Keep the Cycle Going
Taking Big Chances and Knowing If It’s Worth the Risk
“Life is inherently risky. There is only one big risk you should avoid at all costs, and that is the risk of doing nothing.” ~Denis Waitley
Taking risks isn’t the secret to life, but taking risks does mean we are never at risk of doing nothing.
Nine months ago, almost to the day, I stepped off a plane onto German soil. I left behind everything I knew, and almost everyone I knew. I moved to a place where I couldn’t understand anyone to live with someone I had never lived with before.
But let’s back up. What exactly made me …
Breaking the Rust: 7 Tips to Move Forward When You Feel Stuck
“Change is inevitable. Growth is intentional.” ~Glenda Cloud
The squeak emanating from my office chair had finally become unbearable. Like a slow drip of acid on the surface of my psyche, it had finally burned its way into my head.
I stopped working on the article I was writing and strode into the garage to retrieve my toolbox. Time to replace that rusted out wheel with the shiny new one that I’d bought months ago.
I leapt into action purposefully. Today, things would change.
Three of the four bolts holding the wheel in place were out when things ground to …
Stop Resisting: Surrender to Your Body to Transform It and Your Life
“Whatever you fight, you strengthen, and what you resist, persists.” ~Eckhart Tolle
Most people don’t realize that your relationship with your body affects your entire life. Why? Because if you are fighting with your body, you are fighting with yourself. And if you are fighting with yourself, you are resisting what you truly desire in life.
I know too well what it feels like to fight with your body. I had the same fear as most people…
If I love my body as it is today, it will get worse. I will gain more weight. If I keep my constant …
How to Use Your Flaws as Creative Inspiration
“If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.” ~Maya Angelou
I love my skin because not only does it protect and make me human, it also inspires me to make art.
Being an artist, I’m always finding inspiration in my day-to-day life. Well, ten years ago that came in the form of irritating and weird looking welts that appear on my skin when I barely scratch. It was so embarrassing when people would see the itchy welts and ask, “What’s wrong with you?”
I have dermatographia. It’s a skin condition in …
Coping with the Pain of Loneliness After a Breakup
“Relationships are like glass. Sometimes it’s better to leave them broken than hurt yourself trying to put it back together.” ~Unknown
I am at a phase in my life right now where I’m struggling with loneliness.
Most of the time, I feel a deep sense of disconnection from the world around me and the people I share it with.
The mere fact that I am writing this in the small hours of the morning, deafened by the ear-splitting silence of an empty flat, unable to sleep, simply emphasizes this point to me even harder.
The empty flat in question is …
5 Steps to Deal with Emotional Baggage So It Doesn’t Define You
“Sometimes the past should be abandoned, yes. Life is a journey and you can’t carry everything with you. Only the usable baggage.” ~Ha Jin
You’ve probably heard of the fear of missing out but what about the fear of letting go?
My father was volatile and mentally unstable. Criticism was his preferred method of communication. As a child and teenager, I learned to keep my thoughts and feelings locked away and became an expert at deflecting personal questions.
Without realizing it, I carried this habit into adulthood, avoiding any talk about my feelings or turning them into a joke. …
Ellen Page’s Inspiring Coming Out Speech
Ellen Page is my new hero. Her honesty, her vulnerability, her courage, her compassion, her message of hope. Five amazing reasons to dedicate nine minutes to this video. If you’re anything like me, you’ll get to the end with goosebumps and gratitude for the powerful reminder to shine your light.
Why Love Addiction Deprives Us of Love, and How to Let It In
“What we seek in love is finding someone with whom we feel safe to reveal our true self.” ~Karen Salmansohn
I wasn’t always in a relationship, but I was almost always in love.
I even had crushes in kindergarten. I hated school because my grade school teacher didn’t like me. Maybe my crushes helped me avoid feeling the void, the loneliness, and the sense that I was not of this world, an outcast.
Being in love let me ignore those uncomfortable feelings. Of course, I did not understand any of this at age six. Now I do.
As an …
How to Fall Back in Love With Your Life
“If we look at the world with a love of life, the world will reveal its beauty to us.” ~Daisaku Ikeda
Ever found yourself in a rut, just waiting for some force of the Universe to pull you out?
When ennui sets in, it can be hard to find a way back into the light, but it typically takes a series of events and choices for us to be living a life out of sync with our personal goals, values, and passions.
Last year, I found myself in one of these ruts. After spinning my wheels for quite some time, …
Honoring Our Inner Voices to Make the Right Choices for Us
“Our lives improve only when we take chances and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves.” ~Walter Anderson
After high school I moved to the northern tip of Vancouver Island to live with my aunt and uncle and work at their fishing resort. It was a busy tourist destination at the time. Every summer the town filled with young people, home from university and eager to earn money.
I loved my time up there. I met many interesting, colorful people from around the world who came to fish, whale watch, kayak, or …
How the Word “Should” Can be Harmful and 3 Empowering Alternatives
“To wish you were someone else is to waste the person you are.” ~Sven Goran Eriksson
How many times a day do you use the word “should” in reference to yourself or other people? I don’t know about you, but I used to use it a lot.
The word “should” has become a fixture in our everyday dialogue. We use it in conversation with others, as a way of motivating ourselves or keeping ourselves in check, and to express a myriad of feelings, including frustration, guilt, and regret.
As I’ve become more interested in my internal dialogue and how …
Keep Shining Your Light, Even When You Feel Broken
“I wish I could show you, when you are lonely or in darkness, the astonishing light of your own being.” ~Hafiz
I keep a prism hanging near the entrance to my home. Its beauty, made possible only by the broken nature of the glass from which it is constructed, serves as a constant reminder that even the broken pieces within each and every one of us can serve as a source of light. It’s a lesson that took me some time to learn.
Shortly after graduating from college, I took a long, brutally honest look at my life and realized …
Dealing with Depression: 10 Ways to Feel Positive and Peaceful
“Once you choose hope, anything is possible.” ~Christopher Reeve
I have suffered from depression since I was a teenager. My experiences have also caused severe post-traumatic stress disorder.
My father has been abandoning me for my whole life. As a teenager, I went to live with him because my relationship with my mother was so difficult. He sexually abused me for the year that I lived with him.
At the age of seventeen, I sought solace by turning to what I thought was God. For the next twenty-eight years I held a set of beliefs that were angry and judgmental …
Tiny Girl with Huge Wisdom
Feeling down on yourself and worrying about what others think of you? Take a page from young Breanna Youn’s book…
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