Have you ever been with your family over the holidays, when all of a sudden, you revert to a much younger age? Maybe your parents or siblings say or do something that used to drive you nuts, and you find yourself becoming a resentful teenager. Or perhaps you slip back to your five-year-old self, trying to please everyone and keep …
Being Happy with What Is
Recently, a friend gave me a book whose core message was to appreciate what we have, instead of always focusing on having more and being more. My first reaction: Pissed. The author is wealthy. Easy to be happy with what you have when you’re sitting on piles of dough. The writer goes on to say that even people who are …
Que No Te Enreden En Sus Redes
¿Has estado con tu familia en días festivos, cuando de repente, regresas a una etapa mucho más joven? Tal vez tus papás o hermanos dicen o hacen algo que te volvía loco y te encuentras a tí mismo como un adolescente resentido. O quizás vuelves a ser el mismo niño de cinco años tratando de complacer a todos y mantener …
How’s that Workin’ for Ya’?
One of my favorite quotes is, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Many of us get stuck in patterns of thoughts and behaviors that prevent us from getting where we want to be in life. For example, I would very much like to get married someday, yet I’ve frequently …
Banishing Boredom
Last night, I went out to dinner at an Indian restaurant with my friend Tracey. She started telling me about her colleagues at work, then her voice suddenly trailed off. “You were saying something about your clients…?” I encouraged her. “I got bored with my story,” she replied, going back to her masala. I laughed. Her honesty was so …
Happiness on Hold
“Please hold. A happiness representative will be with you shortly.” Why do so many of us put our happiness on hold? How many times have I heard friends and relatives who hate their jobs say, “It’s only for another 2 more years, 5 more years, 10 more years…?” So many people I’ve talked to who are in relationships that aren’t …
How to Be Happy When Your Life is Crappy
How to be happy is no easy question, nor is there a short answer. Great philosophers and spiritual teachers have spent centuries tackling the quest for human happiness. Letting go of struggle and negativity and freeing yourself to joyously love and be loved is a lifelong journey. Meanwhile, there are a few basic check-points on the road map to happiness that …
Should I Stay or Should I Go?
In difficult situations, it’s often hard to know whether to stay in the situation or walk away, emotionally or literally. Playwright Tennessee Williams advises, “There is a time for departure even when there’s no certain place to go.” On the other hand, Buddhist nun Pema Chodron recommends that we “sit in the fire” until our powerful urges to run away …