“These pains that you feel are Messengers. Listen to them. Turn them to sweetness.” - Rumi Today – May 16, 2012 – is the American Psychological Association’s (APA) “Mental Health Month Blog Day.” The idea behind this day is to increase awareness of the importance of good mental health and the impact of stigmatization on those who…

“If we are not empty, we become a block of matter. We cannot breathe, we cannot think. To be empty means to be alive, to breathe in and to breathe out. We cannot be alive if we are not empty. Emptiness is impermanence, it is change. We should not complain about impermanence, because without impermanence, nothing is possible.” - Thich Nhat Hanh…

“The weak can never forgive.  Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” – Mahatma Gandhi We have all experienced events in our lives when we have held onto painful emotions such anger, sadness, guilt, and shame. Sometimes painful emotions are directly outwardly towards others, accompanied by experiences such as blame, resentment, doubt, or anger. These…

“One thing is sure. We have to do something. We have to do the best we know how at the moment… If it doesn’t turn out right, we can modify it as we go along.” - Franklin D.Roosevelt Problems in life can take on a variety of forms, but many of them share common characteristics that…

“Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.” – Kahlil Gibran My last post, “Stop Trying to Change Your Partner: Change Your Attitude –…

“Our capacity to make peace with another person and with the world, depends very much on our capacity to make peace with ourselves.” - Thich Nhat Hanh Relationships naturally go through various stages of development and changes over time as couples transition between romance, conflict, and resolution. Quite often, the same qualities that served as powerful early…

“Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.” – Buddha Sometimes life feels…

“Concern should drive us into action and not into a depression. No man is free who cannot control himself.” – Pythagoras Some people have greater tendencies to experience episodes of depression at different points throughout their lifetimes. A wide variety of biological, temperamental, environmental, psychological, and social factors impact various outcomes. A recent study found…

“That the birds of worry and care fly over you head, this you cannot change, but that they build nests in your hair, this you can prevent.” – Chinese Proverb Worry can be useful when it is experienced in the form of eustress, motivating you to take important actions or solve problems in your life….

“We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another, unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another.” – Anaïs Nin Have you ever wondered why you may repeat unhealthy, yet familiar, patterns in relationships with others or why you have…