Author Archives: Cristian Mihai

Here’s How You Make 2020 The Best Year of Your Life

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As I look back on this year, I realize that 2019 has perhaps been my best year ever. It’s funny, because that’s what I thought about 2018, but the thing is that this is not by chance.

I have this strong desire to evolve, to develop myself into who I’ve always wanted to be. I do so in order to be happy.

But in order to get our what, we must understand how. And this is why I’ve come up with a list of things that are necessary in order to improve your life.

You know, just so you make 2020 the best year yet. Continue reading →

These Dreams of Mine…

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“Where do they go, these dreams of mine? Do they live? Do they die? Do they fall? Do they fly?”

“Most people will spend their lives doing jobs that they don’t particularly enjoy, and will eventually save up enough money to stop doing those jobs just in time to start dying instead. Don’t be one of those people. There’s a difference between living, and just surviving. Do something that you love, and find someone to love who loves that you love what you do.
It really is that simple.
And that hard.” – John Connolly

I strenuously believe that most of us crave adventure. We want our lives to make us feel. We crave the bittersweet excitement brought on by uncertainty.

But we also want safety. And comfort. Just enough.

We are torn between “more” and “just enough.”
Continue reading →

The Morning When All Hell Broke Loose

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Matthew Luckett, Ph.D.

The following is an excerpt from a book I am writing, tentatively entitled Salty Dog: A Pearl Harbor Survivor’s Journey through Letters and Memory, about Elmer Luckett and his experiences during the war. The writing is a bit rough still, since the manuscript is in development, but it is close to what his Pearl Harbor story will look like in the final product. This chapter, entitled “All Hell Broke Loose,” also includes the history of what led up to the attacks, as well as a discussion of their aftermath (including Japanese internment) in the United States. My end goal is to blend grandpa’s story with narrative history about the war itself. Anyway, please let me know what you think! – Matt

Sunday, December 7th was a workday for Elmer. After a week of patrolling the harbor entrance, the Chew pulled into port on Saturday, when it was then relieved…

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The Paradox of Change

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“The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.” – Carl Rogers

Most of us struggle with the issue of identity. We struggle with gaining enough self-confidence and self-esteem in order to properly navigate through life.

And we struggle because we somehow feel inadequate. There’s a voice inside our heads that constantly tells us about flaws and quirks that we’d better keep hidden from others, should we want to be accepted. The negative traits that we try to hide, repress, or change are the ones that end up harming us a lot more than others. Continue reading →

Be Yourself

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Modern day technology allows us to access information faster than ever. More information than ever. Keeps us connected. Keeps us in touch with people half a world away.

But there is a dangerous side effect to such a high level of media consumption.

We forget who we are. Continue reading →

Self-Love is The Only Kind of Love There is

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“The remarkable thing is that we really love our neighbor as ourselves: we do unto others as we do unto ourselves. We hate others when we hate ourselves. We are tolerant toward others when we tolerate ourselves. We forgive others when we forgive ourselves. We are prone to sacrifice others when we are ready to sacrifice ourselves.” – Eric Hoffer

Others: a simple word used to describe people. A lot of them. Every single human being on this earth besides yourself. Others. At times they seem too many, too angry, too bitter, too selfish. Too stupid. Other times, it just seems they just packed they’re gone.

It depends on you, actually. Continue reading →

In Suffering You Will Meet Yourself

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“It’s at the borders of pain and suffering that the men are separated from the boys.” – Emil Zatopek

Everybody wants to eat, but few are willing to hunt. Everybody’s got a plan, a goal, a dream, and they give up on it as soon as there’s an obstacle, a defeat…

The man who fears losing has already lost. The man who is afraid of getting punched in the face will never live life on his terms.

I used to be the archetypal nice guy. Trying to play nice, because I didn’t want to get hurt. Afraid to ask questions because I was afraid of being told “no.”

The road to hell is paved with good intentions, adverbs, regrets, and all sorts of people who never had the guts to do what they knew in their hearts was right.

Fear is such a debilitating disease. Continue reading →