Friend or foe, who gets to decide?
Photo by Bryan Minear on Unsplash This morning a beloved family member told me about the attacks in the Middle East, one side shot missiles towards the other side, and the other side retaliated by bombing……….and it goes on, with sanctions, more attacks and mean poisonous words ………… How powerful is the story we tell ourselves whether…
Don’t sell yourself short……
Photo by John-Paul Joseph Henry on Unsplash One of my favourite quotes is from Nelson Mandela: “It always seems impossible until it’s done”. It has helped me countless times to change the narrative I tell myself when I face obstacles, as they always inevitably show up at the moment when we most need to continue our work.…
Look at how your kids want it…
Photo by Nick Sarro on Unsplash Not long ago, before iPhone1 came along, I was an “early adopter” in at least one thing. I had a “BlackBerry” before everyone else in my circle. To the envy of all my friends and colleagues, I was able to check my emails without going into the office or lugging my…
Give yourself permission to be weird, today!
Photo by yns plt on Unsplash Sometimes, when I am with a good friend I can trust not to stand up and punch me immediately, I ask him or her “Are you weird?” The reaction ranges from shock and anger (the “how dare you insult me?” look) , to puzzlement to total confusion. What’s wrong…
Reminding myself not to believe everything I think…….
Photo by Heather Mount on Unsplash Yesterday I had lunch with a very dear friend i respect and appreciate from overseas, who told me that “all xxxxxxx (a certain community in his country) are like xxxxx(not a compliment!)”. I remember that we had exactly the same conversation a few years ago, and then I was surprised someone…
Accepting full responsibility is a great freedom……
Photo by Richard Gatley on Unsplash I am making a “shocking” assertion. It’s a bit tough for those of us who are accustomed to believing that our mental state comes from the outside. They are right to say that it’s a bit “extreme” to put the full responsibility, in fact 100% responsibility, on our own shoulders,…
Call a plumber!
Photo by Charles Deluvio 🇵🇭🇨🇦 on Unsplash Just over 10 years ago, I was with a Buddhist monk in a seminar when someone brought up the “Quran desecration incident” (let’s just say that the holy book was flushed down a toilet—-big headline news then!) when there was a lot of anger and potential for violence bubbling up…
How dare you call me a pig!!!!!!!
Photo by Christopher Carson on Unsplash Being called a pig is not a good feeling. That’s an understatement. Being called anything which is “untrue”: is simply too much. It can lead to all kinds of autopilot style reactions. I don’t need to go into the details. We all know it. The thing is, if someone…
Putting “appreciation” on my calendar. (It’s quite addictive.)
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash Since the circumstances of my life doesn’t determine the quality of my life, rather my reaction to the circumstances determines the quality of my life. I decided to taking action to make sure that I “plan” my reactions in advance so that I can reduce the probability of becoming a “victim of…
Giving myself the permission to fail is the prerequisite to giving myself permission to succeed.
Photo by Andre Hunter on Unsplash I am speaking about myself now when I say that I have failed to step up and show up on thousands of occasions in the past when it was totally within my capability, purely because of fear of failure. Or more accurately: the fear of other people perceiving failure or people “laughing…