Sometime last year I came across a web site called Tiny Buddha, run by a woman named Lori Deschene. Anytime I run across a blog I really resonate with, it usually gets added to my RSS reader and it’s not unlikely that the person who created the site will eventually end up on BlogcastFM. Fortunately, Lori allowed me to interview her twice, and even sent me an advanced copy of her new book, Tiny Buddha: Simple Wisdom For Life’s Hard Questions. Today I want to share with you what I consider 7 of the most powerful lessons from her book and my thoughts on those lessons.
1. The moment we decide things don’t have to a be certain way, we create the possibility that things could better than we know to imagine them.
If there’s one thing I’ve realized over the course of my life, it’s just how much resistance kills our flow. We do this in so many areas off our lives and as a result will kill our own possibility. Once you decide that things don’t have to be a certain your actions will align accordingly.
2. The very act of making a different choice is in itself change
If there’s one theme that was echoed in almost every chapter it was that of choice. When most people look at making change in their life they see it as a rather daunting task because they wonder how they’ll ever get from here to there. Just remember, that all you need to do is take the first step.
3. You don’t need to worry about forever you just have to chose to use this moment to create the future instead of letting the future create you.
When you’re busy making plans, time is passing you by, and it’s our most precious asset. It simply can’t be replaced. Focus on what you can do today.
4. No amount of learning, striving or fighting can change the fact that only we can chose to be happy
One of the questions I don’t think we ask enough on this personal development journey is why. As a result we develop false expectations of what might make us happy. Often these expectations are based on external validation and we get everything we want only to find out it doesn’t bring us the happiness we think it might.
5. The irony in defining ourselves through other people is that we’re more apt to experience happiness in relationships if we’re true to ourselves
In the two relationships I was in, I can say that by the time I was mid way through the relationships I had become the person my significant others had wanted me to be rather than person I was. It wasn’t long until I found myself dancing on egg shells and dreading my time with my significant others. There’s a thin line between compromise and losing your sense of self in a relationship.
6. Money Can’t buy Feelings. No amount of success can erase the pain from the past
I’m not going to sugarcoat anything and tell you that you don’t need money. What money buys you is convenience and time. Even if it does enable you to change the way you feel, this is temporary since it’s based on something outside of you.
7. One of the most common misconceptions in life is that what we did yesterday has to somehow dictate what we can be or do today.
This seems to be an ongoing theme here at school lately as I’ve told you not to look back, to stop waiting for permission to be extraordinary, and realize that you can’t paint a masterpiece on a cluttered canvas. You get a fresh start and a blank slate every single day if you want it.
Lori was kind of enough to offer two copies of her book to my readers here at the Skool of Life. Leave a comment and I’ll pick two winners based on their comments.
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I find that point number 2 rings very true for me. Change is always daunting for me and I am trying to change my perspective of it by telling myself it is a new opportunity and experience and to take tiny steps at a time. Also, point number 5. I remember reading somewhere that events are merely events, they can affect us only if we allow them to affect us in choosing our response towards it. I am glad I saw this post, comes just at the right time as I have allowed certain issues to bother me. I should look forward and improve how I feel about the situation.
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