live by the beach.

The tropical weather was everything you would expect it to be: sunny, warm, and gorgeous.

But surprisingly, the time off gave me so much more.

Being away from …

5 Questions to Discover Who You Are and What Will Make You Happy

By in Blog, happiness & fun, work fulfillment

Who I Am

“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” ~E.E. Cummings

At twenty-five I was happily married and had a great career, many friends, and lots of money. During that time I also became deeply depressed, was put on medication for anxiety, and entered what would be a very long relationship with psychotherapy.

It was a real struggle for me to understand why I wasn’t happy when I had everything that I thought was important in life. Was I selfish? Were my expectations too high? I honestly couldn’t understand what was missing and …

Buddha Doodles: Choose Your Thoughts

By in Fun & Inspiring

ChooseYourThoughts_BuddhaDoodles_MollyHahn

Source: Buddha Doodles

A Simple, Tiny Exercise to Help You Make a Big Change

By in Blog, change & challenges

Happy Man

“Change is inevitable. Growth is intentional.” ~Glenda Cloud

Growing up, I never had that many friends. The concept of best friends is still foreign to me. For the first seventeen years of my life, I found myself happier alone than in the presence of other people.

I wanted to join them; I just didn’t know how.

In order to protect myself from people I’d rather not mention, I decided to join a karate class. For the first time I belonged to a group that was slowly starting to accept me.

In the months that followed, I began to go out …

How to Maintain Healthy Habits and Stop Sabotaging Yourself

By in Blog, healthy habits

“You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” ~Buddha

About two years go, I felt horrible about myself and where I was in my life: single, struggling to lose weight, miserable in my job (and no clue what to do about it), and unfulfilled in general.

I kept trying to bully myself in order to be the person I wanted to be and have the things I wanted to have.

I kept saying to myself, “I can’t believe you said/ate/did that. There’s something wrong with you” and giving myself strict rules to follow, …

Why We Don’t Do What We Want to Do and How to Start

By in Blog, meaning & passion

“If it is important to you, you will find a way. If not, you’ll find an excuse.” ~Unknown

“The truth is,” she said, “if you can’t put fifteen minutes a day into your art, then you’re making an excuse.”

I squirmed in my seat.

It was February 1, 2011, and I was on the phone, interviewing Michele, a professional artist and artist’s mentor, for an online course I created.

Michele was sharing what she tells the artists in her mentorship program who complain of not having enough time to do their art. Her words were intended for her mentees, but …

5 Ways to Seize the Moment and Live Without Regrets

By in Blog, happiness & fun, letting go, meaning & passion

The Jubilant Man

“Accept your past without regret, handle your present with confidence, and face your future without fear.” ~Unknown

Samara is my colleague at work. She is one of the most pleasant ladies I know. She always has a smile and an encouraging word to give.

She really is the kind of woman you want to speak to on the days you feel like life has dealt you a bad hand, because she always has something comforting to say. As we got closer, I confided more and more in her about the challenges I was going through in my life.

I envisioned …

You’re Not Broken

By in Fun & Inspiring

Youre Not Broken

Source: Chibird

The Good Life

By in Fun & Inspiring

An inspring animated video by New York Times bestselling author Mark Albion, based on his book More Than Money. Maybe the good life is closer than you think…

Pour Your Heart into This Day

By in Fun & Inspiring

Pour Your Heart into This Day

Source: What My Coffee Says to Me

Think Before Reacting: How to Use Your Mental Pause Button

By in Blog, love & relationships, mindfulness & peace

“Better than a thousand hollow words is one word that brings peace.” ~Buddha

I used to be the queen of putting my foot in my mouth. I’d say the first thing that came into my head without thinking.

My intentions were always good, and I’d never deliberately offend or hurt anyone, but it landed me in trouble more than once.

Being so reactionary also played havoc in my relationships. I was defensive and quick to answer back. I did a lot more talking than listening.

This spread into other areas of my life. I’d put food into my mouth faster …

How to Improve Your Relationships and Make a Kinder World

By in Blog, love & relationships

kindness

“If you propose to speak, always ask yourself, is it true, is it necessary, is it kind.” ~Buddha

I once attended a lecture given by a world-renowned expert on post-traumatic stress disorder. The lecture made two points that I have never forgotten. I call them “brain tricks.”

1. Given a choice, our primitive brain will naturally select for the negative. It’s a survival thing.

2. When in crisis, the part of our brain that conceptualizes time and space goes off line. In other words, our brain increases the urgency of the problem by making us think the crisis will never …

If You Have Good Thoughts

By in Fun & Inspiring

good-thoughts

Source: From Victory Road

Things Will Never Be Perfect: Making Peace with Everyday Challenges

By in Blog, change & challenges, letting go, mindfulness & peace

Meditating in the Street

“Serenity comes when you trade expectations for acceptance.” ~Unknown

A few weeks ago, I walked into my studio apartment and found it quite messy, which isn’t that hard to do with 325 square feet shared by a couple.

I’m talking clothes on the floor, dishes on the couch, and paper strewn everywhere. It had been one of those weeks where both my husband and I were ripping and running, having little to no time to manage household chores.

I looked around, took a deep breath, and sat down on the couch after moving some papers. I enjoyed some dinner with …

How to Feel at Home Wherever You Are

By in Blog, happiness & fun, mindfulness & peace

At Home

“Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.” ~Basho

For over three years, I’ve been living out of a suitcase and traveling around the world doing a combination of volunteering, housesitting, and couch surfing.

This journey started after I decided to drastically change my life. In the span of a week, I filed for divorce, quit my high-paying job in New York, left my PhD program at an Ivy League school, sold all my stuff, and flew to South America.

After spending six months volunteering in Brazil, I began to realize that, while I was born and …

Our Everyday Choice

By in Fun & Inspiring

Our Everyday Choice

Source: Fractal Enlightenment

How to Embrace Your True Beauty (Not the Media’s Ideal)

By in Blog, happiness & fun, healthy habits, mindfulness & peace

simplereminders.com-you-are-beautiful-scottlynn-withtext-displayres

“Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.” ~Kahlil Gibran

A few years shy of my fiftieth birthday, I went on a road trip with one of my best friends from high school. We’d taken some version of this trip many times during our teens and twenties, but as we started raising young children, we didn’t have much time for getaways.

But on this occasion, our kids were old enough to fend for themselves, and we hit the road with same excitement and silliness that characterized all of our youthful adventures.

We spent the next …

How to Stop Judging and Being Hard on Yourself

By in Blog, love & relationships

“You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” ~Buddha

For a long time I joked that if I had a time machine, I would go back to 1989 and give my sixteen-year-old self a swift butt kicking. But then a few months ago, on my fortieth birthday, a friend posted a picture of me at sixteen on Facebook.

Seeing this image of myself totally threw me for a loop. Other than a school photo, it’s probably one of the few pictures I am aware of from that time in my life.

I spent …

The Power of Words

By in Fun & Inspiring

When I first saw this video, I thought it was about the title—the power of words. Then it occurred to me that it might be about the other part of the title (shared on the YouTube page, but not here): you should see this.

Perhaps it’s not so much about saying the same thing in a different way; maybe it’s more about the gift of the second message and how that naturally inspired others to give back.

It’s a powerful reminder, a truth we often forget. It’s a beautiful day. Can you see it?

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