InnerSelf

by Alan Cohen. Painful experiences are steppingstones to right direction. Rather than considering them curses or crosses to bear, regard them as wake-up calls or course corrections. While you may have gone through a difficult...

We know the universe is vast, beyond our abilities to conceive. We can see how abundant nature is. Yet many of us believe that resources are scarce, and there isn't enough to go around. This belief, like all others, is not true in itself, but becomes...

The quiet isolation of growing up in an alcoholic home accustomed me to silence, sent me into nature for my solace and companionship. I do not believe we grow only through difficulties, but the soul uses the means necessary to move us out of stasis. As I have grown in my ability to hear the soul...

We lack self-trust because of the countless times we sold ourselves out, abandoned ourselves, ignored our intuition, refused to take appropriate action, forfeited our power. So, lacking self-trust, we are left to the hopeless device of trying to make everyone and everything conform to our need to feel safe.

by Zoe Ann Nicholson.You have no idea how radiant and powerful you really are. The world you live in has buried you and your light in an ornate and viscous web of thoughts, traditions, conditioning and ideologies. It covers the earth like a great blanket of intricate and resolute knots.

We live in interesting times. In addition to everything else going on in the Western world, there's a spiritual awakening quietly taking place, and right at its heart lies the discovery of that program within us -- a program that when experienced directly, has the potential to precipitate undreamed-of levels of personal transformation.

Every single thought you have can be assessed in terms of whether it strengthens or weakens you. Authentic wisdom is the ability to monitor yourself at all times to determine your relative state of weakness or strength, and to shift out of those thoughts that weaken you.

by Valerie Khoo. In your hectic life, you might feel as if you're always rushing -- from a client meeting to a seminar, then to an aerobics class, then to drinks with friends. Even though you might enjoy, and perhaps even thrive on, this busy timetable, it's still crucial that you schedule blocks of 'Me Time'.

Outside her country home, Dorisse exclaimed, "I've just got to stop and pick some of these delicious blackberries." Until she said that, I hadn't noticed that there were blackberry bushes all around us. I was amazed. Here I was surrounded by a potential source of nourishment, nectar of the Gods, readily available, delectable and free, and I hadn't even seen the bushes dripping with ripe blackberries until my friend pointed out what was right in front of me.I wondered how many times potential partners or friends might be right there in front of us, yet invisible, until someone points them out to us.

In an age when so many feel disconnected from their own spirit, allies in the unseen realms are unthinkable. The very existence of the unseen is still under dispute by many. It is not something you can measure and define with your rulers and microscopes. But mainstream thought is starting to understand the spirit, at least in psychological terms. For instance, mainstream medicine is now acknowledging the mind and body connection, and, I hope, the mind, body, and spirit link.

Dictionary for use while reading behavior modification articles from Innerself Magazine. Contains common couseling and psychology terms.

by Doug Thorburn.

There is a vast difference between ego and self-esteem, although the observer can easily confuse them. Ego is egotism, an inordinately large sense of self-importance. Concomitant to this is that whatever one does is OK, even though it may violate another's obviously less important space.

by Carol Ritberger, Ph.D.

Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine, proposed that there were four distinct personality types. His theory was that a person's personality type determines their vulnerability to mental dysfunction and their susceptibility to illness.

by John Randolph Price. The Ageless Wisdom texts tell us that scarcely a person in the world is exempt from worry, and that worry is the cause of all planetary problems. There are Worriers of the common, everyday variety, and there are Worriers of the chronic type, where the black cloud hanging over their heads...

Viktor E. Frankl, in his book, Man's Search for Meaning, recounts his experiences in a concentration camp during World War II. He maintained that the prison guards could have done whatever they wanted, and though he remained a prisoner, his inner self would always be free. He always had the freedom to think whatever he wanted to think; a freedom no one could take from him.

A man came to a guru and challenged him, "I will give you an orange if you can show me where God is." The guru thought for a moment, then answered, "I will give you two oranges if you can show me where God is not." Every situation is an opportunity to find God; indeed our entire purpose here is to find God in as many different forms as possible. A poet once declared, "God is a flower that grew a nose to smell Itself."

