Posts tagged with “wisdom”
Letting Go of Fear and Living in Peace
“Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.” ~Albert Einstein
I sat in the waiting room of the dermatologist’s office waiting to be seen. For years I have had skin problems, from fungal infections to dermatitis. But when my dentist noticed an indentation the size of a mosquito bite on my upper lip that had not healed in the five weeks since I had seen her, she sent an urgent message to my primary care physician.
The next day, I was seen by my primary care physician and referred immediately to a dermatologist. The medical …
Good News: Bad Moods Don’t Have to Be So Bad
“Most of the shadows in life are caused by standing in our own sunshine.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
How many times have you heard “Follow your heart” or “Let emotion be your guide”?
Too many to count, I’d bet.
It’s generally good advice; it’s certainly wiser to follow your own feelings than to blindly do what other people think you should do.
But reading into your emotions can also lead you astray.
You see, you are always feeling your thinking. You are not necessarily always feeling “the truth,” or even your own personal truth.
Every emotion, feeling, or mood you experience …
The Sole to Persevere: Lessons from the World’s First Armless Pilot
She was born without arms, but she’s never seen herself as a victim—and she’s beyond inspiring. In this short video, Jessica Cox shares a little about the mindset that has helped her overcome obstacles to live a bold, empowered life.
Learning to Trust Again When You’ve Been Hurt in the Past
“The only way to know if you can trust somebody is to trust them.” ~Ernest Hemingway
In a world where it seems as though all we hear about and see is how one person betrayed another, how do we allow ourselves to trust someone to get close at all, let alone trust them to be near the most fragile parts of us?
Over the course of the last year, I’ve been working as an intern-counselor at a residential high school with around seventy teenagers. Many of them have come from unbelievably challenging backgrounds where they have had to learn to …
How I Found My Inner Balance When I Was Tired of Feeling Anxious
“Within you there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself.” ~Hermann Hesse
As a child in ballet I was chastised for my inability to capture attitude or arabesque. With only one foot planted on the ground I reached for anything to prop myself up—the barre, the instructor, an unsuspecting fellow tutu-wearing classmate who would then lose balance herself.
My days at ballet were short lived, but my trouble balancing was not. This persisted for decades, through college and into the early years of my marriage.
Now I was no longer …
The Key to Accomplishing Goals: Moving from Ego to Spirit
“Change is inevitable. Growth is intentional.” ~Glenda Cloud
My life is over.
That’s what I thought when I got the news that I’d lost my job after fifteen years with two sister companies. I loved this job. I was on the road to becoming everything I thought I wanted to be—a Hollywood studio vice president, well on my way to running a studio someday.
I was doing something I loved, developing stories. And now it was all over.
Have you ever had a moment like that? When the end of something in your life felt like the end of your …
8 Things to Do If You Want to Be at Peace with Yourself
“He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the world.” ~Marcus Aurelius
How can I find peace of mind? It’s a question often asked, but rarely answered in a satisfying way.
Some say peace of mind lies in security. Some say it’s about de-cluttering and finding stillness and calm in life. Some say it’s about acceptance and letting go. I say it’s all about what you do.
Let me introduce myself. I’m an addict. An alcoholic since my teens, I lived most of my life on various edges.
At twenty-one, I was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, …
Why We Need to Create Our Own “Normal”
“If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.” ~Maya Angelou
I had a glimpse of normal when I was a child. It looked like bright splodges of paint on pieces of cheap paper, animals made from bits of wool and odd buttons, and many, many books. Normal was taking exceedingly long suburban walks while pestering my father to supply me with mental arithmetic, to sate an insatiable love of numbers.
The most normal place in the world, my sanctuary, was the library. I loved the plastic covered window seats that would …
5 Questions To Ask Yourself If You’re Not Where You Thought You’d Be
“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” ~Rumi
When I left high school, I had no idea about what I wanted to be when I “grew up.” I still had no idea when I left university. There wasn’t anything in me that really burned to be a doctor, a translator, a lawyer, or an artist, for example.
I was a bit of an all-arounder and wasn’t really 100% focused in any one direction. I always thought this was the curse of completing an arts degree (namely French), …
Love, Light, and Other Lessons That Crisis Reveals to Us
“Life always waits for some crisis to occur before revealing itself at its most brilliant.” ~Paul Coelho
There have been more shocking and devastating world events in recent memory than I can keep up with. Hurricane Sandy. Sandy Hook Shooting. Shooting at Portland Mall. Australian wildfires. Club Fire in Brazil. Hurricane Nemo. Earthquake in China. Bangladesh Factory Collapse. Boston Bombing. Texas Plant Explosion. Floods in Midwest. Tornadoes in Oklahoma.
So much loss. Devastation. Pain. Piled one on top of the other with little time to regain our footing in between.
I can hear that fearful place inside me questioning, …
After Tragedy: 3 Reasons And 21 Ways to Find Joy Again
“Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they’re supposed to help you discover who you are.” ~Bernice Johnson Reagon
My brother died suddenly, at just thirty-nine years old. One moment he was in the midst of a regular working day. Half an hour later he was gone. Twenty-four hours later he was buried.
With things happening so fast, I found myself alternating between paralysis and intense waves of pain, anger, guilt, sorrow, and devastation. I guess we all felt this way. Only it didn’t quite look like we all did/
In between waves of sadness and silence, my brother’s …
We Can Control How We Respond to Things We Can’t Control
“When we can no longer change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” ~Viktor Frankl
Every year, March 13th is difficult for me. This year, I marked the day with a long hike in the woods near my house and an extra-long hug for my wife, Kathleen. My sisters and I called each other and just said his name out loud. Wherever he is, we want him to know he is gone but not forgotten.
March 13th would have been my brother Jimmy’s 64th birthday. He only made it to 26.
But March 13…
5 Lessons from Death to Help You Create Joy, Passion, and Meaning
“One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it’s worth watching.” ~Unknown.
Death is something many of us fear. Perhaps not so much our own death, but the mere thought of losing a loved one can be heartbreaking.
On Sunday May 5th, my grandma had a large stroke. She’d baked her last cake, shared her final story, and within the blink of an eye, she was gone. Six days later her life ended, in a hospital bed, surrounded by her loved ones.
She was not only my grandmother, but also the grandmother to five others, …
The Dangers of Staying Quiet: Learning to Ask For Help
“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.” ~Elbert Hubbard
My right leg lay twisted, broken and disconnected. As I regained awareness, I could hear a primal scream.
It took a while to register that it was coming from me.
At the time, I was supposedly living my dream, but in truth I was drowning in my loneliness. So I had stood almost directly behind a horse I knew was prone to kicking and pulled her tail.
She wasn’t malicious; if she was, I would be dead now, as I had …
9 Ways You May Unwittingly Deprive Yourself of Love and Fulfillment
“Your task is not to seek love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” ~Rumi
Do you want to let go and live life fully?
If you feel that you are missing out on fulfillment and happiness, but cannot put your finger on why, perhaps there is something deeper going on.
Believe it or not, anyone can develop an unconscious habit of self-deprivation. Usually this habit begins in childhood.
Here’s how mine developed.
When I was younger, if anyone approached and tried to attend to my needs, I’d make …
Though I run this site, it is not mine. It's ours. It's not about me. It's about us. Your stories and your wisdom are just as meaningful as mine. 
