Chop Wood, Carry Water in 2025 and 2026: What Is The Moment Asking?
Release Date: 12/19/2025
Love Is Not The Destination: It Is Always Where You Are Traveling From
10 MINUTES TO LESS SUFFERING
Have you ever found yourself searching for love, approval, or connection and feeling worse the more you looked? This episode is for you. So many of us grow up believing love is something we have to find, earn, or wait for. We look for it in relationships, in validation, in achievement. And the more we search, the emptier we feel. But what if that emptiness is not real? Or what if what you think you lack was never missing? This episode explores one of the most common and painful patterns in human experience: confusing longing with lack. You will learn why longing is not a sign that something...
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How Can You Find True Balance In Your Life?
10 MINUTES TO LESS SUFFERING
True balance isn’t just about eating well, sleeping, and exercising. It’s about aligning your inner world with your outer world. In this episode, we explore why so many high-achieving, productive people feel off-balance despite doing everything “right,” and what’s really missing: the connection to your authentic self and your natural inner rhythm. Learn how the relentless demands of the outer world can pull you away from your own pace, your own truth, and your own power. Discover two simple but profound practices you can do throughout your day to come back to yourself, reduce stress,...
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Gratitude And Uncertainty Are The Keys To A Good Life
10 MINUTES TO LESS SUFFERING
When life feels overwhelming, gratitude is the last thing on your mind. But what if gratitude and uncertainty, used together, are the most powerful tools you have to stop suffering and reclaim your life right now? In this episode, learn why stress and anxiety make your problems feel so loud, how to turn down the volume, and why the unknown future is not something to fear but something to celebrate. The “maybe” practice introduced here has the power to dissolve anxiety, open your heart, and remind you that your biggest fears are not certainties, and that means healing, joy, and peace are...
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Dealing With the Unexpected: When Life Throws You A CurveBall
10 MINUTES TO LESS SUFFERING
When life throws you a curveball, do you spiral into fear or step into presence? In this episode of Ten Minutes to Less Suffering, discover how to handle unexpected events without overwhelm, manage anxiety in real time, and shift from panic to clarity using one powerful mindset tool: maybe. Learn how to Stay present during crisis Release the need for certainty Stop catastrophic thinking Let go of control without giving up your power Make flexible plans in uncertain situations Access your calm, wise mind under stress Unexpected challenges such as health scares, family stress, job changes, or...
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Where Is Your Happy Hour? How To Stop Worrying About The Future
10 MINUTES TO LESS SUFFERING
In this episode, we explore a powerful question. Where is your happy hour? Why do we place our peace and joy in a time to come? After the promotion. After the approval. After the uncertainty clears. If you struggle with anxiety about the future, overthinking, or feeling like you are just getting through the day, this episode is for you. You will learn: How we give our joy away to future fears How to stay present even when life feels uncertain A simple maybe practice to calm anxiety How to create more peace in everyday life You do not need to know what will happen next. You need to be here. If...
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When Avoiding The News Doesn't Bring You Peace
10 MINUTES TO LESS SUFFERING
Many people stop watching the news in hopes of finding peace, relief, or emotional balance. But does turning away from world events actually reduce suffering, or does it quietly create new forms of stress and inner conflict? This episode explores a familiar modern response to overwhelm: avoiding the news as a way to cope. Rather than telling listeners what they should or should not watch, the conversation looks at the emotional difference between healthy boundaries and avoidance, and how ignoring what feels disturbing can remain active beneath the surface. Through reflection and awareness, the...
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When Problems Show Up, It Doesn't Mean Life Is Falling Apart
10 MINUTES TO LESS SUFFERING
When problems show up in your life, it is easy to believe that everything is going in the wrong direction. Stress builds, anxiety takes over, and suddenly it feels like life is falling apart, even when many things are actually working. In this episode of 10 Minutes to Less Suffering, I talk about why having problems does not mean your life is bad or broken. We explore why problems are often unrelated, how negative thinking creates stress and exhaustion, and why focusing only on what is wrong can cause us to miss what is right. I also walk you through simple ways to separate your problems,...
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How To Stop Losing Yourself
10 MINUTES TO LESS SUFFERING
This episode of Ten Minutes to Less Suffering explores the concept of coherence and what it means to move through life with beliefs, emotions, and actions working together rather than in conflict. It looks at how everyday responsibilities, relationships, and values can create inner fragmentation when different needs pull in opposing directions. Through a real life example, this episode examines how acknowledging the true cost of a decision can reduce resentment and help people remain participants in their choices rather than victims of them. Coherence does not eliminate difficult decisions or...
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Decision Anxiety: How To Stop Fearing The Wrong Decision
10 MINUTES TO LESS SUFFERING
Do you feel paralyzed by the fear of making the wrong decision? Decision anxiety can make even small choices feel permanent, risky, and overwhelming. In this episode, you will learn why the mind treats decisions as threats, how fear of uncertainty keeps you stuck, and why most choices are not traps but opportunities for clarity. This episode explores how to stop overthinking decisions, how to recognize the difference between a truly limiting decision and an adjustable one, and why movement, not certainty, leads to alignment and confidence. You will also be guided through a simple reflection...
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Emotional Balance Under Pressure: Capacity and Choice
10 MINUTES TO LESS SUFFERING
Feeling overwhelmed, emotionally drained, or under constant pressure? This episode of Ten Minutes to Less Suffering explores how to stay emotionally balanced when life feels heavy, uncertain, and nonstop. The focus is on stress, anxiety, emotional overload, and the way the nervous system struggles when there is no time to recover. The episode introduces the idea of capacity, meaning how much inner space is available to think, feel, pause, and respond instead of react. When that space disappears, even small decisions can feel exhausting. Through mindfulness-based insights and simple awareness...
info_outlineThis episode of 10 Minutes to Less Suffering explores the Zen teaching “Chop Wood, Carry Water” and what it means to meet life as it is. The focus is on coherence, staying present without fragmenting yourself, and responding to each moment with steadiness rather than fear or control.
Listeners will learn how this teaching applies to everyday challenges, success, loss, and uncertainty. The episode offers a simple, practical exercise to help reduce stress, stay grounded, and stop abandoning yourself when life feels overwhelming or unpredictable.
This episode supports anyone seeking more inner stability, clarity, and peace while navigating change and moving from 2025 into 2026 with greater presence and resilience.
Lastly, you can also follow me on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, and LinkedIn. If you are interested in my work, please check out my books, The Gift of Maybe: Finding Hope and Possibility in Uncertain Times (including a new audiobook), A Year Without Men: A 12 Point Guide To Inspire and Empower Women and my new Audiobook, Maybe Everything Is Okay, A Parent's Guide To Less Stress and Worry. Also you can check out my new Maybe Cards: A Path to Stress-Free Living or my new digital Maybe Journal.
Above all, my heartfelt hope is that this podcast has supported your journey of personal growth, helped shift your mindset, reduce stress, built emotional resilience, and brought you less suffering and more joy, clarity, and peace.