Personal growth
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Those who comfort us
“Do not believe that the person who is trying to offer you solace lives his life effortlessly among the simple and quiet words that might occasionally comfort you. His life also is filled with much hardship and sadness….But if it were otherwise, he could never have found these words.” ~Rainer Maria Rilke in Letters on Life I’ve been thinking a lot about grief, loss, and comfort in recent weeks. My mother-in-law died Saturday in her home, just a couple of weeks short of her 94th birthday. She was the widowed matriarch and pillar of a large family, a strong-willed woman who outlived her initial diagnosis after a stroke last year. My husband…
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Are you stuck in stubborn habits?
“I need to take an emotional breath, step back, and remind myself who’s actually in charge of my life.” ~Judith M. Knowlton Are you following patterns or routines that aren’t serving you anymore? Creatures of habit, most of us stay on the same-old beaten path, rarely stepping away from our comfort zone. We keep buying the same brand of coffee, hanging out with the same people, walking the same route with the dog, wearing the same clothes, watching the same news station … or continually putting up with the same disrespectful treatment from others. It’s time to shake things up. Time to hit the reset button and reclaim your personal…
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Everything you love
“I am all the things I have ever loved.” ~Toni Morrison, American author “List Yourself” is one of my favorite writing practices, and it’s even easier than journaling. Pick up a brand-new journal and fill its pages with lists of all kinds — your favorite books and films, your biggest accomplishments, pet peeves, favorite recipes, people who’ve inspired you, places you’d like to visit, and so on. The practice of list-making might seem simplistic, but it can lead to self-awareness and discovery. When you make lists of all the things you love, for instance, you’ll see a unique self-portrait taking shape on the page, just as today’s quote suggests. Furthermore,…
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If you did it, you own it
“You can learn great things from your mistakes when you aren’t busy denying them.” ~Marc Chernoff, Marc & Angel Hack Life At some point, we all mess up. Humans make spelling errors, burn the dinner, neglect to return phone calls, forget birthdays, miss deadlines, and turn the wrong way on one-way streets. Sometimes we send embarrassing text messages to the wrong people. Oops. Sometimes we say or do things that hurt other people’s feelings. Nobody leaves this world flawless and error-free. Yet we all know a few folks who refuse to admit their mistakes. And then there are the ones who manage to screw up a good apology with a…
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How will you spend today?
“Your problem is how you are going to spend this one odd and precious life you have been issued. Whether you’re going to spend it trying to look good and creating the illusion that you have power over other people and circumstances, or whether you are going to taste it, enjoy it, and find out the truth about who you are.” ~Anne Lamott Statistics show that social media abuse inhibits our creativity, triggers periods of depression, stirs feelings of inadequacy, and can fuel aggression — just for starters. We make some dubious trade-offs when our time is consumed by social media use. Not that we shouldn’t enjoy a few of…
