“It’s never too late, or in my case too early, to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit. Start whenever you want. You can change or stay the same.” ~F. Scott Fitzgerald
Have you ever let your doubts get in the way of feeling happy?
I have.
I left my soul-sucking corporate job to live my dream, teaching yoga in Thailand.
I was the happiest woman on earth—or was I?
It looked that way from the outside. But each time I opened my mouth to teach a class, …
When your mind is scattered, your head full of worries, and your heart full of fears and doubts, the world is a stressful, sometimes terrifying place.
When you take time to clear your mental space, suddenly everything feels easier. Without the heavy burden of anxiety and rumination, you’re free to simply be—and to see.
It’s like cleaning a dirty window; all of a sudden, the light comes in, light you didn’t even realize was there.
What provides this cleaning, clarifying magic? Meditation, and even just ten minutes a day.
My whole life transformed when I learned that I could free …
“Whatever the present moment contains, embrace it as if you had chosen it yourself.” ~Eckhart Tolle
The second hand on the clock ticked to 12 like a base runner returning home. It was 9:00AM on Monday morning.
Anxiety set in as I stared at the stack of papers on my desk. Budgets needed to be balanced, new clients needed to be obtained, and advertising campaigns needed to be launched for high-profile brands.
Everybody needed something. It was my first day as an Advertising Executive and I already knew I was in trouble.
In a few hours I was scheduled to …
“Embrace each challenge in your life as an opportunity for self-transformation.” ~Bernie S. Siegel
I’d been having mild pain for about a week—a consistent, dull ache in the center of my chest.
I’m thirty-nine years old with no personal history of heart disease, or of anything else for that matter. Worry hadn’t yet consumed me, but I was keeping an eye on the pain to see if it got better or worse.
Once a week I drive ninety Los Angeles miles round trip for work. I say “Los Angeles” miles because I should theoretically be able to make the journey …
“All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become.” ~Buddha
Have you ever heard the phrase “your thoughts create your reality”? Have you ever wondered what this means?
Go back to your childhood and recall a time when you got into trouble. I am sure you have at least one of these memories. This doesn’t have to be a major event. It can just be a time where you were scolded for knocking over your drink.
Now remember your parents’ reaction. Were they angry or frustrated? Did they …
“When we can no longer change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” ~Viktor Frankl
Over the last two and a half years I have made some big changes in my life. And by big, I mean enormous.
First, I moved with my husband and our children from a home I loved for ten years. Shortly after, my husband and I ended a twenty-year relationship and marriage. With that separation, I made the decision to buy the house we had moved to, which on paper, I shouldn’t have been able to buy.
Apparently ending a long commitment and beginning …
“It is not in the pursuit of happiness that we find fulfillment, it is in the happiness of pursuit.” ~Denis Waitley
Happiness.
You want it. You seek it. You wonder about it.
You’re constantly reminded that you are living in one of the greatest times ever.
Violence is lower than ever before in human history.
The quality of life we experience in Western countries is higher than it’s ever been.
And you’re bombarded with advice, tips, and tricks on how to construct your diet for optimal physical health, with minimal time and effort.
However, you can’t help but wonder: …
“We often say ‘love’ when we really mean, and are acting out, an addiction—a sterile, ingrown dependency relationship, with another person serving as the object of our need for security.” ~Stanton Peele
When I was sixteen, I fell in love. At least I thought I did. I had all the symptoms—quickened pulse, butterflies, and a head so full of him that all my pain and all my problems magically disappeared when we were together.
I called this love.
And why wouldn’t I? Why wouldn’t any young girl? Isn’t that what love is—when you can’t live without each other, when you …
You likely know you can save yourself a lot of pain and heartache by learning to let go, but how?
How do you let go of anger when your first thought in the morning, the last one at night, and the majority of the ones in between revolve around how you were hurt?
How do you let go of resentment when it feels like you’ll never be able to change the things that you resent?
How do you let go of frustration when you feel stuck, stagnant, and completely powerless to change it?
How do you let go of worries …
“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” ~William James
I’ve been meditating for many years, but there are still days when I feel like it’s something I need to tick off my to-do list.
On some days, particularly when I’m in the middle of a big project, it can feel hard to put even ten minutes aside for meditating. The driven voice in my head tries to convince me that this practice of pausing and connecting with presence is a waste of time.
