The Incredible, Shrinking Relationship
Relationships shrink.
They get smaller and smaller until there’s no room to breathe.
Then, you must break out, or go crazy.
Have you ever felt like that?
If you can get past the pain and frustration and sadness, ask yourself how something rich and alive fell apart.
We may try to blame every problem on someone else, but the truth is more complicated.
We are not powerless. The decay of a relationship is not inevitable.
Are you a player in your own life, or does everything just happen to you?
Are personal growth and personal development real to you, or just words?
[Continue reading: Why Do Relationships Wither and Die?]
Living Dreams
I love imagination, passion, and possibility.
Weave them together with a sprinkling of hope.
Dreams of a bright future will fill your heart and mind.
And dreams are the fuel that drives personal growth.
Do you think that you’re too old to dream?
Many people assume that only the young can dream.
Everyone has moments when they are filled with passionate dreams of the future.
[Continue reading: Are You Hiding From Your Dreams?]
In the first two articles in this series, we explored seven ways that choice becomes a burden and a problem in your life.
Then, in the third article, we introduced three tools you can use to overcome those seven problems, and get back control of your life.
Here, we present four more tools to master the problems of choice.
The First Tool: Define Yourself!
Consider the three areas of:
- Being (who you are, including character and attitudes)
- Having (including possessions and knowledge)
- Doing (your actions, and the skills that enable you to act)
You define yourself, and let others judge you, according to a combination of the things you have, the activities you do, and the kind of person that you are.
You enrich or burden your life through the standards and goals you set for yourself in each of the three areas. This is key to personal growth.
[Continue reading: Four Tools to Take Control of Your Life]
Out of Control?
Are you in control of your life?
Life is wonderful, and dangerous and unpredictable.
Sure, you pretend that you have everything under control.
But you know that’s not true.
Pretending to be in control makes you feel safe.
And everyone wants to feel safe.
It’s hard to think about personal growth, enjoying life, or anything else, when you don’t feel safe.
[Continue reading: Three Ways to Escape Confusion and Take Control]
Very few things in this world are one-sided, all good or all bad.
In Part 1 of this series I introduced the idea that the extraordinary human power of choice can lead us into our own personal hell.
Barry Schwartz has written an insightful book on the dark side of choice, called The Paradox of Choice.
I’ve extracted and combined the many ideas that Schwartz discusses into 7 key pathways or gateways into a personal hell.
In part one, I covered the first four gateways. In this article, we’ll discuss the remaining three gateways.
[Continue reading: Seven Ways That Choice Makes Your Life Hell, Part 2]
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The Heart Fountain: Stories of the Energy Mind
The Heart Fountain is an ongoing collection of my stories. They speak about a magical world, but then again, I believe that all stories are full of magic.
The about page on The Heart Fountain site has more information on the stories, and the techniques used to free the unconscious and give it a powerful voice. Video Vision Statements and Credits |
