A poem:
I felt like a fraud, a deceiver, a liar.
I’m guilty, imperfect, I’m ripe for the fire.
I fall short, I am weak, impatient, unkind.
I’m lost and I’m broken; I’m spiritually blind.

Relationships can get complicated. And communication fumbles can further complicate them. I know. I’ve complicated mine more times than I want to admit. But the good news is that effective, even intimate, communication can be learned, broken relationships healed, happiness returned and love restored.

Indifference puts a slow stranglehold on the throat of potential. It is what separates those who accomplish great things in life from those who wait for governments or luck to give them what they lack. It is the difference between those who are self-directed and those who see themselves as victims to a hostile world or painful personal history or the vagaries of fortune.

Have you searched for and grasped at happiness and found it fleeting and inconsistent? Are you tired of the effort, disappointment and frustration? Perhaps you’ve already come to the same conclusion I have, that happiness is just not for you, that, indeed, it was never meant for you. Now, before you jump to conclusions here, keep reading to see what I mean.

If you have a passion for something, pursue it! If it courses in your veins, give it life. Develop your talents. Become great at what you do. There is beauty and life and happiness and meaning in it irrespective of the dollar value others will or will not pay you to express it.

Motherhood is a profession worthy of a 7-figure celebration. In fact, Motherhood is the highest paying job on the market. What other position pays in the currency of so profound and deep a love as a Mothers’ love?

It’s my birthday today and was going to post another installment of “Things you don’t know about me” when I decided on a whim to share my personal happiness story with you instead. Here are 22 reasons I’m happy.

Life is really an accumulation of daily small stuff that adds up to one huge thing called living. It’s also called love … and kindness … and family.

Have you heard of the parable of the long spoons? It goes something like this: A man was once taken on a tour of hell and was surprised by what he saw …

For this Valentine’s Day, I offer you some of my most pithy thoughts on humanity’s favorite topic. Perhaps you’ll even find a nugget of wisdom buried amongst all the pith as well!

  The great thing about having children is that you get instant feedback on how Read More.

True spirituality cannot be developed in a vacuum. It cannot be exercised in isolation. To me, spirituality is connecting with the divine and letting that connection change us inside, so that we become something different than we were before the connection.

Words are the casings that contain the explosive power of ideas. They are packages of potent meaning, arsenals of potential. They can tie you to a miserable life or liberate you. They can wake us up, move us, motivate, inspire, change, redirect, open and free us. They can push us to reevaluate, leap, hope, believe, act, create and do. What words most reflect your life?

Are you addicted to your smart phone? Do you spend a significant chunk of the day online? Or playing games? Or watching TV? How long can you go without checking status updates or text messages or your twitter feed? The more we rely on electronic media and electronic forms of interaction, ironically, the more disconnected we become. This challenge is to unplug and reconnect.

Stop living life in neutral and start living with your foot on the gas pedal. It doesn’t have to be pushed to the floor, just enough to move you forward and get the adrenaline of passion flowing a little bit. Light the flame of purposeful living. Don’t wait. Get to filling life with the meaning and passion it lacks. Every day you don’t, you delay doing what you were created to do.

What is love and how can we grow our own little pot of it? Love is more than some might think. I contacted some of personal development’s blogging superstars to ask them to contribute their two cents on the topic for this Valentine’s Day post. Click on in to read their responses (and a few of my own thoughts).

In celebration of the life of the man who most personified the 1960s US Civil Rights movement, whose name is almost synonymous with that era, who risked everything and consecrated the movement he helped start with his blood, I give you 5 life-changing quotes by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Are you an emotional bully? Perhaps you suspect you may be, but are not quite sure. We often go through life with blinders on, very aware of what others are doing, seeing “clearly” what motivates their behavior, while not clearly seeing our own. Instead, we justify and excuse in ourselves the very same behavior we would never tolerate in others. That being the all-too-frequent case, the following characteristics should provide insight into what may have largely been ignored until now.

Happiness is the natural result of habitually living and thinking in certain ways. As a matter of fact, happiness is something that is quite predictable for almost all people as we develop certain habits of thought, belief, action and character. Some people are unhappy. Others are mildly or moderately happy. Some are even pretty happy. The following, however, are those principles that produce highly happy people.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live an extraordinary life? Well, extraordinary is as extraordinary does. An ordinary focus and commitment lacks the pulling power to lift you to the level of extraordinary. Extraordinary is extra-ordinary, after all. You just can’t reach it by virtue of ordinary effort. The “extra” is required. So begin to supercharge your life for an extraordinary impact of legendary proportions.