“You never know what someone is going through. Always be nice. "~ Unknown A few months ago I was in the park and passed a family taking something like vacation photos. The mother's hair was perfectly combed, Papa was shaved well and looked fairly well-groomed, and four children stood between them smiling – all wearing matching khaki and surprisingly clean…
“Emotional pain cannot kill you, but it can run away. Enable. Hug. Let yourself feel. Let yourself be healed. "~ Vironika Tugaleva I was nine years old, sitting on the couch with my father and watching a very Brady Christmas (on my sister's birthday, December 20th) when he first molested me. Terror, confusion, unbelief and shame came together to create…
"The price of everything is the amount of life you trade in for it." ~ Henry David Thoreau We all do business in life. We exchange our time. We act with our energy. We trade with our hard-earned money. We exchange our attention. Many of us move through life in constant motion and never stop thinking about where this movement…
“This is a moment of suffering. Suffering is part of life. May I be kind to myself at that moment. Can I give myself the compassion that I need? "~ Kristen Neff Her best friend just lost her husband and mother within five days. Her husband was terminally ill. Her mother was eighty-six. They don't know how she'll get through…
"Fear, insecurity and discomfort are your compass for growth." ~ Celestine Chua Uncertainty can be the glue for fear if you allow it. One can snow into another and soon you will be looking at the street in front of you, absolutely amazed at which way to go. It shakes us to the core; it disturbs our security, our stable…
"To change your life you have to change your priorities." ~ Mark Twain Every December I was obsessed with air pollution. This was the time when my husband and I took our little daughter to Poland, the country I was born in, to spend Christmas with my extended family. There my fears would hit the roof. As soon as the…
It cannot be denied that we live in stressful times, which for many are characterized by insecurity and suffering. We all went through a lot this year. We were physically separate for months, and now many of us feel more divided than ever – politically, economically, and ideologically. Many of us struggle with grief, stress and fear, while others succumb…
"Happiness is when what you think, what you say and what you do is in harmony." ~ Mahatma Gandhi I would like to go one step further and say: "Happiness is when what you feel, what you think, what you say and what you do is in harmony." Some people may argue that there is no need to add "what…
As the Black Lives Matter movement grows in importance across the nation and around the world, many of us are encouraged to use the skills we have learned to improve ourselves – such as ours Telling the truth, setting boundaries and breaking people – gratifying pattern – to improve our communities, our countries and our world. Those of us who…
"Faith takes the first step even if you don't see the whole staircase." ~ Martin Luther King Jr. A few months before the pandemic turned life upside down for all of me, I experienced one of those times when I could only sit at home and relax for health reasons. I recently had another of my operations. I was born…