At any moment, life can throw a mud ball at me.

Life happens. We can be enjoying life or just getting by; then, something unexpected hits us. We get bad news; someone rejects us or something totally unfair or unreasonable happens. Do we give situations, events, or other people the power to determine the quality of our day? Of our week? Of our life? If we…

Read More

Happiness and peace are impossible without integrity

INTEGRITY (noun): the quality or condition of being sound; of being un-impaired, undivided, complete, or whole. We are either whole  or we have a hole—an inner void. Many people feel this hole, this inner void, like something is missing.  We try to fill it with answers taught us and sold to us by other less-than-whole…

Read More

Tomorrow’s dread is not real today

Worry and anxiety about tomorrow devastate today’s serenity. We start focusing on the future, thinking something “might” happen and it will have the worst possible outcome. Our fear-driven thoughts develop into an obsession that makes it impossible to feel peace in this moment. When this happens, we can stay unsettled or we can change. We…

Read More

I should listen with my heart instead of my ears

Our relationships vary from casual contacts, friends, to those very intimate and loving associations. For each of them, it is important that we actually hear in addition to listening. Listening with our heart includes active listening; we give the person our undivided attention to demonstrate the value we place on them and on their words…

Read More

Whenever I am upset, there is something wrong with ME.

I must be responsible for all my feelings or forever feel un-peaceful. Yes, bad things happen; people inflict real or imagined wrongs, life is hectic and I get frustrated when people or events do not meet my expectations. I cannot control other people but I can choose how I react. I must slow down, take…

Read More

Much of our misery results from unconscious decisions.

We seldom make a conscious choice to worry or get angry or engage in many other emotional upsets. An event happens; we automatically react; we experience thoughts, feelings, and possibly take action without making a conscious decision; then, our mind justifies and reinforces our response. Past reactions to similar situations have become so deeply ingrained…

Read More

Wasting time, energy, and emotions on illusions causes discontent

Someone says or does something; suddenly a worrisome thought spawns in our mind. We unconsciously react, thus giving power to the false idea that this is a real problem. Thus starts the building crescendo of emotions and thoughts about the false problem. As we mature, we learn to pause and evaluate if we are facing…

Read More