At one point in time, if you asked anyone in my family who their favorite actor/actress was, there would have been no doubt as to the answer: Lindsay Lohan. We watched movies like The Parent Trap, Freaky Friday and Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen multiple times. Heck, we still watch them when they’re on today! There’s no doubt that if you’re aware of Lindsay Lohan and her acting work, you also know that over the years she has had some problems.... Read more
I think everyone should be rich and famous to learn that’s not the answer. ~Jim Carrey In the mid-1980s, Ray Chambers was one of the top deal-makers on Wall Street. Still in his 40s, he was successful beyond his wildest dreams, having earned over a billion dollars. Yet, as he went to work each day it slowly began to dawn on him: he just wasn’t happy. For all his accomplishments, he felt a void inside. Something was missing. But what?... Read more
I just spent the better part of a day with an ailing family member in a local community hospital. While the people who worked there were nice enough, the environment was cold and antiseptic. Little natural light or greenery, a few pieces of drab artwork here and there, the beep-beep-beep of machines filling the air; there was virtually nothing present that might lift the spirit or soothe the soul. I say virtually nothing because just off an elevator, in a... Read more
The headline above is borrowed from a book by the same name, The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz. Though it sold 3 million copies, you’ve probably never heard of it and for good reason. It was published way back in 1959. The Magic of Thinking Big was part of a wave of self-help books, like Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale, that claimed to have found the key... Read more
It’s a chicken and egg situation. Does the warmth emanating from the Dalai Lama’s heart cause him to spontaneously break into a smile? Or does the smile come first, spreading happiness throughout his body and filling his heart with joy? The purpose of our lives is to be happy. ~The Dalai Lama The 14thand current Dalai Lama is one of the most revered people in the world. Spiritual leader, head of the Free Tibet movement, best-selling author—it’s hard to think... Read more
This is not a story about politics. It is not about tax cuts or immigration or whether the current administration’s policies may be helping or hurting you in some way. It’s about character and simple human decency. If you’re like me, you were brought up believing in the Golden Rule. I know it comes from the Bible (Matthew 7:12), but its meaning and value to our society go far beyond any religious connotations. It goes like this: “Do unto others... Read more
In The Benevolent Universe, The Story of Your Unique Genius by Dana Drake, the author puts forward a unique and powerful theory: Any problems we have, any issues or big life questions we may face, can all be solved by ourselves. In her words, “we are designed to know everything we wish to know,” including our purpose in life. It’s Drake’s belief we’ve been given all the life tools we need by a Universe that “is not only kind, it is... Read more
Many people from traditional Christian backgrounds may find this shocking and offensive… that is understandable…for other people, it will feel like a palmful of cold water on your face when you wake up in the morning. This is how Stephen Mitchell begins his book Jesus,What He Really Said and Didand you might be wondering—what did Mitchell do to offend some and wake up others? Well, he dared to reinterpret the story of Jesus as told in the Bible, retranslating passages... Read more
What if what you’ve been chasing all these years has been in you all along, waiting for the chance to be loved into existence? ~Andrea Balt I recently heard the Care of the Soul author Thomas Moore being interviewed by Oprah where he revealed he no longer was “seeking.” After a lifetime of intensive spiritual study, including authoring over a dozen books on the soul, Moore said he had discovered all that he needed to know. No more seeking, just finding.... Read more
Do you consider yourself “spiritual, but not religious?” If you’re like most Wake Up Call readers, you just answered yes. And if that’s the case, you may have a problem. You see, those of us who have left the world of organized religion (or were never a part of it in the first place), still have a deep-seeded yearning. We want to/need to satiate the spiritual side of ourselves and if we don’t, we start feeling unsettled and discontented, as... Read more
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