Will you choose the hard that leads to growth or keeps you stuck? — Perhaps the most thought-provoking, stimulating first line ever penned is from M. Scott Peck’s The Road Less Traveled: “life is hard.” He goes on to say that once a person accepts that hardship is part of life, living becomes easier. There seem to be two kinds of hardships in life…

A Conversation from the Rainforest with Photographer Arun Rao — About five years ago I was lucky enough to fall in with a group of Indian expats through a meditation program in Houston, Texas. The organization was called Art of Living, and they became an integral puzzle piece in my quest to build a life worth living and a career…

On Norwegian Independence Day, we shared a traditional Norsk breakfast and then went to the children’s flower parade! — Just as nations and cultures individuate to become their unique collective selves, we each must individuate from our culture and family to become our unique self. And a big part of self-actualization is spontaneity, creativity, and JOY that is so effervescent in festival days! I’ve been so lucky to live…

You already have it within you, and it’s easier to access than you think! — Wisdom, like creativity, is often put on an exalted pedestal by society, as though only a select few are capable of wisdom. But that is a thinking error. Each person has the capacity to develop wisdom, which I define as the ability to correctly identify what you need to do…

Creativity has inspired humans to meet the challenges of being alive on an uncertain planet since the inception of our species. — Creativity has inspired humans to meet the challenges of being alive on an uncertain planet since the inception of our species. This magical force is the spark that helped humans meet their needs from and revolutionize our existence through the agricultural, industrial, and technological revolutions.Creativity is part of something very…

Many of us choose to leave our hometowns; this is the story of how I found my wings as I reconnected to my roots! — Many people fight memories of the past, but I have found that it is better to come to peace with my origin story—where I came from. No need to be ashamed of it, vilify it or pretend it was all rosy when it wasn’t. Here’s where I am from. It’s…

A FUN take on personality from Richard Bolles! — Imagine you are at a dinner party where you do not know anyone. You have been assigned to sit with six other people, and as the night goes on, you get a sense of the essence of each of these six people. The person sitting to your immediate left is…

The Johari Window can help us become who we truly are by exposing our blind spots and our hidden self — The Johari Window divides the way people relate to themselves and others into four “selves”: the open self, hidden self, blind self, and unknown self. The open self is the part of self an individual and world knows. It is what shows up in the search engine result: the biographical…

The world needs more harmonious, open hearted people. Are you willing to be one? — In the Sermon on the Mount, one of the most famous speeches in human history, Jesus preaches that “blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” Blessed means full of well-being, and a peacemaker creates a state of tranquility or quiet; freedom from disturbance; a…