“I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.” ~Mark Twain
Life happens. And sometimes when life happens, we can get pretty stressed out. I’ve found that the way we view situations can either reduce our stress or make it worse. Here is just one way we aggravate situations, possibly unnecessarily, and how we can adjust our perspective to keep stress in check.
A colleague of mine claims that he is “calendar-challenged.” He is often unable to attend meetings at the last minute or shows up late. I am, by contrast, a planner. I live by my calendar and know what I am doing months in advance. The different approach that my colleague and I take in the way we plan—or don’t plan—can cause friction.
I could interpret my colleague’s behavior as merely irresponsible and chalk it up to a fairly ingrained part of his personality. That situation is irritating at worst. Or, I could take his lackadaisical approach personally by assuming that he doesn’t value me or my time. That’s somewhat stressful. I could even interpret his behavior as intentional and assume that he takes delight in making me <a href="https://tinybuddha.com/blog/20-things-to-do…
“I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.” ~Mark Twain
Life happens. And sometimes when life happens, we can get pretty stressed out. I’ve found that the way we view situations can either reduce our stress or make it worse. Here is just one way we aggravate situations, possibly unnecessarily, and how we can adjust our perspective to keep stress in check.
A colleague of mine claims that he is “calendar-challenged.” He is often unable to attend meetings at the last minute or shows up late. I am, by contrast, a planner. I live by my calendar and know what I am doing months in advance. The different approach that my colleague and I take in the way we plan—or don’t plan—can cause friction.
I could interpret my colleague’s behavior as merely irresponsible and chalk it up to a fairly ingrained part of his personality. That situation is irritating at worst. Or, I could take his lackadaisical approach personally by assuming that he doesn’t value me or my time. That’s somewhat stressful. I could even interpret his behavior as intentional and assume that he takes delight in making me <a href="https://tinybuddha.com/blog/20-things-to-do…
People are often confused over how many reps to do in their workout routine. The truth is, it really depends on what your goal is and what muscle group you’re targeting. Generally, your workout routine should include some mixture of low repetition heavy weight sets and high repetition low weight sets. The number of repetitions should also vary depending on … Read More
People are often confused over how many reps to do in their workout routine. The truth is, it really depends on what your goal is and what muscle group you’re targeting. Generally, your workout routine should include some mixture of low repetition heavy weight sets and high repetition low weight sets. The number of repetitions should also vary depending on … Read More
It seems every family has at least one kid who just won’t try new foods.
And there’s nothing more frustrating than cooking a beautiful meal, only to have your kids call it yucky or spit it out. But that’s kids… wearing every emotion and opinion right on their sleeve.
Because of this, some parents spend hours in the kitchen preparing individual meals catering to individual tastes, just to get their children to eat. Or they cave, and let their child eat whatever processed food makes them happy.
No one said parenting would be easy…
My husband Dave and I are parents to four great kids — all plant-based. Sounds like we’ve got it made, right?
Let me tell you, over the years, we’ve had our fair share of food battles. And when it comes to food battles, there’s one important lesson I’ve found to always be true:
Food battles are all about control and identity.
And although it may not feel like it in the moment — when your kids are throwing a tantrum over broccoli — them asserting their opinions about what goes into their bodie…
It seems every family has at least one kid who just won’t try new foods.
And there’s nothing more frustrating than cooking a beautiful meal, only to have your kids call it yucky or spit it out. But that’s kids… wearing every emotion and opinion right on their sleeve.
Because of this, some parents spend hours in the kitchen preparing individual meals catering to individual tastes, just to get their children to eat. Or they cave, and let their child eat whatever processed food makes them happy.
No one said parenting would be easy…
My husband Dave and I are parents to four great kids — all plant-based. Sounds like we’ve got it made, right?
Let me tell you, over the years, we’ve had our fair share of food battles. And when it comes to food battles, there’s one important lesson I’ve found to always be true:
Food battles are all about control and identity.
And although it may not feel like it in the moment — when your kids are throwing a tantrum over broccoli — them asserting their opinions about what goes into their bodie…
In this episode of The Minimalists Podcast, Joshua & Ryan discuss the best ways to explain minimalism to your parents and other relatives, and they answer the following questions:
How do I address my parents’ toxic, wholly unsupportive relationship with me, and how do I forgive them for it?
How do I help my loved ones better understand my lifestyle choices so they simply accept me?
What do I do when my parents ask me to clear their clutter for them, but they won’t let go of anything?
How do I help my aging parents understand that many of the possessions they want to pass along to loved ones have little intrinsic or extrinsic value?
In this episode of The Minimalists Podcast, Joshua & Ryan discuss the best ways to explain minimalism to your parents and other relatives, and they answer the following questions:
How do I address my parents’ toxic, wholly unsupportive relationship with me, and how do I forgive them for it?
How do I help my loved ones better understand my lifestyle choices so they simply accept me?
What do I do when my parents ask me to clear their clutter for them, but they won’t let go of anything?
How do I help my aging parents understand that many of the possessions they want to pass along to loved ones have little intrinsic or extrinsic value?
