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You Are Good Enough and You Deserve the Best

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“What other people think of me is none of my business.” ~Wayne Dyer

We sometimes make excuses as to why we don’t deserve the best.

We say that our relationship with our partner is good enough and that other people have much worse relationships. We don’t reach for our dreams because doing so would make us feel too selfish.

Isn’t it time you stopped letting fear run your life? That you stopped making excuses for why things aren’t better in your life?

Fear is an ugly word. It keeps us from true happiness because it prevents us from taking risks. …

The Future Is Completely Open

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“The future is completely open, and we are writing it moment to moment.” ~Pema Chodron

This quote reminds me of the song ā€œInto the Great Wide Openā€ by Tom Petty. I play that song in my yoga class a lot these days. I love the freedom in it, the expansiveness, the hope.

My future is completely open and I am writing it moment by moment.

Phew! This feels good!

For a long time, I thought my future was pre-ordained.

My dad died at 38 when I was 8. What was I supposed to think besides this is when we …

The Unexpected Path to Living the Life You Dream About

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ā€œOf course there is no formula for success except, perhaps, an unconditional acceptance of life and what it brings.ā€ ~Arthur Rubinstein

I used to be a big fan of working hard, really hard. I still work hard, but I do it from a place of inspiration and peace, instead of fear and must.

In the past few years, something has shifted within me. It is both confusing and wonderful. I cannot put my finger on exactly what is going on, but it seems to be happening in just the right way.

Like Arthur Rubinstein says in the quote above, there …

Book Giveaway and Interview with Rick Hanson: Develop a Buddha Brain

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

The Winners:

I read a lot of books about mindfulness; this was by far one of my favorites. In his book Just One Thing: Developing a Buddha Brain One Simple Practice at a Time, Rick Hanson offers practical, daily practices, backed by the latest in brain research, to help us avoid stress, improve our mood, enjoy life more fully, and develop emotional resilience.

This is not merely a book …

This Too Shall Pass and Other Reminders

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“How we remember, what we remember and why we remember form the most personal map of our individuality.” ~Christina Baldwin

I tend to be a forgetful person. To try to remedy this, my dad and I put in a four foot by eight foot whiteboard just inside the front door to my house. Yet somehow I managed to ignore a three foot tall note reminding me to email my professor for the better part of a week. I guess I still have some work to do on heeding my reminders, or maybe I just need to write bigger.

In any …

9 Reasons to Order the Tiny Buddha Book: Last Day for Bonus Items!

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UPDATE: Please note the pre-order promotion for the Peace and Purpose Bonus Pack has now expired now that the book is officially available for purchase.

As you may have noticed from the various ads, tweets, and Facebook updates, Iā€™ve been running a promotional campaign over the past month leading up to todayā€”the official on-sale date for my first book Tiny Buddha: Simple Wisdom for Lifeā€™s Hard Questions.

Thank you for being part of this journey with me! Itā€™s my first book, and there have been lots of lessons and surprises along the way. For exampleā€¦

Originally I understood that …

Balancing Home and Work: When Life Is in the Distractions

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“It is not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.” -Unknown

My son has chickenpox.

It started a few days ago and today is his third day at home.

As a work at home mom who is her own boss, Iā€™m fortunate that I can be at home with my son instead of having to ask my employer for time off work.

I have been working from home for the past five years with three young children, and it was only just a few weeks ago that my youngest child started school full-time.

I felt that …

6 Crucial Lessons to Help You Live Fearless and Free

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“Love is what we were born with. Fear is what we learned here.” ~Marianne Williamson

I got my masters in Clinical Social Work and became a therapist in 1997.

A year later, I got my PHD in Fear.

After a decade as a talent agent predominantly for super models, I was burned out. I realized it was time for a career change when I cared more about getting models into rehab, therapy, and eating disorder clinics than a lucrative Pantene contract.

When I landed in the modeling-agent world, I was convinced I would change an exploitive system. I did not, …

Be Good to Yourself: It’s Not You, It’s Your Brain

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

The winners:

ā€œYou yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.ā€
~Buddha

If you had met me at a party a decade or so ago, Iā€™m sure you would have walked away with the impression I was a bit of a miserable and pessimistic person. I would have happily pointed out to you how much my well-paid job sucked, how stressed I was, …

Tiny Buddha Twitter Party with Jonathan Fields and Gabrielle Bernstein

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If I lived in a massive house and owned numerous private jets, I would personally fly all of you out to Los Angeles for a party to celebrate the launch of my first book, Tiny Buddha: Simple Wisdom for Lifeā€™s Hard Questions.

But since I only have a $10, a fortune from a cookie, and a button in my wallet, I hope youā€™ll join me for a Twitter party instead!

What Is the Tiny Buddha Twitter Party?

