Spiritual strategies for tackling life's challenges.
Work without leisure steals our joy and strips us of our desire to create.
Confessions of a Procrastinator
So, what are you avoiding? And why?
As we talked, his anger boiled over and spilled across him. Of course, he was disappointed and hurt by what his friend had done, but it was his anger that was scalding his soul.
Usually, the messages that come in Chinese fortune cookies or Dove chocolate wrappers seem trite or so obvious they hardly need to be repeated on a slip of paper. This message, however, made me stop and think.
Since I have started reflecting on my responses to drama in my life, I seem to be identifying a steady stream of strategies that are helping me slice through the troublesome nature of drama and move more fully into keeping my soul in a state of deeper peacefulness.
When abundance shrinks from our lives or our souls feel depleted of joy, it may be that we are being offered an invitation to move toward a change.
They are an amazing gift to life, really —automobiles.
The undercurrent of angst that runs through our lives and our culture steals our joy, shaves off our hope, and leaves us feeling slightly sick and not knowing why.
What good is it to be that silent? It can't be healthy. Surely we're meant to be interacting verbally with each other. What about joy, laughter, and playfulness?
Five Ways to Maximize Your Money
Money, the medium of exchange that is so critical to our daily lives, is sometimes in very short supply—especially during the holidays, when we are encouraged (and expected) to spend, spend, spend. But money worries for many of us are not limited to holiday bills.
I guess the question I ask myself during the season of Advent is, “If I were going to meet God, how would I want to do it?"
Getting Used to Disappointment
Disappointment is not just the other side of hope, it exists at the edge of hope. Where hope and disappointment meet there is tension.
God speaks to us in many ways. Sometimes it is through a voice that we can hear. Sometimes it is through a peace that flows over our heart.
The way I have found to love unconditionally and maintain accountability is by separating my personal feelings from the hard, grounded truth of the love itself.
Balance is a big topic these days. We long for it, we read about it, we get therapy to find it, we go to church hoping God will give it to us. Yet, as much as we try to capture or achieve it, it seems strangely elusive – it’s a little like trying to catch the moon.
Knowing if You're in the Right Church
All churches are made up of imperfect people, but if you feel your soul being fed and you see that your life is changing, then you are probably in the place where you need to be.
Why, when we know that freedom and energy stand just on the other side of letting go, are we so unwilling to take the steps to release what binds us?
There are years when Valentine’s Day has found me feeling like a member of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, rather than a beloved and special Valentine of a devoted admirer.
Even with all the aids available to assist us in dieting and exercise, we still find losing weight and getting fit incredibly difficult. Perhaps, we have misunderstood the problem. Perhaps, it's not about losing weight as much as it is becoming well. It's not so much about not eating, as it is eating with mindfulness.
It's always a challenge to love people who have been hurtful towards us in some way. But whether or not we have any further contact with the person who has caused us pain, we still have to deal with our soul.
There’s more than enough drama around for all of us these days. It's increasingly easy to become enmeshed in the commotion and find ourselves spinning out of control.
Every year we hear of new ways to deal with the depression so common during the holiday season, and yet every year we find ourselves struggling with the same feelings we’ve had before.
It's interesting to me that we need self-help books, gurus, and therapists to tell us how to be happy.
The fact is I just don't want "stuff." Stuff seems to bog me down in all areas of my life. When I walk into one of my rooms and see accumulations of things I have gathered , I lose my imagination.
Though it may seem insignificant, paying attention to the breath in our prayer and meditation is a spiritual practice of great magnitude. The breath is our gift from and connection to the Creator.
The hidden word inside gratitude is gratus —which simply means pleasing. A Gratitude Glass can remind us of what is pleasing.
Why is it that some things are just so tasty that we can’t pass them up, even when we know we will probably regret over-indulging? It seems that the problem is centered around focus. Such exaggerated focus leaves us a captive of the food we are ingesting.
Deep in the heart of us, there is a spirit that won't be tamed. Our soul will not endure the dark void of anonymity.
What do you do when you question whether God really exists? When you pray and wonder if anyone can hear? When you have trouble believing all the old religious formulas? When doubt creeps into your life and leaves you sarcastic and cynical about faith?
A simple suggestion for those times when gratefulness is hard to come by
