Thoughtful Thursday

Our society has a way of teaching us that we’re never good enough, or smart enough, or successful enough, or –whatever enough to be accepted. 

Part of our job is to learn how to accept and love ourselves, not because we believe we’re perfect, because none of us are, but because we recognize that we have good qualities and the potential to do good things for people.

 One way to start is by making a list of your own good qualities and then write some evidence from your life, that supports the fact that you exhibit these good qualities. If you are unable to list anything take that as a sign that you need a partner to do it and get a close friend or a cognitive therapist to help you.

If you’re working with a friend, you can make a similar list for them. If you feel uncertain at all about the qualities on your own list, then you can try visualizing yourself in front of one or more persons (the more, the better) telling them what’s on your list and why. You can try to imagine your voice as you say each word to them in a very convincing tone and repeat your list and the evidence for it until all doubts have been erased.

Tranquil Tuesday

When you’re under a lot of stress, it’s easy to lose perspective and think that “Nothing is worse than what’s happening to me,” but I found a simple experiment helped me regain my perspective:

I asked myself which situation could I handle for a longer time period, bearing my stressful problem or holding my breath. I quickly found the lack of oxygen infinitely more difficult to handle. I couldn’t hold my breath for more than a minute, but I had been bearing with my stressful problems for days. This little experiment, as silly as it sounds, caused a shift in my thinking that made it easier to with my personal life stressors.

Soulful Sunday

Know it or not, the world communes with us. To commune is to share and in every drop of water we drink, breath we take, or morsel of food we eat, the world communes with us. The need for communion; to be in contact with nature and to express and share thoughts and feelings with empathic people, can supply a kind of energy and inspiration that sustains you in the new week. 

Nature is as close as the nearest tree or bird or blade of grass, or the picture in your mind of peaceful nature in a park, field, or forest. If supportive friends or family are not available, empathic people are as close as the local crisis line, community center, ethical society, or religious center.