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Category “change & challenges”

Keep Moving Forward: 4 Tips to Enjoy the Journey More

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“If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking.” ~Proverb

Five years ago, I decided to fulfill my dream of getting a doctorate. I knew from talking to friends who took on the same endeavor that it would mean many sleepless nights and tons of reading and writing. But nothing prepared me for the path that lay ahead.

Graduate school is often compared to a marathon. Why? At each moment, when you think you’ve completed a major milestone, you realize you have a long road ahead. You just have to keep going …

4 Lessons about Perfection Born from 1000 Failures

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“Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” ~Voltaire

This was just not working out. I had ended up in a failed attempt every single time. This was my 4th day of trying to fix everything.

I had wanted to make a video for my blogā€”just a minute-long introduction. Not that I didn’t have one already.

I had a video up and running. But that was from my first attempt, and everyone knows there is always room for improvement.

After the video went up, I started to see how I could do better than that. I was not …

How to Tackle Resistance to Make Meaningful Life Changes

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ā€œKites rise highest against the wind, not with it.ā€ ~Winston Churchill

A little over two years ago, I wrote these hopeless words in my journal:

“All around me, I’m noticing people perpetuate patterns they claim to hate or end up in situations they’ve always dreaded. And I can’t seem to break free. When I take steps to make a new life or forge a new path, barriers pop up left and right. I don’t know what to do differently.”

At the time, it felt as if my repeated attempts at changing the trajectory of my life toward joy and expansion …

Are You Waiting for Your Life to Start?

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“There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept responsibility for changing them.” ~Denis Waitley

Even though I am just 20, Iā€™ve always been one of those people who is constantly waiting for my life to start. ā€œWhen Iā€™m older Iā€™ll do thisā€ and ā€œIn a few years Iā€™ll do that.ā€

My Dad took his own life when I was very young. Due to my age and the fact my family struggled so much with the loss, I grew up thinking he died of natural causes and learned the truth by accident when I …

Living Fully Book Giveaway and Interview with Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche

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Update: The winners for this giveaway have already been chosen. Subscribe to Tiny Buddha to receive free daily or weekly emails and to learn about future giveaways!

The Winners:

Have you ever felt like the present moment is passing you by while youā€™re caught up worrying, analyzing, planning, and trying to protect yourself from pain and loss?

Itā€™s one the pitfalls of the human condition: we often paralyze ourselves in the pursuit of happiness and abundance, and in the process, miss out on the joy right in front of us.

Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche has devoted his life to …

How to Overcome Loneliness

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“Man stands in his own shadow and wonders why it’s dark.” ~Zen Proverb

After my ex-girlfriend and I broke up several years ago, I never felt more alone in my life. I hung up the phone with tears streaming down my face as I stepped into my new reality.

I only had one friend in the world, who happened to live fairly far away, so most of my newfound singlehood was spent alone.

It was difficult for the first few weeks due to all the painful emotions that usually come with a breakup, but after a while the pain went …

Finding a Brave Heart and Overcoming Self-Made Limitations

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ā€œIt is not uncommon for people to spend their whole life waiting to start living.ā€ ~Eckhart Tolle

It was on the anniversary of Scottish poet Robert Burns’ birthday, or ā€œBurns Nightā€ as it is affectionately known as in Scotland, that my sister rescued a terrified stray dog who came to be named BraveHeart (or Brava for short).

We thought the name was apt as Braveheart is also a film starring Mel Gibson as William Wallace, who was a famous warrior during the Wars of Scottish Independence.

Brava is a big, long-legged black dog, with the limbs of a greyhound and …

The Fortune in Fear

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“He is able who thinks he is able.” ~Buddha

I remember hearing this idea somewhere that courage was not the absence of fear, but rather, the ability to do something in the presence of it.

I am scared of being on a boat. I always was. When I was 18, I dated a guy who had a boat, and I decided to brave my fear and get on it for a three day voyage across the Mediterranean. I know, I could have started by peddling in a canoe in a pond, but noā€”three days, no sight of land.

There was …

Dealing with Uncertainty: 5 Tips to Create Trust and Patience

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ā€œIf you’re going to doubt something, doubt your own limits.ā€ ~Don Ward

So far Iā€™ve gone from Sydney to Melbourne, Melbourne to Moruya, Moruya to Sydney, and Sydney to Brisbane, and my Australian adventure continues.

Iā€™m now about to depart from Brisbane and settle in on the Gold Coast in Queensland for the next few months while I get my yoga teacher certification and continue to explore this beautiful country.

Itā€™s been five months, ten days, and four hours since I landed at the Sydney International airport from Los Angeles. When I first left, I had no real expectations other …

A Simple Prescription for Natural Healing

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ā€œPeace of mind is not the absence of conflict from life but the ability to cope with it.ā€ -Unknown

 

When my daughter, Nava, was critically ill, on a ventilator in a drug-induced coma for three months, one of the ICU doctors called me in after a couple of weeks to tell me that if she survives, it will be a long road.

