Doodle Art Alley: Mistakes Are Proof That You’re Trying
Source: Miss Martin’s Classroom via Doodle Art Alley
Posts tagged with “wisdom”
The Time to Act Is Now: Get Out There and Seize the Moment
“Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time. Until you value your time, you won’t do anything with it.” ~M. Scott Peck
For most of my life, I thought I had no ambition.
To be fair, I thought it because it was true. Don’t get me wrong. I had ambition to keep living, to shower daily, and to seek out entertainment at the end of my miserable days working in customer service. Still, regardless of how miserable those days were, I wasn’t motivated to change my life path.
I used to wish for ambition, in that vague sense that …
5 Steps to Overcome Fear and Meet Your Goals
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.” ~Nelson Mandela
The world can be a scary place.
As we go through our daily lives, we face many challenges, and often these challenges can bring about fear. We may fear the loss of something, or perhaps the lack of fulfillment. We may experience fear when going on a job interview or a first date.
The greatest challenge with fear is that it can hold us back from achieving our goals, but it doesn’t have to.
Over the past six months I have let one …
5 Steps to Learn from Anger
“Don’t wait for your feelings to change to take the action. Take the action and your feelings will change.” ~Barbara Baron
How do you feel about anger? Growing up, I always felt that anger was “bad.” In school and at home I learned that anger made people do “bad” things, and anger was a source of “evil” in the world.
I didn’t want any part of that! So, when things happened that made me angry (for example, getting bullied at school), I’d ignore the feelings of anger until they “went away.” I’d go home and cry, feeling these emotions …
Your Loving Presence Is Enough: Helping Someone Who’s Hurting
“Wisdom is nothing more than healed pain.” ~Robert Gary Lee
As the only child of a single parent, my family of two was small and our relationship could be intense.
My southern belle mom, with her stories and easy laugh, her quick wit, and her love of all things literary was the mom who all my high school friends adored and loved—the one who my teenage friends could talk to when they were too angry or irritated with their own mother.
I loved her too, but I also worried about her. A lot. Because I knew a secret about her …
Compassionate Posting: Minimizing Social Media Comparisons
“We must each lead a way of life with self-awareness and compassion, to do as much as we can. Then, whatever happens we will have no regrets.” ~Dalai Lama
If you’re anything like me, you may have a love-hate relationship with social networking.
There are so many cool facets to social networking sites, such as Facebook, but I am finding that the relative ease of information sharing with the masses and portable nature of technology bring their own set of challenges. Not a bad thing, per-se, but perhaps an invitation to practice even greater mindfulness and compassion.
Consider the title
…
Don’t Wait for a Major Wake Up Call to Start Loving Your Life
“Sometimes in tragedy we find our life’s purpose. The eye sheds a tear to find its focus.” ~Robert Brault
“Lay still. We think both your arms are broken.”
I obeyed the police officer and stopped struggling to rise from the hard, cold pavement.
An ambulance soon had me in emergency, where I discovered that my problem was a lot worse than broken arms.
My right arm had to be amputated. My left arm was paralyzed. I had no more use of my arms.
I laughed my way through my long hospital stay.
No one could understand how a man who …
8 Lessons About Living Fully from a Journey of 500 Miles
“The journey is the reward.” ~Proverb
I should start by clarifying that even though there’s a lot of walking involved in this story, I’m not a walker, or particularly sporty. So what was I thinking going on a 500-mile pilgrimage you may (rightly) ask? I wasn’t. I was feeling it. In my gut.
You know those butterflies that wreck havoc in your tummy when you have an exciting idea? Well, I had about a thousand of those. Butterflies, not ideas. I only had one idea, and I didn’t even think that one through.
El Camino de Santiago. St James Way. …
Are You Stressed, Rushed, and Aggravated?
“Meaning is not what you start with but what you end up with.” ~Peter Elbow
As a boy, I had a romantic notion about having a job where I traveled for business. It sounded so important and stylish. I liked the idea of dashing through airports to my next big meeting.
I thought it meant that mine would be a wider world. And so it was.
Be Careful What You Wish For
As often happens, what you think about comes into being. I found myself on my very first “business trip.” I was going to the exotic location of Moline, …
The Power of Poise: How to Stop Losing Your Cool
“Poise is an unseen power, and this unseen power is always ready to come to the aid of the outer action.” ~Sri Chinmoy
Poise is the seeker’s goal because poise is our highest state of consciousness. Poised, we are in a state of balance, composure, and equanimity, all of our powers at our disposal.
When I am able to achieve poise, I am present, connected, grateful, creative, and light-hearted. Poised, my love flows.
Like most of us, I have been poised much of the time, especially when life was easy, absent any major challenge. But I have also lost …
Happiness is Not a Destination: How to Enjoy the Journey
“Happiness is a direction, not a place.” ~Sydney J Harris
Being happy is for most of us one of the key aims in life. But where we often go wrong is in figuring out which path to take to achieve that happiness.
My own path has been a somewhat unconventional one. In my last year at college, most of my peers were busy applying for full-time jobs with large companies, but I knew that wasn’t what I wanted to do.
I wanted to see the world, which (long before gap years became so common) was met with disapproval by many. …
The Rabbit Hole of Stuff: Why We Can’t Buy Our Way to Happiness
“Happiness can only be found if you free yourself from all other distractions.” ~Saul Bellow
When I was twenty I bought my first serious piece of furniture.
It was a sofa covered in a nubby sort of fabric, a creamy shade of white with tan and light brown threads woven through that made the modern style seem warm and welcoming.
It was beautiful. And on the day my sofa arrived, I celebrated. I celebrated not only a beautiful addition to my little apartment but also a step into adulthood.
After all, I bought it on credit, and I was thrilled …
Dealing with Dark Days: Help for When You Don’t Feel Your Best
“The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem.” ~Theodore I. Rubin
I live in a rainy city. For most of the winter it’s endless grey, weeks in which you’re lucky to get a glimpse of the sun at all.
It might be drizzling, it might be pouring, or it might be merely fog. It is certainly wet.
For me and a lot of the people who live here, it’s almost a deal breaker. When I first arrived, I spent a lot of time complaining that it was …
How Anger Leads to Anxiety and What to Do About It
“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.” ~Buddha
I have a confession: I’m mildly obsessed with anger.
Not the negative feelings, the volatile outbursts, or the fly-off-the-handle reactions, but rather how humans express anger.
I’ve largely made my living by dealing with various states of anger. More on that in a bit…
Years ago I was shopping at a bookstore with my friend Alex. We were first time parents with toddlers at home.
The idea was to find resources on …
Why It’s Not Selfish to Ask Someone You Love for Help
“Learn to appreciate what you have before time makes you appreciate what you had.” ~Unknown
I’m a woman in midlife who thought she was set after a long successful career and the promise of financial security. I supported my own way through most of my life, fending for myself and then my two children, even during a 15-year marriage that ended badly and another that never really began.
For a number of reasons my plans for an early and secure retirement ended a few years ago. The long story is for another time; the short story is health, burnout, spiritual …
Wabi Sabi: Find Peace by Embracing Flaws and Releasing Judgment
“Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.” ~Dalai Lama
Several years ago, a colleague and I were invited to give a presentation on mindfulness at our State Mental Health Conference. I was a novice and flattered to be asked.
Singing bowls, which are metal and look like a mortar and pestle, are useful tools in mindfulness practice. The bowl is placed on a cushion and, when struck, makes a beautiful sound like a bell.
The tone and pitch are determined by the size of the bowl and thickness of the metal. They’re …
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. 