Say Goodbye to Anxiety
Love is the Only Answer
If I only had one word to describe and answer the questions I have posed to myself since I have been a little girl, the word would be Love. I would wish people were able to reach out to one another, to share, to cooperate, and to serve, realizing there is nothing to lose by being open-hearted, generous and fearless. There are only two emotions - love and fear - that determine our success and our joy in life. If one chooses love, there can be no fear because that person is willing to risk being different, unique, and to…
Getting Past Your Fears
My highest teaching is this: do everything you can to get beyond fear in your life and work. By doing that, you will find greater success than you can imagine. Fear holds us back like nothing else. But it's so tough to root out because it's pervasive in our lives—it's in our relationships, our self-image, and, especially, in our work. The work-related fears can be the worst: fear of not making enough money, not being successful, not meeting the expectations of others (usually our boss), or fear of being judged harshly by those around us. Any one of these fears…
Setting Goals Before You Start Your Journey
We have to know where we are going if we want to get there. What does this mean? We have to set goals. Imagine you are given a box of LEGOs and asked to build a castle. There is only one problem. There is no blueprint or picture of how the castle is supposed to look. So where do you start? What pieces should be placed together? Of course, you can start building; however, without a blueprint or picture, you can never be sure if you are heading in the right direction. Life works in this same way. We have…
The Brightest Light Is In You
This is what I want my seven grandchildren to know: that during my time on Earth, the brightest light I have seen has come from within me, when I have been at peace. Peace brightens me; it brightens the world I see. And there have been occasions when it has opened the door to Heaven and allowed me to visit for a spell. Peace has also saved me in the everyday world. The storms of change and struggle can be raging all around me, debris flying, dark clouds rolling in and everything out of control. But when I choose peace,…
I respect and acknowledge my worries or fears – then leave them behind.
From Women Will Save the World by Absolute Love Publishing
Transform Your Perception, Transform Your Fear
If only we still faced tigers in the woods every day! Our bodies evolved to handle physical threats like that, not the mental, psychological and emotional threats we now face constantly. Your body's chemicals are not at war with each other, but it certainly feels that way at times! Each of us produces more than 50 hormones, which collectively control how we behave, what we feel and how we respond to the world. The sympathetic nervous system produces fight-or-flight hormones whenever we perceive a threat, taking over from the parasympathetic nervous system, whose hormones keep us calm and serene. But…
Overcoming Fear
Stop Living in Fear
There are many ways to live in fear. When we hear the word fear, many conjure images of death, destruction, abuse, abandonment.... Of course, all of these situations would likely cause fear to arise in most of us. Fear's power, however, is not limited to such severe conditions. In fact, I believe that fear's greatest damage is done in the subtlest ways, oftentimes when no one's even paying attention. The little girl who sits on the bus so quietly, praying that she won't be noticed, and bullied. The mother and father who regard their little boy playing in the playground,…
Choosing Love, Not Fear
Life is a matter of choice. Every single moment we live presents us with an opportunity to choose. For a large part of my life, I didn't see life as a choice. Instead, I saw life as something that was happening to me. I felt like a victim, and I had evidence to support it! My father died when I was three. My mother left me and my sisters when I was fifteen. My first husband died in my arms when I was twenty-seven. To me, it seemed that everyone I loved left me - either by death or by…
Meditating from Panic to Peace
"I think I had an unhappy childhood!" I announced to a therapist at the age of 58. It's amazing what my brain had done to hide that fact from me. I'd developed a panic disorder at the age of 15. Terrified of the mental illness and sadness stalking my family, I'd self-medicated in high school, stashing a flask of vodka in my ever-present pocketbook. Over the next forty years, however, with the help of anti-anxiety medication, I managed to build a wonderful life for myself. I married a loving husband, had two beautiful sons, and enjoyed success in several different…