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Tiny Wisdom: On Forgiveness

By in Anger, Forgiveness, Quotes, Strength

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” ~Mahatma Gandhi

Someone wronged you. Maybe they treated you thoughtlessly without your feelings or best interests in mind. Or maybe they hurt you with full awareness in a moment of anger orfrustration.

Your pride’s bruised, and your expectations destroyed. Why should you extend compassion to them when they didn’t offer you the same? Why should you reach out to them when you’re not the one who was wrong?

You could easily come up with a laundry list of excuses to stay righteous and unyielding. Unfortunately, no one benefits …

How to Open Yourself to Love When You Didn’t Grow Up with It

By in Blog, love & relationships

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

I was always someone who craved love and attention. This is not to say that I accepted love willingly—quite the opposite, in fact.

If someone decided to like or even love me they would have to pass through a path of obstacles, being pushed, pulled, and tested at every corner. Only then, upon arrival at the finish line, would they gain my acceptance.

As you can imagine, this eliminated a number of potential friends and partners, and I often found myself lonely and disappointed.…

Tiny Wisdom: On What We Envision

By in Possibilities, Quotes

“We are limited, not by our abilities, but by our vision.” -Unknown

Have you ever cut yourself off right in the middle of imagining a possibility? I did it to myself earlier today. As I wrote in my recent blog post about needing less money, I am happiest when I have enough, but don’t devote countless hours to the pursuit of abundance.

Today I was thinking about a world where I could take care of all of my needs through barter, when suddenly I stopped short and thought, “All is a little unrealistic.” I then started making a …

3 Mistakes That Hold You Back in Life & How to Avoid Them

By in Blog, meaning & passion

“Love is what we were born with. Fear is what we learned here.” ~Marianne Williamson

I believe we are here to grow, to expand—to learn and experience and understand. Growth and discovery are the purpose of life.

I also believe we tend to get in our own way.

Our experiences, our cultures, and even our families can create fears and limitations that can hold us back, or hold us down. They don’t do this intentionally. It’s just that we’re all doing the best we can in this beautiful, messy, complicated world.

There are so many circumstances or experiences that …

Tiny Wisdom: On the Power of Dreams

By in Possibilities, Quotes

“The poor man is not he who is without a cent, but he who is without a dream.” -Harry Kemp

A while back, I found a research study that revealed a lot of trust fund babies end up struggling with depression. Since they don’t need to work to earn a living, many of them feel a sense of emptiness and purposelessness.

Even with all the money they could ever need, they often feel that their lives are lacking.

I’m sure most of us wouldn’t mind a little extra money to play with, but there is no wealth like the joy …

Tiny Wisdom: On Being Part of the Solution

By in Compassion, Love, Quotes

“Never look down on anybody unless you’re helping him up.” -Jesse Jackson

I’ve always believed that there is a fundamental difference between compassion and pity: Compassion stands beside someone; pity stands above.

Sometimes it’s tempting to stand in that place, and not just because we’re being judgmental or cruel. Oftentimes, it feels safer up there. You don’t need to understand that person, or what they’re dealing with.

You also don’t need to get too close. You can simply remove yourself without getting too invested or involved, knowing that you feel bad, but there’s nothing you can do.

Compassion suggests a …

Controlling Your Inner Control Freak: The Art of Inefficiency

By in Blog, letting go, love & relationships

“Being right is highly overrated. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.” ~Unknown

I’ve always been a control freak. But I’ve learned to control it!

I was born with the ability to quickly envision the most efficient way through a task, activity, project, problem, puzzle, or challenge. This has made me useful to many people, especially in my workplaces.

But it can make people crazy, too. Especially when I’ve expected others to buy into the approach I knew would work best, fastest, most efficiently.

My partner sometimes reminds me, “It doesn’t always have to be about being efficient!”…

Tiny Wisdom: On the Power of a Smile

By in Attitude, Happiness, Quotes

“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” -Thich Nhat Hanh

Last weekend, I had a difficult day. My brother had just flown 3,000 miles across the country after visiting me, which reignited an internal conflict about living so far from my family.

I always feel a familiar emptiness when I deal with that conflict. It’s my instinctive resistance to the undeniable truth that everything in life is a trade off. I can’t simultaneously follow my instinct to be in LA and my instinct to be near my …

How to Stop Obsessing Over Things You Want

By in Blog, letting go

“You only lose what you cling to.” ~Buddha

I want to be famous. I want to earn lots of money. I want boxes of expensive chocolates. I want people to like me. I want you to think that this article is the most amazing thing you’ve ever read.

Enough about me. Back to the Buddha’s quote. “You only lose what you cling to.” This doesn’t make any sense, does it? Surely you only lose what you don’t cling to?

I think there are two ways of making sense of this idea.

First, what we cling to slips away from us.…

Tiny Wisdom: On Choosing Optimism

By in Quotes

“I am a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will.” -Antonio Gramsci

They say that ignorance is bliss, and there’s a really good reason for it. There are a lot of things we learn as we get older that can get us down if we dwell on them.

The world feels a lot safer when you believe in Santa Claus and magic, and haven’t yet learned about the tragedies and injustices that happen every day, all over the world.

