Author: emilydownward
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Time for Something to Change
“The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.” – M. Scott Peck…
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Compassion
“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” – Dalai Lama We all know we shouldn’t judge others. Many of the world’s religions and belief systems advise us not to judge. It’s a good ideal. However, it’s in our nature to judge. It’s common to look…
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Spilling Blueberries
I’m having “one of those weeks.” You know, the kind where everything seems to be not working smoothly, where even the simplest things are challenging, where you want to just throw your hands up and give up. And I’ve spilled blueberries TWICE. The thing about spilling blueberries is, they roll away in every direction! The…
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When is Enough Enough?
“Our obsession with attaining prevents us from finding contentment. We strive to attain wealth and status and possessions, but there is no end to that desire to attain. It never ends. We’re never content. And so we strive for more, and never find enough. This has led to huge waste, huge inequalities, bad health, and…
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Tend Your Own Garden
“If I make one point in this book, I hope it is that the surest way to make ourselves crazy is to get involved in other people’s business, and the quickest way to become sane and happy is to send to our own affairs… Self-care is an attitude of mutual respect. It means learning to…
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Happiness – it’s easier than you think
“90% of your long-term happiness is not determined by your external world but by how your brain processes the external world.” – Shawn Achor Love this uplifting and laughter-inducing video by Shawn Achor at TEDx. And check out his description of the typical Friday night. 🙂 [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXy__kBVq1M]
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Personal Triumphs
“I learned that the best way to change the world is to change yourself.” – Joe Cross I watched the documentary “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead” this past weekend. It’s a story of personal triumph, of one man taking responsibility for his choices, specifically what he eats, to change his experience. Along the way, he…
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Quiet Time
“Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself, and know that everything in life has purpose.” – Elisabeth Kubler-Ross Our lives are so busy. Perhaps not every culture is like this, but here in America, we push ourselves to do More, More, More! Countless articles and books have been written about the art…
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Inner Guidance
“No man is great enough or wise enough for any of us to surrender our destiny to. The only way in which anyone can lead us is to restore to us the belief in our own guidance.” – Henry Miller, American novelist and painter. Perhaps you are one of those fortunate people who always heard…
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I Choose
I have just returned home from a visit to New Mexico. My parents are staying in Cloudcroft, NM to escape the seemingly unending Texas heat, and they invited me up for a long weekend. After 64 days over 100 degrees Fahrenheit here in Austin, it was glorious to breathe the much-cooler, fresh mountain air and…