How do you view failure? Do you see it as something negative that you don't want to be associated with or do you see it as something positive? Most people in the world don't like failure. ​You have only failed if you accept that you have failed. Everybody experiences temporary setbacks from time to time. Use these setbacks as stepping stones towards your success, because they teach you what works and what doesn't work

I was twenty-three, living in London all by myself when my mind began to feel the inside of a carnival funhouse. It felt...creepy. Distorted. Unpredictable. The darkest part of any State Fair.
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Something very traumatic happened to me right around that time, and it kicked off a series of soul-crushing panic attacks. I’d secretly struggled with anxiety and depression as a teenager, but the darkness had swelled to new heights. My body vibrated with anxiety all the time. When the train on my daily commute to work would take off, I felt my heart take off with it.

​Do you feel that you are constantly under stress? Are you looking into ways of how you can reduce your stress levels? If you have answered yes to both of these questions, you are not alone. The world is seemingly becoming faster, more demanding and more pressurized. In this article I write about how meditation can help you to relax and become a happier person.

​Anger is a real problem in today's society, and for this reason it is important that we learn how to cope with anger issues. Everyone at some time or another in their lives has experienced anger and perhaps even lashed out in anger. 

Anger is a natural emotion, because we all get hurt, aggravated, insulted, or feel threatened from time to time. Anger can be your greatest ally or your greatest foe. 

The time after loss and change is volatile and confusing. However, crisis means opportunity. When we understand the dynamics of change and the process of grief is properly handled, it's possible for an individual to grow a great deal during this time of life. We can turn a time of loss and grief into one of strength and hope.

Needless to say, the time after loss is volatile and confusing for most people. Unresolved issues come to the fore and questions we have not answered must often be confronted. Along with a sense of abandonment and sorrow, anger often arises. Most have little understanding of what they are going through, or what to expect in the future. Facing the unknown can produce additional fear.
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Yet crisis means opportunity.  When the process of grief is handled properly suffering can be diminished and symptoms that may appear later, can be forestalled. It is even possible for the individual to grow a great deal during this time and benefit from the experience. 

I talked to a therapist today and it wasn’t easy. As the founder of a mental health nonprofit, I am constantly promoting that others seek help for their mental health without fear of stigma or judgement, and yet it took more courage than I am proud to admit to heed my own advice. When I felt my mental health slipping and new symptoms arising, especially amid the third trimester of my pregnancy, I knew it was time to seek help, but I also felt afraid, as many understandably people do. I was afraid that seeking help meant I was regressing from the progress I had made. I was afraid that admitting I need help meant I was no longer strong or “normal.” Fortunately, I pushed myself past these irrational worries and I made the decision to seek treatment.

I talked to a therapist today and it felt great...

​Like it or not, we are all gladiators. We go to sleep and wake up in a social arena from which there is no escape. Challenge upon challenge confronts us, walls restrain us, and a mob of spectators mocks, sneers, or cheers us. Each and every day brings new battles whether we want them or not and whether we're up to them or not. Life forces us to face one skirmish after another - no choice in the matter. ​What we can choose, though, is which kind of gladiator to be, victor or victim...

​Stress is a feeling that's created when we react to particular events. It's the body's way of rising to a challenge and preparing to meet a tough situation with focus, strength, stamina, and heightened alertness.

The events that provoke stress are called stressors, and they cover a whole range of situations - everything from outright physical danger to making a class presentation or taking a semester's worth of your toughest subject.

Most of the problems from which people suffer stem from how they handle the events of life, rather than the events themselves. ​Certainly traumatic and tragic events such as loss of loved ones, financial loss, and health issues are extremely challenging. However, some people manage to move through these events with equanimity, while others remain stuck in fear, anxiety, and depression. The difference is in how people handle deeply painful feelings.

There are two core feelings that most people will do almost anything to avoid feeling: loneliness and helplessness.

​As a Haitian-American woman, I was raised with the expectation I would have to endure and was told stories of how my parents and grandparents have endured and overcome poverty and hardship. High levels of suffering were normalized aspects of life to my family and so was the expectation to overcome it. There was almost an indifference to suffering because it was expected from us. It was too common to even feel it was worth mentioning. As a result, healing was rarely seen as relevant, possible, or necessary. The need for and access to emotional support always felt distant, if not absent. My family was very supportive in many ways. They will give until their hand is empty. They will drive hours just to bring you food while their fridge is hollow. They were unafraid of struggle and believed the key to overcoming hardship was a close family unit. However, they were inexperienced and uncomfortable with emotional vulnerability and any communication about suffering. ​