“The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it. Be aware of the thoughts you are thinking.” ~Eckhart Tolle One of the first ideas I learned in law school was “the reasonable third person,” a legal fiction created to help figure out if someone has acted unreasonably. There’s no clear-cut…

By Will Aylward “When you love someone, the best thing you can offer is your presence. How can you love if you are not there?” ~Thich Nhat Hanh The only thing worse than not listening to someone is pretending to listen. Giving the vague murmur of agreement, or a quick nod to communicate “Yes, I’m listening, totally,” when…

By Johanna Schram “You’re imperfect, and you’re wired for struggle, but you are worthy of love and belonging.” ~Brené Brown I can’t remember exactly what it was she was trying to convince me I could do, but I had an argument to counter every bit of encouragement. There was no shortage to the ways I believed…

By Holly L. Pender “Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” ~Robert Brault Valentine’s Day has never been a big deal to me. It always felt commercialized, so forced. I’ve never felt I needed Hallmark to remind me to do something special for my husband,…

By Angela Lois “Some people come into your life for a reason, some a season, and some a lifetime. However long it was, be thankful for the gifts you received from them.” ~Unknown When I first met him, we instantly clicked. We became fast friends aided by the fact that I was dealing with my father’s death and he was by my side…

By Michelle Meadows “The only way to be truly happy is to get your mind off yourself and help somebody else.” ~Joyce Meyer A couple of years ago, I was dealing with two major life changes at the same time. The first change was that my husband and I moved from Maryland to Delaware after our…

By Laura Tong “Be there. Be open. Be honest. Be kind. Be willing to listen, understand, accept, support, and forgive. This is what it means to love.” ~Lori Deschene They say your heart pounds when you’re in love. But the very idea of opening up and letting love in can bring on the wrong kind of…

By Joanna Ciolek “I vow to let go of all worries and anxiety in order to be light and free.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh  I’ve struggled with anxiety throughout my life. A difficult childhood and my highly sensitive personality meant I grew into an anxious kid—there was just too much pain and emotional overwhelm for my young brain to…

By Holly Lochinger “The harder you fight to hold onto specific assumptions, the more likely there’s gold in letting them go.” ~John Seely Brown It was Christmas night and I was ecstatic. He would be there any minute. I touched up my gloss and gave myself a quick once over in the hallway mirror. Despite having…

By Joel Almeida “We are a work in progress with a lifetime contract.” ~Phyllis Koss The priest at our wedding advised us, “It’s not enough to say, ‘I want to marry you’ just today. You’ve got to be able to say that every day.” Problems and challenges in life can be like the wind, which blows…

By Hannah Braime “The heart is like a garden: it can grow compassion or fear, resentment or love. What seeds will you plant there?” ~Jack Kornfield Comparison is something we all struggle with at one point or another. Although it’s something that conventional self-help wisdom urges us to avoid, it’s also a way of gauging where…

By Katy Saer “Watch for big problems. They disguise big opportunities.” ~Ritu Ghatourey After many years of being the “dumper” in the relationship, I then spent many years being the “dumpee.” Even after I had worked through all of that karma that I had instilled upon myself, when it came time for my last breakup, it was finally…

By Evie Drake “Relationships are like glass. Sometimes it’s better to leave them broken than hurt yourself trying to put it back together.” ~Unknown Human beings are genetically programmed to desire love. Embraces are as important to us as food and water. Perhaps that’s why when we find someone—the wrong someone—we’re often too blind to see it. We…

By Lia Carroll Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow.  It only saps today of its joy.” ~Leo Buscaglia For as long as I can remember, I’ve been the worrywart extraordinaire. Worry: verb: To give way to anxiety or unease; allow one’s mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles. Fret, be anxious, brood, stress, panic. If…

By: Rena Greenberg “When someone throws you a stone, throw back a flower.” ~Gandhi “Ouch,” I cried out instinctively as my husband, Barry, and I walked through the beach parking lot, barefoot. It was only when Barry turned to me and asked me why I yelled out that I realized it was him who stubbed his…

By: Mai Pham “I want to live my life without stress and worries. I don’t need to be rich or famous. I just want to be happy.” ~Unknown Have you ever set a goal and then become obsessed with it, making it the center of your life and arranging everything else around it? Did you think…

By: Psychic Stephanie  In any given situation between people, we are both the teacher and the student. You’re in each other’s lives for a purpose and a time. The poem, A Reason, Season or a Lifetime captures this beautifully. We are put on this planet, in this lifetime to learn lessons and grow. Once you…

By: Sara Fabian “I am worthy of the best things in life, and I now lovingly allow myself to accept it.” ~Louise Hay Looking back on my life, I see that for a long time I struggled to take care of my own wants and needsand didn’t make them a priority. I used to find that very…

By: Naomi Arnold “You teach people how to treat you by what you allow, what you stop, and what you reinforce.” ~Tony Gaskins I highly value being loyal, honest, empathetic, and supportive. I am also partial to advocating for the underdog. As a result, I have historically attempted to be a ‘hero’ in situations of difficulty,…

By: Psychic Janette Hello, I am Janette and I want to write about how low self-esteem alters our thinking and emotions. I have been working on myself for a long time and I have noticed something important about this. Low self-esteem (most of the cases) comes from our past. Perhaps you were bullied during school…