Posts tagged with “problems”
5 Helpful Things to Do When You Think Life Sucks
“It isn’t what happens to us that causes us to suffer; it’s what we say to ourselves about what happens.” ~Pema Chodron
You know that foreboding fear we all have—that something will go terribly wrong and life will never be the same again?
Mine is that something will happen to our daughter. She is our only child. We battled infertility for years before conceiving her. I keep telling myself that it’s just an irrational fear and that every parent probably has it to some extent, but it’s a constant companion that stealthily follows me around everywhere I go.
So, on …
5 Practices to Help You Let Go and Embrace Change
“Letting go isn’t the end of the world; it’s the beginning of a new life.” ~Unknown
The summer I turned twenty, I worked as a camp counselor at an educational camp with strict rules. As one of my responsibilities, I escorted groups of fifteen to twenty students, ranging in age from middle school to high school, to and from their classes and activities across a large urban campus.
I was in charge of a group of spoiled, rebellious sixteen and seventeen-year-olds who would rather be spending their summer anywhere but at an academic camp.
Because I was only a few …
Solve Your Problems and Set Yourself Free with Perceptual Language
“Use what language you will, you can never say anything but what you are.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Imagine using a new language that prevents you from blaming others, being reactive, manipulating, fearing anything in the outside world, needing social approval, being offended by others, and being controlled or controlling others.
Imagine that these problems were simply eliminated from your life because your new language makes them impossible. Welcome to Perceptual Language.
Refined by Jake and Hannah Eagle of Reology, Perceptual Language represents a major development in psychology, perhaps the greatest breakthrough since the days of Freud.
When you learn …
3 Tiny Phrases That Can Help You Solve Big Problems
“At any given moment, you have the power to say: This is not how the story is going to end.” ~Chris Mason Miller
I was faced with an impossible problem, so like all the great thinkers throughout history, I shut myself in the bathroom and vowed not to come out until I had solved the problem.
It had plagued me for two-and-a-half years, and for seven years—the length of time during I’d lost my voice for and had suffered from chronic tendonitis respectively.
Such was the consequence of an obsessive guitar habit, one that saw me practicing up to fourteen …
6 Secrets to Moving On From Serious Struggles
“Never be ashamed of a scar. It simply means you were stronger than whatever tried to hurt you.” ~Unknown
People who knew me ten years ago would probably expect me to be dead now. They wouldn’t expect me to have escaped my problems. They wouldn’t expect me to have stopped drinking, drugging, taking overdoses, and cutting my arms.
People who knew me ten years ago saw a scared shell of a girl, terrified of her own shadow and on a mission to self-destruct. They wouldn’t expect me to have turned my life around completely. They certainly wouldn’t expect me to …
Why Your Problems Are Not Nearly as Permanent as They Seem
“When we…go back into the past and rake up all the troubles we’ve had, we end up reeling and staggering through life. Stability and peace of mind come by living in the moment.” ~Pam Vredevelt
There is a way in which we tend to view issues in our lives that makes it seem like the issue is a big, scary monster that chases us around everywhere we go.
We have commitment issues. Or we are bad with money. Or we have an eating disorder, we drink too much, or we follow-through too seldom.
We view ourselves and our lives …
A Simple Technique to Solve Problems Before They Get Bigger
“As he thinks, so he is; as he continues to think, so he remains.” ~James Allen
It was a beautiful day as we drove down the Desert Road two days after Christmas. The Desert Road is a stretch of highway in the North Island of New Zealand.
On one side of the highway, three magnificent volcanoes provide the only break to the bleak, stark landscape. Otherwise, the ground is covered in dry grasses, rocks, and a straight highway to the horizon.
During the drive, my husband and I were discussing the New Year and what would be the next adventure.…
Life Isn’t Always Fair: 5 Steps to Accept Tough Situations
“Accept what is, let go of what was, and have faith in what will be.” ~Sonia Ricotti
I hate my life! It’s a phrase that’s used by teenagers and adults alike. Sometimes we use it for dramatic effect and sometimes we mean this literally.
When I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder two years ago and said “I hate my life!” I meant every word. I hated it so much that there were times I didn’t think it was worth living.
The depression was incapacitating. The hypomania disguised itself as extreme anxiety and irrational fears.
In order to stay alive, I …
Facing Life’s Big Challenges and Coming out on Top
“Life always waits for some crisis to occur before revealing itself at its most brilliant.” ~Paul Coelho
I will never forget that day.
It is still as clear in my mind as if it were yesterday.
My son was just a little over three. He was going to a mainstream kindergarten and, well, his teacher had very gently suggested we seek a professional’s help.
You see, he didn’t understand what the teachers were saying to him. He was restless and fidgety. He also bounced form activity to activity.
