When making a decision, focus on what feels "shackles off" versus... by Martha Beck

When making a decision, focus on what feels "shackles off" versus "shackles on".

Martha Beck

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Categorized in : Decision Choices Focus

Emotional discomfort, when accepted, rises, crests and falls in a series of waves. Each wave washes a part of us away and deposits treasures we never imagined. Out goes naivete, in comes wisdom; out goes anger, in comes discernment; out goes despair, in comes kindness. No one would call it easy, but the rhythm of emotional pain that we learn to tolerate is natural, constructive and expansive... The pain leaves you healthier than it found you.

pain kindness inspirational

If you'd rather live surrounded by pristine objects than by the traces of happy memories, stay focused on tangible things. Otherwise, stop fixating on stuff you can touch and start caring about stuff that touches you.

touching caring memories

If a problem looks difficult, relax. If it looks impossible, relax even more. Then begin encouraging small changes, putting just enough pressure on yourself to move one turtle step forward. Then rest, savor, celebrate. Then step again. You’ll find that slow is fast, gentle is powerful, and stillness moves mountains.

small-changes powerful moving

Breathe in, breathe out, no fear, no doubt. by Martha Beck

Breathe in, breathe out, no fear, no doubt.

breathe no-fear doubt

To live a life that is wrong for you is a form of dying. There are people who have lives that look perfect. They try to be happy, they believe they should be happy, they are trying to like it, but if it's off course from their north star, they aren't satisfied.

stars believe people

Fear is the raw material from which courage is manufactured. Without it, we wouldn't even know what it means to be brave.

raw-materials brave mean

Instead of fretting about getting everything done, why not simply accept that being alive means having things to do? Then drop into full engagement with whatever you're doing, and let the worry go.

why-not worry mean

Almost all my middle-aged and elderly acquaintances, including me, feel about 25, unless we haven't had our coffee, in which case we feel 107.

elderly middle coffee

I am free, and always have been; free to accept my own reality, free to trust my perceptions, free to believe what makes me feel sane even if others call me crazy, free to disagree even if it means great loss, free to seek the way home until I find it.

crazy home believe

What would you do if you knew that every good thing in your life depended on your getting enough rest? Because it does.

good-things enough doe

We are a time-starved people, obsessed with fitting huge achievements into our few years. In the process, we often fill our buckets with things that don't matter or work. But when we give up on trying to change what can't be changed, and simply embrace what we love, a miracle occurs. We notice that the moment to be happy has already arrived. It's here, now.

giving-up people years

No part of your experience is wasted. Everything you've experienced so far is part of what you were meant to learn.

Your individuality is the most valuable thing you have. by Martha Beck

Your individuality is the most valuable thing you have.

valuable-things valuable individuality

Don't expect the future to look like the past. Clear away expectations, and let yourself picture a wild, grand new world.

expectations inspirational past

It isn’t necessary to know exactly how your ideal life will look; you only have to know what feels better and what feels worse…Begin making choices based on what makes you feel freer and happier, rather than on how you think an ideal life should look. It’s the process of feeling our way toward happiness, not the realization of the Platonic ideal, that creates our best lives.

feel-better choices thinking

The way we do anything is the way we do everything. by Martha Beck

The way we do anything is the way we do everything.

If you feel stuck in your present life, if you feel no enthusiasm for anything, if you think you have no purpose or that you lost that purpose somewhere along the way, I guarantee you are living in a dungeon made of stories. And that none of those limiting stories are true.

purpose guarantees thinking

Most unhappy people need to learn just one lesson: how to see themselves through the lens of genuine compassion, and treat themselves accordingly.

compassion unhappy people

Do something today that you think is too delicious, by Martha Beck

Do something today that you think is too delicious,

selfish today thinking

The way that other people judge me is none of my business. by Martha Beck

The way that other people judge me is none of my business.

judging people way