What are you hiding?

At some point in our lives we all live in closets. All a closet is, is a heart conversation. 
We are all hiding something. In this talk, Ash Beckham invites us to find the courage to open up, because the closet is no place for a person to truly live. 

Set Yourself Free

"Freedom began on the day the first sheep wandered away from the herd." 

(Marty Rubin)

On Friendship

                  "It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford 

                   to be stupid with them." 

                                                                                 Ralph Waldo Emerson

Free Yourself

The hardest prison to escape is in your mind.

image credit: John Beckers

The Freedom of Self-Management

“What is self-management?” was the question today. To discover, once again, that it all begins with self-love.

Self management goes beyond any discipline that we impose on ourselves. It’s about how we handle our emotions, our ability to respond rather than react to situations, how we cope with stress. It is about what our relationship with our body and health is in practice: how we show self care and respect. It is about what we do with our money, our time and our people. It is about our dedication to what matters to us most and how we follow through the commitments that arise from this dedication. It is about the life we live in accordance to our values.

It is about our thoughts and beliefs, about our perceptions and misconceptions. It is about attaining awareness of these, so that we can address any issue, make the right decisions, take the right action at any given moment.

It all starts with self-love. The secret ingredient without which no self-management will have any reason to exist and happen.

With self-love come the value and respect that we give to our values, our goals, our bodies, our lives.

The result? Freedom. The unique freedom that we are the masters of our lives. 

The end of hope?

I avoid commenting on politics or writing political posts and status on my facebook profile.

What is happening in my country though, is hard not to influence my thoughts, feelings and actions (writing included).

Aristotle, in his book Politics, wrote that “man by nature is a political animal”. Back in the 4^th century BC to be political involved participation in various political responsibilities, being part of a society and contributing to the good of the whole.

As a political animal all my moments are about the drama that is taking place. Yet, this blog aims to inspire. How can I write something positive when I myself am struggling to stay optimistic about the future of this tiny spot on the map called Greece?

Like most of my fellow countrymen I feel pain. And the pain became bigger, accompanied by the shock of witnessing the atrocities of June 29^th that took place in Athens. I didn’t have to be there; I wasn’t a demonstrator. I chose to be there right at the heart of it all because I refuse to be terrorized by anyone and anything. I was a citizen; a political animal who wanted to show that no-one can infringe my right to move freely in a city even if it is has become a gas chamber.

It was because of all that happened that the next morning, after a sleepless night, still under shock, still angry, depressed and hopeless, I posted on my Facebook status:

"Democracy:

Born 508 B.C. in Athens.

Died 2011 A.D. in Athens."

And then I found this article in the New York Times. For hours the last sentence was stuck in my head “for we are all small powers now, and once again Greece is in the forefront of the fight for the future”. Driving away that night, the words “once again” were my Moment: our past was telling me that we will make it once again. We have done it before, we will do it again. There is hope.