Setting goals and a salute
Hello! Setting many kinds of goals in your life and for your life can bring you great satisfaction. It is in the achievement–defintitely! It is in the awe and revel of vastly exceeding a goal. When you accomplish a goal your brain links it to a positive memory network in your mind that has feelings, thoughts, memories and a positive sense of being. Love, esteem, acceptance, peace, appreciation and compassion come with it. Setting goals comes with a great sense of joy. Even when you can’t meet your goals. That’s good when you...
read more“I am good enough” and lessons from marathon training
Hello World! There are strong feelings of rage, anger, grief, fear, rejection, betrayal, violence and annihilation in the statement, “I’m not good enough”. These strong feelings are turned inward upon the self. And they are learned from an unkind world. Most of the time this statement is powerful enough to keep one from inner peace. This is called depersonalization or disassociation. It is kind of like not really being aware of what you are doing. Like you are not in control of your strong emotions. Like all the parts...
read moreMen In Grief
Hello Gentlemen, The Long Time Light within- We all have darkness and space within us. This darkness isn’t good or bad. It just is. There is also light and infinite possibility in us. The darkness covers us from our inner light and if you ignore it you create more darkness and also start feeling bad anyway. Sometimes turning into the darkness brings change into your life. Change isn’t easy though. It comes with a lot of shock, grief, anger, sadness, pain, and hurt. Anger is a behavior that we adopt to avoid or steel ourselves to...
read moreRan into a pole–DONG! Ran into a fridge–THUD!
Hello world, Here’s the story: I was strolling through the park one day, On a hot and sunny Austin day. I was taken by surprise by some soccer dribbling guys– DONG! and I ran into a pole that day! I went face first into the pole. It was like the sound a ball makes when hit with a metal bat. Everyone around started laughing. I said, “I was looking at the soccer ball–I didn’t even see this pole! I was thinking I’ve never seen an orange soccer ball and then DONG! Oh man!” One of the guys exclaimed...
read moreBest day ever, yesterday
Hello families, It was a true blue day. The kind of day when everything went better than it has ever gone before. The kind of day where you get deeply present and connect to your life. The kind of day that feels like you found your grit. The kind of day with feeling like you’re barely holding on. The kind of day you surrender to and then find freedom. The kind of day when you take stock of yourself, your life. The kind of day where you grow. Have fun! Play is how we learn! Fun like a karoake night with your friends! The world is a tough...
read moreRest, Reflection, and Restoration
Hello all, “Ease into the habitually restricted places” is a prompt I heard from a yoga instructor. She was speaking about listening to your body in a deeper, more mindful way. The prompt is a good reflection for letting go, for moving into the tight places of your body and allow them to ease. These tight places are often emotionally painful places as well. Grief, pain, sadness, vulnerability are things that we tend to habitually restrict in order to deal with the world in which we live in. Developing habits is very useful. But so...
read moreBatman and the Theatre Shooting
Hello, I wanted to write a message of comfort due to the recent tragic shooting in Colorado. It is a scary and sad thing that happened this Friday. My thoughts go out to all of us, but especially to the families whom this violence fell upon. To all of those families, I’m very sorry this happened. Take care, take comfort. Talking and being with friends and family helps. There are professional counselors who are trained in dealing with grief that you can talk to. There are crisis hotlines listed on the internet that you can call to talk...
read moreThe Olympics: Here Comes Some Motivation!
Hello, Families! Did you ever dream of winning Olympic Gold? Maybe as a kid, maybe as an adult. Maybe right now, maybe never. What event did you want to win? What would be your favorite moment? That first moment you become aware of your score, your time? Standing on top of the podium, holding flowers, smiling when you had to bend over to have your medal placed around your neck? Listening to your national anthem as your countries flag unfurls? Maybe it’s the moment when everyone is focused on you and your performance? Maybe it’s...
read moreFamily Counseling: When You Want to Shoot the Laptop
Hello, Families! How do we act with compassion even when we are feeling hurt, pain, anger, betrayal? First things first: if you feel like shooting the laptop, don’t. It is time for you to self-soothe. Get away, take a break. If target practice helps, then go get a case of orange soda and drink half of it because you loved it as a kid. Then explode the other half with your target practice. Do this on your own–don’t record this on video. Then go back home and try to hug your family member. Tell them you love them. If you can...
read moreDad’s De-Stress Diet, pt. 1: Getting off to the right start
Hello, Fathers and Sons! Does this sound familiar? You wake up in the morning to the shrilling of an alarm and mercilessly push yourself out of bed. You wince and suck in your breath as you hobble to the bathroom as your ankles creak and scream at you. Back is stiff, neck is stiff, your body is resisting you and all the while you are grumbling unhappy thoughts. Then you try to distract yourself from these aches by thinking about work. By thinking about what you have to do today. Maybe you read some newspaper or grab the computer for...
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