Is there a shortcut to happiness?

For many years I confused happiness with having a good time. I had no idea that happiness and having a good time were completely different things. During many years of my life having a good time meant chemically altering myself, with alcohol or another …

   

Your children are not your children

This morning at breakfast with the brave people attending our Resilience Training retreat, the subject of children came up which reminded me of the wise words of Kahlil Gibran: Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Lif …

   

Connected or separate?

After my recent short post, “I am everything and everything is part of me,” I received many questions  – most requesting clarification. The human spirit yearns for a sense of connection, a sense of meaning and fulfilment. Evolution works against this. …

   

I am part of everything and everything is part of me

Evolution has shaped and twisted your perception to increase the chances of survival of your genes. This creates the illusion of separation – the embodiment of which is the ego. The ego divides our perceptions into two categories: “me” and “not me”. Ho …

   

Kindness is contagious

Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.  Lou Tzu My religion is kindness: Kindness to strangers, kindness to friends, Kindness to family, kindness to myself. It wasn’t always tha …

   

Really listen

Seek to understand before seeking to be understood. This means…  Listen, really listen. This means… your only desire is to understand. This means… not trying to give a solution. This means… not trying to think of an answer. This means… being fully pres …

   

There is always hope

My friend Clayton and I were the wild boys and proud of it. In our early 20’s we tried every drug we could get our hands on. We chased women. We drove fast cars. We lived intensely. I saved his life at least once and he saved mine. A thing we had in co …

   

The cards you are dealt

In a game of poker, the cards we have in our hand are decided by chance in the deal; we don’t pick them. Even if our cards are not that good we can still win. Only an idiot would complain about his or her cards. Complaining will simply remove any chanc …

   

Friendship

We sit there, side by side on the sofa, eyes closed. In that moment nothing exists except the aria. Wordlessly we submit to the unbearable beauty of the soprano’s voice as it pierces simultaneously our hearts.. Emotions are not hidden; there is no sham …