As the New Year begins, many of us make resolutions to improve our lives. Often these resolutions are based on ways that we think we “should” be: I should be thinner, I should be more successful, I should be better at this or not so weak at that. These beliefs keep us on a hamster wheel, trying to keep up with the image we believe we need to have, they rob us of experiencing joy for what we do have, and prevent us from expressing our unique value.

It has been a year since I asked myself the question: “what is it that Tuscany has to offer that is so appealing to you?” and “how can you live this life in Orlando?”.

Recently I have listened to an audio talk “The Stoic Path” by William B. Irvine on Living the Dream Life. Bill explains how we are living the dream life, right now. It just might not be our dream, but it definitely is the dream of many others. He goes on to explain that people in developing countries, our ancestors from generations ago, neighbors experiencing anguish, all are examples of people who see our lives as a dream of what they would love theirs to look like. The problem is that we, often, look at others who appear to have a better life than us, and wish we were living their lives instead of ours. What if we stopped this looking to what we don’t have and focus on what we do have and start identifying that as the dream life?

Sometimes the simplest acts can have the most profound impact. At a recent CTI coach training, one of our leaders urged the group to resist offering a tissue to someone who was crying. She explained that, even though this gesture comes from a place of compassion within us, there is a hidden message in it that says, “use a tissue to clean this mess up.”