The Piece You’ve Been Looking For
Dealing with Loneliness: Hold onto Patience, Not the Past
“Patience is not passive; on the contrary, it is active; it is concentrated strength.” ~Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton
Last night, I discovered the tiniest of creatures in my shower: a minute scorpion, no larger than the average human fingernail.
I could not for the life of me work out how it had ended up here because I live on the third floor of an apartment building in a busy South African city. Nonetheless, there it was—a little fellow in the corner of the tiles, receiving ricocheted water droplets on his tiny little carapace.
My main personal learning theme for this year …
Stop Being Hard on Yourself: 5 Tips for Learning Life Lessons
“When we can no longer change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” ~Viktor Frankl
I learned a big lesson this week. It’s been a lingering challenge that has popped up in many ways recently. Mostly it’s presented itself in other people, or rather, in the qualities of other people.
Over the last few months, I’ve been introduced to quite a few new acquaintances, and I’ve continuously come up against traits that I considered ugly, like arrogance, materialism, insecurity, and ignorance.
It really riled me up to the point that I felt a physical change in myself.
I interpreted …
Never Give Up: An Inspiring Transformation
This video has already been viewed more than nine million times since it was posted last year, but I just saw it for the first time today. If you’ve never seen it, I highly recommend taking a few minutes. It will challenge your understanding of what’s possible, in general and for you personally. And if you have seen it, perhaps this is coming at just the right time to inspire you again. It moved me to tears, and action.
Be the Hero of Your Story: Make Your Life Count
“Bad things do happen; how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life. I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of my loss, or I can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift I have—life itself.” ~Walter Anderson
Flying. I love flying.
No, I’m not some sick person who likes getting strip-searched by TSA, or waiting several hours to board a flight that should have arrived at my destination already. I hate that part, but I love the part when the plane …
Becoming Alive Again: Find Happiness Right Where You Are
“Letting go of the past means that you can enjoy the dream that is happening right now” ~Don Miguel Ruiz
For many of us, life spits out the very real scenario of “one day to the next.” As we go through the motions, our daily routine, whatever that entails, our life becomes predictable. We feel like it’s Groundhog Day. As we land our feet on the ground when we wake each morning, we feel like we are back on the merry-go-round of life.
For me, as I woke every morning, I questioned myself: “Is this it? Am I to feel …
Why We Don’t Always Get What We Want
“Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.” ~Dalai Lama
It’s probably happened to you. In all likelihood, it has happened multiple times in your life thus far.
You don’t understand why it happens. And when it does, it can throw you into the deepest valleys of despair.
Perhaps you cry out to a higher power to make things better. Maybe you just stare into the cosmos, wondering what the meaning of life is and why things get tough.
I’ve been there. Many times. For all sorts of reasons.
Breakups, career problems, dealing …
6 Thought-Provoking Realizations to Make You Feel Better About Life
“Turn your face toward the sun and the shadows will fall behind you.” ~Māori Proverb
It’s easy to get caught up in our own lives and forget what makes life so beautiful in the first place. Isn’t that true? I know for me, I end up living life through autopilot, lacking a conscious thought until I snap out of it and remind myself that life is great.
When I get like this, it’s nice to remind myself of the realizations I’ve come across over the years and stored in my memory bank.
Every time you forget what you’re living for …
Improve Any Relationship by Challenging Your Perceptions
“You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.” ~Friedrich Nietzsche
This morning, I found my wife desperately trying to make her printer work after having set herself one hour to get some good work done. I told her she should use my printer and concentrate on more important things. Surely her printing goal was to get the document in hand, not to spend her one precious hour fighting the machine?
When our argument had died down (yes, it really did get that far!) …
5 Ways to Deal with Emotional Oversensitivity
“It isn’t what happens to us that causes us to suffer; it’s what we say to ourselves about what happens.” ~Pema Chodron
I’ve never been much of a sun worshipper. I’m a pale blend of Irish, Scottish, and English, so my skin goes from alabaster to boiled lobster in about twenty minutes.
Once when I was a teenager, someone accidentally smacked me on my sunburned back. I was in tears. She was genuinely sorry and I said I was all right, but secretly I was angry.
Couldn’t she see how red I was? How slowly I moved? Someone with …
Why We Need Disconnected Alone Time (Without Social Media)
“Do not rely completely on any other human being, however dear. We meet all life’s greatest tests alone.” ~Agnes Macphail
I have found that the more time I spend alone, the more comfortable I become in my own skin because I can truly get to know myself. This provides me with more patience to accept myself as I am, wherever I am in my journey, on a daily basis.
This lesson was something I learned after spending a summer alone in Italy with a family friend.
I embarked on the journey, turning off my phone for the first time, …
You Don’t Need to Fix Yourself to Be Healed
“Growth begins when we begin to accept our weaknesses.” -Jean Vanier
I used to believe the word “healed” had a very specific meaning. In my mind, it described a state of perfection that always looked very different from the chronic health challenges I endured.
Being born with VACTERL Association, a birth disorder that causes malformations in six of the body’s systems, meant that I entered the world needing a lot of fixes. There were surgeries, hospitalizations, treatments, and medications aimed at perfecting something inherently imperfect.
The Search
I grew up searching. To be like everyone else. For a cure. For …
To Reach the Sun
This is the first artwork I created myself, using magazine letters and pages. It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a while now, since it allows me to combine my love of magazines with my passion for quotes and childlike art. What do you think? Should I make more of these? Feedback is greatly appreciated!
Transforming Panic Into Peace: 3 Steps to Relieve Anxiety
“No matter how hard the past, you can always begin again.” ~Buddha
Growing up, I was one of those people much more concerned about what you thought of me than what I thought of me.
With my focus being on how I was being perceived by those around me, it left me feeling extremely unsettled.
I was desperate to be liked and accepted.
“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind” was a nice idea for the fortunate, but certainly not for me.
I was convinced that …
Book Giveaway: Chicken Soup for the Soul 20th Anniversary Edition
Update: The winners for this giveaway have already been chosen. The winners:
If you enjoy touching, uplifting stories, you’ve likely stumbled upon the Chicken Soup for the Soul series at one time or another.
What started with one book two decades ago has expanded to more than 200 titles, providing motivation and inspiration to millions of people of all ages, from all over the world.
The newly released 20th anniversary edition includes all of the original stories from the first book and 20 new ones from writers including Deepak Chopra, Dr. Mehmet …
Music and Life, by Alan Watts
Have you ever stopped and asked yourself what it is you’re chasing, and if it will really feel like success when you get there? If you feel like you’re missing everything, take a few minutes to hear what Alan Watts has to say on music and life.
When Things Fall Apart: Breakdowns Can Create Breakthroughs
“Breakdowns can create breakthroughs. Things fall apart so things can fall together.” ~Unknown
“I’m sorry,” the email said, “but our phone call left me feeling uncomfortable, and we’ve decided to work with someone else.”
I felt like I’d been punched in the gut. Even though I saw it coming. Even though I’d brought it on myself.
It was February 2010, and I didn’t have the money to pay my mortgage. My savings were gone, burned through in a misguided attempt to breathe life back into my ailing business by “throwing money at the problem.”
As a ketubah artist—a maker of …
Though I run this site, it is not mine. It's ours. It's not about me. It's about us. Your stories and your wisdom are just as meaningful as mine.