When we’re frustrated with others, or feeling bad about ourselves … we often turn toward habits that comfort us: • distractions • food • shopping • smoking • drugs/alcohol These don’t often work, because they tend to make us feel worse in the long run. We become unhappier, more stressed, and then need to seek
Let’s say you’ve been wanting to quit smoking for awhile, or you’ve really been wanting to start exercising. All of a sudden, you read something that motivates you … you’re ready to make the change!You have the determination to make this happen. That’s amazing. The question is: are you going to convert this determination into
There’s a way of being that I’m trying to cultivate in myself — to let go of wanting others to be a certain way. Here’s the problem: we all get frustrated with other people. We want our kids to do certain things, our spouses to be less something or other, our friends to change their
Arrogance (too hot) Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. – Proverbs 16:18 Arrogance is overbearing pride that attempts to juxtapose others as inferior to yourself. Although this quality is considered honorable among Klingons, it tends to annoy human beings. Arrogance makes genuine socialization difficult because it paints others into a competitive
I’ll admit I do it as much as anyone else: see the cool things that others are doing and wish I were doing something cool like that too. You see great travel photos on Instagram and other social media — people living amazing lives, creating cool things, going on adventures. And instantly, there’s the thought
Pretty much all of us experience frustration on a daily (or even hourly) basis. We get frustrated by other people, by ourselves, by technology, by work situations, by small crises that come up all the time. You know you’re frustrated when you find yourself sighing, or complaining about people, or fuming about something that happened,
Difficult times are hard to avoid. Sometimes, life just wallops us against the head, deals us with such a blow that it takes our breath away. A loved one dies, you lose a job, someone you care about gets sick, your car gets totaled, or hopelessness hits you. What do we do when the world
Those experiencing depression often seem to have good reasons for feeling down, and from the outside looking in, those reasons may appear perfectly valid. If you’re dealing with financial scarcity, health problems, or other unwanted challenges, then any reasonable person might easily look at your situation and agree, “Yup, that’s depressing.” I’m not going to
If you accept a job, a relationship, or a lifestyle that you merely tolerate but don’t appreciate, you’re putting other concerns ahead of your own happiness. Social conditioning may have convinced you that sacrificing your happiness to maintain a certain amount in your bank account is the proper way to live.Perhaps your parents played a
