If you have good thoughts, they will shine out of your face like sunbeams, and you will always look lovely. – Roald Dahl A sunny disposition reflects the power of positive thinking. When you maintain a cheerful outlook, it often stems from nurturing good thoughts and a hopeful mindset. This positivity influences your interactions, making … Continue reading Sunny disposition
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Mothering ourselves
Mothering myself has become a way of listening to my deepest needs, and of responding to them while I respond to my inner child.- Melinda Burns Setting our hearts on being a loving mother to ourselves is an act of profound self-compassion and self-awareness which can allow us to listen deeply to our own needs, … Continue reading Mothering ourselves
Antidotes to anger
"Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die." - Unknown Anger held over time creates an illusion of action. It feels like doing something, like maintaining a stance, keeping score, or preserving justice. But the internal cost accrues entirely to the person holding it while the target of that … Continue reading Antidotes to anger
Mightier still
"Knowing others is intelligence. Knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power."- Lao Tzu, Chapter 33 of the Tao Te Ching Living a life that requires an enormous amount of sustained inner resources can create the temptations to focus entirely outward, on managing circumstances and other people's needs, while … Continue reading Mightier still
Letting go
"Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness." – Thich Nhat Hanh Keystone Holding responsibility for people whose needs are real is often unpredictable, and sometimes heartbreaking. I have the kind of life that requires continuous engagement. In this kind of life, the temptation is to grip harder and to … Continue reading Letting go
Finding peace
"You will find peace not by trying to escape your problems, but by confronting them with courage and compassion." Running from difficulty does not bring peace, facing it does. People instinctively want to escape pain and avoid suffering. We scroll, we stay busy, we overwork, we numb. Gently we need to look at what it … Continue reading Finding peace
Obstacles as the path
"The obstacle to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way." - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 5, Chapter 20. I find this idea remarkably durable. It has been revisited again and again across two thousand years because the human experience of obstruction has not changed. We still face illness, loss, failed plans, … Continue reading Obstacles as the path
Adversity introductions
"Adversity introduces a person to themselves." – Unknown I am navigating a genuinely demanding life. Maybe you are too. This life is both beautiful and a sustained, compounding adversity in the most human sense. What I have discovered in the really rough patches of my life is a version of myself that I could not … Continue reading Adversity introductions
Resting heart
"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time."– John Lubbock This quote speaks directly to the guilt many high-functioning people feel when they stop … Continue reading Resting heart
Emotions like wild horses
"Emotions are like wild horses. It’s not about getting rid of them but learning to ride them."– Paulo Coelho The wild horses will always be with us. The question is simply whether we are learning to ride. Emotions are natural forces, not flaws - Wild horses are not broken or wrong simply because they are … Continue reading Emotions like wild horses