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Showing posts with the label spirituality

Claire Bennet vs Samantha LaRusso: Two Teenage Heroes, Two Completely Different Battles

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 Two teenage girls. Two hugely popular television franchises. Two very different ideas of what it means to survive. Claire Bennet from Heroes and Samantha LaRusso from Cobra Kai may come from completely different worlds, but their stories share more DNA than it first appears. Claire is the cheerleader who discovers that her body can regenerate from almost any injury. Sam is the daughter of Daniel LaRusso, raised in the shadow of one of cinema and television’s most recognizable martial-arts legacies. One possesses an extraordinary supernatural ability. The other has to survive with nothing more than training, determination, family support and her own ability to overcome fear. That difference makes their comparison fascinating. Claire Bennet: The Girl Who Was Never Allowed to Be Normal When Heroes introduced Claire Bennet, she initially looked like an ordinary American teenager. She was a cheerleader. She worried about school, relationships, popularity and her family. Then she dis...
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Are You Too Keen to Fall in Love?

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   I suspect we all know people who simply have to be in a relationship. If one relationship ends they're immediately on the alert, desperately on the lookout for the next person to fill the vacancy in their life. Is this okay or do you think there's something wrong with being so keen to fall in love? Certain times of the year have the potential to be especially testing for single people; Christmas, Valentine's Day, birthdays, long weekends, events where couples are invited together can all accentuate the feeling of being alone and without a significant other. - Some people don't feel complete unless they have a special someone in their lives, someone to look after, care for, think about. They may even experience a physical incompleteness when they're unpartnered, a deep emptiness inside, where their need to be needed defines who they are. Their relationship with their significant other gives meaning to their lives. - But when a relationship ends it's often good...
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The ABC's Of A Great Life: "Z" Is For Zeal

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 A great life demands a great response and a great capacity for enjoyment. Zeal is all that and more. It is more enthusiastic than enthusiasm, more glittery than gold, and brighter than sheer brilliance. It is a single-minded focus of energy that ignores or avoids nothing yet manages to steer clear of the worst detritus floating in the currents of life. Zeal is the zig and the zag of life, the zap of experience and the zowie of discovery. It is the ability to indulge without addiction, absorb without being consumed, and engage without being entangled. It sticks its tongue out at boredom and exhaustion. It good-naturedly drags doubts along the path, kicking and screaming, yet never abandons them to the dark. It is the energy that yanks you out of bed in the morning and the peace that lets you sleep at night. It is the spirit of life and the ecstasy of death. It is the core of a great life. What provokes your zeal? What dampens it? How can you bring more of the former and less of th...
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The ABC's Of A Great Life: "G" Is For Gratitude

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 Here's a snippet from the growing field of "gratitude research" to chew on: "Grateful people are happier, more optimistic, more satisfied with their lives," says Michael McCullough, a University of Miami psychology professor. "They are more empathetic toward others. We even have a bit of evidence that grateful people are viewed as kinder, more helpful, and more supportive than less-grateful people." --Jeff Diamant, Your mind tends to thank you for feeling so thankful, The Star-Ledger, November 26, 2003, How's that for an incentive to learn the fine art of being grateful? But there are far better reasons than just personal benefit to be gained from the practice of gratitude. The article goes on to say that the studies cited not only indicate an influence on the person as a specific entity but also that "the findings have potentially profound ramifications on society." I would imagine so - if you have ever found yourself unable to keep fr...
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The ABC's Of A Great Life: "O" Is For Openness

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 There are three facets of openness that we must embrace in our lives to have and enjoy a truly remarkable life. The first is experiential openness. By remaining open to the joys and passions of life, its unforeseen discoveries, and its predictable ebbs and flows, we can include and enjoy all the joyous treasures that this life has to offer. However, to be open to the good, we also have to risk leaving ourselves available to the bad, the hurtful, and the unhappiness. Fear of this side of openness encourages many of us to close off and retreat from the whole experience of life. But that way lies death, of the Spirit if not of the body - although science has repeatedly shown that the presence of a rich and varied life, complete with highs and lows, is a pervasive and robust indicator of long life vital health. The second facet of openness is the openness of the mind, the ability to think, to see all sides of an issue, and to remain capable of understanding, respect, and tolerance eve...
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The ABC's Of A Great Life: "C" Is For Create

