This week I have the distinct pleasure of putting Vermont’s universal health care system to the test.

For a few weeks now, I haven’t felt exactly right. I can feel my heart beating harder than it should, my chest hurts, my cycles are all screwed up, and I feel like I’m breathing through a straw… at 10,000 feet above sea level.

For the record, I’m not usually a hypochondriac. In fact, I go to great lengths to avoid seeing anyone in the medical profession, for reasons I won’t get into right now. If anything, I have a tendency to downplay the significance of my symptoms. But I have a new theory that EVERYONE becomes a hypochondriac while waiting for a diagnosis. The degree of paranoia is directly related to the amount of time one has to wait.

Posted in acceptance, anxiety, Life 39 Comments »

Please note: This is a guest post by Amanda Farough, from VioletMinded.

For some of us, finding that one true passion is just not an option. We want to do it all.

I’ve never really been able to concentrate on one thing at a time. I’m a notorious multitasker with an apparent inability to focus. In university, people kept telling me to slow down, pick something, decide on a path. Academic advisers would preach that my future (and future earnings) depended on my finding a niche and sticking with it, at least until my mid-thirties.

I can’t tell you how many times that gave me borderline anxiety attacks.

Posted in choices, Life 33 Comments »

Please Note: This is a guest post by Christopher Kabamba, of consciouSynthesis.

Every now and then, I come across the word “hype” as I try to read my way to a better life for myself and the people around me. It is a word which, in the realm of personal growth and development, is usually used to refer to ideas that promise a runway in your backyard and a mansion in the middle of the sea.

The promise is not always material possessions; at times there is no specific promise at all. You know what I am talking about… the carefully choreographed words that seem intended just to make you feel good, while you wallow in your problems; all the big words from past sages, which at face value seem to promise more that they can deliver.

Posted in helping others, Life 27 Comments »