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 …

   

Death and Dying

There are only two things I know for certain in this life: that I will die and that I do not know when.  Whenever I raise this point to groups I am normally met with groans, a roll of the eyes, or “that’s a bit strong”, “that’s a bit depressing”. And y …

   

Is your relationship toxic or healthy?

A frequent topic of conversation in our residential resilience trainings is that of relationships. Most people want to find a partner, someone with whom they can share their lives. Many have experienced disappointment in relationships. Some have experi …