“For me, that strong back is grounded confidence and boundaries. The soft front is staying vulnerable and curious. The mark of a wild heart is living out these paradoxes in our lives and not giving into the either/or BS that …
The post How Childhood Bullying Influenced How I Treat Others as an Adult appeared first on Tiny Buddha. …
I walk on eggshells in my relationship. I have for the past ten years.
I try to design everything out of my mouth to lead to the least amount of friction between my wife and me. And you know what? …
The post When You’re Terrified of Conflict: Why True Intimacy Means Speaking Up appeared first on Tiny Buddha. …
This is the supreme challenge of intimacy — how to reconcile the aching yearning for closeness with the painful pressures of actually being close, how to forge a bond tight enough to feel the warmth of connection but spacious enough to feel free. Kahlil Gibran knew this when he contemplated the vital balance of intimacy and independence, urging lovers to “love one another but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.” Rilke knew it when he reckoned with the difficult art of giving space in love, observing that… read article …
“A codependent person is one who has let another person’s behavior affect him or her and who is obsessed with controlling that person’s behavior.” ~Melody Beattie
From a young age, I felt insecure in my own skin. I was a …
The post Overcoming Codependency: Breaking the Cycle of Unhealthy Relationships appeared first on Tiny Buddha. …
“The practice of forgiveness is our most important contribution to the healing of the world.” ~Marianne Williamson
When you hear the word “forgiveness,” what do you feel?
Forgiveness used to make me feel uncomfortable. I would physically contract when I …
The post Why Forgiveness Is the Ultimate Act of Self-Love and 3 Lessons That Might Help appeared first on Tiny Buddha. …
“Your soulmate is not someone who completes you. No, a soulmate is someone who inspires you to complete yourself.” ~Bianca Sparacino
For years I was in what seemed like an endless search for my soulmate—someone who would understand me, love …
The post 3 Lessons on Finding Love That I Learned When Looking for My Soulmate appeared first on Tiny Buddha. …
The roommate effect, is a common occurrence for couples that have been living together—but that doesn’t mean it can’t be overcome. …
It’s important to protect yourself. …
“You may be weaker than the whole world but you are always stronger than yourself. Let me send my power against my power… Let me discover what it is that I want and fear from love. Power and love, might and grace.” …
Number 1: Be responsive …
2003 was when the “gay devil” (as I referred to him at the time) made his first appearance inside my unprepared thirteen-year-old mind. On a trip to Mexico that year, he sat perched on my shoulder while my family and …
The post How It Got Better: My LGBTQ+ Journey from Shame to Pride appeared first on Tiny Buddha. …
“The butterfly does not look back at the caterpillar in shame, just as you should not look back at your past in shame. Your past was part of your own transformation.” ~Anthony Gucciardi
Before I finally grew the courage to …
The post Why I Don’t Regret That I Didn’t Walk Away from My Relationship Sooner appeared first on Tiny Buddha. …
Plus, my secret to getting more matches …
“Love bade me welcome; yet my soul drew back.” …
“Love is a bet, a wild one, placed on freedom. Not my own; the freedom of the Other… A knot made of two intertwined freedoms.” We love to forget ourselves, but also to remember what we are: mortal creatures lustful of meaning, radiant with life, eternally alone and eternally longing for home — home in ourselves and home in each other. “I hold this to be the highest task of a bond between two people: that each should stand guard over the solitude of the other,” Rilke wrote in his exquisite reckoning with the interplay of freedom and togetherness in… read article …
“We’re all just walking each other home.” ~Ram Dass
Living in the hyper-individualist society that we do, it’s easy to forget our obligation to those around us. Often in the West, we are taught to prioritize ourselves in the unhealthiest …
The post Why Relationships Matter Most: We’re All Just Walking Each Other Home appeared first on Tiny Buddha. …
Find your best match. …
“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” ~Mother Teresa
Routines are important to me. I rely on certain things to bring me back home to myself; to feel clear and …
The post An Unexpected Place to Find Kindness: What Made Me Feel Like I Belong appeared first on Tiny Buddha. …
On sympathy, reciprocity, and satisfying the fulness of our nature. …
Let’s talk about “compatibility.” …
“Never chase love, affection, or attention. If it isn’t given freely by another person, it isn’t worth having.” ~Unknown
We met at a bar with Skee-Ball and slushy margaritas for our first date.
She was gorgeous. I noticed that …
The post Why I No Longer Chase Emotionally Unavailable People, Hoping They’ll Change appeared first on Tiny Buddha. …
“I lay my head upon his chest, and I was with my boy again. I spent so long in darkness I never thought the night would end. But somehow Grace has found me…and I had to let him in.” ~From …
The post My Big Insight from Meeting the Woman Who Received My Daughter’s Heart appeared first on Tiny Buddha. …
“Relationships are like glass. Sometimes it’s better to leave them broken than hurt yourself trying to put them back together.” ~Unknown
A couple of months ago my dear friend and I were chatting over coffee.
The subject turned into past …
The post Nothing You Do Will Be Enough If the Relationship Isn’t Right appeared first on Tiny Buddha. …
Is vulnerability something you struggle with? …