Author: Lori Deschene
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Middle School Football Players’ Touching Act of Kindness
Last fall, the Olivet Eagles, a middle school football team, decided to give an unlikely teammate a little bit of glory.
In a world where bullying sometimes dominates our schools and the headlines, it’s life-affirming to see such young people doing something so kind and selfless.
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Be Part of the Next Tiny Buddha Book: 365 Tiny Love Challenges
*The deadline to submit a story has now passed. Thank you to everyone who submitted one! You will receive an email by the end of November if I’d like to include your story in the book.
When I started this site in 2009, after struggling for over a decade with depression, bulimia, and shame-induced isolation, I hoped it would be a place where we could all feel less alone with our struggles and more empowered to overcome them. I’m beyond thrilled to see that’s just what Tiny Buddha has become.
Over the past five years, I’ve been honored to help over 1,000 people share their stories on the blog, and I’ve also appreciated the opportunity to write two collaborative books, sharing some of my experiences and lessons, along with stories and insights from community members.
Tiny Buddha: Simple Wisdom for Life’s Hard Questions, published in 2011, includes 150 tweets of wisdom addressing some of life’s most complex topics, like meaning, pain, love, fate, and control.
Tiny Buddha’s Guide to Loving Yourself, published in 2013, features forty stories of overcoming challenges related to self-love, including shame, perfectionism, comparisons, and the need for approval.
The next Tiny Buddha book will hit the shelves in November 2015, and I’d love for you to be a part of it!
The Book
Tentatively titled 365 Tiny Love Challenges from Tiny Buddha, the book will feature a year of simple daily activities to help you give and receive more love.
I was inspired to write this book after reflecting on the relationships in my life and recognizing how little I’d done for so long.
For years, I waited for other people to reach out to me, expected them to anticipate my needs, and unintentionally ignored theirs while fixating on myself, my fears, and my insecurities. It wasn’t until I started making an effort to give love that I started feeling loved in return.
But it wasn’t simply because I got back what I gave; it was because the giving helped pull me outside of myself so I could attract and maintain healthy, reciprocal relationships based not on need, but on mutual respect, appreciation, and understanding. And that’s what this book is all about.
It will be published by Harper One, an imprint of Harper Collins, and it will be available on Amazon, in Barnes & Noble, and in various stores where books are sold.
The challenges will focus on increasing self-love, strengthening current relationships (romantic or otherwise), building new relationships, and taking tiny steps to help build a more loving world.
Sharing Your Story in the Book
The book will feature short stories related to a number of relationship themes, including:
- Releasing Anger & Forgiving
- Acceptance & Non-Judgment
- Compassion & Understanding
- Authenticity & Vulnerability
- Attention & Listening
- Releasing Comparisons & Competition
- Kindness & Thoughtfulness
- Support & Encouragement
- Appreciation & Admiration
- Giving & Receiving
- Fun & Playfulness
- Honesty & Trust
You can submit an original short story, never before published online or in print, 400 words or less, with a related lesson, on any of these themes.
Click here to learn more and submit your story!
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Words of Wisdom from Jim Carrey’s Commencement Speech
“You are ready and able to do beautiful things in this world… Choose love and don’t ever let fear turn you against your playful heart.”
In his 2014 commencement speech for Maharishi University of Management’s, Jim Carrey shared some inspiring words of wisdom about purpose, happiness, overcoming fear, and going after your dreams. This short video includes just a few of the highlights. You can find the full speech here.
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99-Year-Old Woman Makes a Dress Per Day for a Child in Need
She’s almost 100 years old, but that hasn’t stopped Lillian Weber from making a massive difference in the world.
Every day she starts and finishes a unique dress for Little Dresses for Africa, a non-profit that distributes dresses to impoverished young girls in Africa and beyond. She’s made more than 840 so far, and hopes to keep going to reach her goal making 1,000.
What an amazing woman, and what an inspiring goal!
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Blake Leeper: Inspiring Double Amputee Runner
A double amputee since he was nine years old, Blake Leeper has an inspiring message to share about facing challenges, giving it your all, and getting up after you fall.
“A true champion is that person that when they do fall down, when they get back up they come back stronger. And they show the world that this is not the end of me. And that I have so much more left.”
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The Suburb Without School Buses
I love what the Cleveland suburb of Lakewood does for their children. Unlike other cities, that bus children to various elementary, middle, and high schools, Lakewood has created a bus-less system for their 5,800 students.
Their morning walking commute fosters a sense of community and provides an opportunity to get both fresh air and exercise before settling in for a day of learning.
Unlike the Lakewood students, we don’t all live within two miles of our workplace, but seeing how their morning walk affects them serves an excellent reminder to get up, get moving, and get connected with the people around us.
