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Published: 14 January 2020

The greatest threat to world peace, as I see it, is the fear caused by anxiety. My message is consistently about finding one's inner peace. Yet, the greatest threat we have to achieve that inner peace is anxiety and fear. One's anxiety quickly turns to fear, and fear can turn us against ourselves and against one another. Here are my 7 practical tips to reduce the greatest threat to world peace. 

The greatest threat to world peace is more profound than what we hear about in the news. The media will tell us that war, terrorism, poverty, climate change; these are the greatest threat to world peace. While I won't argue the point, what's the common denominator affecting societies and cultures? Anxiety and fear. 

According to the American Psychological Association anxiety is defined as an emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts, and physical changes like increased blood pressure. And what tends to cause most of our anxiety? The unknown, a sense of feeling out of control. 

When we don't know what the future may bring, or we feel a lack of control in our life, our anxiety rises. As the tension increases, the feeling of loss of…

Read more: The Greatest Threat To World Peace - What Is It?

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Published: 25 December 2019

Changing perspective on the holiday season is so crucial for us in finding happiness and peace. The stress and busyness of the holiday season have me reflecting on the topic of keeping perspective on the holidays. If I change how I think about, or view, the holidays, then how I view and cope with the stress of the holidays will change.

(This article is based on a transcript from my podcast episode posted December 21, 2019)

When I talk about the holiday season, I'm not talking in any particular religious meaning. Regardless of your belief or how you celebrate this time of the year, the fact remains this a very hectic time. In changing my perspective on the holiday season, namely, my expectations will change how I view the season, and so reduce my stress. 

Expectations

Many of us have expectations of what this time of the year should be. Families and our traditions place these expectations upon us. So when we're looking at these expectations it puts a high level of achievement, a high level of making sure that what we do equals previous years' celebrations.

Expectations on celebrating and honoring one's traditions is a worthy goal to have…

Read more: Changing Perspective On The Holiday Season

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Published: 05 December 2019

Coping with family stress during the holidays can seem like a given. Many of us anticipate that family will get on our nerves, make us upset, or get us angry. Understanding that stress, especially during the holidays, will happen, then coping with family stress becomes more manageable and doable since we expect to feel and experience that family stress. 

Coping with family stress comes with the season. Sure, family stress happens all year. Still, during the holiday season, it amps up, becoming stronger and more widespread amongst families. Family stress is defined as a disturbance in the steady-state of the family system. The disturbance can emerge from the outside, from inside the family, or both simultaneously.

Why does this happen? Why during a time of the year when we try to be cheerful and happy are families more stressed? 

I feel that the answer to that question is two-fold. The holiday season itself can cause stress. Families need to make preparations for travel, the arrival of other family members, meal prep, getting gifts, decorating, and meeting the expectations of traditions. There’s a lot of responsibility placed on many people during a short couple of months. But we all know…

Read more: Coping With Family Stress To Bring Peace To The Holidays

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Published: 17 October 2019

How to find hope in life is not always an easy task. Yet, a life without a sense of hope can be dark, depressed, anxious, and lacking in motivation. In this article, I write about ways of finding hope in life, and so finding happiness and inner peace. 

To find hope and to keep hope are essential to living a happy and peaceful life. Yet most of us know what it’s like to live a life devoid of hope. A life where nothing seems to be going our way, and no one seems to understand. The encouraging “you’ll snap out of it,” or “sleep it off,” or, my favorite, “just get over it,” is not at all helpful. If only it were that easy to overcome the feeling of hopelessness. 

Hope is a mechanism developed by the human brain to cope with contexts and situations unfavorable to survival. Without a sense of hope in the future, or hope in one’s ability, where would we find our motivation, our drive, to move forward? In the worst of times, it’s hoping that drives me forward. That “knowledge” telling me there is something better in the future if only I get there.…

Read more: How To Find Hope In Life