One of the films I saw at the Cabo San Lucas International Film Festival was I, Tonya. After the Golden Globes where Allison Janney rightfully deserved an award for her portrayal of Tonya’s mother, a lot of people were upset that a movie “promoted” someone who did something bad. Interesting…
-
-
Stress Levels
A few months ago, I wrote a post about handling life’s top stressors which included a link to determine one’s personal stress level. To date, this unscientific survey has uncovered that almost 20% of respondents are experiencing high levels of stressful events. The remaining respondents are fairly split between medium…
-
Feel into the New Year
By now you have probably read many articles on making the most of the new year. The process outlined is usually very methodical. Something like: Review your accomplishments and challenges from the previous year. What can you learn? What do you need to improve? Now erase the previous year and…
-
Make It Happen
Tis the season to make resolutions . . . and to feel heartbroken when a week – or day – later we already broke them. Why is this? Sometimes we set too high and unreachable goals, and should have broken them down into more achievable mini goals that will lead…
-
A Wish Comes True
Talking with friends the other night, the topic of ayahuasca came up. Ayahuasca is a medicinal cactus used by shaman in South America to aid emotional, spiritual, and physical healing. I was the only one who had a personal experience with ayahuasca, so when I returned home I pulled the…
-
I Don’t Mind What Happens
I discovered a quote the other day by J. Krishnamurti about his “secret” to well-being. “You see, I don’t mind what happens.” What power is there in that simple statement! How much of our pain, anxiety, heartbreak, and stress are the result of putting meaning in what is happening? I often…
-
Cut Yourself Some Slack
As we prepare to close out one year and move into another, many of us look back with disappointment. We could have done this or that better. We didn’t take advantage of an opportunity that arose. We didn’t act our best in a certain relationship. We beat ourselves us and…
-
Meaning and Expectations
As for many of you, 2017 has been a challenging year for me. Through these challenging experiences, I learned about how meaning and expectations affect stress. Much of the stress I experienced was increased because I put meaning into results I could not affect. If an expected outcome didn’t happen,…
-
When It Is Right
Earlier this year, we started a search for our new home. We had a pretty big laundry list of desirables. After some time searching, we found one that fit our bill. Right number of bedrooms. Extra storage. Close to the bus stop since we only had one car. Financially sound…
-
Managing Anxiety
Obviously experiencing a tropical storm is a major life event. I learned much from the storm including how to manage anxiety after disaster. During the tropical storm, we battled water leaking into the home for hours. We worried about not having safe drinking water or if the electricity would come…