This was our first ever visit to a speech pathologist, and she …
Why Empathy Can Sometimes Help More Than Advice
“I have just three things to teach simplicity patience compassion these three are your greatest treasures.” ~Lao Tzu
I have two teenagers. Anyone with children knows these years can bring their challenges. One minute they behave like a four year old and the next they are as mature as an adult. These fluctuations can pose difficult times.
One day, after a particularly emotional and tough interaction with my son, I called my mother for advice. She had by all accounts raised three successful sons.
After a long and detailed discussion of what had happened, she said, “Oh honey, I’m so …
A 4-Step Plan to Deal with Even the Toughest Challenge
“Change the way you look at things and the things you look at will change.” ~Wayne Dyer
Everything in life is perception. How you perceive life depends on the things and people that have influenced you: school, society, friends, family, TV. So, you may think something is bad or good, but in reality it is neither. You were taught to perceive it the way you do.
One person might see money as the root of all evil, while another might see it as something wonderful that can be used to help others and create opportunities. Two different perceptions of …
When Everything Goes Wrong: Getting Through One of Those Days
“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.” ~Maya Angelou
Sometimes you just have one of those days, where things happen to you over and over again, as if someone up above is testing to see if you really want to have a good day. Unfortunately, 95% of us give in and decide that it’s just going to be one of those days.
What if one of those days really meant the happiest day of your life, despite the fact unfortunate events temporarily plague your existence?
A …
The World’s Top 7 Life-Changing Gurus
“Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer.” ~William S. Burroughs
Where do you turn when life gets you down? Who’s your hero, your mentor, your pillar of strength amidst the turmoil?
Haven’t we all had those days when life just seems to be a battle? I know I certainly have. And then there are times when there’s an ongoing challenge that grabs hold of us and just won’t let go.
What can you do? Where do you get your strength—your answers?
For a lot of us, we look to …
Does Your Day Start Out Perfect and Then Fall Apart?
“He is able who thinks he is able.” ~Buddha
I really needed to finish up a task. I’d already spent five more days than the one I’d estimated it would take. My boss was getting edgy; my co-workers were looking at me funny.
Every day I’d come in, have my plan-of-attack all thought out. It should have progressed well—quickly even. And then something would happen.
One day, the computer hardware I was using for months suddenly stopped and wouldn’t turn on. (Motherboard bad—two days.)
Another day, the software I installed, which runs flawlessly on several other systems, randomly crashed with …
Your Happiness Can Make a Difference in the World
“Don’t worry about what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” ~Howard Thurman
When I was eight years old I saw a news report on a war. A wounded woman was crying on a stretcher, and soldiers were carrying guns running around her. Up until that point I had thought war was like dragons or knights in armor. It was fictional or happened a long, long time ago. I couldn’t believe it was real.
At that realization, my experience of life changed. It felt …
The Power of Focus: Directing Your Life with Intention
“Turn your face toward the sun and the shadows will fall behind you.” ~Māori Proverb
Life is about lessons, would you not agree? If we’re not learning every day, all the time, then what on earth are we doing? Often, the universe speaks to us in gentle metaphor, and if we’re completely present in the moment, we can recognize lessons, delivered in poetic images.
One of the clearest lessons of my life was a number of years ago, when I was living in a crumbling house in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. At the time, I was …
Simplify Your Life by Eliminating These 7 Problems
Life has a tendency to become overly complicated and stressful, particularly because things change so quickly. I’ve identified seven problems that you can eliminate to make your life a whole lot simpler (which doesn’t mean boring or less interesting).
Problem #1 – Too Much Responsibility
Think back to a year or two ago. How much extra responsibility has come into your life since then? You may have too much stuff, too many possessions, too many projects, and too many commitments.
Spreading yourself too thin reduces focus, increases stress, and lowers overall performance.
Too much stuff could include anything from a …
Freedom in a Life Full of Problems
“Freedom is what you do with what’s been done to you.” ~Jean-Paul Sartre
Sometimes it seems like life is conspiring against you.
This often happens just after a moment of pure joy. You’re walking down the street thinking, “Wow, I am so unbelievably lucky to be alive.” A few hours later, you get an email saying you’ve lost your job. Or you’re in danger of getting deported. Or your cat’s been run over.
For many people, these situations seem to be completely out of their hands.
The thing is, every problem has a solution, and usually more than one. We …
Identifying Real Problems & Letting Go of Imagined Ones
“We all have problems. The way we solve them is what makes us different.” ~Unknown
We all have problems, don’t we? There isn’t a single person on this planet who doesn’t have one, even if they’re the Buddhist monk living their life peacefully. Everyone has something to overcome.
There’s nothing wrong with having a problem. Life would be pretty dull if they weren’t around, and we’d never learn anything new or grow from our mistakes.
Sometimes, though, we create problems that have no real foundations. These are the ones that can cause us the most suffering because it seems …
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