Article By Kevin L. DeWitt

How do you deal with criticism?  I think the first reaction for most of us is to defend ourselves, or worse yet to lash back.

Yet, while criticism can be taken as hurtful and demoralizing, it can also be viewed in a positive way: it is honesty, and it can spur us to do better … to improve.

The following suggestions are areas I am working on in my life.  I am nowhere near perfect when it comes to accepting criticism, and I have the same impulse as everyone … to knee-jerk a reaction.  Nevertheless, this is what I strive for: Read More »

Article by Stefanie Johnson

There are magical places that exist within each one of us, inside our minds, hearts, and souls. By visiting these places, we can tap into the infinite and bring peace and abundance into our lives.

Each journey will be unique, as we are unique, so you may want to have a notebook and pen nearby to record your experience afterward. You may choose to have another person read the meditation to you so you may experience it more fully.      

Find a comfortable place, close your eyes, open your mind, and prepare yourself to travel within.

This week, let us experience the freedom and beauty of the Bird’s Flight. We will grow wings to soar above the problems of the day, and see the landscapes of our lives as they truly are, the majestic mountains as well as the deep, dark valleys.

The sun has just risen, and everything around you is soft, edged in gold light and silver dew. You are perched on a branch, watching the new day being born. You are a bird (what kind of bird do you see yourself as? What color are your feathers?), and the world looks bigger and sharper and more exciting to you than it ever has before. A soft, cool breeze ruffles your feathers, and you feel full of joy. Read More »

Article By Jennifer Snelling

For the last few years, I’ve had trouble falling asleep at night.  It mostly started after I moved to a new town from an area I had lived in my whole life and was introduced to new sounds that kept me awake. 

More recently I have found that my mind is too active at night for me to be able to fall asleep when I go to bed, which doesn’t help me maintain a sleep cycle.

In addition to the methods described in Judy Mosley’s article, “Sleeping with the Enemy:  How to Put Worry to Bed,” I have tried a lot of different things that really work in helping me both fall asleep and stay asleep.  Here are what I consider 10 “musts” for me: Read More »

Article by Marie Monroe

Finding balance in a busy life is difficult. Often we make temporary sacrifices in one area of life to focus on another more intensely. It’s important to be flexible enough to do this from time to time.  However over the long haul, especially if work is our chief focus, very real problems can arise.

Don’t get me wrong.  A passionate approach to one’s work is great.  It’s workaholism I am talking about here – working instead of attending to other parts of life.

Continual overwork is not productive despite its outer appearances. While periodic long hours and tenacity can produce a knock-out presentation, for example, chronic long hours and doggedness do not always help our workplace.  In fact, workaholism can sabotage morale and mission for the workaholic and our workmates (not to mention the effect on our family).

Using Work to Compensate

True workaholics bring a personal agenda into their jobs – whether they are aware of it or not - that jobs are not equipped to fulfill. Typically, they are compelled to overwork (or at least overstay at work) to compensate for other parts of their lives.  

What seems like an apparent zealous commitment to work can really be a desperate need for refuge, companionship or meaning.  For the workaholic, work is expected to meet needs that are more appropriately met through our family, friends, recreation, spirituality, rest and self-care.  In reality, the workplace is an inadequate and inappropriate place to meet many our personal needs. Read More »

“… despite the things we can’t change, there is still much more that we can.”

Article By Judy Mosley

Life can take all of us by surprise. Sometimes, it feels full of blessings.  And sometimes, it can feel like it has hit us in the gut when we least expected it.  

It could be a loss of any kind: a loved one, a job, a relationship, a house.  Or, maybe a dream of ours has come true, but the reality of it may seem very from what we had imagined.  Experiences like this could leave us winded and unsure about what to do next.

But we don’t have to lose heart.

It takes courage and faith to get out of bed and to face the day. That can be a struggle but it doesn’t have to be impossible.  It just means that we might have to change the way we do things as well as how we think about them… Read More »