This Thursday, December 8th at 9:00 PM EST/6:00 PST, my friend Karl of Party Biz Connect will host a one-hour teleseminar …

Choose to Be Kind and Change the World

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“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” ~Plato

While volunteering my carpentry skills for Fundacion Uaguitupu on the outskirts of Panama City, Panama, I made a difference by assisting Kuna Indian communities in the renovation of their homes and churches. There was an abundance of necessary repairs, but unfortunately, funding could not keep pace with the work to be done.

After three months of doing what I could with the resources available, I had done little worthy of the evening news, yet a small patch of the world had become a better place because I had …

You Already Know Your Soul Mate

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“You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” ~Buddha

During the summer, my husband and I decided to take our lovely nieces and nephew out for a day-of-fun in the city. I expected a day filled with fun, laughter, and connection; I was in store for much moreā€”a lesson in love and truth, told by my eleven-year-old niece.

We were all at dinner and decided to play a game where one person asks a question of their choice, and everyone else answers. The question ā€œWho do you have a crush on?ā€ arose, and …

Being Happy in the Present: See the Tree

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ā€œHave respect for yourself, and patience and compassion. With these, you can handle anything.ā€ ~Jack Kornfield

I sometimes find myself smiling for no reasonā€”a good mood, perhaps, or maybe a thought about friends and loved ones. What I notice is that every time I contemplate my own smile, it comes back to the thought of being here, now, and feeling for those around me with understanding instead of judgment and love in place of anger.

It is in the here and now that I find happiness.

Contemplate a tree: In the blazing heat of the summer, does it cry and …

Interview and Book Giveaway: Epiphany by Elise Ballard

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Note: This winners for this giveaway have been chosen. Subscribe to Tiny Buddha for daily or weekly emails and to learn about future giveaways!

The Winners:

In my experience, meaningful transformation always starts with some type of epiphanyā€”a realization that suddenly puts life in a new perspective and informs what you need to do from this point forward.

Iā€™ve always been fascinated by these moments, when something suddenly makes sense in a way it didnā€™t before and change seems much more possible.

With this in mind, I was thrilled to receive a copy of Elise Ballardā€™s …

When You’ve Lost Your Sense of Purpose

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Ā ā€œTell me, what is it you plan to do/Ā with your one wild andĀ precious life?ā€ ~Mary Oliver

I was always the child with armfuls of books and big dreams. I wanted to be a writer.Ā When the limit at the local library was six books, I borrowed all six, and then talked my sister into letting me borrow some of her weekly ration.

While I had many friends, most lived several minutes away, and public transportation wasn’t available. When I couldnā€™t arrange a sleepover, my sibling and my books were ever at the ready to play school.

My parents …

How to Live in Peace and Balance: 6 Things to Let Go

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“All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on.” ~Havelock Ellis

Imagine that you have to move in two days. Would you be able to pack all your possessions in that time and clean out your house completely?

How about your mental baggage? If you have only two days left to finish all the important projects in your life, would you be able to do it?

Three years ago I left the country where I was born and raised and moved permanently to a different place half way around the globe.

Packing was …

Battling with Your Body: 4 Simple Tips for Overall Well-Being

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“Your body is precious. It is our vehicle for awakening. Treat it with care.” ~Buddha

I believe there are four key aspects to our existence:Ā  mental, physical, spiritual and emotional.Ā  The mind is a fairly straightforward concept, and many people can identify with a spiritual component of life.

Yet there is one other aspect of life that I believe is essential to a full and healthy journey on this planetā€”the emotional element of living. And that emotional state seems to be inextricably tied to the physical.

I have always struggled with the physical. Iā€™ve had a love-hate relationship with my …

Giveaway: Leela ā€“ Meditation through Your Xbox or Wii

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

The Winners:

You may know Deepak Chopra for his many inspiring books, including The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success and The Ultimate Happiness Prescription. A world-renowned expert on mind-body healing, Deepak Chopra has dedicated his life to helping people create joy and equanimity.

You might not know, however, that Deepak Chopra also makes video games. Well, sort of.Ā 

Recently Deepak Chopra partnered with the gaming company THQ to create a creative, fully …

50 Ways to Show Gratitude for the People in Your Life

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ā€œFeeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.ā€ ā€“William Arthur Ward

The holiday season generally brings us closer to people. Sometimes that closeness reminds us how much we love each other. Sometimes it reminds us that we drive each other crazy, as family often does.

At the heart of it, Thanksgiving in particular calls us to see people with the deepest appreciation for the gifts theyā€™ve given us. Some gifts are more immediately obvious than othersā€”the type that come with praise, affection, and genuine esteem.

Others push us, stretch us, test us, and …

The Joy and Peace That Gratitude Brings

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ā€œGratitude is the memory of the heart.ā€Ā  -Jean Baptiste Massieu

Several months ago I was invited by the man I was newly seeing to come to one of his meditation classes. Heā€™d been going through an incredibly tumultuous and painful time in his personal life; he realized that his family unit, which he had always seen as perfect, was human and flawed. That seemed to break something in his spirit.

He turned to meditation as a source of re-centering himself. In addition to the deep breathing, one of the cornerstones of meditation practice is gratitudeā€”finding at least one thing every …