Eastern philosophy tells us that expectation is the mother of disappointment, and research seems to agree. One prescription for happy living is to lower our expectations. Though at first glance this may sound defeatist, it actually produces a greater sense of well-being. In studies done on animals, the relationship between expectation and the body’s release
Today, I make choices about my company and friends. Whom I choose to spend time with is very important to me, and the relationships that I begin I wish to respect and nurture. A handful of dear friends is far more meaningful to me than lots of acquaintances. I choose to share myself where I
Today, I will trust my own heart. The clear message that whispers within me has more to tell me than a thousand voices. I have a guide within me who knows what is best for me. There is a part of me that sees the whole picture and knows how it all fits together. My
Today, I recognize that a Higher Power lives and breathes inside me, through me, as me. I used to think that God was the chairperson of somebody else’s board, and I spent my time in search of another person’s version of a Higher Power. But really, there is no searching--it is more like an acceptance.
We forgive, if we are wise, not for the other person, but for ourselves. We forgive, not to erase a wrong, but to relieve the residue of the wrong that is alive within us. We forgive because it is less painful than holding on to resentment. We forgive because without it we condemn ourselves to
Today, I recognize my essential wholeness. While I see myself as deficient and look to others to complete me, I condemn myself to a life of reactivity. In this mode, I can only spend my days trying to bend myself into the shape that I feel will make me lovable to others; and if they
My inner critic can really take off on me. If I put a foot wrong in any direction, my inner critic can really go nuts on me, blaming me for screwing things up, getting down on myself and generally making me feel terrible. It doesn’t help anything. In fact, it makes things worse. Not only
Today I will let God work to make me better. I will surrender. Surrendering is very different from giving up. Giving up is a helpless, hurting feeling filled with fear and resignation. Surrender is a spiritual letting go, I place my life and health into gentler wiser hands than mine. Surrender is an act of
I will look for the silver linings in being under the weather. Time is one. Attention is another. The quiet and peace to self reflect is one more. There are all sorts of silver linings to being ill if I can see it that way. This moment is here for me to learn to see