Believe In Your Dreams and Believe In Yourself

If I told you that there was just one thing you could do that would give you everything you want, would you do it? Well, all you have to do is believe! All that matters is that you can see what you want and believe in it with all your heart and soul. Few people believe that strongly and still fewer work hard enough for their beliefs to reach fruition. How much do you believe?

When we do not acknowledge our feelings, we may reactively eat for comfort. Not facing tensions in a relationship can lead to fear of arguments or anger at disagreements. Seeking escape from the discomforts of life may trap us in patterns of...

Criticism never changes a thing. Refuse to criticize yourself. Accept yourself exactly as you are. Stop terrorizing yourself with your thoughts. It's a dreadful way to live. Treat yourself as you would someone you really loved...

The world continues its struggle against the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 7.4 million cases and 416,000 deaths have been reported worldwide.

When we become aware of our story lines -- the things we tell ourselves to keep from moving forward -- we can use affirmations to make our mental chatter more fluid.

Across the globe, the freedom to choose what will define our lives is vastly different. We who have many options open to us often suffer from stress, because this freedom brings with it a responsibility of being a good judge of what fits us best.

During self-isolation due to coronavirus, many are turningto the arts. Perhaps they seek a creative outlet or opportunity for expression

A world where a tiny virus weighing a microgram can upset the world economy in a few weeks is either inhabited by a very, very clever virus…or then is really inhabited by an extremely strange group of people... So now that the tsunami is upon us, we need to ask: OK, what now? Have we started learning the lesson?

If we want to grow inwardly we must find new ways to learn about ourselves. These higher discoveries call for higher learning. Think of each of the following eleven laws as individual magic strands of a flying carpet. Make it your aim to weave them together in your mind. Then watch how these lessons combine to effortlessly lift you to...

Indonesia’s status as a maritime country seemingly does not guarantee that its fishers live prosperously.

Fear, anxiety, worry, lack of motivation and difficulty concentrating — students cite all sorts of reasons for opposing distance learning.

What do you think of when you think of Florida, Hawaii or California? Sunshine. It doesn't mean they are without storms, rainy days or even catastrophic events like earthquakes and hurricanes, but in general, those places are sunny and warm. A happy individual is similar.

When we neglect ourselves in the mad rush to make a living, take care of business and raise our families, we die a little with each passing day. What have you done lately to nurture yourself, enhance your creativity and honor your soul?

Before lockdown, our lives were defined by speed. Rushing around, living life at rocket pace was the norm. Keeping up with work responsibilities, social obligations and the latest tech or fashion trends was a neverending feat.

Moral injury is a wound to the soul. It happens when you participate in or witness things that transgress your deepest beliefs about right and wrong. It is extreme trauma that mani­fests as grief, sorrow, shame, guilt, or any combination of those things. It shows up as negative thoughts, self-hatred, hatred of others, feelings of regret...

Self-doubters tend to dismiss compliments and embrace criticisms. They focus — even highlight — their weaknesses, ensuring that others see their shortcomings as clearly as they do. Eleanor Roosevelt's clever one-liner "No one can make you feel inadequate without your permission" says it all.

Our task in living is how, not why. When we suffer, we get thrown into why: Why me? Why you? Why at this time? At best, why distracts us. At worst, it stalls us. What we do know is that life can be both miraculous and harsh, tender and devastating.

When I see red, it’s the most religious experience. Seeing red just results from photons of a certain frequency hitting the retina of my eye, which cascades electrical and biochemical pulses through my brain, in the same way a PC runs.

We use our mind in many ways. We use it when we don't even think about it; it simply takes over and provides us with the support we need for survival. We forget that it's there working and we overlook it as the best tool we have for self-improvement.

There have been calls to reconnect to the source of the subjective world. In every case, it was the troubling ignorance about the human mind that motivated a few outstanding thinkers to try to bring down the Chinese wall dividing the physical from the mental.

Sometimes when things don't go the way I want, rather than letting things go their own way, I start pushing and shoving and trying to make things happen. Can you relate to this one? We start insisting on things going our way...

Have we not all asked ourselves this question at one point or another? "What's it all about?"  Since to every question there is an answer, I asked my inner Self to provide an answer. The answer I heard was "It's all about you!" Well...

A testimonial from someone who went from self-hate and self-destruction and ended up behind bars to discovering the goodness within and set out on a path of recovery.

Is beauty truly in the eye of the beholder? Can we call whatever we see beautiful, depending on our perspective? Beauty, Sensuality, Sexuality, Charisma. I have long questioned these notions. What are these things? Are they culturally defined? Dependent on the fashion...

