Written by Joe G. Santos

Radical Acceptance (RA) is a term floating around in both spirituality and behavioral psychology circles. In a nutshell, RA speaks of acknowledging life for what it is instead of dwelling in a mindset of wishful thinking. Now, that does not mean that it urges us to be utterly devoid of desires; those (if managed well) can be incredible tools. Instead, RA shines a light on being present, and therefore terminating wishes to alter either the past or future outcomes. Through RA, we develop healthy coping mechanisms that help us make sense of our mishaps and the aspects of ourselves that we may have a problem appreciating. However, there is a problem with RA that is not often mentioned. 

The word “radical” can sometimes imply excessiveness. When we push RA to an extreme, it may start to look like Radical Indifference. It harbors an outlook of “things are as they are, and I cannot do anything about it.” However, this mindset...

How do you overcome the pain of the past? This is a question that people often ask themselves whenever all the feelings of hurt come back to haunt them. Each time a person experiences heartache or emotional pain, they may relive their trauma or become depressed because they haven’t moved forward from the event in question. 

A past of hurt can keep you from moving forward. Everyone needs to go through the proper emotional healing so that they can move on. The person or experience that has hurt them in the past does not have to prevent them from finding happiness again. 

Holding on to the past is a conscious decision, so is teaching yourself how to stop living in the past. You must want to let go so that you can teach yourself to move forward.

Why Do You Need To Let Go Of The Past?

One of the things that make you human is your ability to feel pain. Whether it is physical or emotional pain, everyone has felt hurt at one point in their...

Written by Joe G. Santos

There are very few people who can say they have never felt guilt or shame in their lives. Guilt is a feeling that permeates many aspects of the current paradigm and has likely touched previous ones. From the time we were children, whether our parents knew it or not, the feeling of shame towards any sort of perceived misbehavior was encouraged with the narrative that a little bit of guilt makes us good people, but how accurate is that statement? Are guilt and shame a necessary aspect of the human experience? 

The first instinct for many reading this is to think that some guilt is necessary to make the world run smoothly. How could a criminal absolve themselves of their crimes if not by feeling guilt and shame for what they have done? That analogy right away invites us to analyze the current state of our penalty system. Perhaps by understanding the guilt spectrum's extremes, we can conclude how to solve our personal issues. To dive deep into that...

You are a great person capable of doing great things. Given the right circumstances, you can be the best you can be. You believe in yourself, like how others believe in you, and that’s why you can push yourself to do better and accomplish more. 

In your mind, you have that picture of yourself succeeding in all that you do in this life. You have this idea on how you can turn your dreams into reality. You know what makes you feel like success is only within arm’s reach. 

Tips To Bring The Best Version Forward

How do you bring about real success in your life? Here are some tips to make things happen:

Tip 1: Be open to trying new things

Becoming complacent is the worst thing that you could do. So do anything you can to keep yourself from becoming what you fear the most. Fear is the enemy of the change that you want to bring in your life.

Let go of those fears and open yourself up to trying new things. Make it something unexpected. Surprise yourself with...

How do you keep yourself excited about work? More than having good friends in the workplace or loving what you do, it is important to consider the things that help you live the life that you want. How do you energize your life? How do you keep your passion for life ignited? While every person might have their own way of keeping the fire alive, revitalizing your passion is all about finding a constant reminder of how much you love what you do. 

In spiritual life coaching, experts begin by talking to you about your passions. They ask you what you want in life and what you want to be doing. At the end of the day, they try to help you find the bridge to your passion and the things that need to be done. 

In between, they help you realize what you are genuinely passionate about and what you can do to improve your life’s experience. 

Why Do You Need Passion?

The passion for living is fueled by your desire to pursue more. It is the...

What does it take to make a decision? Not only does it take a lot of confidence to make a decision, but it also takes a lot of courage to accept it once the decision has been made. Poor decision making can sometimes take its toll on us, making it seemingly impossible to get out of a negative situation. 

What does it mean to make a good decision? Most people equate it to the concept of something successful. When the outcome is a success, the decision made was good. But when the result is not expected, it means that the choice could have been better. 

What Does It Mean To Romanticize The Outcome?

Do you believe that all your outcomes should be perfect? Do you feel disappointed when your outcomes are less than perfect, even if things technically worked out? Only the positive, successful results are the ones that are genuinely celebrated. 

Take a good look at the more successful self-help books you can get at the bookstore. They only tell stories...

Have you ever found yourself feeling down after listening to a friend talk about her problems? Or have you ever felt enormous joy after learning that your good friend gave birth to her first baby? Did it seem like good and bad situations happened to you?

These instances where you show care and compassion towards people you care about are experienced by many people. It is called having empathy. 

Understanding The Value Of Empathy

While people experience the feeling, they know very little about what empathy actually is. It is considered as the experience of feeling what others feel and understanding their thoughts. Simply put, empathy is all about putting yourself in other people's shoes. 

Often, emotional empathy is confused with the concept of sympathy. While the two ideas may be similar in thought, sympathy is the feeling usually expressed in sorrowful situations. Empathy, on the other hand, covers both happy and sad times.

Empathy in the workplace is...

Bad things can happen to anyone, both in their personal and professional lives. Sometimes, relationships, no matter how hard you work on them, just end. Significant people in your life could die, and they leave you brokenhearted. 

There are days when you don't want to go to the office, knowing that a colleague will be getting the promotion you wished for yourself. Sometimes, the burden of doing a lot in the workplace with little to no thanks can take its toll on you. 

In the advent of all these negative situations, how can you keep yourself from falling apart? How do you teach yourself to move on and start anew? Is there anything you can do to become more resilient?

How Do You Teach Yourself To Be Positive?

A "how to live a happy life" essay would always end on a positive note. It would speak of the importance of happiness and how one could bring joy in his own life. A happy mind happy life mindset can always do wonders. But before you reach that aspect...

Most of the time, people are advised to think positive and wait for good things to happen. Some are even told to stay strong amid a crisis because soon things will work out just fine. There is no doubt that these words of wisdom have merit, but they do not work when people still choose to engage in their unhealthy behavior. 

Negative thoughts, emotions, and feelings are sabotaging you in so many ways. They hinder you from building up on your mental health. Doing away with all this negativity can bring back the life in you. 

Discovering The Habits Of Mentally Strong People

If you want to become better, you need to include mentally strong people's habits into your daily routine. Think of it as if you were dealing with your physical health. 

People who want to build up their physical health go to the gym and exercise regularly. On top of that, they also control their food intake to make sure that they lose fat and build muscle. 

And yet, what people...

Being angry at another person is only mad at yourself, and realizing this is only able to be digested and fully integrated through breath and humor. 

Why Do We Get Angry

People get angry for a variety of reasons, but typically it is because of an uncomfortable situation that seems to be repeating itself or because of strain in our relationships. There are four easy and simple steps to fall back in your better feeling self.

Step 1: Accept your anger

If we, in the moment, attempt to suppress the feelings that we have, we are telling ourselves that our emotions are not valid.

Step 2: Practice breathing through your anger

The breath must be practiced in times of peace and calm in meditation. If we are only focusing on your breathing when we are stressed and upset, then we will subconsciously associate the things. When my four-year-old daughter, Lincoln, gets angry, I have a beautiful practice to bring her back to her breath and finding her center. We've meditated together since she...