GOOD Enough

GOOD Enough

Sometimes good enough is good “Uh…Good enough,” he tosses the words behind him and scuffs up the stairs to his room. My neighbour sighs at her son’s pubescent disengagement. I on the other hand, am caught off guard by his remark and gracefully slosh my scalding coffee down my chest. I grab a paper towel and start rubbing the stain even deeper into the fibres of my new shirt, all the while wondering both why I continue to defy fashion mag warnings of the perils of wearing white after Labor Day,  and how such a young kid could be so smart. The question that sparked this scene was banal enough. My neighbour’s 13 year old son had started high school four weeks earlier and while over for a casual cup of coffee I had simply asked him, “So, how’s school?” Good enough. Bored sarcasm? Or had he learned more in his last 4 weeks of secondary education than I had in 45 years of the school of life? –Good enough. Finding a friend in good enough It rarely feels that way. Not when we’re standing in the grocery line obsessively flipping our Facebook feed wondering why no one “likes” the brilliantly witty post we wrote a total of three a half minutes ago. Nor when our exhausted eyes well up as we gaze at the lopsided, oddly salty pumpkin cake that looks nothing like the scrumptious Tasty video we so wanted to impress our friends with. And certainly not when at brunch we listen to our girlfriend’s stories of strewn rose petals, lobster dinners and rings hidden in cannoli...
How Laughter can Help you Keep Relationships Positive

How Laughter can Help you Keep Relationships Positive

All of us go through tough times in life and it’s so important to make sure we get the most out of our relationships whether it’s with our partner, kids, friends or colleagues.  I, like many of you, have had my fair share of knocks in life and would love to share a few where laughter really made the difference and kept me positive. Laughter Yoga gave me a new sense of empowerment and confidence and I actually made a change in my life and decided to be happy no matter what.  This starting to show immediately and people started responding differently to me. Breaking up is hard to do: The first and possibly most important change that I owe to Laughter Yoga is with my relationship with my ex husband, the father of my 2 children. Visiting my kids every 3 months in Iran was so stressful and drained me so much.  Having had a toxic relationship and difficult breakup, it was hard for us to spend too much time together without getting into a fight, we had both built up anger because of the way things had turned out. This all changed when I learned how to change the way I looked at life and how I responded to what it was dishing me. I had called to book my trip to see my kids and had mentioned to my ex that I had started a new career in Laughter Yoga and was totally surprised by his reaction when he saw me at the airport.  Now imagine an arrogant, angry man who was bitter that I had...
Proof That Pain Is A Portal To Happiness

Proof That Pain Is A Portal To Happiness

Last Christmas I got really sick. I was knocked out for two weeks – the longest I’ve ever been sick in my life. I couldn’t eat, I could barely sleep, I just wanted it to end, it felt so horrid. Then I got better. But I didn’t just get better, I got BETTER! Once I was well again, I was walking around with a new found appreciation for my health, for life and for all the little things that I usually take for granted. Things like eating, having energy, smiling, being able to go out, meeting friends and being able to focus on my work. I was feeling better than I was before I got sick. Has this happened to you? Think back to the last time you got sick and then got better. Or a time when something was going wrong in your life and then started to improve. Did you experience that feeling of heightened joy and gratitude when things were back on the up? I’ve noticed this especially in people who’ve experienced great suffering – trauma, severe illness, poverty and breakdown of life as they know it. Those who’ve been through the worst suffering are often capable of being happier than those who have not. Getting a little sick did not necessarily give me long lasting appreciation and happiness regarding my health, but in other areas of my life where I have suffered, I certainly have immense gratitude and joy. In fact, it seems that the deeper my grief and pain, the greater my ability to find and hold on to happiness. Proving the link between...
Friendship: It’s Good for Your Health

Friendship: It’s Good for Your Health

 Think for a moment about one of your best friends (perhaps someone that you have been friends with for ages, or got to know more recently and just ‘gelled’ with)…visualise their face …imagine the sound of their voice…maybe looking forward to a planned meet up, or thinking of getting in touch with them very soon… The chances are that you currently have either a smile on your face, a warm feeling in your heart centre, or both. This physiological response clearly demonstrates that experiencing positive emotions – such as those felt when thinking about close friendships – can trigger the release of ‘happy hormones,’ which are good for your health! Friendships can bring sadness too if, for example, trust has been broken, you have grown apart, loss of friends through distance or bereavement, or if you don’t have someone you can call a best friend. This can spark sadness, anger, or hurt and even feelings of guilt for not staying in touch when life gets too busy and there just isn’t enough time… But why are friendships so important to health and wellbeing?  Friendship and 21st Century life As parents we encourage and support our children in making new friends and ‘fitting in’, but don’t always recognise the importance of seeking out new friendships as adults. Friendships can dwindle as people move house, job, or grow apart. The pace of 21st century life and raising a family can mean we don’t have the time, energy, or money to socialise, so social network sites such as Facebook have become an important communication channel for many people. But do Facebook friends...
Clarity is … transformative

Clarity is … transformative

Clarity is… transformative. “Just like the butterfly, I too will awaken in my own time.” ~ Unknown There comes a time in our lives when change is necessary. We can’t always control when transformation is going to happen. Marriage is almost always a conscious decision. Divorce? Not as much. School is a conscious decision, with a new beginning at various periods throughout our lives.  Acorns become oak trees. Sunshine offers shadows. Life is in constant movement. Friends. Change. Tastes. Change. Opinions, if we’re lucky, change. From time to time. We wake up to being mindful of the change. Or, we sleep through our lives. As humans, we are in constant change. Constant movement. Constant shift in awareness. Constant cell rejuvenation. We all age, but not all at the same speed. We all awaken to our newer version of ourselves, but not all at the same time. We see someone we used to know. We realize that they’ve changed. Only then, we think about our own version of that same changing process. Change is transformative action. Life is harder on some of us than others. Some people live in a perpetual state of glorious happiness. Others battle the darkness with every breath. Pockets of light or dark help to sustain life itself. The things we can count on to regulate our reality? The sun rises, then sets. The earth as we know it from our view of the universe stays slowly, constantly circling the sun. We choose to pay attention to the light or the darkness, unless something forces one or the other. When we go through the stages of grief, we...