Barbara Brooks created Flamingo Strategies LLC to help clients stand up and stand out, through telling and sharing their stories of impact and purpose.
Hacking Away at Happiness is her blog.
All in Mindfulness
I read somewhere that the only reason to look back is to see how far we’ve come. But I think there are other reasons too. Especially when we’re feeling lost. Or itchy to discover what’s next.
We’re all living on borrowed time. Squatting on borrowed land. Eeking out a borrowed existence. So what does safety even mean? And how does it change as we age?
My whole life I’ve been on a quest for 20/20 vision. Perfect vision, I thought, meant perfect clarity. But of course that isn’t true.
If I’m not not careful—if I’m not aware of what I’m doing—I’ll not only ruin the rest of my time in Solana Beach, I’ll also ruin the imperfectly perfect life I have in Denver.
Even when we notice the cues, the real work still lies ahead. As we search for certainty, a sign can only get our attention. It can’t tell us what to do.
Inquiring minds wanted to know: What is true love for yourself? How do you know you have it? What does it look like when you get there? So here’s Part 2.
What if we’ll never find the peace we seek with another until we first understand and love the barely comprehensible human who already lives in our heart?
It’s hard to celebrate this calendar turn as either Happy or New. So, instead of staging a hollow celebration—or ignoring the day altogether—why not open our hearts and forgive?
I bumbled around looking for a match, but frustration set in. The heads were too boxy. The legs too short. Some pups were born too early. Others already were taken.
The central issues of our lives, from falling in love to facing death, require an ability to surrender that often eludes us.
Today is just another day. To wag more and bark less. To express our gratitude. To live as though we could die at any minute.
If staying over our skis is a metaphor for living in the present, how can we both stay over our skis and let something unknown and risky pull us along?
When I was an insatiable child, my mother would say “Greedy, greedy, makes a hungry puppy.” I hated that. But now I know this: “Busy, busy, makes a tired monkey.”
Going on so many dates may seem like torture. But it also creates compassion. For myself, and for the other guy.
This Independence Day I won’t lie on my back in the sand behind the Surfside Community Center—yes that Surfside—as I did as a child. But I’m learning to be free.
Whether our latest trench is made of heavy, mashed-potatoes snow—or of our own negative thinking—here are a few ways we might find ease.
In boxing, to pull a punch is to hit less hard than one can. In writing, it’s to be less truthful. So, friends, I’ve hit the pandemic wall. And I’ve got to get a handle on this.
Thanks to Bernie, I’m knitting again. I’ve been smitten by those mittens, and it’s time to share some love. And for the world to wrap and turn.
I want to hear laughter when I crack a joke. I want to hear silence on the line and know we both are thinking. If a friend is choking on tears, I want to hear that too.
Despite the dire nature of the holiday, I found tremendous comfort, again this year, in the familiarity of the prayers and songs of the season.
