Ask Deepak: Get Answers to Your Spiritual Questions, Part 2

Each week, Deepak Chopra responds to Oprah.com users’ questions with enlightening advice to help them live their best lives. This week, Deepak starts by addressing how to stay positive when times are tough:

Q: I have had a tough road bring me to where I am. I have buried most of my family, dealt with domestic violence, have two amazing kids and multiple sclerosis. When will I connect with my center and truly live my desires? Why have there been so many struggles, and when will I feel peace? I give and try to help people and have good thoughts in my head and heart. Why do I feel struggle at times when I try to remain so positive?
— Corrine G., Andover, Massachusetts
Read more at Oprah.com

Taking a Chance

For the moment I´m totally lost and confused and it causes me daily feelings of stress, anxiety, headache and stomach pain.

I am in a situation regarding job and place of living that I have to change and now an opportunity for that might have come. But the problem is that I don´t know if the timing is right or not, I have
longed for this opportunity to come, but now I am extremely scared. The problem I have is that I don´t know if I have these tough feelings because the timing is not right (if I have to prepare more, or if that is
not the right place to live),if I am just scared of change and uncertainty regarding money (I have to give up a good salary for not knowing if I will have any money), or if I´m afraid to know what I really feel since my opinion might be in conflict with others.

Stress, feelings and thoughts are whirling around so much in my body that I can´t even feel or think clearly. I have a healthy, regular lifestyle and also meditate twice a day. Right now I feel this is what makes me keep my head above the water line, otherwise I think I would freak out. But even if my meditation practice works well and I find peace, I don´t find the answers of what is right to do and how to handle my feelings and fears, and how to sort out what is what, what is fear and what is my honest will. Do you have any suggestions on how to do that, how to go on?
I would appreciate any answer a lot.

Ethical Violations at Work

You always talk about peace. So want to ask you this question that has left me restless, sleepless and devoid of peace.
I am a researcher who joined this lab of a very senior scientist where I found lots of wrong things happening. When I pointed out these to the senior scientist she turned against me and did ever possible thing to isolate me and mentally torture me in the lab. Finally I decided to leave the lab. However my friends advise me to complain against her before I leave. I want to leave in peace but still want things to change in the lab for other people who are there and people who will join in future because what’s happening right now is unethical, immoral and cruel. If I make a complaint against her, isn’t it a violent action on my part? But if I don’t its awfully wrong too making me a party to the non compliance.

Why Is Happiness Still a Mystery?

PBS has just finished a three-part special on human emotions, with the final episode devoted to happiness. It may surprise many that happiness is a hot subject, especially in the new field of positive psychology. Just as medicine studies disease to find out how to get patients well, psychology has almost entirely been about the mind’s maladies. Positive psychology attempts to reverse this focus by studying a person’s strengths rather than his weaknesses. (more…)

Dealing with fears

I have had a very pleasant life recently. I have 2 beautiful girls, nice job and a husband. We don’t have any money problems. We had a lot of friends.  I have a lot of love and a lot of inner peace. Last year my husband lost his job, and he can’t find any at the moment. There is a lot of fear in me. Will we have money to pay the bills, will we become poor, will his bad mood affect our family? A lot of “friends” turned back on us and my husband has very low self-esteem. I became very sad, I lost the energy in me, I can’t see the light on the end of the tunnel. I had a very strong opinion that:
– material world is just temporary, the spirit in us is important,
– I am, who I am, and other people are another person.
But now there is something in me, that wants to get of this problem. I love my husband, but I want to protect my children and me of this agony, so I want to get away from him and his problems.
Please Deepak, give me some advice or another view on this situation. Everybody keeps saying it will get better, and I was saying that for a long time, but now I don’t believe it anymore.