Posts tagged with “wisdom”
How I Stopped Feeling Like an Outsider by Being Honest with Myself
âBe who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind donât matter, and those who matter donât mind.â ~Bernard M. Baruch
As a young boy, maybe in fourth or fifth grade, I came to the realization that I was an outsider.
I didnât like playing video games after school, I played basketball while the other boys played soccer, and most of all, I didnât like the unpleasant and sometimes bullying tone that had formed amongst my good friends.
One good friend in particularâletâs call him TheoâI considered to be my best friend.
For years, we celebrated birthdays, …
Stop Catastrophizing: How to Retrain Your Brain to Stress and Worry Less
âDonât believe everything you think.â ~Unknown
A couple years ago, I entered a depressive state as I sat through many long, eventless days while on partial disability due to a bilateral hand injury. I was working one to two hours a day max in my job, per doctorâs orders. The medical experts couldnât say if or when I would feel better.
As I sat in pain on my sofa, day after day, running out of new TV series to occupy my time, I couldnât help but catastrophize my future
Whatâll happen if I canât use the computer again? My whole …
30 Reminders for Sensitive People Who Feel Drained, Ashamed, or Judged
“Highly sensitive people are too often perceived as weaklings or damaged goods. To feel intensely is not a symptom of weakness, it is the trademark of the truly alive and compassionate.”~Anthon St. Maarten
There are some words that get painfully etched into our memories as if with a red-hot poker. For me, growing up, those words were âyouâre too sensitive.â
I often caught this phrase in the fumbling hands of my shame after someone chucked it at me with callousness and superiority as a means to justify their cruelty.
They may have said something vicious or condescending in private, or …
5 Ways to Heal from a Highly Critical, Controlling Parent
âYouâve been criticizing yourself for years and it hasnât worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.â ~Louise Hay
When I was growing up, it felt like nothing was good enough for my dad. And all I longed for was his acceptance and love.
He had this temper that would blow up, and heâd blame me for how he felt. He would outright tell me his behavior was my fault. That if Iâd behaved better, he wouldnât have had an outburst.
When he told me I wasn’t enough or worthy, I believed him. I was constantly walking on eggshells …
How to Live a âGood Lifeâ (Almost Every Single Day)
âIf your vision of your life centers on your highest values, you will be aligned with your dharma far above everyday existence. Whatever the values areâlove, creativity, service, spiritual growth, beauty, or whatever you chooseâdedicating yourself to the highest values unites purpose and inner growth as nothing else can.â ~Deepak Chopra
I wasted almost a decade of my life. Donât make the same mistake as me.
On my fortieth birthday, I found myself lying in bed, fully awake at 5 a.m., with a tightness in my throat.
âA new decade,â I thought, without much excitement.
Staring at the ceiling, I …
Why I Quit Beast Mode and How I Traded Burnout for Peace and Balance
âBeast mode.â Sounds pretty badass, doesnât it?
Itâs like an adrenaline-fueled battle cry, a call to arms. Itâs a way of life thatâs all about giving every single thing youâve got to every single thing you do.
For most of my life, I lived this mantraâand prided myself for living this way.
In fact, I had a sticker on my bathroom mirror with the words âbeast modeâ that I stared at all the time. It was my constant reminder to be all in, every single day, pushing harder, reaching further.
But hereâs the reality check: Life isnât supposed to be …
6 Things to Remember When You Feel Anxious in Your Relationships
âOur anxiety does not come from thinking about the future, but from wanting to control it.â ~Kahlil Gibran
Relationships have always been anxiety-inducing for me, and I know it stems from my childhood.
As a kid I would often silently mouth words Iâd just said, hearing them in my mind and evaluating whether Iâd said something stupid or wrong. I was always afraid of saying something that might make someone upset.
Junior high was a particularly rough time in my life. I was insecure and had low self-esteem, and I was desperate for approval from other kids, which made me …
How Boundaries Help You Stay True to Yourself (And Two Practices to Try Today)
“The more you value yourself, the healthier your boundaries are.” ~Lorraine Nilon
I want to talk about the direct correlation between boundaries and self-love. Because when we truly love ourselves and have a healthy self-worth and self-concept, setting boundaries becomes a natural extension of that.
Without boundaries, we either become walled off and protect ourselves from others, which creates a sense of deep isolation and loneliness, or we become enmeshed with others. We often find ourselves living on their side of the street, working overtime to manage, fix, caretake, or be needed by them, all while neglecting ourselves and our …
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