InnerSelf

by Al Weatherhead.

Treat time as a resource – don’t waste it feeling sorry for yourself. We’ll never have enough time. Paradoxically, understanding that concept allows us the potential to enjoy the time we have.

by Michael J. Chase.

The Dalai Lama once said, “My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.” What a simple yet profound creed! Having adopted this same philosophy, I’ve discovered that this belief system supports not only my own spiritual journey, but more important, all of life...

by Marie T. Russell.

I was speaking to a friend who is the head of a customer service department. She tells everyone in the company, whether they work in the warehouse, in accounting, or wherever, that everyone in the company is in customer service. After all, everything they do has to do with their customers. As I reflected on her words later, I realized that her sentence "we're all in customer service" had much more further reaching...

by Marc Allen.

Look at the lives of some of the wealthiest people in the world, and you see lives full of misery, because so many of them haven’t learned the simple secret of a life well lived, a life of happiness and inner peace, a life of purpose, a sacred and miraculous life. Millions of people throughout human history have...

by Thubten Chodron.

Many of us have a well-practiced habit of talking about the faults of others. In fact, sometimes doing this is so habitual that we don't realize we've done it until afterward. Yet, when we examine its effect in our lives, we quickly realize that this habit...

by Marie T. Russell.

Freedom is such a powerful word, yet do we really know what it means? For years freedom was tied to the concept of slavery... having the right to have no one 'own' you. In Civil Rights, freedom meant being able to be considered equal to all others regardless of race, color, or gender. Then as the women's movement got into swing...

The question to ask ourselves is "Who are we becoming?" Are we living up to the child we were, or could have been? Loving, playful, wanting nothing more than to love and be loved. (I'm talking about very early childhood. Before we were tainted and "corrupted" by mind games, by competitiveness, jealousy, revenge, etc. etc.)

by Dean Van Leuven.

In dealing with another person's anger, it's important to be aware of the fact that the other person wants something to come out of their relationship with you. The key is to understand their expectations, and to help them understand yours. Such mutual understanding is brought about by...

by Alan Cohen.

Passion is a very holy thing. You can lose many material things, but if you lose your passion, you're a goner. It is the very juice of life, the electricity that sparks all human growth, expression, and achievement. Passion is the hand of God reaching into humanity to elevate it to divinity. The film Sirens makes the statement that...

by Marie T. Russell. Oh, dear! I did it again. Shifted gears. Things were going along smoothly, everyone was feeling good, the vibrations were pleasant and then I shifted gears. I guess you could say that I shifted into reverse. Someone said something that "pushed my button", and I shifted out of a positive and calm head-space, into one where anger and...

by Marie T. Russell.

Let's look at the system of reward and punishment as it is practiced among humans. We reward ourselves or others when we judge an action to be 'good'. We punish others or ourselves for something 'bad'. Yet who calls the shots on this? Who is the one qualified to judge?

by Stuart Wilde. Don't let yourself become a victim of your emotions. When you are scared, it isn't the real you that is scared, it is your personality interpreting circumstances that may be adverse. You are not these emotions; they don't own you...

Things are sure coming to the surface lately. It seems that issues we have managed to avoid for years are now rearing their heads to be faced. Our way of dealing with reality, or in some cases of avoiding dealing with reality, come back to...

by Venerable Yifa. Junk emotions, such as anxiety, jealousy, anger, obsession, short-temperedness, greed, hatred, and so on, are neither good for us nor are they good for other people with whom we come into contact. They need to be inventoried, just like...

As I reflect on the tradition of Thanksgiving, I am reminded that Thanksgiving needs to take place every day, and every single moment of the day. Maybe that's what mindful meditation is all about... remembering to be grateful and appreciative...

by Richard Carlson, Ph.D.

Many of us worry about some big things that are yet to come or might never come. We worry about finances, natural disasters, emer­gencies, terrorism and acts of war, health, and aging, among other things. Some things we have a capacity to prepare for...

by Brandon Bays.

We often have the misconception that our emotions interfere with our experience of ultimate peace: that they are the storm that distracts us from spacious calm. There are so many false notions about emotions. We usually learn at an early age that there are "good"...

There are some mornings where I can't seem to get moving. Now, I am not talking of those mornings when I may be physically tired and need the extra sleep. I speak rather of those mornings when I've had enough hours of rest, yet can't seem to get motivated to "rise and shine".

In an actual war, to be attacked means to have our survival threatened. Thus, we might chose between surrender, withdrawal, or counterattack. When we feel attacked (criticized or judged) by others in conversation, we often move into that same kind of survival mentality and automatically defend ourselves. But when we defend against criticism, we give...

by Saskia Davis.