He started writing out a prescription for an anti-anxiety medication to ā€œhelpā€ me through this horrific ordeal.Ā Ā I certainly donā€™t fault him here as this was an extreme acute situation and he didnā€™t know if I could …

A Small Guide to Big Changes

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ā€œIt is better to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward only to stumble backward.ā€ ~Proverb

I recently made a discovery that massively increased the amount of change that I have been able to take on. Good stuff, too, like my eating habits and the amount that I exercise.

By this time last year, and the year before, I would have already dropped my New Yearā€™s resolution. Maybe you have, too.

But thereā€™s still a chance. Thereā€™s still time for some big changes this year.

With this small change, Iā€™ve …

Will You Get Bitter or Better?

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“Instead of complaining that the rose bush is full of thorns, be happy the thorn bush has roses.” ~Proverb

I am a member of a mercifully small subset of society. I am the mother of a dead child.

Twenty years ago, my daughter Graceā€”my first child, my only girlā€”was born prematurely and died 32-minutes later. As I write this, I am astonished that it has been twenty years since I met my daughter for the only time.

Time stopped for me when Grace took her last little breath. And I was certain that my life could never start again.Ā 

I …

How Our Beliefs and Expectations Hold Us Back and How to Let Them Go

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“The outer conditions of a person’s life will always be found to reflect their inner beliefs.” ~James Allen

Just because youā€™ve believed something is true, even if youā€™ve believed it for a long period of time, that doesnā€™t mean that it is actually true or that it has to be true for the future.

For a long time I believed that my body was broken. I believed that I could never be super lean and ripped even though I really wanted to be. I also believed I had irreversible digestive issues that seemed to be getting worse and worse.…

3 Simple Ways to Turn Failure into Success

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“Life is a process of becoming. A combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death.” ~Anais Nin

Iā€™ve always been an optimist, looking for the good in situations, even when they seem like the bleakest thing that could happen to me or the people around me.

But failure is a difficult one to turn on its ear.

You know when you donā€™t reach your goal. You know when you donā€™t get what you wanted.

Now I know the Rolling …

9 Guidelines to Get Through Challenging Times

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“Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” ~Charles Swindoll

Iā€™ve recently dealt with numerous challenges that range from the ridiculous to the life-threatening. Iā€™ve had friends telling me they ā€œcanā€™t bear to hear any moreā€ about illness, financial loss, and an array of physical and emotional accidents that have broken parts of me, but not all.

Every aspect of my life is changing: career, relationships, health, and beliefs. I have to make the most of every situation and so Iā€™ve created my own set of rules to keep me focused and to remind …

Embrace Fear and Find Your Center: Riding With No Hands

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“Some people think it’s holding that makes one strongā€”sometimes it’s letting go.” ~Unknown

My mom leaned in and gave me a goodnight kiss. The only light illuminating her face was coming from the hallway. I looked up at her, and in the confidence of the dark confessed, ā€œI saw it.ā€

ā€œItā€ was my birthday present, waiting patiently for me to wake up in the morning and claim it from its place in the garage. ā€œItā€ was a turquoise blue Stingray bicycle with a white pleather banana seat and an extra tall sissy bar.

Iā€™d seen it by chance, tucked back …

9 Essential Tips to Face Fear and Live a Bold Life

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“Don’t fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of life contains three descriptions: could have, might have, and should have.” ~Unknown

Too often, we allow fear, worry, and doubt to dominate and define our lives. We allow them to steal our joy, our sleep, and our precious dreams.

I made up my mind, very young, that I would push forward no matter what.

I was 17 and pregnant when I married my boyfriend. We were young and foolish, and because our only plan was ā€œlove,ā€ I gave birth to three more daughters by …

Uplifting Depression: 15 Unexpected Lessons from Adversity

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ā€œWhenever something negative happens to you, there is a deep lesson concealed within it.ā€ ~Eckhart Tolle

Two years ago, reading this quote, I would smirk and think, ā€œWhat a clichĆ©.ā€

In the last two years, I would read this quote and be in utter disbelief that anything can be learned when one is in the depths of hell.

Today, I read this quote and resonate confidently, that yes, even though I tried to end my life, even though I had to quit a high paying job, even though I still suffer from major depression, good has come out of my …

10 Journaling Tips to Help You Heal, Grow and Thrive

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ā€œThe more light you allow within you, the brighter the world you live in will be.ā€ ~Shakti Gawain

Keeping a journal has many positive benefits. Journaling can help with personal growth and development. By regularly recording your thoughts you will gain insight into your behaviors and moods.

Journaling can be used for problem-solving and stress reduction. Itā€™s been proven to improve mental and physical health. It can lead to increased self-esteem.

Dr. John Grohol, CEO of Psych Central, estimates that one in three people suffer from a mental illness.Ā  Anxiety disorders, mood disorders and substance abuse can be …

Whatever You’re Going Through, Hold On

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“The world is full of suffering. It is also filled with overcoming it.” -Helen Keller

Even though I am just 16, Iā€™ve lived my short life with so much pressure, which Iā€™ve finally realized comes from me.

During my life, I have lived through more challenges than most teenagers, and at times I didnā€™t think I could handle it.

My life has never been easy. My parents broke up when I was two years old because my father was unfaithful to my mother. It was hard. The rancor between two people can last decades. And now, 14 years later, they …