I’ve shared with you before that my lifelong goal has been peace of mind – an escape from worry, relief from constant anxiety. In my years pursuing peace, I’ve discovered this: each of us must carve a path for ourselves. No matter how appealing someone else’s methods or process, we must still make them our [...]

mis·take –noun 1. an error in action, calculation, opinion, or judgment caused by poor reasoning, carelessness, insufficient knowledge, etc. There is no such thing as a mistake. If someone had told me that years ago, I would not have believed it. Then, I thought nearly everything I did and said was just wrong. I made [...]

When a storm of life passes through, whipping up turbulence around us, we feel no control over our destiny. Things are happening to us, and it seems the best response is to be defensive. Reacting to the storm out of fear, we may lash out to push through it or turn inward to protect ourselves. [...]

In the midst of exploring Techniques for achieving peace of mind through our PACT with ourselves (see last post by Jennifer Smith on How to Build a Peace Habit), a friend of mine shared some thoughts on an earlier post in the series, Want Peace in Personal Conflict? Improve Your Attitude! . Coming from his [...]

Having made a PACT to Practice Attitudes and Characteristics using serenity-building Techniques, let’s consider Characteristics. Previously on Insanely Serene we explored the personal traits that determine our ability to change ourselves, Do You Have What it Takes to Change? Check the 10 Personal Traits. These are important elements in creating peace of mind on a [...]

Last week we looked at attitudes (What’s in an Attitude? Only Peace of Mind) and how they affect peace of mind. Now let’s get down to brass tacks with practical examples in an area we all struggle with at different points – relationship conflict. Relationship conflict is certainly in the top 10 causes of stress [...]

Our series on Peace at Any Point kicked off with the idea of making a PACT with yourself to: Practice Attitudes, Characteristics, and Techniques. Since practice applies to all three, we’ll weave it into our explorations of attitudes, characteristics and techniques. Today the focus is on attitudes. at·ti·tude noun 1. manner, disposition, feeling, position, etc., [...]

Turkey isn’t the only thing to gobble today, and it’s not even the tastiest. As we celebrate the end of the fall and a bountiful harvest, the best thing on the menu is gratitude. It’s better than food for so many reasons: It’s an attitude anyone can choose at any time – no matter what’s [...]

When someone in your life has an addiction, the focus is usually on that person. Addictions take many forms, from substance abuse to workaholism and overeating, and the effects on that person are often very obvious. Chaos, conflict, lost jobs, unpaid bills, arrests, jail, hospitalization, institutionalization, even death. Less obvious are the effects on the [...]

In the same way a child may repeat a grade for lack of passing the courses, each of us is given the chance to learn our life lessons over and over again, until we have mastered the proffered knowledge. Until we learn our lessons, we are not maximizing our enjoyment of life. So listen up [...]