Tag: Journeys

Afam Onyema

Take Your First Step

One of my favorite figures from history is President Theodore Roosevelt. He lived an amazing life. He accomplished so many big things - he built the Panama Canal, won a Nobel Peace Prize, started America's national parks system. But he received a great deal of criticism during his lifetime, exactly because he dared to do big things. After his presidency, he gave a speech in response to all of those who had been hollering and sniping at him through the years. In it, he said that "it is not the critic who counts. The credit belongs to the one who…

Read more
- Wisdom is a gift gained from the past that serves as the foundation of our future. And, if you share it with others, you are helping them on their life’s journey as well.
Share

This Is Your Special Day!

How you are greeting this fine day? Are you bringing to it high energy... fresh from pleasurable dreams and a good night's sleep? Or are you slumping tiredly from your bed...and slowly creeping your way into the physical world? Either way is fine, because here's what I know to be true: You will figure this day out... just like you've figured out all the days of your life so far. And, with a little guidance, you may even find perfection in whatever comes your way today. How do I know this? Because I have lived so many days... woken up…

Read more

The Power of Self

Self is inward. It is private. Self is your deepest dreams and greatest aspirations. It is your assets, vulnerabilities, body, mind and spirit. It’s your truth; what you want, who you are and who you want to be. I don’t think I ever thought about self as its own entity. I’ve thought about self-confidence, the times in my life when I’ve had it and times when I’ve needed it. I’ve thought about words like selfish and selfless, but never about self as separate. Then I began my journey of self-discovery. A difficult divorce forced me to acknowledge that while I…

Read more
- Your journey to authenticity holds the mirror to your truths.
Share

Worthiness Will Definitely Come up on the Path of Spirituality

This topic is one that is bound to come up during each person’s path of spirituality: Worthiness. The deeper we go within ourselves, the more beautiful the internal world becomes. We tap into our purpose. We begin to understand what feeling good is all about. And even though this is all very natural: We are meant to feel good at all times… It is also new territory. The reality is most people have been conditioned into states of mind such as fear and worry – and sometimes these conditionings come from childhood. It’s almost as if we have to reverse…

Read more

The Importance of Asking Questions

We spend so much of our lives seeking answers to others’ questions and to the Big Questions: Who are we? Why do we exist? Why do we die? What happens afterward? How should we live? How can we be happy? How can we give back? What does it all mean? It’s important that we give these questions their due, that we try to answer them for ourselves. But we must also strike out on our own. In contemplation of the grail quest, comparative mythologist Joseph Campbell wrote, “Where there is a way or path, it is someone else’s path; each…

Read more
- Sometimes it is in the smallest steps that we find the largest movement.
Share
- This moment is the first moment of the rest of your life.
Share

Achieving Your Potential, Despite Adversity

Life is an adventure, a journey through many valleys with many mountains to climb. You're going to get tired, you're going to be hungry, you're going to feel lost. Some nights will be cold and filled with scary things. Some days will be long, hot and without comfort. Take the time, even when it's hard, especially when you don't feel like it, to stop and look back to see how far you have come. Look at your life in awe for what you have accomplished and know that you have the ability, the grace and the wisdom to continue moving…

Read more

Overcoming Failure

If you have ever hit a wall of failure at top speed, you know the paralyzing feeling that takes place inside your body. That paralyzing feeling stops you in your tracks, turns a great thing into your worst nightmare. If you have ever poured your heart and soul into something and somehow, someway, it failed, you know what it feels like. This feeling of defeat can lead you down two roads. One is the road to nowhere. This road is the road that keeps you from getting out of bed in the morning, changes your beliefs about yourself, changes the…

Read more

The Wild Journey to Healing Starts at Home

One of my big demons has been codependency. For a lot of people, this is a bizarre concept. At first glance, the characteristics of the caretaker seem positive. Caretakers are often sensitive, compassionate, deep feelers and problem solvers. They take care of stuff. They feel called to save the world. No problem is beyond them. Part of what makes healing from care taking patterns so difficult is because on the surface these appear to be positive qualities. Why would a person like this need healing? The answer is that the deeper and often subconscious motivation for these ‘selfless’ behaviors is…

