fbpx
Menu

Category “meaning & passion”

7 Ways to Know If Your Sacrifices Are Worth It

ā€œThe price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.ā€ ~Henry David Thoreau

Have you ever looked at the path youā€™ve chosen and questioned if your sacrifices have been worth it? If youā€™ve prioritized the ā€œrightā€ things, pursued worthy goals, and ultimately, made ā€œgoodā€ choices?

Have you ever wondered if youā€™ll one day look back on your life and regret not only what you did, but also what you didnā€™t do, because maybe youā€™ll feel you wasted your time or somehow missed out on something important?

If you answered no to these questions, youā€™re my new hero. …

How to Keep Going When Youā€™re Not Good at Something New

I believe the people who are the most satisfied in life are those who feel the most alive.

We generally feel most alive when we propel ourselves out of our comfort zone and seize new possibilities for meaning, excitement, and passion. But unfortunately, weā€™re wired to do what feels easy and safe, and it rarely feels easy or safe to be a beginner.

No one wants to feel like Bambi taking his first wobbly first stepsā€”weak, inept, like he could fall over at any time.

And no one wants to feel as vulnerably exposed as Napoleon Dynamite during his awkward …

Why Iā€™m Done Standing on the Sidelines of Life

ā€œIf you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done. Make at least one definite move daily toward your goal.ā€ ~Bruce Lee

Itā€™s easy to criticize others.

Itā€™s easier to sit outside a situation than be in it.

Ironically, itā€™s easy to belittle someone elseā€™s efforts without making any real effort ourselves.

The safe side of the ropes is an easier choice than committing to being in the ring, truly baring something. Itā€™s also a softer option.

Itā€™s much harder to have skin in the game.

It takes guts, and a healthy degree of get …

How to Make Your Life Matter (Even If It Lacks Purpose and Direction)

ā€œThe purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.ā€ ~Eleanor Roosevelt

ā€œCalm yourself down. Itā€™s okay. All is well.ā€

I clung to the sterile white table while the laboratory was spinning around me.

ā€œItā€™s just an anxiety attack. It will be over soon.ā€

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, forcing my lungs to expand against the tightness in my chest. Cold sweat trickled down my spine as I battled the all-consuming feelings of overwhelm, panic, and disappointment.

My …

Fellow Dreamers: If You Feel Like a Fool, Youā€™re on the Right Track

“Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new.” ~Brian Tracy

Iā€™m a fool.

Well, itā€™s more accurate to say Iā€™ve been a fool often, and Iā€™m ashamed.

My life, no different from many, has had some successes but also many setbacks and outright failures. I suppose this is just another way of saying Iā€™ve lived.

The problem is that Iā€™ve allowed my mistakes, errors, and failures to hold me back.

Weā€™ve all felt like a fool before, but when has doing so made it …

Slow, Imperfect Progress Is Better Than None at All

“When perfectionism is driving, shame is riding shotgun, and fear is that annoying backseat driver.” BrenĆ© Brown

Sometimes I feel like the girl who cried film.

I first wrote a blog post introducing Tiny Buddha Productions three years ago, and despite my earnestness, passion, and enthusiasm, I have only one short film to show for myself.

When I was working on this short, which we filmed partly in my apartmentā€”in my bedroom, amid the worn clothes and shoes in my walk-in closet evenā€”I felt more alive and aligned than Iā€™d felt in years.

I was doing something Iā€™d wanted to …

How Getting Hit by a Bus Taught Me to Stop Worrying and Start Living

ā€œSometimes it takes a good fall to really know where you stand.ā€ ā€“ Hayley Williams

How often do you appreciate the pleasure of taking a deep breath? Have you stopped worrying about what the world can do to you, and instead focused on what you can do in the world? Do you actively appreciate your life, as a part of your daily routine?

Odds are you do not. I know I certainly didnā€™t, until it was nearly taken from me.

Iā€™ve been riding bicycles around New York City since I was a child. While cycling in the city used to …

How Lowering Our Expectations Helps Us Do What We Really Want to Do

ā€œHuman beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.ā€ ~William James

Despite being the sort of person whoā€™s constantly generating self-improvement to-do lists, Iā€™ve never been big into making New Yearā€™s resolutions. If I make any at all, they usually occur as an afterthought, frequently after the fact, and without much in the way of any real resolution.

However, this January I suddenly decided my resolution for 2019 should be to lower my expectations.

My whole life Iā€™ve been an overachieving, Type A perfectionist. The sort of person who obsessively stresses about getting work in on time, …

We Keep Going, One Tiny Step at a Time, and We Should Be Proud

“Don’t wait until you reach your goal to be proud of yourself. Be proud of every step you take.” ~Karen Salmansohn

One of the greatest ironies of being human is that weā€™re often hardest on ourselves right when we should be most proud.

Letā€™s say you finally find the courage to start a dream project youā€™ve fantasized about for as long as you can remember. You push through years of built-up fears, overcome massive internal resistance, and take the leap despite feeling like youā€™re jumping through a ring of fire, above a pit filled with burning acid.

Itā€™s one of …

What to Ask Yourself When You Feel Lost, Unsure, or Confused

“The quality of your life is a direct reflection of the quality of the questions you are asking yourself.” ~Tony Robbins

I am naturally inclined to doā€”to go, to move, to take action. Slowing down takes a lot of patience for me. But I often find that moving too quickly actually causes me more confusion.

One day, my head felt overwhelmed with questions. What had started with a simple idea of little ole me living in a tiny house on wheels (one of those under 200 square feet homes built on a trailer) had turned into a big undertaking …

Why Having Your Sh*t Together Is Overrated (and Misunderstood)

“Itā€™s not about time, itā€™s about choices. How are you spending your choices?” ~Beverly Adamo

Hi, my nameā€™s Tash. Iā€™m twenty-six years old and soon Iā€™ll be living in a van.

