Archive for the ‘Guest Blogs’ Category
Be Your Authentic Self: A Guest Blog from Anthony Silard
Be Your Authentic Self
By Anthony Silard
Author of The Connection
If the truth carries intelligent people away, let them go;
the faster the better.— Swami Vivekananda
The greatest gift you can offer to the world is to be your authentic Self. Not authentic in the sense of, “I’ll become an open book, let it all hang out, and express myself for the sake of expressing myself.” Authentic meaning: “I’ll express myself with purpose.” As you learn to speak up more about how you truly feel, some people will stray from the more genuine version of you. Not appealing? Consider the alternative: keeping them by the side of someone you no longer recognize. You always have the choice to speak assertively about what really matters to you or remain silent and let others have their way. Make a commitment to become more genuine and honest with others about what you value and you will find that your relationships become more fulfilling and your life more meaningful as others remove their kid gloves and learn how to relate to the real you.
As you practice voicing what you truly want, there will come a day when you catch a brief glimpse of the tremendous potential for self-realization lurking within you brought out by the simple act of finding the right words to express your deeper thoughts and feelings. While asserting yourself courts more risk (once your ideas are acted upon, more fingers will point toward you if they don’t bear fruit) it is precisely these daily risks that demonstrate and build your capacity—most importantly, to you; and then to others—to create the relationships, family, company, team, or initiative you desire. This week, practice speaking up about what’s important to you with someone with whom you feel comfortable and have a healthy relationship. Then gradually apply your assertiveness skills in more challenging conversations.
Anthony Silard’s new book, The Connection, is available now.
Forgiveness: Key for the Happy Holidays; Guest blog from Mary Hayes Grieco
Forgiveness: Key for the Happy Holidays
By Mary Hayes Grieco, author of Unconditional Forgiveness
It’s time for our annual cultural schizophrenia about the holidays: “This is so fun—I love this! This is so stressful—I hate this!” Together, we carry around our guiding mythic vision of the holiday “glow”—the fragrant house decorated with twinkling lights, piles of glittering gifts under the tree, loving faces gathered around the laden table, Christmas carolers singing cheery songs outside, soft white snowflakes drifting slowly down. The whole family will gather, and everyone will be mellow and grateful and everyone will get along…except, at your house, it doesn’t look like that.
At your house, you act cranky and stressed because you are exhausted from creeping through a traffic jam to a crowded mall after a long day of work. You’ve been trying to pile up the presents under the tree, but it isn’t very fun because your position at work has been cut way back and you already had too much on your credit cards before the holidays began. Your husband was going to help you with some of this shopping, but he is down with the flu, so it’s all on you. You’re blue because one of your grown children isn’t coming home this year and you miss them. Your whole family will get together, but you aren’t looking forward to it because your sister is a control freak when she is the host, and her husband will make everyone tense as he holds forth with his bitter political views. What you really want to do is stay home in your robe and watch a movie by yourself with a good cup of coffee. You resent the expectations of the holiday season, and you feel guilty about your negative attitude. It’s time to actively practice some forgiveness. (more…)