Seeing life as a series of "have to's" can be destructive. In reality, we don't "have to" do anything. On the contrary, we choose to do everything. If, in fact, you were governed by "have to's," you would be renouncing all responsibility for your life.

Can you recognize your innocence when others are trying to convince you that you are guilty? None of us have truly sinned. Yes, we have made plenty of mistakes, but none of us has done anything that would cause us for even a moment to lose the love of God or deserve damnation.

by Alan Cohen.

Boredom is not a condition; it is an attitude. Anything can be boring if you bring a closed mind to it. Anything can be fascinating if you bring an open mind to it. You can make anything out of anything.

by Charles Radler.

All of us are created in a fashion.to learn through our mistakes. Making mistakes is part of our makeup, as natural as drinking water and breathing air. To deny us the freedom to make mistakes can cause us to become sick, just as denying us needed water or air will make us sick...

by Betsy Gallagher.

We must take responsibility for ourselves in life. It is unfair to throw blame for what happens to us onto our parents, our spouse or life's circumstances. Whether or not we believe that creative visualization will work for us, the fact is, we are already using it.

by Peter & Penny Fenner.

As our Western lifestyles have become increasingly complex, there has been an exponential growth of interest in personal and spiritual development. Each year, in an effort to find satisfaction and happiness amid the pressure of our busy lives, more people are becoming involved in a movement that promises personal growth, inner contentment, and spiritual freedom.

This temporary anxiety and depression state results from becoming overburdened with too many work, household, volunteer, or social obligations, and subsides promptly after reducing the excessive responsibilities. It can best be likened to overloading an electrical outlet and blowing a fuse. This situation is becoming more frequent due to...

This is the time of year, the Spring, which represents rebirth and regeneration. It's the time of year when we shed the parts of ourselves that are no longer working for us and move forward into the world of infinite possibilities. We can reach and achieve anything that we want. The only one that stops us is ourselves. The only one imposing limitations on us are ourselves.

by Marie T. Russell. Have you heard the universe talking lately? Have you heard the inner promptings of Spirit? Do you hear the wind, the birds, and everything else in nature? Let the sounds of nature became a focus for your awareness and allow your Higher Self to communicate with you...

by El Collie. The spiritual journey is full of unexpected and wondrous inner shifts. I recently realized that a change has gradually occurred in my outlook. I am appreciating the moment-by-moment experiences in my life in a happier way than I have since childhood...

by Astrid Fitzgerald.We cling to so many things without which we believe we simply cannot be happy. Some of us find it difficult to part with objects and mementos of the past, and many of us are pack rats to one degree or another. This may seem like an innocent habit, but the clutter in our minds and hearts...

by Marie T. Russell. I wish you, and all of us, a perfect new year. Yes, perfect! Perhaps this definition of perfection will help clarify my wish for you: "Perfection, in God's eyes, is being incapable of choosing deeds that are not based solely in love..."

by Mariana Caplan.When is the last time your life worked out the way you planned and expected it to? And if by chance a segment of it did happen to go as planned, did you feel how you expected you would? And if you did feel how you expected to, did it last forever?

by Dr. John F. Demartini. Even the most terrible events always contain hidden blessings. The masters know this great truth and remain undisturbed by events... Others swing from elation to depression as they move through positive and...

by Alan Seale. Success and failure only have to do with ego. The soul is busy taking a journey and having experiences from which it will learn. It knows nothing of success and failure. The soul only knows truth, honesty, and integrity...

by Pierre Pradervand. Every day, everyone we meet can be assisted by simply our changing our attitude and our focus. We can all change the world today. On passing people in the street, on the bus, in places of work and play, bless them...

by Marie T. Russell.

They say you can't take it with you... That is false! Not only do you take it with you, but you come in with it. I'm not talking about material possessions, but rather about personality traits, lessons to be learned...

by Alan Cohen. I have been rethinking selfishness, the ego, and self-centeredness. In some schools of thought these are dirty words, nasty attributes to be subdued, transmuted, and overcome. But maybe they're not so bad. Maybe it's all how you look at them. Baseball star Reggie Jackson said, "The only thing I don't...