On one hand, we need to keep pace with new developments and stay on top of our careers. On the other hand, we need to meet the demands of our personal life. Result? We are on overload.

For years, normality has been stretched nearly to its breaking point, a rope pulled tighter and tighter, waiting for a nip of the black swan’s beak to snap it in two. Now that the rope has snapped, do we tie its ends back together, or shall we undo its dangling braids still further, to see what we might weave from them?

With many colleges and universities still deciding when to re-open their campuses after they were shuttered due to COVID-19, many high school seniors are thinking about taking a gap year.

Let's imagine our minds as being filled with rows of cubbyholes. Each cubbyhole represents a particular relationship in our lives. Some of these cubbyholes contain largely benevolent thoughts. Others are filled with grievances and other dark thoughts. As I begin to think of those people, I may find a significant amount of resentment or anger stored away...

We live in a world of extremes. Extreme wealth, extreme poverty. Extreme hedonism and joy, and extreme fear and pain. Extreme religious devotion, and extreme hatred. And as with everything, the microcosm and the macrocosm are reflections of each other. In each one of us there resides these extremes, or at least a presence of these realities -- though maybe not in the extreme.

This whole coronavirus pandemic is costing a fortune, maybe 2 or 3 or 4 fortunes, all of unknown size. Oh yeah, and, hundreds of thousands, maybe a million, of people will die prematurely as a direct or indirect result. How much is that worth? It didn't have to be this way. 

One of my favorite lines in the movie "Gone With The Wind" is when Scarlett says "Tomorrow is another day". This line has given me hope many times when the skies of my life were bleak and I couldn't see around the corner of whatever challenge was facing me at the time…

I recently gave the keynote address at a local graduation ceremony. I arrived early to hang out with the 72 students and asked a few of them, "What would you like to hear from me?" I ended up quoting a bright young woman I'll call Lucinda, who paused in deep thought for about thirty seconds before answering.

In the mid-1960s, Bob Dylan’s song, “The Times They Are A-Changin,” became an anti-establishment anthem for frustrated young people.Fifty-plus years later, the times are no longer “a-changin;” the times have changed—radically. In fact, rapid, continuous, unpredictable change is the “new normal.”

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.

Viktor E. Frankl, in his book, Man's Search for Meaning, recounts his experiences in a concentration camp during World War II. He maintains that 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.

We can't be feeling what we are feeling unless we are "thinking" it. First we have to think and then we feel, so whatever we are feeling is a result of our thinking. If we are feeling fear, then we are having a fearful thought...

We are in truth limitless, magnificent universal beings. Right here and now, we embody all the forces of the universe. There is no difference between our energy and the energy of the universe; they are one and the same.

The world we inhabit is changing at such speed and frenetic accelera­tion that in order to keep pace we must ourselves evolve, not from the Darwinian thesis of survival-of-the-fittest and physical evolution, but rather from the next step in the human story, conscious evolution.

Although there are early signs of tentative re-openings for trial-and-error life after quarantine, we cannot — and arguably should not — downplay the ongoing challenges and uncertainties for our children.

"The weekend is over and tomorrow it's back to reality!" "You've lost touch with reality!" What exactly is reality and whose reality are we talking about? I saw a bumper sticker not too long ago that said "Question reality". I agree. I think reality should be questioned and challenged and maybe even done away with...

We have learned to repress our emotions, or to blatantly "dump" them on others. Often, our strong emotions make us lash out and blame others for our feelings. There is an alternative, that not only heals you but empowers you.

How many times have you stopped yourself from doing something you really wanted to do? We sometimes seem to have a whole slough of reasons why "not to do" something. These range from "because I don't have the time or money", to "because they might disapprove".

Pinch yourself, for instance, and your body seems solid. Your senses insist this is the case. It seems to be an essential, irrevocable truth. But the plain facts of science, regardless of what normally seems so patently obvious, prove that your senses are deceiving you.

There has been a lot of emphasis on physical survival, which of course is important. The following points will help you survive emotionally and spiritually, but more importantly, to thrive, both as an individual and in your relationships.

Moments of social disruption are a valuable reminder that so much of what we take for granted — our sense of normalcy — isn’t necessarily normal at all.

We know that a transformation of global dimensions has already started, and we know that its unfolding is not predictable. We can be certain that it will be challeng­ing. Will we achieve the understanding, the wisdom, to survive this challenge?