It’s a compelling voice, particularly on days when it feels …
“Goodness is the only investment that never fails.” ~Henry David Thoreau
A few years ago I found myself on the floor of my apartment with a bottle of Jack Daniel’s, feeling miserable.
In fact, I had felt that way for a while. My four-year relationship had collapsed, work was losing its meaning, and I felt deeply misunderstood, unloved, and lonely. Money was tight; I was overweight, lethargic, and confused; and my future seemed blurry.
But then, something changed.
I decided to shift my perspective and see what my life would be like if I stopped beating myself up over “…
“See the positive side, the potential, and make an effort.” ~Dalai Lama
I was a perfectionist growing up, always trying to bang my flawed round-shaped self into a perfect square hole that couldn’t possibly contain me.
In my early twenties, I decided to focus on personal development—a positive thing, I assumed.
I figured if I worked on improving a little every day and nurturing a positive mindset, I’d feel a lot better about myself than I did when I got down on myself for my flaws.
I didn’t take into consideration that I might become a perfectionist about positivity.
That …
“I vow to let go of all worries and anxiety in order to be light and free.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh
My mother was what you might call a “professional worrier.” She worried with skill, power, and acumen.
She could incisively hone in on the most seemingly benign situation and find within it some kernel of trouble to worry about. Money. Health. Household. Children. Travel. Work. You name it, she worried about it. A lot.
That is until my father was diagnosed with cancer.
When my father became ill, my mother changed radically, and apparently overnight. Faced with the potential of …
“Health is the greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend.” ~Lao Tzu
It’s common among overachiever types: We like to push ourselves.
Sometimes it’s to get from A to B. Sometimes it’s to create the illusion of change when really, you’re just spinning your wheels. Sometimes it’s simply to avoid standing still and accepting the moment as it is.
All that pushing can feel so smart and productive—until you’re exhausted, overextended, overwhelmed, or otherwise ready to snap. I’ve felt all these things before.
There are days when I try to be everything to everyone and …
“The secret of happiness is to count your blessings while others are adding up their troubles.” ~William Penn
A friend recently asked me, “What’s the worst habit you’ve overcome?”
“Besides eating chocolate for breakfast?” I joked. “That would be complaining.”
I used to be an incessant complainer. Whining was practically in my DNA. When I was growing up, my father blamed the weather for his tennis elbow, the traffic, and his subpar golf game, and he frequently formed judgments and assumptions about other people.
If we drove by a neighbor’s nicely manicured lawn, he’d whisper that the house was bought …
“Don’t miss all the beautiful colors of the rainbow looking for that pot of gold.” ~Unknown
It’s frustrating, isn’t it?
Stumbling through life without a clear sense of direction. Wondering day after day if it’s ever going to get better.
After all, perpetual joy and a meaningful life are only for the rich and famous. The idea of fulfilment seems so far-fetched given the mundaneness of an ordinary day.
But you know that anything is possible, right?
Could it be that with a little thought, the day will come when you’ll enjoy the colors of the rainbow, regardless of whether …
Update – The winners for this giveaway have been chosen:
In my high school yearbook’s class prophecy, it was predicted that I would one day write and star in a one-woman show about my life called “Stress.”
I was chronically frazzled—in a constant state of panic about everything I had to do and had already done but may not have done well enough.
I overextended myself, took very little time to nurture my emotional and mental well-being, and frequently felt like I was about to snap.
In fact, I even broke a stress ball once from excessive …
“It is better to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward only to stumble backward.” ~Proverb
You wouldn’t believe it now, but in my college days I did my fair share of crash diets.
The craziest was the one where I tried (and failed) to eat nothing but oranges for nine days. My roommate’s ex’s dad was a veterinarian, and after the good doctor lost fifteen pounds on the same high vitamin C, high fiber, non-sense diet, I decided to try it for myself.
It was based on a specific number of …
“I now see how owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we will ever do.” ~Brené Brown
When it comes to taking on a creative endeavor—or even just putting ourselves out there in ways large and small—one of the (many) ways we get ourselves stuck is by saying we don’t have anything new to offer.
What am I adding to the conversation that hasn’t already been said, we ask. This has been done to death, we worry.
Such a disservice to our own unique voices, I say. Not to mention the …
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