Courage – University of Life

Pivotal Moments: Confidence

by Shaun Roundy

blondeprofilewind What moments have changed your life’s direction, for better or worse? What events shaped your future and turned you into the person you are now? Have you ever created major changes in life without some external impetus to force your hand?

What if you could change anything about your life right now? What would you change? Think it over!

One of the most important traits you can develop is confidence. It makes you more attractive. It gives you the courage to live your dreams. It smooths out dozens of small bumps in the road of life and helps you progress much faster toward your inherent potential.

With that in mind, here are a few stories of confidence-related pivotal moments to help you process the concept. PLEASE SHARE your own pivotal moments in the comments sections below! Everyone would love to hear and learn from them.

A Scout is…Confident?

I went to scout camp the summer before 9th grade, and sitting around the fire one afternoon, Coy started spitting watermelon seeds at me as he ate. Coy was one of the “cool” kids and I was not. After several seeds, something in me snapped – something small at first, then bigger. “If you spit one more seed at me,” I warned, “I’ll beat the crap out of you.” Coy calmly took another bite of melon, chewed, then spit a seed at me. Read more “Pivotal Moments: Confidence” →

Spirit & Peace

by Shaun Roundy

Spirituality means many things to many people, yet most spiritual traditions have much in common regarding the experience of spirituality, even when beliefs and interpretations differ. One such commonality is the Principle of Peace.

We live our lives much like a sailboat on the ocean. We may think we’re in control of our lives, yet most everything around us – the sky and sea shifting above and below – remains largely a mystery. Winds and currents shove us this way and that. We can set our sails and grab the tiller to steer a course, but storms and doldrums can upset the best laid plans.

Yet despite the inherent uncontrollable nature of life, and even in the midst of the storm, our spirituality can bring us immense peace.

I once took a 5-week, 2,500 mile ocean voyage from Aruba to Acapulco as first mate aboard a 53′ sailboat. While crossing the stormy Gulf of Tehuantepec, a gale blew for 14 hours and several times, the 50 knot winds and 15′ waves flipped our boat on its side.

To make a long story short, I was getting worried and said a little prayer. I then instantly knew two things – that the storm would continue for a while yet, and that we’d make it through just fine. From that point on, my worries ceased completely.

How does this work? How can we obtain peace and joy even when the world around us is in turmoil?

For one thing, the Divine, no matter what you call it – the Creator, a Heavenly Father and Jesus, the Universe, or otherwise – has such power and wisdom that from its perspective, everything is okay, or at least it will turn out okay in the end.

Our most difficult challenges and trials could be compared to a child who sees life as most certainly not okay when it has to go to bed or when you don’t buy it candy. As an adult, you know it’s not the end of the world.

As adults, our trials seem just as serious as they did as children, and we continue to lack an even more advanced perspective to evaluate them from. The Divine certainly doesn’t enjoy watching us suffer, but from its perspective, our struggles are often no more serious than the short-sighted child’s.

When we make a connection with the Divine, which forms the basis of personal spirituality, we often capture of glimpse of that viewpoint and experience a portion of its peaceful perspective. With experience, we learn to trust that assurance, and we continue forward with greater courage and hope even when all we see are storm waves from horizon to horizon.

Homework: seek a connection with the divine, and when you attain it, reconsider your sense of self and perspectives on the world around you in light of that peace. What does it teach you about ultimate reality? How does it change your perspective and encourage you to trust that everything is ultimately okay despite temporary challenges?

Heal Your Mind

by Shaun Roundy

UPDATE: the book is finished and you can find it here: Heal Your Emotions

I’ve been working on writing my next book, which will be one of the best and most important things I’ve ever created. It’s (tentatively) called Basic Intuitive Energy Healing ::: Heal Your Mind ::: A Scientific Approach to Speaking your Brains’ Languages and Turning Pain into Power and it includes over 50 simple yet highly effective healing techniques that you can use on yourself (or if you’re already a skilled energy healer, you can apply them to others for good effect).

I’ve been wanting to write it for about ten years, but the time wasn’t right until now. In hindsight, the reason is obvious – I thought I knew a lot ten years ago, and I did, but I’ve learned so much just in the past year that the book will now be far more complete and useful than it would have been then.

Here’s the introductory story which gives a general idea of what the book is about, and stay tuned as I reveal more details soon!

Once upon a time, you found yourself wandering through a deep, dark woods. You didn’t know exactly where you were headed, but hurried along the path just the same, hoping to escape the unpleasant shadows and the too-cool breeze that made you wrap your arms tightly around yourself and shiver.
Out from the darkness came distant, unpleasant voices in faint, scarcely-audible whispers. “You’re not good enough,” they said, “why even try? You’re a fool if you think you’ll ever be happy again!”
“Nobody loves you,” others murmured. “You’re all alone. You’ll always be alone.”
You pretended to ignore the voices as you hurried along, but deep inside, you knew they were right. Read more “Heal Your Mind” →

Thank a Teacher

by Shaun Roundy

I recently came across this inspiring letter written by a new teacher and she gave me permission to share it here:

So, I’m a brand-new 7th grade English teacher. I work in a school where something like 80% of the kids live below the poverty line. Many of them have families who are barely making it. Many of them wear the same clothes to school multiple days in a row. For many of them, school lunch is the only meal they will eat that day. Many of their parents struggle with drugs, alcoholism, or are incarcerated.

