A Quest for Well-Being

Anger has a lot to teach us, if we listen to it! We operate under a common illusion that the things that make us angry lie outside of ourselves, that they are external to us. Something out there is in opposition to our need for safety and security; it threatens our comfort or position. We feel a need to defend our vulnerable selves. Anger limits us. But if we have the courage to look at our anger...

"Love one another but make not a bond of love: let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls."   My conversation today is with Aydan Dunnigan-Vickruck about tango dance, sexuality, and spirituality.  Aydan writes about Tango dance is an excellent practice for relational dynamics. The idea is to relate what we express and experience on the dance floor to our life relationships. In...

Addiction sets up a trap for us while appearing to address a deep need we are drawn to its attractiveness and the promise of feeling complete in some way a replacement for "god" is introduced to rob us of true spirituality. We become spiritually malnourished   believing we have found peace, prosperity, and fulfillment in the very thing that will rob us of it.   In addiction, we mistake: - Numbness...

  "It took me many years to identify a life of purpose that is unique to me. My sun shines a little brighter each day, and every single day is filled with huge excitement, trust, and so much to look forward to."    "We like confidence because it feels good and it gives us a sense of control. The alternative would be constant anxiety.     To notice that voice in our head that running assessment we...

Johann Hari talks about Addiction and how Addiction intervention is usually conducted: Get an addict, all the people in their life, gather them together, confront them with what they're doing, and they say, if you don't shape up, we're going to cut you off. So what they do is they take the connection to the addict, and they threaten it, they make it contingent on the addict behaving the way they w...

"You have to know what you know and why you know it. Be comfortable in your own skin. All of the world's religions are directed toward Love. The issue here on earth is to learn how to love through the ages. We need, we all need, to learn the definition of love that can stand for all humankind. Forget about the dogma your religion has taught you. Forget about the rituals your dogma has taught you....

Jesus never called himself God, so why do so many people believe that he was God? Jesus Christ guides us to be forgiving of others; to be generous, to be compassionate and pray for our enemies. Some say Jesus Christ was just a man, or maybe a great teacher. The Bible says Jesus wasn't just some spiritual individual, he was the son of God but some believe Jesus was God himself. My conversation is w...

What is codependency?   What is like to recover from co-dependency?     Why did it hurt to realize it was time to take care of yourself?   My conversation is with Brandy Angel. Brandy is a photographer, a full-time mother who is also the creator of "Be The Change - Brandy Angel Foundation", a foundation that is dedicated to being and inspiring positive change in the world. In this episode, Brandy...

In the book "In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts" Gabor Maté writes that he sees addiction as one of the most misunderstood phenomena in our society.  People who should know better, such as doctors and policymakers believe addiction to be a matter of individual choice or, at best, a medical disease. It is both simpler and more complex than that. Addiction, or the capacity to become addicted, is very clo...

- How do we become aware of our untreated pain? And how do treat your patient's pain? - What is the healthy way to communicate our feelings to our partner without focusing on what he or she did wrong? - What are some of the other ways we can identify co-dependency in our relationships?   In this episode, Dr. Laura Louis answers these questions and more. Dr. Laura Louis is a psychologist, keynote s...

How is suffering different from pain?  How many millions of people suffer every day without any meaningful knowledge gained as a result? My conversation is with Heather Paris!   "The grief of losing loved ones don't need to become suffering, but rather, moment-to-moment gratitude. Be grateful for the irreplaceable gifts you've received while having them in your life. To have loved and been loved i...

What You Don't Acknowledge, You Can't Change. "We spend too much time and waste too much energy in "pointless" attempts to change what we cannot change. This is a major cause of frustration and other forms of anger. The rational evidence for determining what we can change and what we cannot change is overwhelming, however, our behavior often tries to disobey this reason." - (ref: emotional compete...

Fear of judgment? You are not alone. Deja Drewit is an artist/graphic designer and full-time mom of a 5-year old boy! Having her self-esteem and self-worth affected by childhood experiences, Deja, became afraid of people and their judgment. In this episode, Deja talks to me about how she has finally faced her fears and wants to help others do the same. "Don't wait to become fear-free to inspire ot...

"Thought patterns of addiction are energetically alive and that, which is alive and becomes threatened with obsolescence will fight to survive, and sometimes in secret ways. The nature of these impulses will continue as long as we live which is why awareness must be maintained and progress must be continued. Is it my destiny set to live a life of constant courageousness as a counter-measure to wha...