Posts tagged with “wisdom”
Eliminate These 5 Words to Create the Life of Your Dreams
âDonât be pushed by your problems; be led by your dreams.â ~Unknown
For years I felt nothing.
Nothing, that is, except bored at work, trapped in my marriage, uninspired in my educational pursuits, misunderstood by friends and family, and stuck in my hometown. I’d lay awake at night wondering what was wrong with me.
How did I manage to manifest the exact scenario I’d been trying so desperately to avoid?
As I reflected upon all the major decisions I’d made up until that point, it didn’t take long to realize what had happened: I’d spent so much time focusing on …
The Gift of Kindness: A Simple Reason to Give What We Can
âLove and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.â ~Dalai Lama
âLook at that guy,â I said to my wife.
We were circling the block looking for parking when I spotted him on the sidewalk in front of the bank. For some reason he stood out from the other people in the area.
âSeems off,â I thought to myself.
As I passed by, I kept an eye on him. He didnât seem to be going anywhere, just walking back and forth along the sidewalk in front of the bank.
He was looking around and moving around like …
6 Lessons from a Brave Little Girl About Living a Love-Filled Life
âOne word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: that word is love.â ~Sophocles
I canât believe it was almost four years ago that I met *Holly. Her story is still deeply embedded into my heart. Who would have thought that one can learn so much from a ten-year-old child?
At the time, I was working in Kenya as a childrenâs rights researcher. Knowing about my psychology background, the principal of a primary school I was working at asked me if I could talk to one of their students. Since I would only be able to meet …
Mystic Coffee: A Magical Barista with the Gift of Insight
What happens when a stressed our coffee barista finds a magical ring in her tip jar? That’s the premise of “Mystic Coffee,” a short film by screenwriter and producer Jeff Leisawita. It’s a fun, whimsical short with some powerful messages to help us step out of our usual “line” of thinking and see things from a different angle.
If you enjoy this one, check out Jeff’s Kickstarter campaign for the sequel!
Taking Big Chances and Knowing If Itâs Worth the Risk
âLife is inherently risky. There is only one big risk you should avoid at all costs, and that is the risk of doing nothing.â ~Denis Waitley
Taking risks isnât the secret to life, but taking risks does mean we are never at risk of doing nothing.
Nine months ago, almost to the day, I stepped off a plane onto German soil. I left behind everything I knew, and almost everyone I knew. I moved to a place where I couldnât understand anyone to live with someone I had never lived with before.
But letâs back up. What exactly made me …
Breaking the Rust: 7 Tips to Move Forward When You Feel Stuck
âChange is inevitable. Growth is intentional.â ~Glenda Cloud
The squeak emanating from my office chair had finally become unbearable. Like a slow drip of acid on the surface of my psyche, it had finally burned its way into my head.
I stopped working on the article I was writing and strode into the garage to retrieve my toolbox. Time to replace that rusted out wheel with the shiny new one that Iâd bought months ago.
I leapt into action purposefully. Today, things would change.
Three of the four bolts holding the wheel in place were out when things ground to …
Stop Resisting: Surrender to Your Body to Transform It and Your Life
âWhatever you fight, you strengthen, and what you resist, persists.â ~Eckhart Tolle
Most people donât realize that your relationship with your body affects your entire life. Why? Because if you are fighting with your body, you are fighting with yourself. And if you are fighting with yourself, you are resisting what you truly desire in life.
I know too well what it feels like to fight with your body. I had the same fear as most people…
If I love my body as it is today, it will get worse. I will gain more weight. If I keep my constant …
How to Use Your Flaws as Creative Inspiration
âIf you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.â ~Maya Angelou
I love my skin because not only does it protect and make me human, it also inspires me to make art.
Being an artist, Iâm always finding inspiration in my day-to-day life. Well, ten years ago that came in the form of irritating and weird looking welts that appear on my skin when I barely scratch. It was so embarrassing when people would see the itchy welts and ask, âWhatâs wrong with you?â
I have dermatographia. Itâs a skin condition in …
Coping with the Pain of Loneliness After a Breakup
âRelationships are like glass. Sometimes itâs better to leave them broken than hurt yourself trying to put it back together.â ~Unknown
I am at a phase in my life right now where Iâm struggling with loneliness.
Most of the time, I feel a deep sense of disconnection from the world around me and the people I share it with.
The mere fact that I am writing this in the small hours of the morning, deafened by the ear-splitting silence of an empty flat, unable to sleep, simply emphasizes this point to me even harder.
The empty flat in question is …
5 Steps to Deal with Emotional Baggage So It Doesnât Define You
âSometimes the past should be abandoned, yes. Life is a journey and you canât carry everything with you. Only the usable baggage.â ~Ha Jin
Youâve probably heard of the fear of missing out but what about the fear of letting go?
My father was volatile and mentally unstable. Criticism was his preferred method of communication. As a child and teenager, I learned to keep my thoughts and feelings locked away and became an expert at deflecting personal questions.
Without realizing it, I carried this habit into adulthood, avoiding any talk about my feelings or turning them into a joke. …
Ellen Page’s Inspiring Coming Out Speech
Ellen Page is my new hero. Her honesty, her vulnerability, her courage, her compassion, her message of hope. Five amazing reasons to dedicate nine minutes to this video. If you’re anything like me, you’ll get to the end with goosebumps and gratitude for the powerful reminder to shine your light.
Why Love Addiction Deprives Us of Love, and How to Let It In
âWhat we seek in love is finding someone with whom we feel safe to reveal our true self.â ~Karen Salmansohn
I wasnât always in a relationship, but I was almost always in love.
I even had crushes in kindergarten. I hated school because my grade school teacher didnât like me. Maybe my crushes helped me avoid feeling the void, the loneliness, and the sense that I was not of this world, an outcast.
Being in love let me ignore those uncomfortable feelings. Of course, I did not understand any of this at age six. Now I do.
As an …
How to Fall Back in Love With Your Life
âIf we look at the world with a love of life, the world will reveal its beauty to us.â ~Daisaku Ikeda
Ever found yourself in a rut, just waiting for some force of the Universe to pull you out?
When ennui sets in, it can be hard to find a way back into the light, but it typically takes a series of events and choices for us to be living a life out of sync with our personal goals, values, and passions.
Last year, I found myself in one of these ruts. After spinning my wheels for quite some time, …
Honoring Our Inner Voices to Make the Right Choices for Us
âOur lives improve only when we take chances and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves.â ~Walter Anderson
After high school I moved to the northern tip of Vancouver Island to live with my aunt and uncle and work at their fishing resort. It was a busy tourist destination at the time. Every summer the town filled with young people, home from university and eager to earn money.
I loved my time up there. I met many interesting, colorful people from around the world who came to fish, whale watch, kayak, or …
Though I run this site, it is not mine. It's ours. It's not about me. It's about us. Your stories and your wisdom are just as meaningful as mine. 
