How Does Mind over Matter in Mindfulness Actually Work?

Mind over matter is a challenge many people struggle with. I firmly believe that consciousness creates reality. This process occurs through the active practice of mindfulness – conscious awareness, here and now, of that which you control. Specifically – your thoughts, feelings, actions, and intentions. Working with mindfulness, you can make choices and decisions to actively, consciously create reality. I’ve done this. More than once. Thus, I know that it’s not some pie-in-the-sky bullshit. However – neither can conscious reality

How Does Non-Toxic Positivity Better Your Life Experience?

Non-toxic positivity is a creative force for self-care and improvement. The word “positivity” might set your teeth on edge. That’s probably because you’ve been exposed to all the toxic positivity out there. Toxic positivity is the idea that if you think positive – and ONLY positive – your life will be the best it can be. What’s more, toxic positivity rather blatantly disregards, ignores, or turns a blind eye to anything that’s not positive. Positivity in this manner turns anything

Why and How Is It Good For You To Ask for Help Sometimes?

You ask for help because nobody can do everything alone. I’m incredibly self-sufficient. I’ve been this way since my early 20s. Asking for help doesn’t come easily to me. This is due to any number of reasons, ranging from control issues, fear of appearing weak, and fear of rejection, to having my self-respect lost both to myself and others. And of course, there have been outside lessons borne of human nature and lack of reliability in some people. Self-care, self-awareness,

Why Is It Good That There Are NO Absolutes in Life?

Because no absolutes means endless possibilities. There are always extremes. For every good there’s bad. Every up has a down. Positivity is mirrored by negativity. Liberals face off against conservatives. Extremes are on either end of a given spectrum (whether you compare via a coin, flexible cylinder, or what have you). The extremes rarely, if ever, exist alone. There’s a ginormous amount of color and grey between them. Yet you’re often being lumped into one group or another. Or getting

What is The Ego and How Does It Control Your Life Experience?

The ego is an almost conscious entity in and of itself. The concept of the ego, as most people are familiar with, originated from Sigmund Freud in 1923. In his paper, The Ego and the Id, he laid out what has become a major foundation for psychoanalysis that’s still applied today. To summarize (probably poorly), Freud’s concept of the ego was focused on the self – between the fun-loving and impulsive Id and the spiritual and ethereal Superego. Freud’s take

How Do Embracing Change and Positivity Go Hand In Hand?

Embracing change gives you control you won’t otherwise have – and that’s hugely positive. There is only one constant in the Universe – change. Change happens all the time. You can’t stop it. You can either ride it out, stand in resistance to it, or do the work to embrace it and take what control is in it for you. Change is scary because it’s anathema to comfort. Or at least that’s the perception. Change will pull you from an

Regret Does You No Good – Because You Can’t Unring That Bell

Time may be cyclical, but life moves in only one direction – and regret doesn’t serve you. Regret can be a very sticky topic. And there are lots of things that cause regret. Based on the definition at dictionary.com, regret is a feeling of remorse, a sense of loss, and coinciding disappointment. In other words, the fear of missing out (FOMO) realized. I woulda, coulda, shoulda – but didn’t. The problem with regret is that it’s unactionable. You can’t do

How Do You Focus on Useful Things in the Face of Information Overload?

Inundated with information overload, how do you shift your focus to what you can control? Let’s face it – the world is mad. Spend any time whatsoever on social media, watching or reading the news – and you’re bombarded by all the evidence of the madness – and then some. The 24-hour news cycle doesn’t make us collectively more informed. In truth, it makes us more scared, distressed, and unhappy. We don’t know the world around us and what’s happening

Is It Possible to Both Be Okay and Not Okay?

I’m pretty sure okay and not okay coexisting is rather common. It occurred to me today that while I’m mostly okay, overall – I’m not okay. A lot of different things have happened in the past 2 months that are the reason why I’m not okay. After successfully rolling multiple 20s since the winter of 2020, I rolled a 1 at Christmastime and failed to dodge COVID. Very, very fortunately I had a mild case. This I attribute to being

If You’re Empowered Do Other People Become Disempowered?

Empowerment is not a zero-sum matter. When you’re empowered nobody becomes disempowered. One of the most dangerous false narratives in our society today is around what equates to selfishness. In many respects, nearly every act of self-care, self-focus, and anything else that puts you first is considered selfish. If you don’t give enough time, energy, work, and what-have-you to your family, friends, and community – before self-care – you’re being selfish. This false narrative is the bedrock of a far

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