Tag: mental health
For those who can’t get unstuck (even if they want to)
The past five years of my life have felt like continuous upward momentum — an era of growth, healing, discovery and expansion (despite a few setbacks, of course). But a couple of months ago, that momentum suddenly came to a halt. It was as if my body had hit the emergency brakes before my mind ...
Top 4 Life Lessons from 2024
2024 was the Year of Plot Twists. Never would I have imagined that the second half of 2024 would look so drastically different from the first half of 2024—so much that I've opted not to make a recap video this year like I usually do on New Year's Eve, because it would be too, well, ...
Post-Breakup Reflections: Healing from Heartbreak
Even the most respectful and cordial breakups are inevitably messy—not because anyone intended it, but because the resulting emotional rollercoaster is impossible to avoid. After several months of embarking on my own healing journey, I can say that the 5 Stages of Grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance) are true. And even after you ...
How to Overcome Indecision, Doubt, and Dissatisfaction with Your Life Choices
The more I've had to make life-altering decisions, the more I've come to realize that it's nearly impossible to make the perfect choice. That's because the "perfect choice" rarely exists. Every path requires sacrifice. Saying "yes" to one path means saying "no" to another, and walking through one door means leaving another one unopened. We ...
Finding Self-Respect: The Power of Walking Away
When I was younger, I used to pride myself on constantly making a martyr of myself for other people. While I do still pride myself on having the self-control to be kind to people who are not kind to me, to refuse to fight fire with fire, to stay classy when I could easily be ...
Heroic Acceptance vs. Resigned Victimhood
Years ago, when circumstances forced me to let go of an era of my life that I wasn't ready to let go of yet, I had a very symbolic dream. In that dream, I was standing on a bridge that was beginning to crumble, and I could not outrun it. Whether I liked it or ...
Top 6 Lessons from the Past Year
To be honest, I’m still scratching my head wondering why I’ve been unusually happier this past year. It’s not like I accomplished anything big. The resolutions I made last year are the exact same ones I have now. I’m still scrambling for a greater sense of meaning and purpose. I’m still trying to reacquaint myself ...
Change is Hard: Why Knowing This Frees Us From Shame
It occurred to me that most of the things I say in this blog aren't exactly new; they're simply reminders of things that people already know but perhaps forgot. Most of us already know that we should, in theory, love ourselves. We know that authenticity is better than self-abandonment or chronic people-pleasing. We know that ...
Ripping the Bandaid Off: A Metaphor for Healing
I threw some bandages over some small cuts I had, because they stung like crazy whenever I showered or whenever they scraped against materials. What I didn't realize was that the bandages would end up irritating my skin even more; apparently I had some kind of allergic reaction to the adhesive. I eventually had no ...
The Space Where Healing Happens
A few weeks ago, something happened that triggered me. By "triggered", I don't mean being overly sensitive or easily offended (as the word seems to suggest these days). I mean that something happened, which was so reminiscent of a traumatic memory from my past, that I literally felt as if I had been transported back ...
Celine Diaz: Real Talk 