And here I am, some 25-year-old white girl who saw Freedom Writers and wanted to make a difference. Want to know a secret? Some days, I feel like I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing. Read more “Thank a Teacher” →

The One Essential

by Shaun Roundy

I gave this keynote address on “The One Essential” at the Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce Great Kids Awards this week. Watch & learn about Search and Rescue and the key to THRIVING in all areas of your life!!

Transcript: Read more “The One Essential” →

How to Repulse Energy Vampires

by Shaun Roundy

“Mmmm,” the vampire thinks to him/herself while looking over your glowing aura, “that much energy could sustain me for months!”

Your happy smile slowly fades as dark clouds creep across the bright morning sky. You don’t understand why you’ve begun feeling more down than usual lately. Nothing is actually wrong, nothing you can name; life should continue going great! But it’s just…not, exactly. You feel more tired and less optimistic than usual. If only you could shake off this miasm, then you could get back to being your normal, cheerful, productive self.

Some energy vampires are overt and obvious. They complain. They undermine every effort with negativity and pessimism. They criticize, blame, and argue. Such incessant actions create a heavy iron anchor that you must drag behind you if you can’t avoid them. “See?” they ask as you grow weary and irritable from carrying their load, “didn’t I tell you how awful the world is?” Read more “How to Repulse Energy Vampires” →

Podcast: Good and Hard

by Shaun Roundy

In our first University of Life podcast, we interview an extended family – a first-time mother, a survivor, a young cowboy, and an accidental jailor – about some of their most difficult experiences and seek to answer and explain the question “Is bad good?”

We’d love to make a habit of creating thought-provoking podcasts like this, so if you enjoy it or find it helpful, please say so in one of the comment sections below! Thanks! Your feedback matters!

A big thanks to Marilee, Kirsten, Chris, Preston, Emily, Tiffany and Jeri! You made it great.

Would your business like to sponsor this show? Send us a message and we’ll tell you how.

The Secret to Keeping your New Year’s Resolutions

by Shaun Roundy

It’s that time of year again! Time to pretend that next year will turn out different than all the other years before it. “This year,” we promise ourselves, we’ll stick to our resolutions, get in shape, stop smoking, get that new job…and then, we know – we just KNOW it, then we will be happy. Then life will be good.

Well? It’s true! You will be happier and life will be better. Or rather, life would be better if you actually kept working at your goals.

Sorry to tell you the bad news, but the other part is probably not true – you will not keep your resolutions this year any better than you ever have before. Next year will end up pretty much like this one except that we’ll all be another year older.

Unless.

Unless you learn one little tiny lesson that changes everything. Read more “The Secret to Keeping your New Year’s Resolutions” →

The Most Important Words in the English Language: “I…

by Shaun Roundy

When I was 5 years old, I went to a church Halloween party dressed as a little devil. I wore a red mask, a black cape, carried a red plastic trident, and the only thing I now recall about the party is the Box Maze.

In hindsight, I see that the mistake I made inside that row of cardboard boxes taped together into a long, dark tunnel was the same costly mistake I have repeated all my life. This mistake has been the cause of inexpressible sadness, frustration, confusion, loneliness and failure after failure.

I’ll tell you what that mistake was and I’ll bet it’s the same one you’ve been making all your life and the primary source of your own sorrows. Unfortunately, telling you won’t solve your problems, but it will give you a place to begin.

All those decades ago, I got down on my hands and knees, and clutching my fiery trident in one fist, entered the maze. Everything turned pitch black but I crawled and scuffled bravely forward anyway. Read more “The Most Important Words in the English Language: “I was wrong.”” →

How to Conquer Fear

by Shaun Roundy

Sometimes fear is your friend, because it saves you from jumping off high places and getting hurt.

Usually fear is your enemy, because 99% of the things you’re afraid of are not even dangerous. They’re merely uncomfortable.

For most people, fear is the main impediment to happiness, success and self actualization. Lucky for you, there are multiple ways to get past fear, and they all fall into these two categories:

Ignore your fears
Transcend your fears

We’ll provide a quick overview of each approach here. Read more “How to Conquer Fear” →

Sponsor a Dancer!!!

by Shaun Roundy

I’ve known Bridger Barksdale all his life. I am *awed* at his dedication to his pursuits and the *excellence* he achieves in them.

I produced this video to show off some of his inspiring skills, and to help him raise money to attend the Bolshoi Theater’s summer intensive program in New York this summer, where he was awarded a 90% scholarship when he tried out at the Grand Prix in Denver this winter. His family is not rich and could really use your help. I guarantee that any help you can provide would be a VERY GOOD cause!

Roots vs. Wings

by Shaun Roundy

Have you ever had wanderlust? Have you glanced through all the stunningly exotic photos online or that your friends pin on Pinterest and wished you could go there?

That’s what I have to say today: YOU CAN. GO!

I once took a spontaneous trip to Taiwan where I taught English and learned Chinese. It lasted five months and ended with a three-week trip to Mainland China. That lasted four months. When I came home and started my master’s program, I couldn’t get it all out of my head and even wrote a book about the incredible experience just to help me process everything that happened.

YOU CAN GO ANYWHERE YOU WANT. If you really want to go, you can find a way to save money, get time off, find someone to go with, and whatever else it takes to get there! Read more “Roots vs. Wings” →