- By Alan Cohen
Two different people live in your mind: One is an engineer calculating odds and risks according to known science. The other is the voice of passion, intention, and spirit, prone to take leaps of faith beyond known science. Both are important.
- By Susyn Reeve
Habit patterns provide a structure that enables us to easily perform routine things. The danger is we often continue with the habit pattern because we are used to it, even when it is no longer effective and satisfying. The idea of taking a new path is to be awake to our patterns and create new...
There are three forces that motivate people. The first two are avoiding pain and seeking pleasure; these are fueled by desperation. The third, inspiration, transcends the others. When you're inspired, you embrace both pain and pleasure in the pursuit of your purpose.
- By Stacey Mayo
One of the main things that stops people from bringing their dreams to fruition is a lack of confidence. When you are confident, you know you will handle whatever comes up in the best way you can and move on. Regardless of what happens, you will still be whole and complete unto yourself.
When we feel like closing our heart, generosity can take us beyond fear and help us keep it open. Our wisdom and awareness will tell us what generosity might be in any particular situation.
'Charity begins at home' is not a bromide. It is a direction. It means start with being nice to yourself, your authentic self, then try being nice to everyone else. When we place ourselves too low in the pecking order, we feel henpecked and...
We are each like miniature transmitters, putting out into the air whatever we're about at the moment. For example, prayer has been demonstrated in double-blind, scientifically-controlled experiments run at Harvard University to speed healing, even when...
Do you look toward the future with a mixture of dread, yes, but also a kind of positive anticipation? When a big crisis looms, a superstorm or financial crisis, is there a part of you that says, “Bring it on!” hoping it might free us from our collective entrapment in a system that serves no one (not even its elites)?
Margaret Wheatley talks about how, in the midst of chaos, our greatest challenge is to believe in our own goodness; how we are all afraid of change; how, when fear augers in, leaders must demonstrate patience, forgiveness and compassion; how we must approach chaos with humility rather than blame and negation...
It’s hard to ignore not just the scientific reports, but also the on-the-ground reality of climate disruption.
For as long as I can remember I’ve been told there are two things we can count on in this world: that everything changes, and that there always will be a certain amount of suffering in life. I’ve found that the changes are not always evident, nor the suffering constant, but both are typically present at times of crisis.
It is estimated that 8 to 15 percent of all women are faced with depression at one time or another as they go through menopause. Close to nine million women nationwide are plagued with depression at some point in their lives. Even though depression is affected by hormonal changes and genetic factors, it is not dictated by them.
- By Alan Cohen
A Course in Miracles tells us that at any moment we are capable of starting over; we can create a new beginning by selectively forgetting what we don't wish to carry into now. We are not bound by our past, unless we choose to lug old baggage with us.
What is it about our beliefs that makes them so powerful some of us are willing to suffer or die before we’ll ignore what we’ve been taught to believe is right? At what point do we allow society’s fabric to flex enough to honor the need of people to survive?
Endings may not be so easy, but they are not optional in this life. There comes a time when a certain activity must be let go. Or a time when a relationship truly needs to end or, at least, change form. The art is knowing when this time comes, and paying close attention to your true inner feelings
- By Louise Hay
If you want change in your life, then you are the one who must do the changing. When you change, then all the other people in your world will change in relation to you. Are you willing to change? All you have to do is change some thoughts and release some beliefs. Sound simple? It is. However, it's not always easy...
When you have begun seeing through new eyes, it might still appear to others that nothing about you has changed. However, you know inside yourself that everything has changed. A Zen proverb says: Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water; after...
Workers in countries where shorter working hours are the norm are more likely to complain of poor work-life balance, according to our research recently published in the journal Social Forces.
When you visualize the past or the future, to the brain and nervous system it’s as if you are directly there, experiencing it. It prompts a physiological response. So we do a positive visualization into the future — a futurization — to prepare the body and mind for the future.
The way my mom imagined it, midlife was going to be great: counting down days until retirement, spending winters in Florida and checking off destinations on her bucket list.
We are coming into a time when the old method of taking the events of the past, superimposing them on the present, and making a rerun out of the future is failing. While this pattern is familiar and comfortable, it is also increasingly dysfunctional, as it ignores life’s cyclic nature. Although it is not always evident, life actually operates as a spiral.
I know that pure bliss is simple. It is free. And wherever you are, however busy, you can always find a few moments of bliss. How is your day going? Or is it going, going, gone -- just like that, in the blink of an eye? Is the roller coaster of your life running so fast you're afraid to jump off?
Polarized, compartmentalized reality has us viewing ourselves as separate, not subject to the same laws, and forever alone. This leaves us vulnerable to a consumer-driven society. Anything that promises to relieve the illusion of unbearable aloneness and self-denial becomes extremely desirable, so much so that many of us will gladly mortgage our future for the promise of a moment's relief. This is the pain and suffering we have come to accept as reality.