Posts tagged with “meaningful”
How to Have a Meaningful Holiday Season on Your Own Terms
“Take a little time to be amazed by something you won’t enjoy unless you consciously choose to focus on it. See the things you can’t see when you’re rushing. Hear the things you can’t hear when you’re stressing. Get so caught up in your senses that everything else seems to stop for a moment—because things don’t actually stop. So we have to be the ones who do it.” ~Lori Deschene
As December unfolds, I’ve made a conscious choice that feels both liberating and true to myself: I’m celebrating a quiet Christmas at home with just my best friend.
While my …
7 Self-Reflection Questions to Create Your Own Happiness This Year
“Self-reflection is necessary to dig beneath our own layers and visit the inner crevices of our heart and mind to develop an understanding of life.” ~Unknown
This year, I’ve not set New Year’s resolutions nor planned to completely “reinvent” myself or my life.
The past three years have brought up many unresolved issues, emotions to release, and wounds to heal. It’s been quite a rollercoaster ride, and I want to be gentle with myself.
Instead of setting resolutions, I sat down with a simple moleskin journal and pondered a few questions to create my own happiness this year based on …
How to Live an Extraordinary Life, Starting Right Where You Are
“Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.” ~Rumi
“Isn’t this a miracle?” I asked myself in the milk aisle at Whole Foods.
It was a Wednesday night after work, and I was buying a few staples to get us through the week. It was a completely ordinary moment in a completely ordinary day, and it was miraculous.
Rewind a few years, same Whole Foods, same shopping list, and you’d find me absentmindedly wandering the aisles, lost in a head full of worries. I couldn’t tell you …
Living a Meaningful Life: What Will Your Loved Ones Find When You Die?
“At the end of life, at the end of YOUR life, what essence emerges? What have you filled the world with? In remembering you, what words will others choose?” ~Amy Rosenthal
Most people believe sorting through a loved one’s belongings after death provides closure. For me, it provided an existential crisis.
After glancing at the angry sky in my father’s driveway for what seemed like hours, I mustered up the courage to crack open the door to the kitchen. The eerie silence stopped me in my tracks. Wasn’t he cooking up a storm in this cluttered kitchen just a …
How to Tame a Worrying Mind During Difficult Times
EDITOR’S NOTE: You can find a number of helpful coronavirus resources and all related Tiny Buddha articles here.
“Mental health is just as important as physical health.” ~Unknown
Our main focus during this challenging time is quite rightly on our physical well-being. But we shouldn’t forget about our mental health considering these are stressful times for all of us.
Will we get sick?
Will our loved ones die?
Will we have enough food to feed the family?
How will we pay the bills?
Will things ever get back to normal?
So many questions, so many worries.
Worrying used to …
The ABCs of Personal Growth: How to Live a Meaningful, Fulfilling Life
“Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely.” ~Karen Kaiser Clark
Throughout my life, I’ve moved countries, studied a foreign language, changed careers, launched a business, run a half marathon, written a book, faced agonizing loss and grief, won awards, been deeply hurt, created awesome charity campaigns, lived with huge uncertainty and pain, found love and friendships to cherish, and given birth to three miraculous humans.
Throughout these and plenty more crazy, insane, complex, and utterly beautiful life events, I have collected treasured building blocks that help me live a life of meaning, purpose, and joy every single day.…
4 Questions to Ask Yourself to Create a Truly Rich and Meaningful Life
“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 …
The 3 Most Important Questions to Ask Yourself Every Day
“At the end of life, our questions are very simple: Did I live fully? Did I love well?” ~Jack Kornfield
When I was seven years old, I almost died.
My family and I were at Central Station in Sydney, Australia to celebrate the last steam train to ever depart the station.
It was about eight at night, and I remember it so clearly.
The train was stationary at the platform, about to depart. I heard the whistle from the engine as the wheels started to chug and move ever so slowly.
My older brother and I were excited, and we …
7 Ways to Form Deep, Meaningful Friendships
“To have a friend and be a friend is what makes life worthwhile.” ~Unknown
I am fascinated by friendships.
Not the acquaintances you see occasionally or the Facebook friends who wouldn’t recognize you on the street.
I’m talking about your real people. The people who know and love the deepest parts of you. Their soul sees yours.
