A Daily Dose of Sunshine...

POSITIVITY AND INSPIRATION FOR ANYONE AND EVERYONE

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Love random, unexpected, thoughtful messages. Love move, people! Love more 💜 spread the good vibes. It’s ok to feel like an awkward, vulnerable (yes, VULNERABLE) caterpillar sometimes. If we are honest with ourselves, we have all felt this way at some point. It’s OK. We are all OK :) #facts #randomactsofkindness #inspiration #wordsofwisdom 🐛

Love random, unexpected, thoughtful messages. Love move, people! Love more 💜 spread the good vibes. It’s ok to feel like an awkward, vulnerable (yes, VULNERABLE) caterpillar sometimes. If we are honest with ourselves, we have all felt this way at some point. It’s OK. We are all OK :) #facts #randomactsofkindness #inspiration #wordsofwisdom 🐛

Filed under facts wordsofwisdom randomactsofkindness inspiration

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“Courage is fear that has said it’s prayers.” Fear is an emotion that all humans are hard-wired to experience.  In the cave-man days, fear saved our ancestors’ lives.  Today, we face different dangers and fears than our ancestors did, but the experience of fear is the same.  It’s uncomfortable and it’s designed to elicit a self-protective response.  Threat. Fear. Response. Bear. Fear. RUN.  Disagree with the crowd.  Fear rejection.  Suppress the authentic self by “agreeing”. The fears that we experience as most threatening vary from person to person.  Some fear rejection more than anything else.  For others, it’s abandonment, loneliness, failure, inadequacy or embarrassment (just to name a few).  What it is that we fear most as individuals does not matter.  What matters is that we understand two things: 1.) No one is fearless.  EVERYONE experiences fear and we need not be ashamed of feeling fearful. 2.) Fear makes bravery possible.  We cannot be brave or courageous if we are not fearful in the first place. In both our personal and professional lives, we are faced with difficult decisions on a daily basis.  The right decision is often obvious, but the pressure to make the wrong decision can be overwhelming.  It’s overwhelming because fear gets in the way.  It could be fear of upsetting someone you care about, fear of losing something or someone, fear of being rejected by peers, etc.  Whatever the fear, it often takes great courage to make the right decision. If you think you’re fearless, you’re wrong.  In a society that values bravery and equates fear with weakness, we often try to “get rid of” our fear as soon as we feel it.This doesn’t mean it isn’t there!  If you judge yourself for experiencing fear and try to convince yourself out of it, you’re doing yourself a disservice.  Instead of suppressing  fearful emotions, acknowledge them and convert them into something productive … like courage! Don’t judge yourself for being fearful.  Fear is a completely natural and unavoidable emotion.  Whether we admit it or not, we all experience fear.  It is what we do with that fear that matters.  Courageousness and bravery are qualities that we value, but in order to be courageous or brave, we have to first recognize our fears, buckle down, and proceed through them.  Not around them.  Not over, or under them.  THROUGH them.  That is what true courage consists of.  If you find yourself derailed by fear, remember: “Courage is fear that has said it’s prayers.”  Try to find comfort in the idea that everyone experiences fear, and we all have the power to convert this fear into courage by adding a bit of hope and faith in ourselves or others into the equation. You can be brave, you can be courageous, and you can be strong.

“Courage is fear that has said it’s prayers.”

Fear is an emotion that all humans are hard-wired to experience.  In the cave-man days, fear saved our ancestors’ lives.  Today, we face different dangers and fears than our ancestors did, but the experience of fear is the same.  It’s uncomfortable and it’s designed to elicit a self-protective response. 

Threat. Fear. Response.

Bear. Fear. RUN. 

Disagree with the crowd.  Fear rejection.  Suppress the authentic self by “agreeing”.

The fears that we experience as most threatening vary from person to person.  Some fear rejection more than anything else.  For others, it’s abandonment, loneliness, failure, inadequacy or embarrassment (just to name a few).  What it is that we fear most as individuals does not matter.  What matters is that we understand two things: 1.) No one is fearless.  EVERYONE experiences fear and we need not be ashamed of feeling fearful. 2.) Fear makes bravery possible.  We cannot be brave or courageous if we are not fearful in the first place.

