“Most people think that shadows follow, precede or surround beings or objects. The truth is that they also surround words, ideas, desires, deeds, impulses and memories.” -Elie Wiesel

You can be early, or late, but regardless there will always be some kind of waiting. The wait can be brutal.

Buddhist often say that the reason people suffer is their inability to accept that all things are impermanent. Even the start and finish mutate. Change is constant. People and events, come and go, and we’re left with nothing more than a memory and a need to find a meaning for it all.  Our preconceived notions of life often get in the way of our happiness, and letting go of them is part of the change we so frequently fear but need. Our own ideas and thoughts are often our enemy. Sometimes we must look beyond ourselves. CONTINUE READING

“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” -Buddha

You plan to go in that door right there. It looks like all the others-glass with a black frame-but it stands out to you. You choose that door.

Sometimes we don’t spend great amounts of energy on a choice or decision, many times we do; and often we forget that there are variables that we can never think to consider as we’re constructing our equation. CONTINUE READING

“He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.” -Nietzsche

Purpose produces the seeds of happiness. There’s nothing more dangerous than an idle mind, and in turn an idle way of life. Perhaps, the daily routine we often curse, is the fabric of what keeps us going.  It keeps us from shutting down.  I hear the stories all the time of people who lose their minds when they retire and miss that…purpose (of course many people do find new routines…but, what are the statistics behind being afflicted with Alzheimer’s while you have an 8-5. Probably less than for those who don’t and sit idly at home). CONTINUE READING

“Speak your truth quietly and clearly;/ and listen to others,/ even the dull and the ignorant;/ they too have their story./ Avoid loud and aggressive persons;/ they are vexatious to the spirit.” -Desiderata

Everyone has a story–the dull, the ignorant, the loud, and aggressive persons too. That story can sometimes be surprising, and make us view that certain individual in a new light. Sometimes all it takes is a little act of kindness to see a well hidden and often vulnerable side of someone–kindness as simple as a smile or as elaborate as a surprise candled cake on their birthday. People are the way they are for a reason. They have chosen to become the person they are as a result of their experiences. We shouldn’t judge, but we almost always do, because in judging others we’re also, in a way, trying to understand ourselves.  CONTINUE READING