The meaning we give to something determines our reality and life experience. If you see a grizzly bear coming towards you, then the meaning, or interpretation, in that moment will be one of danger, fear and survival. If you see a kitten...

Humans are creatures of habit, and sometimes we get stuck in a rut. Sometimes we're overwhelmed. We face a simple daily task and spin into panic or just plain freeze. Neither opens up our hearts or minds to the real challenges or pleasures at hand. We need to snap out of it and get back into living again. But how?

When Dee and I grew a family of dogs, we decided to feed them meat. That was a big decision for us, since we had never had meat in the house. But we love our “kids,” and we want them to be happy. Why impose our diet on them? So we buy them canned dog food and cook meat for them.

Never has there been a time that our light is more needed than now. Our voices, actions and intentions will inspire and heal so many. No longer can we sit by and just visualize... we must combine our spiritual practices with uplifting words and positive action.

To begin, please choose a person whom you don't feel a great deal of appreciation toward. It could be someone you love who is currently bothering you, someone you strongly dislike, or someone whom you feel just slightly negative toward.

Where does our hope lie? Where shall we ground ourselves for continuing on and changing our ways radically? Creativity can redeem and save our species. I agree with Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés that all women and men are born gifted. All we need to do is release this creativity, get out of its way, as M. C. Richards used to say.

It’s time to sink down into our roots and reconnect with the natural, the primal, and the instinctual. It’s time to untether and reclaim all the aspects of ourselves that have been shamed, hidden, and tamped down so we can ground our full being and powerful medicine into the world.

When the pandemic began, I wondered “What good could possibly come of this?” Now some answers are obvious. For one, we are present with our families at a new depth.

Everyone is adjusting to life during the coronavirus pandemic. For many, working from home is the new normal and poses all sorts of new challenges.

One of the leading ethical theories is “utilitarianism,” which says that moral decisions and actions should be made on the basis of their consequences.

'Solitude has become a topic of fascination in modern Western societies because we believe it is a lost art – often craved, yet so seldom found.

Ho‘oponopono is one of the kahuna sciences, ancient shamanistic teachings from Hawaii, and describes a method for resolving personal problems and interpersonal conflict. The aim of ho‘oponopono is to heal relationships on many levels...

Social distancing and washing hands have become the frontline in the fight against COVID-19, but there is another powerfully protective resource immediately available to all: your circadian rhythm.

People all across the U.S. claim that they are “not math people.” They even readily admit to their hatred for some math fundamentals, such as fractions.

It may surprise you to learn that your ego doesn't believe that love really exists, but it's true. Just think! When you allow your ego to direct your search for love, you are actually asking the only thing in the universe that doesn't know what love is, to find it for you.

For me, learning often comes from understanding "why". Why things are the way they are, why things happen, why people are the way they are, why I act the way I do, why other people act the way they do. Once I understand the "why" of a situation, I can then understand how I need to respond both now and in the future.

If we accept that life is always trying to teach us exactly what we need to learn, we can view everything that happens to us as a gift. Even experiences that are uncomfortable or painful contain within them an important key to our healing, wholeness, and prosperity.

The pandemic we are experiencing is temporary; it will pass into history as all the previous pandemics did. But the change it brings may be lasting. It can be change for the better, or change for the worst. Making it a change for the better is an opportunity we cannot afford to miss.

In the past 30 years, there has been a dramatic increase in body criticism. Most women, and many men, feel dissatisfied with how they look.

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.

Simple living is not an end in itself. We may save money and increase our freedom and security, and our life may reflect the special beauty of simplicity. 

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...

Due to Antarctica’s extreme winter, which includes four months of total darkness, polar explorers endured intense confinement in close quarters for long periods of time.

Oftentimes, in life, we have doubts about the outcome of a situation... whether the doubt has to do with our own capabilities, or someone else's. Yet faith in ourselves is an integral part in succeeding... When we give up believing in ourselves, we give up trying.

The irony of anyone standing firmly resistant to change is that we awaken into a brand new world every day. We call it the universe, and it’s never the same place twice. In our universe, though, the changes happening all around us are either so constant we take them for granted or so slow and imperceptible we fail to notice them.

Propagandists are already working to sow disinformation and social discord in the run-up to the November elections.

Almost everyone procrastinates. We usually do it to avoid a task that's unpleasant or daunting. When procrastinating starts to interfere with our quality of life by causing us to feel worried, fearful, lazy, or irresponsible, then it's time to get on with it.

