In honor of this glorious Friday, I challenge you to do something kind for yourself! Many of us spend our days caring for everyone EXCEPT ourselves, so today I give everyone permission to give themselves a little treat! 🙂
Enjoy and share below 🙂
I challenge you today to do something positive for someone else. Take a moment to break outside of your normal routine and do something unexpected for someone. It may just be a small thing, but you never know how badly someone may need a positive uplift! Good luck and have a fantastic day. 🙂
There are always times when we all feel down and, for lack of better words, beat ourselves up. In the past, there have been times where I could hardly look in the mirror because I was so angry with myself. I truly think we are often times too hard on ourselves. We beat ourselves up over small things, and some not so small things, but honestly, I believe we are all trying our best in the situations we are in.
If you are feeling down about yourself I want you to write down at least one thing you like about yourself. ANYTHING! Each day, add one more item to the list, and soon you will see you have many wonderful qualities about yourself!
If you would like to comment below and leave some things you like or even love about yourself, feel free! We should share our self love!! 🙂
Here are my top three:
1. I like my excitement about life
2. I have a huge imagination
3. I have pretty amazing hair
Today the act of forgiveness was brought to my attention while I was reading my bible study. Over the years, I have always struggled with letting go of grudges completely. I said that I forgave someone, but when it came to the bitter feelings inside, those didn’t always go away. However, as I am reflecting on my study I am realizing that forgiveness does not mean that we necessarily forget what happened or how it made us feel. What I am coming to understand is that forgiveness is allowing ourselves to no longer be angry about what happened in spite of it all. When we harbor anger and resentment, we are not hurting the other party involved. We are only hurting ourselves. How can we live a life of positivity and joy if our hearts and minds are full of revenge or bitterness. Yes, horrible things happen to wonderful people, and that is wrong. But it is not your fault. Unforgiven emotions only continue to hurt us. The best way to get back at someone is finding peace in ourselves and letting go of hurt. Finding a way to live a life full of positivity and love.
It is difficult to forgive. I am still learning how, but this year I am going to work on finding a way to forgive those who have wronged me so that I can be at peace!
Have an amazing day!
For me, the answer to this question is a resounding YES! I actually talk to myself constantly. As a woman with an anxiety disorder it is imperative that I keep in constant communication with myself, as odd as it may sound. Self talk has helped me overcome hundreds to anxious situations and has kept me a little bit more sane during the day.
There is one particular “self talk situation” that comes to mind. This summer during our monsoon season, I was heading downtown, and I knew there was a chance for rain, but it was relatively clear by my house. As soon as I took off down the road, the heavens opened up and it was, literally, as if I was going through a car wash! I couldn’t see anything out of my windows and the spray from my wheels was streaming UP over my car! I drove about 15 miles an hour and refused to go any faster. There was no way I was going to turn around because I had told my friends I would meet them and I didn’t want to be a flake. So I kept pushing onward.
My heart settled in my throat so it was nearly impossible to swallow. My knuckles were pale as I gripped the wheel. Cold sweat had even formed on my brow. Then I started getting hot. A panic attack was coming! I didn’t want to have one while I was behind the wheel so I started talking out loud to myself.
I remember sitting at a red light and congratulating myself for doing such a great job driving. I pretty much channeled my father and went into driving instructor mode. I kept telling myself how great I was doing and how proud  I was of myself. Also, I kept reassuring myself that we were almost there. I think if anyone else was in the car, they would have been laughing hysterically!
My point with this musing was that I was able to avoid the panic attack by speaking positively to myself, even though I felt the opposite. Hearing my own voice was like I had a little cheerleader next to be cheering me onward! I think we need to be our own cheerleaders. We spend a lot of time tearing ourselves down when we are in the middle of an anxious situation, but what would happen if we flipped those thoughts and decided to be kind to ourselves. Talk to ourselves gently and with encouragement. How would that make our anxiety feel? Could we get through it easier? You don’t have to always say it out loud but even just hearing your inner self cheering for you can make a huge difference.
I challenge you to try Self Talking to yourself when you are stressed, anxious, depressed, or overwhelmed. See where it will lead you. I bet you will find yourself in a place you didn’t expect.
**This post was started because of a fabulous conversation with CrumpledPaperCranes! So I wanted to share it with all of you!
I always like to be reminded to think about what I’m thinking about. It is impossible to have a good day if all our thoughts are clouded with negativity.
Today, remember to pay attention to what thoughts you are dwelling on. Are they helping your on your path to a positive life, or are they putting up road blocks to keep you negative?
Have an AMAZING Saturday!
Over the last year and a half, since I have been married, I have learned a very important lesson. Silence can be a great thing! What I mean is that when you’re having an argument with someone it is ok to hold your tongue and go completely silent. I find that when I am upset I tend to say some pretty nasty things. As a writer, I have a plethora of large, descriptively hurtful words that intend to toss around in my moments of frustration. It was invaluable to learn this lesson. I noticed that when I went silent during the times I was most angry, my husband and I were able to find resolution quicker. We didn’t have to clean up the mess that would have ensued had more colorful words.
This lesson can be applied in any area of our lives. When I am upset with a student, colleague or family member, I can practice guarding my words. It is important for us to be able to gather our emotions before we speak. It will save us a lot of heartbreak in the end. 🙂
I must admit that this week has been horrendously long and outrageously stressful. Unexpected tasks seemed to pop up out of nowhere and my attitude started to sour. I have to say, tears were involved.
However, my core support team of friends and family were right there for me, cheering me along. When I felt I couldn’t carry on, they told me I could do it and helped me back onto my feet. They were utterly amazing.
I know that I couldn’t have made it though the week without a huge mental breakdown if my friends and family had not been there for me. Also, had I not opened up to them, they wouldn’t of known I needed them so badly. I believe it is critical for us to open up, even if we feel ashamed, to those closest to us. Those who love us will never judge. They will only open their arms widely and welcome us into their embrace.
In a world full of negativity and darkness, choose to be a beam of positivity and light. The world has enough problems, so choose to not be one of them. Even when you feel at the bottom of the pit and you are being engulfed by darkness, you still have a choice on how you react. You can give in, or you can push on. Make the choice to push on. The decision to push onward will create a small light of hope inside of you, and as you continue to fight the darkness, it will grow brighter! One day you will win! You have been given the strength to conquer the fears and anxieties that plague you. Just don’t give up.
The Persistent Platypus 