I have been the queen of stuffing it - being patient, being compassionate, being understanding - AND too much of the time, being angry or frustrated or sad or afraid - and not really being aware of it! Its how I was raised. Its how nice people act. Its an unconscious reaction - or it used to be. I remember talking to my mother and sister years ago about boundaries - and they asked in unison Whats a boundary?. Ha Ha!

The older I get, the more aware I am of how I am feeling in the moment, rather than unconsciously ignoring my feelings. And, although my automatic response is often still to stuff it, my conscious response is to speak up, or to make a ... READ MORE

When you lose touch with your inner stillness, you lose touch with yourself. When you lose touch with yourself, you lose yourself in the world.   Eckhart Tolle

How many of us grew up in less than happy homes? As children we remembered, for awhile, who we really were, but we thought that (unconsciously, of course) if I just vacuum all this unhappiness up, and deal with it later, then everyone will be happy? And, I remember who I am, so I can handle it.

The problem was that we vacuumed up all the unhappiness, thinking the family would be happier - but they werent! They stayed unhappy! But now you are carrying around their unhappiness in your ... READ MORE