Feel Your Anger

by Merci Gracia | Sep 30, 2015 | Anger

Anger arises when our desires aren’t in harmony with what’s going on. Because it can feel threatening to ourselves and others, we sometimes suppress or internalize it. But we can only heal our feelings by feeling them. While it’s not always...

Judging and Compassion

by Merci Gracia | Sep 29, 2015 | Compassion

When we think someone has made a poor choice, we need to remember that it probably seemed like the best option at the time. Whatever they learn from the experience could help them make better choices next time. We judge when we think that we could have done it better....

Awareness, Acceptance and Responsibility

by Merci Gracia | Sep 28, 2015 | Responsibility

When we’re afraid of feeling blame or shame, it’s difficult to accept responsibility for our actions. A good way to move through life with integrity is to ask ourselves: what within us might have wanted to create this situation? Real growth only happens...

Tell the Truth

by Merci Gracia | Sep 27, 2015 | Authenticity

Whatever we can’t tell the truth about doesn’t serve our overall well-being. The fact that we feel the need to lie or mislead means that we’re pretending to be something we’re not in order to manipulate others. But, the short term benefits are...

Immobilized by Fear

by Merci Gracia | Sep 26, 2015 | Fear

When we’re afraid of the consequences of taking the wrong action, we freeze. It’s the result of an over-active mind looping on endless what-if-something-goes-wrong scenarios. When we’re present, we have a much greater command of what can be done. If...