Archive for clarity
5 Steps to Fulfillment
Posted on 12.09.12 | 9 Comments
Photo by Eduardo IzquierdoEditor’s Note: I loved this article. Reading it has brought a sense of peace into my otherwise rushed life. I felt my mind slowing down as I read. It’s so simple, yet graceful and so relate-able. Enjoy.
“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” –Oscar Wilde
This winter took a lot out of me. The weather was milder than normal here in the Northeast, but my personal life was stormy and chaotic.
By May, when the harsh winds of conflict died and life returned to normal, I was still reeling. I found myself shuffling through my daily routine, feeling flat and disengaged.
It was, in part, a natural reaction to the stress of the previous months. One can only go full-force for so long, until the inevitable crash occurs.
But there was also an element of sheer boredom. Life felt dull and bland. Monotonous.
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5 Tips to Avoid Overextending Yourself
Posted on 12.02.12 | 6 Comments
Photo by Jon Jacobsen“To overextend yourself is to invite defeat.” – G. William Domhoff
A few years ago, after my husband and I got hitched, we flew to Italy and had a wonderful vacation, and when I got back I volunteered to host Thanksgiving dinner for our family and many of our friends. Early that day, my jet lag really kicked in, I was exhausted and couldn’t believe I’d offered to do this. Never again, I thought.
This is probably one of the best times to talk about overextending yourself. The holidays are here, and between shopping, baking, parties, and volunteering there seems to be hardly enough time for a regular work day, let alone exercise, laundry and cooking dinner.
I want to stress that I’m going to deal with general, low-level problems of over-committing ourselves. That is one symptom of what can be a larger problem for some of us. It certainly was for me; about six years ago I was extremely codependent. If you’re interested in more information on that, you can check out Codependents Anonymous’ Checklist.
Regardless of how much you struggle with codependence or taking on too much, these tips can help make things a little easier.
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6 Questions to Access Your Inner Wisdom
Posted on 11.11.12 | 10 Comments
Photo by Jon JacobsenGuest Post By Julie Hoyle
“You can do anything you want to do in this lifetime.”
~ The Dalai LamaOne bone numbingly cold winter morning in January 2003, my husband Tony and I were carefully making our way to work, which was no easy commute.
At the time we were living in Kiev, the capital city of the Ukraine where winter months are so frigid, it hurts to draw a breath.
We had moved there to take up teaching positions in an international school after having been living in an ashram in India.
Initially we had been excited by the thought of such a dramatic change of scene, but the reality of it was proving to be brutal. (read more…)
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Flow – The Secret to Happiness
Posted on 11.04.12 | 15 Comments
By Kayla Albert
“Flow is the natural, effortless unfolding of our life
The majority of the books that sit on my shelves are ones that I have read, or deliberately decided not to read after losing interest after a page or two. So I was a little taken aback when I found one sitting smack dab in the middle of various dog-eared novels that I hadn’t read yet—The Power of Flow.
in a way that moves us towards wholeness and harmony.”
~ Charlene Belitz & Meg LundstromIn all likelihood it was a transplant from my parent’s extensive self-help collection, one that must have snuck into one of my boxes. Yet, I hadn’t noticed it until I was—conveniently—experiencing stagnation in many areas of my life.
I’d say this is what “divine timing” is all about.
I spent the next few hours swimming in the pages, recalling all the times in my life when things seemed to fall in to place and doors opened without any physical effort on my part–the times when I was completely and totally “in the flow.” (read more…)
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How to Come Alive
Posted on 10.28.12 | 22 Comments
Photo by Rosie HardyEditor’s Notes: This is such a simple, elegant and inspiring article. Make sure to give this a read. You’ll be glad you did. :)
“Don’t ask what the world needs.
Ask what makes you come alive and go do it.
Because what the world needs is
people who have come alive.”
~ Howard ThurmanNo quote has ever had more of an impact on me than this one.
When I first read it, I was working in the accounting department of a government contractor in Virginia. I was commuting back and forth to the 3-bedroom house on ½ acre that I’d just bought and I was doing it in a sporty little Mazda 626.
I was making a respectable salary. I had parlayed my college degree into a “successful” career, and I was understandably proud of myself.
But I was not alive.
