“Life does not happen to us, it happens from us.”

— Mike Wickett

Are you easily overwhelmed? If so, answer this question in your journal:

While growing up, what did you experience too much of?

Experiencing too much of something leads to feelings of overwhelm. When we’re young, overwhelm can lead us to believe that we are not capable or that we are not good enough. These are power issues.

Awareness of when we are feeling overwhelmed can help us go inside, claim our power and change our experience of any situation. (more…)

This is a task for all of us. Individually and as a society, we must move from the pain of our speed, our addictions, and our denial to stop the war against life. The greatest of transformations can come from this simple act….

Many Buddhist practices use the repetition of certain phrases in order to break through old, destructively repetitious patterns of thought to effect change.
However, even though we work to reeducate the mind, we can never be completely successful. The mind seems to have a will of its own no matter how much we wish to direct it. So, for a deeper healing of the conflicts of the mind, we need to let go of our identification with them. To heal, we must learn to (more…)

“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.” — C.G. Jung

We get clues about our unconscious programming if we watch our reactions, responses, feelings and thoughts about other people and events. Ask yourself: How do I judge or stereotype people? What pushes my buttons? What makes me angry or fearful or sad?
The outer incidents that trigger these reactions in me simply MIRROR my own nature. If (more…)

Our greatest tool for changing the world is our capacity to change our mind about the world….

Since all minds are connected, then the correction of anyone’s perception is on some level a healing of the entire racial mind. The practice of forgiveness is our most important contribution to the healing of the world. Angry people cannot create a peaceful planet. Forgiveness is the world’s only real chance to begin again. A radical forgiveness is a complete letting go of the past, in any personal relationship, as well as in any collective drama. (From the book “A Return to Love” by Marianne Williamson, pages 58 & 62)

A sense of meaning is our strength. When we can see meaning clearly, we know exactly what we are supposed to do, and our energies respond. When we cannot perceive meaning, we yawn with boredom, and our energies fail. This explains one of the chief problems of everyday life. We can be perfectly comfortable, in an enviable situation, and yet thoroughly bored. We can be uncomfortable, in a highly dangerous situation, and yet feel intensely alive. Danger forces us to make a mental effort. We `stand back’ from life, like a painter standing back from his canvas, and see over-all meanings. The result is a flood of vitality. (more…)

“I find it fascinating that most people plan their vacations with better care than they plan their lives. Perhaps that is because escape is easier than change.”

— Jim Rohn

“Slowness to change usually means fear of the new.”

— Philip Crosby

“Just as the tumultuous chaos of a thunderstorm brings a nurturing rain that allows life to flourish, so too in human affairs times of advancement are preceded by times of disorder. Success comes to those who can weather the storm.”

— I Ching No. 3

“If you want things to be different, perhaps the answer is to become different yourself.”

Norman Vincent Peale

“For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin — real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.”

— Fr. Alfred D’Souza

Life always brings problems. We really can’t live without them.

And so it helps to shift our perspective. We can stop trying to avoid the problems. We can stop feeling victimized by what’s happening. Instead, we can consciously work with the challenge of the moment to learn more about ourselves and the world. When we make this shift in attitude, we discover (more…)

“Everything in life can be nourishing. Everything can bless us, but we’ve got to be there for the blessing to occur. Being present with quality is a decision we are invited to make each day.”

— MacRina Wiederkehr

Spirit is not only found in holy places, prayer and meditation, yoga and retreats. It is everywhere — in your relationships, your work, your daily chores, in nature … if you are willing to connect deeply with your environment. (more…)

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence…. Finally the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all.

He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. (more…)

Our only realistic aim can be the attainment of this power of discrimination, this unique quality of self-knowledge and inner freedom. And if money is to be secondary in our lives, it can only mean that money serve the aim of self-knowledge.

Here, at last, we have found our question. Here we find the key to the place that money can–and must- occupy in our lives. Money must become (more…)