Read more

Embrace The Process – Enjoy Your Journey

Enjoying the journey leading to the goal is as important as achieving the goal. Allowing the journey to divinely unfold is the secret to balance and success. Achieving goals starts at a very early age and is interweaved throughout our lives. Sell the most Girl Scout cookies. Win the spelling bee. Read the most books over the summer to receive the coveted award. Be in the upper 5% of your high school class to get the college scholarship money. Get the job with the top company. Get the bonus. Get the promotion. Buy a house. Buy a bigger house, etc.,…

Read more

6 Straightforward Tips for a Better Life

There will be many people you meet in this life that do not like you; don’t be one of them. Place your concern on the opinion of the person you see most – YOU. You owe it to yourself and the Universe to make peace with whatever is causing you pain. Be kind, forgiving, and patient. Know that you deserve -- and are worthy -- of your own love and respect. When you believe this with every ounce of your being, everything else will fall into place. There is a lot of negativity in this world; don’t let it bring…

Read more
stacey dorenfeld

Say Yes To Know!

As an adult I am learning to assume and model a healthy way to be there for someone in need. It is not to say that psychologists and counselors have all the answers, but most do have the skills of identifying behaviors and issues that are inherent in a rough patch in my or a close one’s life. Yes, there are consequences to being in a relationship with one who does not want to hear what you have to say or demean your feelings; however, we have to push as hard as we can to diminish the claim of being…

Read more

Whatever the Situation, We Can Always Love

  It is a very rare privilege to be able to share two modest insights on life with an audience such as you. I am most grateful for this opportunity. At one period in my life, I seemed to be right on the top of things: A successful trainer and writer, a comfortable income, exceptional health, a marriage given in example by all and a spiritual path of 40 years standing. And then in the space of a few months, everything came crashing down: my fabulous marriage; I faced the greatest health challenge of my life (with very dire medical…

Read more

Ignite Your Universal Light

At times you may feel alone or lost; like you were born at the wrong time, or into the wrong circumstances. As if you are in constant search for a lost ‘something.” That something is the light within you! You may have had a glimpse at the light every now and again and it gives you comfort, like a "coming home" sort of feeling. It stays with you for a time but diminishes as you move along. It comes back to visit and as much as you want it to stay with you, it fades. Maybe you have seen that…

Read more

How to Welcome and Learn from Restlessness

I used to seek change outside myself: a new promotion or job, home, country to explore, a new relationship. I also channeled my restless nature in physical exertion and a full diary. I was goal-driven, and achievement-focused. As long as I was busy, all was well. To slow down made me painfully aware of the discontent that trailed me like a twinge. I started climbing mountains as a hobby. In the outdoors, my mind slowed and I would return to my sea-level life fresh and recharged. Over time, I wanted to commit to my mountaineering passion as a way of…

Read more

What Baby Steps Will You Take Today?

If you're anything like me, with the New Year ahead of us, our minds are now turning to the things we'd like to accomplish in the New Year and to our resolutions. With the close of one year, it seems natural to look at our accomplishments and our outstanding goals and dreams. Sometimes that reflection can bring a feeling of excitement, and sometimes it can create a feeling of overwhelming proportion when the mountain ahead of us appears too large to summit. It's critical when looking at any large task to remember one thing. You first learned to walk by…

Read more

Honoring Your Process and Your “Bothers”

As a perpetual spiritual student and seeker of ultimate joy, I often find myself stuck in a web of conflict. Self-imposed and created, of course. After contemplation and mind games I play with myself to manage my emotions and implement my "schooling," I am left confused, frustrated and no happier than when I began. I persist in hopes of finding a way, "the" way, to relinquish bad feelings and resume feel-good living. There's something about the spiritual path of evolution that can make one feel "bad" for having thoughts and emotions that are anything less than happy or positive or hopeful…

Read more

The Truth About Transformation

Transformation is a process and a journey, not a destination. You will not wake up one day and be “transformed.”  Though some people, teachers or speakers may make it look like eternal and ultimate bliss, keep in mind that you're not seeing behind the scenes. It takes real effort, reflection and passion (drive and motivation!) to expand into a higher version of yourself... and to not fall back into old patterns. It’s a cycle, just like the wheel of life. You will have good days, bad days, slip ups, successes and everything in between. This doesn't mean something is wrong…

Read more