Yearly Archives: 2014

Song for the Special

By Marina Keegan, Author of The Opposite of Loneliness: Essays and Stories.  Every generation thinks it's special -- my grandparents because they remember World War II, my parents because of discos and the moon. We have the Internet. Millions and billions of doors we can open and shut, posting ourselves into profiles and digital scrapbooks. Suddenly and totally, we're threaded together in a network so terrifyingly colossal that we can finally see our terrifyingly tiny place in it. But we're all individuals. It's beaten into us in MLK Day assemblies (one person can make a difference!) and fourth-grade poster projects (what do…

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Cupcake decorated with colorful birthday candles

Happy 6th Birthday, InspireMeToday.com!

Six years ago, we launched a little website to provide daily inspiration, to remind us of our connection to something greater, and to help us remember our own divine magnificence. Six years, hundreds of Luminaries, and thousands of inspirational essays, quotes, and photos later, we're now shining light into more than 150 countries and inspiring more than 25 million people through our site and partner networks! To Sir Richard Branson, Ellen Whitehurst, Cirque du Soleil, Mariel Hemingway, Derek Sivers, Jack Canfield, Dr. Joe Vitale, Seth Godin, Marci Shimoff, Neale Donald Walsch, Gini Gentry, Arielle Ford, and every single one of…

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Girl looking through a telescope

Higher Help for Persistent Problems

Why do we end up as often as we do in those painful situations in which the last words usually spoken go something like, "How in the world did I get myself into this mess?" Sound familiar? It should. And while the answer to this woeful question should rescue us from similar future sticky situations, it rarely works out that way. This is very important to admit to ourselves. The truth is we keep falling into the same old snares. Why? There is an authentic answer to this question that may surprise you. The reason we haven't as yet realized…

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Ask a Luminary

How Do I Move Past My Fear?

"I have been overwhelmed by FEAR of almost everything my whole life. I have been diagnosed with GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder). but it all boils down to fear. I am 47 years old and want to finally live life instead of just safely exist!" ~ Nadine, Mountain View, CO Dear Nadine, The problem is that we all resist emotions, even though we have no control over what first shows up in our minds. The Buddha refers to this as having two darts in the body. The first dart is what shows up without our control. It's the fears, the moment we…

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Woman in a Red Coat among Trees

The Heart is Where the Soul Resides

The heart is contained in four ways: first by the physical body, next by the emotional armor we all carry, next by the physical heart itself, and finally, at the very center of everything, is the inner heart, the heart within the heart: Ananda Khanda. This is what desires to be cracked open to the world. [av_hr class='short' height='50' shadow='no-shadow' position='center' av_uid='av-1k60vls'] Heart opening is a symptom of personal growth. We might call this emotional opening, or psychological breakthrough. But if we use the lens of spirituality, of soul growth, and we accept the idea that the heart is where…

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The Top 10 Things I’ve Learned From Richard Branson

Today's Brilliance is a bit different from other days. I had the honor of spending a few hours with Sir Richard Branson at his home on Necker Island, in the British Virgin Islands. As I walked into his home, I found him lying in a hammock in an alcove of the great room, open to the warm tropical breezes, overlooking the multi-colored turquoise Caribbean Sea. Bliss. Barefoot and dressed in swim shorts and a tee shirt, he looked more like a Jimmy Buffett fan rather than the founder of the Virgin Group, best known as the only person in the…

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Ask a Luminary

How Can I Get Over Shyness?

"How can I stop being shy? I have had this problem since my early childhood and I can't get rid of it. Every time I try to make a change and finally become sociable and be comfortable with talking to new people or to stop blushing, something embarrassing happens and I fail. I feel like I'm stuck in this endless nightmare for the rest of my life. I always think my particular situation can't be solved because I BLUSH a lot and I can't control this. Please help me overcome this shyness and perhaps stop blushing and becoming more comfortable…

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Embracing the Whole Person Concept

Philosopher Dr. Mortimer J. Adler was the first to introduce the Whole Person Concept, which challenges us to strive for a proper balance in all aspects of our lives—spending meaningful time with family and friends, maintaining our health, enriching our lives, becoming all that we can be, giving back to our communities, learning to manage our financial affairs, and growing in our spiritual lives. At its core, the Whole Person Concept is learning to balance our work, our lives, and our successes. The Whole Person Concept encourages us to remember the importance of growing and learning, and it reminds me…

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The Art of Love Series

Whether you are still looking for your beloved or want to deepen your current partnership, now there’s a one-stop resource to discover what really works in modern day relationships. Make your love life extraordinary with this FREE online event for couples & singles, The Art of Love Relationship Series, starting April 1st! Over 9 transformational days, host Arielle Ford will interview over 50 experts like John Gray, Harville Hendrix, Lisa Nichols, Katherine Woodward Thomas and more. As part of this free online training event, you'll learn the latest wisdom and relationship-building tools to ignite your passion and sustain a satisfying and healthy relationship.

