Achieving Happiness Through Acceptance of Life
The quest for happiness often leads to frustration, as many fail to realize that the...
Willingness to explore your self-imposed limitations is essential to growth and to healing, but you cannot simply decide to be willing. Everything is a journey and a process of unfoldment. You may be saying right now, “I am willing!” And what good does it do you?
About six months into my heartbreak, I had a rude awakening. I was sitting on my bed pulling up my stockings. A mirrored door was ajar and its reflection caught me off guard. In a flash, I recognized the woman hunched over her feet, glowering at the mirror. It was me, caught in a moment of self-revulsion.
A big clue that you’re caught up in the concern for looking good is if you’re burned out, stuck, deadened, resistant, or experiencing a loss of purpose or inner peace. That’s a signal that somewhere in there the real you is missing. When you feel that way, your energy...
Everything comes full circle when you make it a priority to take care of yourself. While I know it’s easier said than done, you will definitely reap the benefits almost immediately when you attend to yourself before you attend to others.
When you live with the belief that something about you makes you weak or not good enough, it is difficult to enter into mutual relationships seeking the best for each person. When you do not see your own belovedness and magnificence, it's difficult to think about being a healthy person, much less imagining a mutual relationship...
I act the same no matter what role I am in—facilitator, woman, mother, or teacher. Every single person that I come in contact with in this world deserves all of me—not part of me, but every molecule.
When I first heard of the concept of Self Love, I laughed out loud. I was sure it was the most pretentious and ridiculous idea I’d ever heard. I ridiculed the concept for a good long minute and gave it hell. Then I went back to despising myself (that was so much more “humble” and “honorable”).
The shift from living with attachment to the judgmental mind to living with kindness is perhaps the most important part of our work with the critic. It requires us to embrace all of who we are — the good, the bad, and the ugly. This can require a radical shift in our inner world...
Passion is a very holy thing. You can lose many material things, but if you lose your passion, you're a goner.
Being attached to negative behavior is addictive to the brain. In such cases, we are predisposed to make choices based on patterns that seek out unnecessary drama. Could all of this be because you have set a pattern in your thinking that anticipates the worst?
Growing up in Appalachia, many women abided by two rules: it’s impolite to say no, and be as nice as you possibly can be, and everyone will realize you’re the better person. For me, this translated as always say yes and play nice.
Growing older is inevitable and, as has been said, better than the alternative. Limiting ourselves by age, though, is a state of mind. But often we accept stereotypical statements about age, aging, and what is supposed to happen at certain ages. We don’t need to accept any of these thoughts!

Struggling with feelings of unworthiness in relationships can lead to a cycle of co-dependence and emotional turmoil. This article explores the journey of discovering self-love, the impact of toxic beliefs, and the transformative power of treating oneself with the compassion and care that is often sought from others.
The idealized self — the mask you put on for appearance’s sake — reaches the breaking point during burnout. All that work to maintain the facade, and it couldn’t even deliver the goods. You still don’t feel happy and fulfilled. As a result, the false self finally...
When a woman in a certain African tribe knows she is pregnant, she goes out into the wilderness with a few friends and together they pray and meditate until they hear the song of the child. They recognize that every soul has its own vibration...
If we are to love humanity as a whole, we must first love humanity in a unit of one -- our own self. I started looking at what loving someone really meant, and...
One of the qualities Buddhists strive for on the path to enlightenment is called “sameness of being.” It means being exactly who you authentically are, no matter who you are interacting with. To be your most authentic self, you must get over your habits of worrying about....
Sadness can become a very enriching experience. You have to work on it. It is easy to escape from your sadness — and all relationships ordinarily are escapes; one simply goes on avoiding it. And it is always there underneath... the current continues...
Did you ever wonder what characterizes a psychologically mature person? I’ve thought about it a lot – both on my own personal inner journey of awakening and because I work as a therapist and coach on a daily basis, helping other people with their issues. Here are some of the things I’ve discovered.
How can you free yourself from being lost in your thoughts? To understand the answer we must examine the chain reaction of thought. Every thought that passes through your mind sets the background for the next one. Your attention keeps reacting to each thought in a way that makes way for the next. For example...
You can only take care of yourself if you know yourself. You can only make good choices for yourself if you know yourself. You can only set limits if you know yourself. But to know yourself you have to be able to answer basic questions like...