Posts tagged with “wisdom”
What My Dog Taught Me About Self-Acceptance
“Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts him or her.” ~Lao Tzu
We all have recorded messages playing in our heads, from long ago.
Listen to parents talking to young children. Often the message is less than approving.
“Don’t put that in your mouth!”
“Go wash your face right now.”
“If you keep acting like that nobody will like you.”
“Look at Cindy, how well she’s doing. If you worked harder you could do as well as her.”
Those examples are kind compared to what many people will have heard growing up.
Many of these messages enter our brains …
The Top 7 Reasons We Stay in Bad Relationships
“Some of us think that holding on makes us strong; but sometimes it is letting go.” ~Hermann Hesse
She knew it sooner than I did. And more intensely than I did.
I, on the other hand, may have considered our differences but never thought of them as deal-breakers. I tried to justify the many struggles we had between us and believed that our marriage could work despite the challenges.
I had this feeling things would get better and stayed hopeful no matter how bad our relationship got.
I told myself that her extraverted personality and my more introversion could …
Life Lessons from a Wanderer: From Lost Boy, to Carnie, to U.S. Marine
“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” ~Rumi
How did this happen?
I remember the wind tearing at the walls of my tent, bending the humble, graphite rods almost double. I was burrowed down in my sleeping bag, which was one of my sole possessions in life, along with that tent, a pack of books, some canned food, $200, and clothes.
I dug even lower and thought—what the hell am I going to do?
It was sometime in October of 1994. I was camped by a dry …
How to Stop Worrying About the Future and Start Living Your Life Now
“Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith.” ~Henry Ward Beecher
Retirement. A word that fills people with both excitement and fear.
On the one hand, we’re excited about the possibilities that retirement brings. The possibility to travel, to try new hobbies, to live our lives the way we want.
On the other hand, we worry about whether we’ll have enough money to survive until that unknown age at which we’ll die. And maybe not just survive but to actually thrive in our later years.
That …
Recognizing the Strategic Manipulation of Financial Abuse
“I have endured, I have been broken, I have known hardship, I have lost myself. But here I stand, still moving forward, growing stronger each day.” ~Unknown
There was a time, not so long ago, when I was struggling with the heavy hangover of financial abuse.
Did you know there was such a thing? I didn’t. I hadn’t a clue… until it happened to me.
But it turns out that financial abuse is incredibly common, and is often used as a tactic to keep a victim entangled in a relationship where other forms of abuse also take place.
When money …
Our Future Is Bright—Why Worry?
“How much pain has cost us the evils that have never happened.” ~Thomas Jefferson
When my friend said she worried about the kind of future world her grandkids would live in, her daughter and I stared in disbelief.
I hear it often, the concern for the future. There’s concern for many things, from the Earth itself to the concern for the lack of community and the implications of generations reared in a world where social media appears to be the new community.
My friend’s daughter is quite a bit younger than me, but our kids are the same age—she came …
You Can’t Change or Fix People, So Listen Instead
“When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.” ~Ernest Hemingway
The chances are good that at some point in your life you had to deal with a loved one who consistently frustrated you. They were caught in a destructive pattern of behavior that made life difficult for them and everyone around them. How do you cope when this happens?
Perhaps you start avoiding them. And when that’s not possible, you choose to check out of any difficult conversation or interaction you’re having with them. You resign yourself to the belief that your loved one cannot and will not change …
Why We May Have Already Won the Lottery of Life
“Be thankful for what you have, you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” ~Oprah Winfrey
Occasionally, I experience moments of what I can only describe as “pure bliss.”
It’s like a cool wave of peace washes over me, cleansing me momentarily of my worries, stress, and issues. Last week, I had such an experience.
You may be curious, what was happening for me to experience such a state?
The truth may come as a surprise.
Because my outer reality was, well, rather underwhelming.
I was walking home …
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