They’re the kind of people you can talk to about how hard it’s been to meditate lately or what’s really going on in your marriage. They’re the kind of people you call for a ride when you get a flat tire and they’re …
The Benefits of High-Quality Talk: Connect, Grow, and Thrive
“To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest.” ~Pema Chodron
I was always disturbed and discouraged during periods in my life when I was stuck, circling in an eddy, moving—but going nowhere.
At times I was stuck in my job: I was bored and couldn’t figure out how to get excited again. Even though I was the CEO and had lots of freedom to make changes in my organization and in my personal work activities, I couldn’t see what might move me toward my potential.
At other times, I …
5 Ways to Turn Simple Daily Tasks into Meaningful Rituals
“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” ~ Robert Brault
“Routine” can seem like a dirty word; we can get stuck repeating the same actions over and over again and feel like slaves to our habits.
Yet there are some things we simply cannot get around—sleeping, waking, eating, working, and engaging with others. There are also repetitions that we embrace as rituals—Friday afternoon with its promise of the weekend, weekly religious observances, a favorite TV show even.
What if we could turn regular, seemingly mundane daily activities into …
6 Steps on the Path to Passion and Fulfillment
“I don’t believe people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive.” ~Joseph Campbell
There are seemingly small events in life that, in retrospect, turn out to be the catalyst for cataclysmic transformation. Such was the case for me when my oldest child left home to pursue her passion as a ballet dancer.
Little did I know at the time that this event would lead me to a brand new passion, a new business, and a new life.
My Life Passion Story
Prior to my daughter leaving home, I’d …
Define Success to Create Success, Starting Now
“What matters is the value we’ve created in our lives, the people we’ve made happy, and how much we’ve grown as people.” ~Daisaku Ikeda
Ahhh success! It sounds so good. We all want it, but are you brave enough to define what success means to you and go for it?
Society conditions us to define success as being the best, attaining prosperity, making a lot money, or having a fancy CEO title.
I thought I had “success” ten years ago where I spent five years working on Wall Street at Credit Suisse, an investment banking firm in New York City. …
What You Need to Live a Life of Purpose
“The purpose of life is a life of purpose.” ~Robin Sharma
I can remember the feelings so vividly—the emptiness, the yearning, the confusion, the lacking, and the depression. They all merged together, and they always seemed to present themselves at the worst possible times.
The simplest things, like getting out of bed in the morning, felt so heavy. The best joys in life, like being with family and creating new connections, felt unsatisfying. Things were hard and almost unbearable.
I didn’t understand what was creating these feelings, or what I needed to do to change them.
It sounds like such …
Discovering Your Purpose and Reaching Your Potential
“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 …
In Defense of Wasting Time
“Beware the barrenness of a busy life.” ~Socrates
Last night, I was telling my husband that I had spent several hours teaching myself the very basics of HTML code in order to edit my blog’s layout precisely according to my vision for it.
I had actually enjoyed the time I spent on this puzzle, but nevertheless commented to him that I couldn’t help but resent wasting some of my day off clicking away in front of the computer screen.
“Why?” he asked. “You enjoyed it, right?”
Yes, I replied, it was fun delve into something new, and fascinating to …
8 Ideas for Stress-Free, Meaningful Holiday Gift Giving
“You make a living by what you get; you make a life by what you give.” ~Unknown
There’s something magical about this time of year, and it has nothing to do with the Santas posted like soldiers at various points throughout the globe or the million volts of electricity that light up Main Streets the world over.
I’ve always loved Christmastime because the season inspires people to focus on everything that’s important in life.
The usually harried slow down just a little to stop and smell the mistletoe, while humming along to redundant Christmas songs they secretly enjoy. Fighting relatives …
Do, Adjust, Do: A Journey to Meaningful, Satisfying Work
“If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking.” ~Proverb
I couldn’t drive, drink, vote, or stay out after nine, and yet I had two jobs.
I started working just before I turned twelve. My parents didn’t have a lot of money, so I knew early on I’d need to work if I wanted to do fun things, like go to music camp.
After school, I went to a program for kids where I led them in creative activities, like singing and arts and crafts. On the weekends, I ran the dozen …
15 Ways to Change the World
“When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad and that is my religion.” ~Abraham Lincoln
It’s no secret that we live in a world that’s obsessed with wealth, fame, and celebrities. Some call it the “age of narcissism.” I’m not sure I want to label or judge our current circumstances. Instead, like Gandhi suggests, I’ll put my focus on being the change I wish to see in the world.
I’m planning to mix things up a bit for 2010, and I invite you to do the same. Instead of creating New Year’s Resolutions that …
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