I was just one of hundreds of thousands of bean counters who sat in traffic a couple of hours a day to get to a cubicle in a maze of other cubicles to sit for another 8 to 10 hours a day trying to make numbers add up. (read more…)
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Embracing the Imperfect
Posted on 10.21.12 | 7 Comments
Photo by Simón Pais-ThomasEditor’s Note: I have only one word to summarize how I felt after editing this story from Kate: Wow. Don’t miss this powerful piece. And help me welcome Kate to the TSN family.
By Kate Swoboda
“The problem is not that there are problems.
The problem is expecting otherwise and
thinking that having problems is a problem.”
~Theodore RubinConfession: Lately, for the past 6 weeks or so, I’ve been capital-U, “Unhappy.”
Plain. Simple. Unhappy.
Revolutionary insight? This does not need “fixing.”
It’s interesting to notice all the impulses to resist the Unhappy in life, as if the human experience were destined to be one devoid of suffering.
The messages are all around us that if we’re unhappy, we’re “doing it wrong.” So quick! Go buy something, do something different, take some kind of action, to make it all better.
Nope–I’m hunkered down with it, now. Unhappy and I are hanging out, chilling like a villain, asking what’s the haps with the craps. (read more…)
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Living in a Zen Center: A Personal Report
Posted on 10.14.12 | 10 Comments
Photo by Eduardo IzquierdoEditor’s Note: A few weeks ago, I received a curious and adorable little hand-written letter from Cat. At the time, she was on her 3rd months living in a Zen Monastery. Without Internet connection, she sent us this important self-reflective story—on what she had learned—in this little envelope. I believe this is one of the most important and beautiful articles you will read. Spend some time, and soak in its beauty and wisdom.
“Simplify, simplify.” ~ Thoreau
The contemporary western world can feel rushed and complicated.
With speed and productivity woven into this culture, our bodies move with a habitual hurriedness, our minds fill with an endless stream of errands, expectations, goals to conquer, a life to plan ….
For many years, my days were spent rushing from one moment to the next as an ongoing effort to make progress in each category of an accomplished life. The alarm would sound: chime, chime, chime and a billion responsibilities rushing in, tugging me out of bed:
Monday mornings … snooze
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… snooze again.
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How to Let Go of the Past
Posted on 09.02.12 | 13 Comments
Photo by JUCOBy Kayla Albert
“All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on.”
~Henry EllisDespite my best intentions, I’ve spent the past week looking for a fight.
It started as a small seed of frustration over a few things work-related, and passively I stood back as it bloomed into something far greater and much uglier than I ever should have allowed.
My reaction to the situations I encountered was completely off balance.
I found myself seething with anger when a well-meaning coworker took over a task clearly delegated to me. I started sobbing when a meeting that ran longer than expected left me with a $50 parking ticket.
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The Illusion of Control
Posted on 08.05.12 | 17 Comments
Photo by Simón Pais-ThomasEditor’s Note: Don’t miss this inspiring and beautifully written article on finding inner peace through our core. Kate eloquently articulated something I’ve been feeling but haven’t quite bubbled up into words. Amazing job.
By Kate Swoboda
“Undertaking the journey to get some ground under our feet,
is completely missing the point.” ~Pema ChodronThings I have tried, in order to reach a state where my life felt like it was all put together, where it was all in order, and to never again feel bad:
- Meditating
- Yoga
- Reading lots of spiritual books
- Attending workshops
- Counseling, therapy, coaching
- Raw foods diets (the books always talk about feeling so “clear” and “mentally alert”)
- Workshops oriented around catharsis
There are more things that I could list off, but I’ll stop there–you get the picture. All the while, I was searching for something that the searching itself was going to keep me from finding–because all the while, I was “doing stuff” in order to maintain the illusion of control. (read more…)
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How to Stop the Pain
Posted on 07.29.12 | 13 Comments
Photo of Gala Darling by Made U Look PhotographyBy Kayla Albert
“Judgments prevent us from seeing
the good that lies beyond appearances.”
~ Wayne DyerI’ve spent the last week brooding over unexpected events that have transpired in my work and personal life, holing myself up in a darkened room contemplating all of the dire consequences these events will have on my present and future.
The same thoughts have been turning somersaults in my mind for hours on end, disrupting my sleep and pushing me to lash out when it’s entirely unnecessary and, sometimes, inappropriate.
In truth, I took situations that were completely neutral and transformed them in my mind to represent all kinds of gloom and doom. I’m beginning to see this as something I’m ridiculously good at–something I know that I need to change.
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