The universe is not short on wake-up calls. We’re just quick to hit the snooze button.
Courage is telling our story, not being immune to criticism.
When we fail to set boundaries and hold people accountable, we feel used and mistreated. This is why we sometimes attack who they are, which is far more hurtful than addressing a behavior or a choice.
Who we are and how we engage with the world are much stronger predictors of how our children will do than what we know about parenting.
Nothing has transformed my life more than realizing that it’s a waste of time to evaluate my worthiness by weighing the reaction of the people in the stands.
Hope is a function of struggle.
Shame corrodes the very part of us that believes we are capable of change.
If you put shame in a petri dish, it needs three ingredients to grow exponentially: secrecy, silence, and judgment. If you put the same amount of shame in the petri dish and douse it with empathy, it can’t survive.
Live-tweeting your bikini wax is not vulnerability. Nor is posting a blow-by-blow of your divorce. That’s an attempt to hot-wire connection. But you can’t cheat real connection. It’s built up slowly. It’s about trust and time.
Lean into the discomfort of the work.
I carry a small sheet of paper in my wallet that has written on it the names of people whose opinions of me matter. To be on that list, you have to love me for my strengths and struggles.
I don’t just want someone who says they love me; I want someone who practices that love for me every day.
Vulnerability is the core of shame and fear and our struggle for worthiness, but it appears that it’s also the birthplace of joy, of creativity, of belonging, of love.
The one thing that keeps us out of connection is our fear that we’re not worthy of connection.
Many people think of perfectionism as striving to be your best, but it is not about self-improvement; it’s about earning approval and acceptance.
There is no joy without gratitude.
There are infinite numbers of do overs for your teen girls.
Faith minus vulnerability and mystery equals extremism. If you’ve got all the answers, then don’t call what you do ‘faith.’
I believe joy is a spiritual practice.
The most powerful teaching moments are the ones where you screw up.