If you have all or most of the following symptoms, please be advised that your condition of PEACE may be so far advanced as to not be treatable. 1. A tendency to think and act spontaneoulsy rather than from fears based on past experiences. 2. An unmistaken ability to enjoy each moment.

by Beverly M. Breakey. Nobody wants to feel hopeless. There are some who attach themselves to it because they know nothing else. Even people who are suicidal don't want death as much as they want the pain to stop.

One of the fiercest and most hypocritical human emotions is envy. When the envy is conscious and sent deliberately, the harm is even more terrible, appearing as a sudden illness in the person's life, with no apparent cause.

The Billionaire Report is out and Bill Gates is it, the richest man in the world. What does it mean to be rich?? How much money is enough?? ...This weekend I was touched by two events, one was the World Laughter Tour in Boca Raton and the other the TV movie about Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Both made me think... who is the happiest person in the world?

by Pauline Wallin, Ph.D.

Too often the inner brat influences us to say or do things that we later regret, just because it can't tolerate even mild frustration. Representing primitive desires and impulses, the inner brat wants what it wants, when it wants it, without considering the consequences.

Usually the events for which we hold grudges are long-time past, yet, deep in our heart is this little hard cold spot where the memory of that event, accompanied with anger and resentment, lives on as if it happened yesterday. That dark negative energy comes up at the strangest moments, sometimes unconsciously, affecting other things in our lives.

by Lee Lozowick. Life should be a grand, majestic affair -- the good, the bad, and the indifferent. If one day is a misery, be miserable. If you're "in the pits" one day, don't take it out on everybody else. Feel it, taste it, exude it. Don't bitch at your friends. If life is lousy one day, it will be great another day. That's beginner's mind.

Nature does not pick sides: it simply gives every plant a fair chance to life. The sun shines on everyone regardless of their size, race, language, or opinions. Can we not do the same? Forget our old quarrels, our old grievances, our old prejudices, and start looking at everyone on earth as another person just like us...

by Erza Bayda. If we could see our angry emotional reactions clearly, it would become obvious that they deplete us and narrow our life. Yet, in spite of the fact that we hurt ourselves and others with our anger, we hold on to this restricting emotion with a puzzling tenacity.

One of the repercussions of modern life with all our TVs and modern conveniences and big cities, is that we have become separated from our neighbors, from the people we see daily. We have become strangers in a strange land. Yet, we...

by Doreen Virtue, Ph.D.

Some people cannot distinguish or name the emotions that they feel. In such cases, it's important to increase the emotional vocabulary and learn how varied feelings can be. An easy way to accomplish this is to use an emotional vocabulary list.

People often ask me who my gurus are. Years ago I would rattle off the names of various well-known sages. More recently I have been impressed by ordinary people who don?t talk much about spiritual matters; they just live it. I find it quite refreshing to see unconditional love in action with no hype or flourishes.

by Delia Sellers.

There was a time in my life when if someone asked, Are you angry with me? I replied, No-o-o-o. Because I didn't like taking issue with a difficult situation involving a difficult person, we both missed an opportunity to grow together through the experience.

If you "grew up on the Bible", you learned the "eye for an eye" concept. How is that to be put into effect in a spiritual practice that focuses on inner peace, forgiveness, and peaceful interactions with "all our relations"? Can "an eye for an eye" be interpreted in any way other than anger and revenge?

by Ani Tenzin Palmo.

We have the strongest karmic connections with family members; therefore, we have a great responsibility for developing our relationships with them. If we cannot develop loving-kindness towards our family, why even talk about other being. Zen Buddhism teaches that everything we do, provided it is done with total awareness, is spiritual activity.

by Colin C. Tipping.

This process takes only a few moments but it is one that literally could save you from getting totally caught up in the drama of what is happening and going to 'Victimland' for an extended stay!

by Lucia Capacchione.

Emotions are invisible. We can't see them directly with our normal vision. Rather, we feel them in our bodies. As for detecting other people's emotions, you know by the signs. Even when no words are spoken, you often know what's going on inside another person.

by Lynn Grabhorn.

Nothing is more important than feeling good, and it doesn't matter beans how you do it. If standing on your head in Times Square will do it, terrific. If smelling newly cut wood will do it, grand. You know when you're there; you can't miss it. Whether it's just a decision to feel good in the moment...

by Colin C. Tipping.

When we do not allow ourselves to experience emotions and suppress them instead, our souls create situations in which we are forced to feel them. That being the case, simply allowing ourselves to have the feeling might allow the energy to move through us and the so-called problem to...

by Lynn Grabhorn.

We're actually into blame just about every waking moment of our days. From weather, to rude drivers, to toothpaste caps, we blame from sunup 'til sundown and never think a thing about it. Oh sure, more times than not we're probably justified in our accusations, but so what!

by Marie T. Russell. A is for acceptance of myself and others. B is for blamelessness and removing blame from my perceptions. C is for compassion for myself and others. D is for detachment and letting others be themselves?