But if you have nothing at all to create, then perhaps you create yourself. -- Carl Jung

Insights From Every Day Life

July 30, 2001

Nothing dies harder than a bad habit. Usually we know whenever we're doing something that's not good for us because the small voice that resides in the center of our heads can be a pretty vigilant nag. "Please don't" it will whisper when we light up that cigarette or pour an extra glass of wine. Before changing any behavior, it's helpful to know why you want to get rid of habits that don't nurture your sense of well-being.

If you change, what will be your positive payback?

A healthier lifestyle, more energy and vitality, a slimmer body? As you become more intimate with your authentic self and see glimmers of the woman you truly are, you find the courage to take the first tentative steps necessary to help her evolve and emerge outwardly.

Too often we're unaware of the ways in which we rob ourselves of moments that could be spent nurturing our creativity. These are unconscious habits that the Surgeon General doesn't warn us about but that our authentic selves will. For as long as we continue to cling to bad habits that may not be life-threatening but certainly aren't life-enhancing, we only steal from our potential.

August 4, 2001

This week, become aware of how much television you watch so that you can start preserving prime time. Writer Barbara Ehrenreich believes television's lure is that it reveals what we crave the most in the deepest recesses of our hearts: "a rich, new, participatory life." Perhaps you might begin living the authentic life you crave once you stop letting the one you have go down the tube.

(fm. Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach)