Do you ever feel overwhelmed by your surroundings? Do you have too many demands on your time and attention, too much clutter in your home or workspace, and too many distractions that keep you feeling scattered?

In a world filled with noisy traffic, demanding voices and endless electronic beeps, it’s easy to lose touch with our quiet inner voice.

When we are cut off from this inner voice, everything around us seems harsh and intense. We feel irritable, fatigued, and just plain stressed.

If your life seems to be coated in layers of chaos, simplicity might seem like an impossible dream. You might wonder how to overcome the demands and pressures that constrict your life and step into a gentler way of living.

Read more »

How often are you grateful? Like many people, you probably focus on gratitude when something great happens in your life, and maybe once a day on Thanksgiving. If you are part of a rare group of people, you might actually keep a daily gratitude journal and take time to reflect on your blessings regularly.

These actions are a great start, but you can also use gratitude in a more proactive way to transform your life. The way to do this is as simple as making a series of choices throughout the course of your day.

Most of us are in the habit of thinking negatively. We experience something difficult or painful in our outer environment that throws us immediately into a negative state of mind. We fluctuate between feelings of anger, resentment, annoyance, boredom, and disappointment – never once realizing that it doesn’t have to be that way!

Read more »

Men are not prisoners of fate, but prisoners of their own minds. – Franklin D. Roosevelt

How many times have your own perceptions worked against you? Whether you turned a mild concern into a major anxiety attack or you let fear hold you back from doing something you really wanted to do, your perceptions have everything to do with your life as it is today. The way you see the world around you determines the way you feel about yourself, your potential, and your progress.

A perception of limitation will convince you that you can’t move forward. A perception of lack can convince you that your life is barren and empty of opportunities. A perception of injustice will convince you that you’ll always lose – one way or another.

What would happen if you changed these perceptions from negative to positive?

Read more »

If someone accuses you of “wearing blinders” it’s usually a negative comment that refers to your inability (or refusal) to face reality or admit the truth about something.

It’s true that denial can be a bad thing if you use it to avoid growth or “hide your head in the sand,” but getting into the habit of selective denial can also benefit you immensely as you strive to make positive changes in your life. The trick is to learn how to use mental blinders to keep out the stuff that would hold you back or detract from your happiness.

Read more »