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 The act of creation - bringing forth that which is within us outward into the world, in material or ethereal form - is a vital part of a rich and fulfilling life. Yet, unfortunately, it is a part of our lives that is often stifled well before we are old enough to realize its true meaning in our lives and far before we are capable of understanding its actual value. When most people say that they feel empty or unfulfilled, what they are often missing is that necessary dose of vitamin "C." Instead, they spend most of their time numbly floating along in the current of mundane and often mindless activities that make up their day without ever allowing themselves to express themselves freely or just let who they are out into their world. But each of us needs this generative spoonful of sugar to help the medicinal parts of our lives go down easier and smoother. Without it, our life consumes us, rather than reflecting and supporting us. How are you enabling the creator to have the fr...
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The ABC's Of A Great Life: "X" Is For Xtreme

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 No, that's not a typo or a "fudge" to fit something into the "X" slot that doesn't start with the letter itself. Instead, there is a marked difference in our cultural lexicon between "extreme" and "Xtreme." "Extreme" is a correct word, accurate enough, meaning over the top, to the limit, or as far as you can go. But many people, especially sports fanatics, have coined the term "Xtreme" as a way of describing something that goes beyond the extreme and into the realm of sheer potential and possibility, that goes beyond the illegal limits, that pushes them further than they have gone before. And there's something more, too, in the meaning of the word - a spirit of raw life lived on the edge of perfection and brilliance; the creation of a space where time slows, the mind reels, and the spirit sing. Bringing the concept of "Xtreme" into your life opens you up to a whole new realm of experience. Refusing to ac...
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The ABC's Of A Great Life: "M" Is For Meaning

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 One of the cornerstones of an extraordinary life is meaning - the richness, purposefulness, and direction that stem from knowing that what you do and who you are matters deeply. So how do you achieve a life of meaning? Simply this - you make a conscious decision every day to... ...engage in those activities that actively enrich, rather than actively or passively detract, from your life and the lives of those around you, ...bring into your life sources of inspiration, exaltation, and exhilaration, ...dedicate your life to working for the common good, rather than the individual preference, ...and live in integrity with your values 24/7, neither denying them nor reserving them for specific days or specific activities. Of course, this means giving up certain things. For example, you must give up your attachment to the outcome, knowing that sometimes what should be and what will be is not always what you would prefer or what feels good to you. You must give up the little chase for the ...
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The ABC's Of A Great Life: "R" Is For Respect

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 A great life is based on respect - respect for others, self, and spirit. You must be able to demand respect from others, teach them what that means to you, and refuse to allow them to treat you otherwise. Likewise, you must offer the same to those around you, in full measure, without exception or restraint. Genuine respect does not demand that someone change to meet your approval first, and you should not bow to others' demands of the shift from you. But what of those who will not give respect or those whom you cannot respect yourself? In the former case, you simply must remove yourself from their presence as much as possible, even to the extent of leaving a job, a friendship, or even a family relationship. Allowing others to treat you disrespectfully will diminish who you can be and what you can offer the world. It will eat away at your strength and distract you from your goals by drawing away the needed focus and energy to deal with and clean up after the effects of their bad be...
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The ABC's Of A Great Life: "T" Is For Truth

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 Now, I am not one of those who will tell you that to have a great life, you have to tell the whole truth, nothing but the truth, all day and every day, so help you, God. That's flat-out impossible and not a little bit wrong. The little white lies that allow us to avoid hurting one another, the ability to leave out parts of an otherwise honest assessment that are irrelevant and potentially destructive, and the ability to know something genuine and not say anything at all, because it is neither our business nor our place to do so, are vital skills that help create a great life, rather than preclude it. Instead, truth, in this case, means knowing what is good and honest and trustworthy about yourself and your life. It knows what is authentic for you, what upholds your integrity, and diminishes it. It understands what is true for you in any situation. It also understands that this may not be true for anyone involved in the same case - and that this variance in truth is both expected ...
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