» Spirituality & Values o5 Recipes for Life

Spirituality & Values Recipes for Life

4 steps to a wonder-filled life

Turn off your iPad. Walk away from your phone. These gadgets are great, but if you’re really after a rich, interactive experience, then stop staring at a screen and start enjoying the world around you. Remember how it felt to be completely amazed by the patterns raindrops left on a window? Or giggled as you [...]

The power of being a defensive pessimist

We’ve all heard about the power of positive thinking, and the need to “cheer up and smile” when things go wrong. But I’d be the first to admit that optimism doesn’t come naturally to me. I’m usually the one who worries about what can go wrong, and rein in my expectations so I don’t get [...]

How to let go of regret

Are there things you wished you had done? The class you never took, the things you should’ve said to your father before he passed away, the business idea you didn’t pursue that turned out to be the hottest trends of the year? We all have a few “shouldas, wouldas, couldas.” These unfinished emotional business can [...]

How to be happy (even on bad days)

Complete this sentence: “When I _______, I’ll feel happy.” Most of us rearrange our lives and priorities in pursuit of a goal, thinking that once we get there, everything else will fall into place. But while goals are a great thing to have, they can feed a deep and never-ending sense of discontent. Complete one [...]

How to conquer self-consciousness

I’ll admit it: I hate going to formal parties. I feel like I’m in high school all over again, wearing the wrong thing and saying something that will totally embarrass myself in front of the “popular kids” (in this case, the bosses, or the gorgeous socialites, or actually anyone else in the room). Once, in [...]

How to embrace change — and love it!

Any kind of change—moving to a new city, retiring from a career you loved, ending a long relationship—fills us with sadness and fear. But change is part of life. Trying to cling to a chapter of our life that has served its purpose can be like animating a corpse. Happiness and growth lies in allowing [...]

How to use mental rehearsals to prepare for a life change

There’s a lot of anecdotal evidence on how mental rehearsal has helped athletes achieve peak performance. They prepare for a big competition by imagining what they’ll do at a big game or tournament, from stepping in front of the crowd to what they’ll do at each point. They are also taught how to emotionally prepare [...]

How to build a resilient spirit

Let’s be frank: even if we’re smart, beautiful, talented, hardworking, the fact of the matter is, “Sh*t happens.” No use whining about it or blaming your parents, God, or your boss. The really successful and happy people didn’t have it easier than you. They may not have had your problems, but they certainly had their [...]

Signs your marriage is over

All couples face trials and challenges, and some problems can seem so insurmountable that divorce seems to be the only solution. Marriage counselors observe, however, that the size of the problem is not the biggest sign that a marriage is about to end. Some couples manage to work things out (even something as grave as [...]