Posts tagged with “wisdom”
Healing from the Conflicting Loss of a Difficult Parent
“Deep grief sometimes is almost like a specific location, a coordinate on a map of time. When you are standing in that forest of sorrow, you cannot imagine that you could ever find your way to a better place. But if someone can assure you that they themselves have stood in that same place, and now have moved on, sometimes this will bring hope.” ~Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love
I had a tumultuous and interesting relationship with my father. He was a strong, proud man in his spirit as well as in his physical appearance. In my younger years, I …
If You Expect a Lot and You’re Tired of Being Disappointed
“Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything—anger, anxiety, or possessions—we cannot be free.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh
Almost universally, many of the problems we face in life are tied to our own expectations. Expectations of ourselves. Expectations of others. Expectations of situations. Expectations of the world at large.
We may expect ourselves to be perfect and successful in all our pursuits. We may expect to feel constantly happy with our lives. We may expect others to think and react like we do. We may expect …
20 Powerful Self-Care Quotes to Help You Feel and Be Your Best
Hi friends! I decided over this long holiday weekend to give myself a break for some much-needed self-care, which I imagine we could all use right now.
We’ve all been pushed, stretched, and challenged this year. We’ve all given our all, done our best, and perhaps wondered at times if it was good enough.
That’s the thing about difficult times—we often make them so much harder by expecting a lot from ourselves, pushing ourselves, and beating ourselves up when we fall short.
We expect ourselves to always be happy. Or productive. Or confident. Or present. Or there for other …
4 Reasons to Let Go of the Need to Plan Your Future
“No valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living in the now.” ~Alan Watts
I went to college a little bit later in life. Because of that, people often mistakenly believed I was operating on a specific (and somewhat urgent) timetable—as though I was running to catch up with the rest of the people my age.
However, I was already in a career I loved (teaching yoga) that supported me financially. For me, going back to school was mainly about enjoying the process of getting an education without any pressure to get …
What If Your “Overthinking” Is Actually Good for You?
“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.” ~Marcus Aurelius
Overthinking is common. And everyone is asking us to stop it. Articles like these are abundant:
“7 Signs You Are an Overthinker”
“13 Strategies to Stop Overthinking”
“9 Tips to Overcome Overthinking”
The overthinker in me is starting to question the effectiveness of all this well-meaning advice. If it were that easy to stop, there can’t be so much of it still.
I can’t help but wonder if we are looking at overthinking too negatively. Could overthinking be a part of human nature that actually has …
Tips from a Former Addict: How I Made a Change for Good
I was a drug addict. Yes, I did it all. No, my childhood was not full of abuse, I was actually a pretty lucky kid, and I had it no worse and no better than anyone else, except for maybe some “daddy issues.”
I am not much for blame. I know who was smoking, sniffing, and popping, and it wasn’t the bad angel on my shoulder who made me do it, it was just me.
I can give you the exact reason why I started doing drugs. I was afraid to just be myself, simple enough. Everyone else’s thoughts …
How to Make Someone Smile: 10 Mindful Acts of Kindness
“The greatest gifts you can give someone are your time, your love, and your attention.” ~Unknown
The other day I saw this phrase on social media: “Spread kindness, not COVID-19.” And I started thinking about how kindness is contagious, which reminded me of a viral video I’ve always loved:
A skateboarding kid falls, and a construction worker helps him up. The kid then sees an elderly woman struggling with grocery bags and helps her carry them across the street. That woman then gives coins to a woman at a parking meter who’s rifling through her purse. And on and on …
The Key to Helping a Person Who Is Depressed
“Don’t look for someone who will solve all your problems. Look for someone who won’t let you face them alone.” ~Unknown
Depression for me is like constantly walking up a hill.
Most of the time the hill has only a one percent gradient. You can hardly even tell it’s a hill. I walk, run, jump, skip along, doing cartwheels and stopping to smell pretty flowers and listen to bird-calls; it’s sunny and warm, with clear blue skies.
Even though I have to put in a little bit of effort to walk up, times are good.
And then something happens in …
How to Access Your Intuition by Listening to Your Favorite Music
“Sometimes music is the only thing that takes your mind off everything else.” ~Unknown
All major art forms can be a way to experience a deeper part of ourselves, but there is something unique about music. Perhaps it’s because music is a frequency with no physical form, so it can easily become a pathway to the formless realms of intuition and our higher selves or soul. We may never know for sure, but it is clear that music has a powerful effect.
I have had experiences of feeling whole, connected, and complete when listening to music. However, I was not …
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