My sister is twenty-three. She owns her own flat, which she shares with her long-term boyfriend and their pet tortoise. She has a well-paid job that she enjoys, and she even has a company car. For some people, this might look like sheā€™s really got her sh*t togetherā€”sheā€™s ticking all the right boxes!

And donā€™t get me wrong, Iā€™m not saying she isnā€™t! Iā€™m very happy for her and …

How 5 Simple Habits Made Me Love My Life More

ā€œGood habits are worth being fanatical about.ā€ ~John Irving

Your habits are directly related to the quality of your life. Good habits lead to joy and fulfillment in your life, while not-so-good habits leave you yearning for your life to be different.

I think I always knew that, I just wished I took it to heart sooner. Better late than never, right?

Gretchen Rubin, author of Better Than Before:Ā What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits, says thatĀ ā€œHabits are the invisible architecture of our daily life. We repeat about 40% of our behavior almost daily, so our …

How Recovering People-Pleasers Can Discover What They Really Want

ā€œWhen you say ‘yes’ to others, make sure you’re not saying ‘no’ to yourself.ā€ ~Paulo Coelho

People-pleasers regularly subvert their own needs for the needs of others. We spend years saying ā€œyesā€ when we mean ā€œno,ā€ signing up for commitments weā€™d rather avoid, and occupying our minds with othersā€™ desires.

When we finally clear out the clutter to put ourselves first, we look around at the empty space, bewildered, with endless questions. What do we want? What does true happiness look like for us? What would a life lived on our own terms be like?

For me, these questions once …

How to Get Past Doubt and Do What You Really Want to Do

ā€œDoubt everything. Find your own light.ā€Ā ~The Buddha

As far back as I can remember, Iā€™ve allowed my life to be shaped by external forces.

On the outside, it appeared like I was just another carefree soul, living in the moment and going through life like a leaf on the wind. But on closer inspection, I was actually running away from having to make any real commitments and avoiding getting into a position where I had to make difficult or important decisions.

It wasnā€™t until recently, when I realized it was four years to the date since Iā€™d fallen into …

Create More, Consume Less: How to Feel More Excited About Life

“Creating means living.” ~Dejan Stojanovic

We live in a consumer culture. We love to eat, drink, and be merryā€”while binge watching whateverā€™s trending on Netflix and getting a dopamine hit for every item added to our cart on Amazon Prime.

We love to take it all inā€”information, entertainment, status updates, news reports, substances, and an endless array of stuff. Thereā€™s never a shortage of things we can consume, often to keep our minds distracted and our feelings silenced.

Now donā€™t get me wrong. I love a good meal, a Jim Beam or two, and an afternoon spent zoned out on …

Say Yes to What Excites You and Make This the Year You Really Live

ā€œI imagine that Yes is the only living thing.ā€ ~e.e. cummings

During the fall of 2017 I began openly dating, four years after my separation and divorce of a twenty-plus year relationship.Ā It was scary. And I was clearā€”I didnā€™t want a commitment, I just wanted the experience and some fun.

My third round of online dating, I finally went out with some younger men who I assumed lined up with my non-commitment goal. It was different and fun, but also not quite what I wanted.

In December of that year, my friend, who was interested in getting to …

How Expressing Myself Helped Me Release Chronic Pain

ā€œLive life as if everything is rigged in your favor.ā€ ~ Rumi

It can be frightening to experience physical or mental pain. Itā€™s not something anyone wants to deal with; nobody wants to race against the clock hoping that some future experience will take away their pain. Nobody wants to question the purpose of anything, like seeing a friend or even traveling, just because they feel their pain will ruin it.

During my freshman year at college, I woke up one day with horrific nerve pain in my legs and in my pelvic area. What was this? My instinct told …

We Get to Define Our Experiences and Decide What We Take from Them

“When something bad happens you have three choices. You can let it define you, let it destroy you, or you can let it strengthen you.” ~Unknown

Itā€™s massively important how we define our world and the experiences we have in it.Ā Fortunately, I had the opportunity to learn that early in my life.

When I was twelve, my stepfather was a homicidal-leaning, violent alcoholic.Ā I believe my mother must have suffered a Stockholm Syndrome kind of relationship with him.Ā They were together for thirteen years even though they separated several times.

He tried to kill us all on more than …

Why Remembering Youā€™re Going to Die Is the Best Motivator

ā€œDonā€™t be afraid of death; be afraid of an unlived life. You donā€™t have to live forever; you just have to live.ā€ ~Natalie Babitt

Once a month, I visit the local cemetery and walk around. Iā€™m not there to visit anyone in particular. Iā€™m there to remind myself of my own mortality.

And it always wakes me up.

I soak in the energy: I read the simple legacies on the tombstones, from young children to those who made it to 100 years old. Iā€™m not morose. Iā€™m not negative. Iā€™ve simply found the greatest motivational tool in the world, and …

New Tiny Buddha Shirts and iPhone Cases, Just in Time for the Holidays!

Hi friends!Ā Iā€™m excited to share that Iā€™ve recently launched a new selection of shirts and iPhone cases on Tiny Buddha, with five new designsā€”meaning nine in totalā€”just in time for the holiday season!

I’m also happy to share that the new store offers much better shipping times than I was able to offer in the past.

The new designs are based on some of the most popular memes Iā€™ve shared on social media. My personal favorite is the ā€œPeace Love Musicā€ one.

Each design is available in multiple shirt styles: tee, v-neck, tank, sweatshirt, and hoodie, with a range …