Why Be Mindful of the Divisive?

Because that way lies madness. Everywhere you turn, especially across social media, the narrative loudly screams about “US” vs “THEM”. The emphasis on the extremes and how “we” need to protect ourselves from “they” is utterly out of hand. When all is said and done, no matter what divisive label you apply, people aren’t so radically different. Have you ever met anyone who doesn’t want to have fairness, compassion, and empathy in their life? I haven’t. These are universal desires

Choosing Not to Let Worry Hijack You

There’s a line between concern, worry, and how you let it impact you. Unless you’re living under a rock, you’re probably being impacted by the crazy happenings around the world. Governments committing atrocities at home and abroad, the greedy harming people and the environment alike, and a disturbing increase in maligning the kind, compassionate, and empathetic. Spend any time on social media, and you’ll be quickly bombarded with all kinds of terrible, awful, negative things. Is it any wonder so

What is This Nagging Sense I Can’t Shake?

It’s been with me for a while, and I can’t put my finger on it. I have this odd, nagging sense that something’s off that I just can’t shake. And it’s been nagging at me for quite some time now. Maybe it’s the craziness of the big picture elements of the world. As much as I’m careful about how much time I spend on social media and how little I read or watch the news, the madness of the world’s

The Challenge of Developing Trust

Trust takes a mix of time, effort, and faith. Ours is not a trusting society. Not by any stretch of the imagination. All you have to do is look at the disturbing bias in media. It’s frighteningly easy to get only 1 side of every political, moral, and business debate. Confirmation bias – seeking and finding info that meets your expectations and refutes any opposition – is everywhere. Given recent decisions on the part of big business caring way more

It’s Okay To Feel Scared

But it’s not okay to let fear overwhelm your life. There’s no denying we live in wild, crazy times right now. Spend any time on social media, reading or watching any news media, and you can’t help but feel uncertain, and maybe even scared. How did it all come to this? When did people allow so many madmen to take control? Why won’t the people who can fix this do something? Has selfishness and thirst for power really overwhelmed any

Pay More Attention to the Good Things Out There

Seriously, good things ARE happening in the world at large. Let’s face it. Bad news sells. Chaos gets attention. Fear makes you look. That’s why the dominant narrative across media – all media – is things that are scary, unpleasant, awful, and surreal. Yes, shit is happening out there that you need to be aware of. Informed decisions can only be made when you are informed. But the line between sharing and inundated gets constantly blurred. It’s so easy to

Hold Yourself Accountable First

This is about being responsible, not taking blame. I strive to maintain optimism. Not blind, all-is-well-that-shit-is-not-happening optimism, but a sense that the scales will rebalance, the pendulum can be swung the other way, and we can do little things to impact the big picture. The problem is, most of those little things are for you, and only you. No matter what you do for anyone else, you can’t alter, control, or change them. You can influence, guide, suggest, and show

You Can Always Learn Something New

Learning is essential to living. For many people, the idea of lifelong learning is unappealing. They think that after formal schooling is done – whether that concludes with High School, college, or something vocational – they need not learn anymore. While the classroom setting ceases to be the primary place for education, learning is essential to living. There’s one very simple reason for this truth: Because change is the one and only constant in the universe. Everything changes. You change.

Everybody Knows Something Until What They Know Changes

Parsing this is a conscious effort you alone can undertake. I call myself a modern-day philosopher. The focal point of my personal philosophy is what I call Pathwalking. Pathwalking is the notion that, via mindfulness – active conscious awareness – you can choose how you shape your life experience and what paths you take therein. I’ve been writing about this every week for over 14 years now, and aspects of it have changed because I’ve changed. Change, after all, is

Recognize If Fear Will Help or Hurt You

Fear hasn’t caught up with modern life. One of my all-time favorite quotes is from Franklin D. Roosevelt: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Unfortunately, it’s easy to miss the meaning of this statement. It’s a lot deeper than you might realize. In a nutshell, it means fear is often not what it appears to be. Another great quote from Paulo Coelho adds perspective to this statement. This quote, from The Alchemist, is: “Tell your heart

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