It’s a lot easier to feel happy when you believe that everyone has pure intentions, and don’t yet …

7 Obstacles to Mindfulness and How to Overcome Them

By in Blog, mindfulness & peace

“Peace of mind is not the absence of conflict from life, but the ability to cope with it.” ~Unknown

Mindfulness has allowed me to become more aware of my thoughts and reach a sense of inner peace.

As my awareness has increased, so has the peace and joy in my life. The more familiar I have become with the inner workings of my mind, the better I have started to feel.

I came onto the path of mindfulness, meditation, and spirituality when I was sixteen years old. I saw the TV-series Ed, where the main character started experimenting with …

Tiny Wisdom: On Feeling Good

By in Confidence, Happiness, Quotes

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” -Eleanor Roosevelt

My boyfriend makes me feel unworthy. My mother makes me feel inadequate. My sister makes me inferior. My boss makes me feel incompetent.

Have you said something like this recently? We all do it sometimes–give our power away to other people as if they have complete control over what we feel.

For a long time, I believed it was impossible to change how I responded to certain events. If someone said something hurtful, I had no choice but to feel sad and rejected–and it was all their fault. …

7 Healthy Ways to Deal with Incessant Worrying

By in Blog, letting go, mindfulness & peace

Woman Meditating

“I vow to let go of all worries and anxiety in order to be light and free.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh

When you think about the future, are you filled with hope or worry? If you are like most people, it’s probably anxiety. You have largely been experiencing worry. Your mind feels unsettled.

Worry arises because you realize that you cannot predict what is going to happen tomorrow and know that you cannot have full control over how events turn out. You are uncomfortable with not having absolute certainty.

Incessant worrying happens when you find it hard to let go. You …

20 Things to Do When You’re Feeling Angry with Someone

By in Blog, change & challenges, letting go

“If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.” ~Chinese proverb

As Tiny Buddha grows larger, I find there are a lot more people emailing me with requests. The people-pleaser in me wants to say yes to everyone, but the reality is that there is only so much time in the day—and we all have a right to allocate our time as best supports our intentions, needs, and goals.

Recently someone contacted me with a request that I was unable to honor. After I communicated that, he made a sweeping judgment about …

Tiny Wisdom: On Committing and Achieving

By in Possibilities, Quotes, Success

“Continuous effort—not strength or intelligence—is the key to unlocking our potential.” -Winston Churchill

If you’re anything like me, you probably noticed at some point in your life that you’re not the best at everything.

Maybe it was when you were pushing yourself to accomplish something, or maybe you noticed someone else’s achievements and started making comparisons. However it looked in your experience, you probably recognized that there are people who are smarter, better educated, and more talented than you are.

Maybe this slowed you down in pursuing the things that matter to you. If other smarter, more knowledgeable, more gifted …

Discovering Your Purpose and Reaching Your Potential

By in Blog, meaning & passion, work fulfillment


“There are two great days in a person’s life—the day we are born and the day we discover why.” ~William Barclay

The word “capacity” has many definitions. It can be summarized as the maximum measure of innate potential and the ability to understand and demonstrate one’s optimal capability and power in a specified role.

Ultimately, capacity is your gauge of purpose and potential. How much is in you? How much are you utilizing, and how much is untapped?

The capacity of a storage item—how much it can hold—depends upon size, depth, sturdiness, adaptability, and intended purpose.

These ideas …

Tiny Wisdom: On Asking for Help

By in Challenges, Quotes, Strength

“It’s not the load that breaks you down; it’s the way you carry it.” -Lena Horne

We often think that admitting struggle is a sign of weakness, but we all struggle sometimes. We all get overwhelmed sometimes. We all need help sometimes. Acknowledging this is not a sign of weakness, but struggling alone is a choice to grow weak.

We all need each other. No one is an island. The good news is that people really do care. Think about it. If someone you know was hurting, would you offer your support? If someone you know got into a tough …

4 Ideas to Live Simply and Cheaply When Times Are Tough

By in Blog, change & challenges

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

When I was a little girl growing up in the big woods of Maine, my mother used to say that gifts do not always come in the packages we expect. In many ways I’ve tried to live by her words, knowing that even during the rough times there are diamonds I can find if I look for them.

Lately I’ve been thinking about the fact that, exactly three years ago, my husband Dan and I packed up our small car and journeyed west to Los Angeles with our …

Tiny Wisdom: On Being Honest

By in Courage, Quotes

“It pays to be honest, but it’s slow pay.” ~Proverb

There are two types of rewards we can enjoy in this life: the kind that appear to come immediately, and the kind that we generally don’t realize are accumulating over time.

When you say what people want to hear instead of speaking your mind, you  may receive their validation; but in the long run, it won’t be nearly as satisfying as knowing you’re a person who operates with integrity.

When you lie about who you are to avoid the discomfort of being rejected, you may receive other people’s approval; but …

How to Let Go of Fear to Live Passionately and Authentically

By in Blog, happiness & fun, letting go, mindfulness & peace

“If we are not fully ourselves, truly in the present moment, we miss everything.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh

I’ve done a lot of stripping lately. It’s been liberating. I’ve been peeling away layers of the ego—all the accumulated stuff—to find who I am at the core.

It wasn’t too long ago when I noticed how quickly my life would go from an extreme high to an extreme low—how one moment could seem so perfect and wonderful, and then suddenly something would happen and it would turn into a less appealing scene.

The story went something like this: “Life is good. No …