Register for The Art of Love Relationship Series now!

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Bouncing with Style: Better Boundaries

Yesterday I read a book about boundaries. Why? I had to for one of my upcoming shows.  Much to my delight, I started understanding what that bandied-about term meant in relation to me, my family and friends, and my kids. Even my dogs will benefit from my reading the material. We hear a lot in the media about boundaries. Gotta set boundaries. That’s a boundary violation. I have firm boundaries.  I have no boundaries. But what does that really mean? I started thinking about how boundaries are being erased as we groove into a society where personal choice often trumps the rights…

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There is Only One Entrance

Birth is the only way we enter this world, and death is our only exit. We all share this truth of human existence—and yet our births and our deaths are as individual unique as each of us. Imagine! A new soul, entering the world from the vessel of another body! A new soul, arriving by Divine choice and by Divine selection of a particular mother, a particular father. The miracle of welcoming a new soul affects us so deeply, it’s almost impossible to express everything we hold in our heart. Sit down a group of mothers of any age or…

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Ask a Luminary

How Can I Stop Feeling Bad?

"These days I have become so lazy and shiftless! I don't do anything except watch TV and sleep. I wanna do something productive like studying or reading but every time I think about this, I have this bad feeling inside me that I just can't describe, so I convince myself to just relax another time and not do anything. I've been doing this boring routine for like 2 weeks now and I'm sick of this and I really wanna change, but I CAN'T! Please, what should I do to remove all these bad thoughts in me and become determined? Thank…

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Don’t Miss This Life-Changing Moment

There are distinct moments in life when the truth comes closer to us. Unfortunately, almost all of these important, potentially life-changing moments are entirely missed, because what is wrong with us, our false nature, sees what is true as an attacking enemy. Let me show you what I mean so that the next time truth makes an unexpected appearance in your life, you will recognize it for what it is: a friendly and beneficial force that is on your side. Permitting the truth to do what it is intended to do will permit you to be what you want to…

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Mindful Leadership: Don’t Judge, Come to Understand

Gordon Dean, former head of the Atomic Energy Commission, scrawled the following quote on the back of an envelope found beside him after his death in a plane crash. Never judge people, don’t type them too quickly, but in a pinch, always assume that a man is good and that at worst he is in the gray area between good and bad. Wise words, realized only hours -- possibly moments -- before Mr. Dean tragically died. If you are reading this, then hopefully you have the luxury of more life to live -- and to learn a valuable lesson from…

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Mother and Child on Grass

Mother is the First Beloved

Years ago, I worked with a gifted hypnotherapist. He was a newbie to the craft, just starting out, and I don’t think either he or I understood the scope of his abilities then. Suffice it to say, I went to places and spaces that were far beyond the price of his introductory sessions! We worked together in the dank basement room of a rental office downtown, the kind of place where folks set up flimsy folding tables and phone banks, then clear out overnight to whereabouts unknown. A way stop for fly-by-night businesses, filled with all the ghosts of failed…

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Ask a Luminary

Does a Broken Promise Mean a Broken Relationship?

"I'm disappointed by the lack of honesty in the world today. Recently I've had one promise after another broken by various individuals. Does anyone value honesty any more?" ~ Stephen, San Diego, CA Dear Stephen, Feeling that others are dishonest is a sign that your expectations are not aligned. It’s important to clearly communicate what you expect to happen and what you’re willing to do to help make it happen. You have two choices: 1. You can be right. That means that the other person must be wrong if they can’t or won’t meet your preferences. Your inflexibility will drive people…

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You Can’t Do It Alone: The Power of Community

It is only in the most recent history that people subscribe to the ideal of "independence," of doing it on your own, of not needing anybody to support you. And in concept, this may be a good idea but only as a concept. We have millions of years of a genetic heritage that argues for community and we have maybe 75 to 100 years that argues for independence. Human beings have survived out of their interdependence, not their independence. When infants are born they are completely helpless and would surely perish if not for the love and care given by…

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