It could be because my own wedding is any day now, but I’ve been thinking a lot about the Buddhist view of love. Our officiant, Susan Piver, writes in her new book The Four Noble Truths of Love that an important aspect of love in a long-term committed relationship is to stand together, shoulder-to-shoulder with the other person, especially in the midst of discomfort. While my partner and I have done that for a number of years, and are committing to doing that for the rest of our lives, we feel like we do need to revisit this principle with the challenge of our wedding day in mind. As tension mounts with the vast number of friends and family coming together, we have no doubt that discomfort will be present on the big day.
So, what is one to do when approaching a large gathering, like a wedding, family holiday, or even high school reunion? Tension surfaces, people get nervous, rarely does anyone say the right thing, but we all want to be happy and live a life of love, right? In Buddhism, there are these practices known as the four brahmaviharas, or four immeasurables, that we can engage in to promote and embrace love: loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity. Each of these are aspects of love that we already possess and can cultivat…
It could be because my own wedding is any day now, but I’ve been thinking a lot about the Buddhist view of love. Our officiant, Susan Piver, writes in her new book The Four Noble Truths of Love that an important aspect of love in a long-term committed relationship is to stand together, shoulder-to-shoulder with the other person, especially in the midst of discomfort. While my partner and I have done that for a number of years, and are committing to doing that for the rest of our lives, we feel like we do need to revisit this principle with the challenge of our wedding day in mind. As tension mounts with the vast number of friends and family coming together, we have no doubt that discomfort will be present on the big day.
So, what is one to do when approaching a large gathering, like a wedding, family holiday, or even high school reunion? Tension surfaces, people get nervous, rarely does anyone say the right thing, but we all want to be happy and live a life of love, right? In Buddhism, there are these practices known as the four brahmaviharas, or four immeasurables, that we can engage in to promote and embrace love: loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity. Each of these are aspects of love that we already possess and can cultivat…
Hi guys! I hope you had great weekends. Ours was filled with lots of family time, work around the house, and good eats! First up: grilled tuna tacos on Friday night on our deck with Matt’s parents and our sister-in-law.
My father-in-law and I dreamed these up – we thought tacos would be fun, but wanted to do something a little more unique than usual tacos, so I thought seared tuna would be fun! Matt did a simple sear of the tuna on the grill, and the fillers included:
Hi guys! I hope you had great weekends. Ours was filled with lots of family time, work around the house, and good eats! First up: grilled tuna tacos on Friday night on our deck with Matt’s parents and our sister-in-law.
My father-in-law and I dreamed these up – we thought tacos would be fun, but wanted to do something a little more unique than usual tacos, so I thought seared tuna would be fun! Matt did a simple sear of the tuna on the grill, and the fillers included:
“There’s no such thing as what you ‘should’ be doing with your life.” –Lori Deschene
How often have you thought about what success means to you?
If you’re anything like my younger self, that would be almost never. It’s not that I didn’t want to be successful. It’s just that it wasn’t something I’d given much thought to. No one ever asked me about it or even encouraged me to think about success. I’d just absorbed it from the people and culture around me, watching how they lived and what was important to them.
From what I saw around me, I internalized a vague idea of success as looking like a decent job and a house with a dining room and a tidy green lawn. So that’s what I was going to do. I was going to follow that plan for success and live happily ever after. How could there be anything wrong with this plan? Who wouldn’t want these things?
I was going to make this dream happen. I went to college, got a good corporate job, and waited for happiness to rain down on me. It didn’t. I was miserable in that job and left it to try a different position. And then another different position.
Along the way, I became a homeowner with a dining room and a tidy green lawn. Okay, happiness—I’m ready for you! But it turned o…
“There’s no such thing as what you ‘should’ be doing with your life.” –Lori Deschene
How often have you thought about what success means to you?
If you’re anything like my younger self, that would be almost never. It’s not that I didn’t want to be successful. It’s just that it wasn’t something I’d given much thought to. No one ever asked me about it or even encouraged me to think about success. I’d just absorbed it from the people and culture around me, watching how they lived and what was important to them.
From what I saw around me, I internalized a vague idea of success as looking like a decent job and a house with a dining room and a tidy green lawn. So that’s what I was going to do. I was going to follow that plan for success and live happily ever after. How could there be anything wrong with this plan? Who wouldn’t want these things?
I was going to make this dream happen. I went to college, got a good corporate job, and waited for happiness to rain down on me. It didn’t. I was miserable in that job and left it to try a different position. And then another different position.
Along the way, I became a homeowner with a dining room and a tidy green lawn. Okay, happiness—I’m ready for you! But it turned o…
Massaged kale salads are such an easy way to “cook” the rough, leafy greens that get a bad rep for being rabbit food. To massage kale properly, I like to work olive oil into the leaves with my hands, getting into the cracks and crevasses. The oil serves as a marinade of sorts, making the leaves tender and easier to digest. After massaging, I like to sprinkle a little bit of acid (here, I used fresh lemon juice) and a pinch of sea salt to make the leaves even more soft and smooth.
A fresh summer peach and pear, as well as unsweetened coconut flakes, add the perfect touch of natural sweetness without any added sugar involved. The best part of this recipe is the creamy avocado drizzle, which you’ll likely want to make again before the last bit gets scooped out of your bowl. Serve it with raw veggies as a snack, or spread a generous portion on a fresh sandwich in place of mayo.