Words which contain a reference to good and evil have become degraded, especially those which refer to the good -- not only courage but also effort, patience, love and hope -- are met with cynicism and indifference. Unless we boldly confront cynicism and indifference, we cannot make fundamental and effective responses.

We all want to leave our children a better world than the one we found. The greatest legacy you can bestow is joy, which is a choice you can make right now. If you wait until the world changes to let your light shine, your dream will wither and die. Make your joy conditional on nothing outside you and on everything inside you...

We can compare this web of light that permeates the universe to a spider’s web. When a fly becomes entangled in the spider’s web, it sends a vibration along the strands of the web. Similarly, what we think and feel sends along the strands of the web of light vibrational frequencies that can affect people, countries and world situations.

We all have a unique path in life that, if traveled, brings out the best in us. Yet no path is ever forged for us, and we may have to bushwhack our way through unchartered wilderness when our navigation equipment fails. Depression is an emotional state that all of the body types are capable of experiencing when they feel stuck...

It's frustrating to believe that peace is some distant goal, attainable only by a few fortunate souls blessed with good genes, superior brain chemistry, plenty of money, or a calling as a monk. But peace has not deserted even the crankiest and busiest among us.

Hope can erode when we perceive threats to our way of life, and these days, plenty are out there.

Mechanical behaviors are old ways of doing things that once worked, or appeared to have worked, in situations that were stressful or in situations that were actual or perceived as potentially endangering your survival.

What am I doing? is the most frequent question I ask as I let go of my most recent job and relationship. The answer always comes back the same: You are being true to yourself. You are living your Truth. This is crazy, I say to myself. No job, no security, saving good-bye to someone who loves me, whom I love.

Scientists known for their hard work—like Thomas Edison—are more motivating as role models than scientists viewed as naturally brilliant, like Albert Einstein, new research suggests.

There is no “solution” to this problem. The only way to achieve the goal we are all leveraged toward achieving is to do something nobody has ever done before. Right there, in the middle of the raging ocean, Latitude 35 will have to do the impossible.

What's important is that you challenge yourself in something, it doesn't matter what. Then by making consistent effort, the direction you should take will open up before you naturally. It's important, therefore, to have the courage to ask yourself what you should be doing now, this very moment.

We all feel the need to fit in, but does this prevent us from making decisions for ourselves?

Simplicity is not the same thing as destitution, or self-imposed deprivation. It has to do with finding a graceful balance in life where we have enough material possessions to provide for our basic needs, plus some comforts and luxuries that may not be required for basic survival.

Autism has been a subject of ever increasing interest over the last 20 years. It has been the subject of popular TV shows, novels and numerous studies looking at everything from sensory experiences to mental health in autism.

A great life doesn't happen by accident. A great life is the result of allocating your time, energy, thoughts, and hard work towards what you want your life to be. Stop setting yourself up for stress and failure, and start setting up your life to support success and ease.

People are happier after spending money on experiences rather than on material objects, researchers report.

One of the most influential phenomena in education over the last two decades has been that of the “growth mindset”.

The two most important men in my life died at early ages due, in part, to their addictions. We are all products of our environment, but I believe the cycle can stop with us. Just as addiction affects the whole family, so does recovery...

Do you like to listen to music when you work? Pose this question at a party, and you’ll probably get some polarizing responses.

Our belief is hugely powerful, especially when it is informed by an expert in authority. This is the placebo effect, which can be seen, for example, when a group of patients participate in a study, unknowingly acting as the control group.

There is much written about finding one’s life purpose and reaching self actualisation, but do we really need to have one?

Imagine the following. You are living a life with enough money and health and time so as to allow an hour or two of careless relaxation, sitting on the sofa at the end of the day in front of a large television, half-heartedly watching a documentary about solar energy with a glass of wine and scrolling through your phone.

The ability to understand emotions contributes almost as much to students’ grades as their IQ.

The power of positive and negative, (light and dark, masculine and feminine, respectively) fluctuate in influence over the ages. From Jesus and Mary to Buddha and Quan Yin, every tradition has archetypical representations of male and female, or god and goddess.

Perception is a tricky thing. What we think we see is not necessarily what is really there. We have to be very careful about the judgments we make due to faulty perception.

We have been taught that external conditions determine our state of mind; favorable conditions make us well and happy, and unfavorable conditions damage or depress us. Yet it is the other way around: It is our thoughts that create or attract conditions, and our internal choices that make us happy or not.

German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) is sometimes dismissed as a malevolent figure, obsessed with the problem of nihilism and the “death of God”.