In both our personal and professional lives, we are faced with difficult decisions on a daily basis.  The right decision is often obvious, but the pressure to make the wrong decision can be overwhelming.  It’s overwhelming because fear gets in the way.  It could be fear of upsetting someone you care about, fear of losing something or someone, fear of being rejected by peers, etc.  Whatever the fear, it often takes great courage to make the right decision.

If you think you’re fearless, you’re wrong.  In a society that values bravery and equates fear with weakness, we often try to “get rid of” our fear as soon as we feel it.This doesn’t mean it isn’t there!  If you judge yourself for experiencing fear and try to convince yourself out of it, you’re doing yourself a disservice.  Instead of suppressing  fearful emotions, acknowledge them and convert them into something productive … like courage!

Don’t judge yourself for being fearful.  Fear is a completely natural and unavoidable emotion.  Whether we admit it or not, we all experience fear.  It is what we do with that fear that matters.  Courageousness and bravery are qualities that we value, but in order to be courageous or brave, we have to first recognize our fears, buckle down, and proceed through them.  Not around them.  Not over, or under them.  THROUGH them.  That is what true courage consists of. 

If you find yourself derailed by fear, remember: “Courage is fear that has said it’s prayers.”  Try to find comfort in the idea that everyone experiences fear, and we all have the power to convert this fear into courage by adding a bit of hope and faith in ourselves or others into the equation.

You can be brave, you can be courageous, and you can be strong.

Filed under courage fear quote art recovery ed substance abuse anorexia bulimia self harm self help inspiration love support mental health psychology eating disorder depression anxiety

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Tear’s don’t mean you’re losing. We are taught that crying is a sign of weakness.  Crying in response to real emotions is a sign that we are human. Crying to manipulate a person or situation: Neither cool nor justified. Crying in response to real emotions: Excellent. Crying is simply a sign that we are human beings that have emotions.  We cry when we are happy, sad, frightened, worried, stressed, excited … it is a physical manifestation of emotions; that’s all.  We don’t need to fear it or give it any sort of significance it doesn’t deserve.  It’s OK to cry.  Of course, there are times and places where it is/is or in our best interest to let the tears flow.  There are times and places where it’s appropriate to cry and times and places where we need to hold it together.  When, where, and who it is appropriate to cry with is up to us to decide for ourselves as individuals.  What’s right for one person may not be right for the next. Ruminating or getting stuck in sadness or fear won’t get anyone anywhere, but neither will ignoring such feelings completely.  Many people, including myself, believe that with every experience comes a lesson.  We can only learn from our experiences if we acknowledge and feel ALL of the emotions that are attached to them.  If something frustrates you but you refuse to acknowledge that frustration or try to convince yourself out of it, you cannot recognize that something is happening that you want to change in the first place, let alone make a change that will help you feel better!  This principle applies to many emotions.  If we’re sad but we don’t acknowledge that sadness, we cannot adequately identify what it is about our current circumstances that is causing us to feel sad and therefore cannot do anything about it!  Repressing feelings or convincing ourselves we do not feel a certain way does not serve us! Today, crying takes courage.  The ability to cry requires us to be vulnerable and vulnerability can be a scary thing in an individualistic society that values strength as much as ours does.  Crying also requires us to be in touch with our true feelings, which can be a frightening experience as well.  For example, if you grew up learning that not only is crying a sign of weakness, but sadness and fear are as well, you probably learned to repress those feelings almost automatically when you have them.  To acknowledge and own them as your true feelings at any given time is hard! Bottom line: Tear’s don’t mean you’re losing. In fact, tears often mean you are winning.

Tear’s don’t mean you’re losing.

We are taught that crying is a sign of weakness.  Crying in response to real emotions is a sign that we are human.

Crying to manipulate a person or situation: Neither cool nor justified.

Crying in response to real emotions: Excellent.

Crying is simply a sign that we are human beings that have emotions.  We cry when we are happy, sad, frightened, worried, stressed, excited … it is a physical manifestation of emotions; that’s all.  We don’t need to fear it or give it any sort of significance it doesn’t deserve.  It’s OK to cry.  Of course, there are times and places where it is/is or in our best interest to let the tears flow.  There are times and places where it’s appropriate to cry and times and places where we need to hold it together.  When, where, and who it is appropriate to cry with is up to us to decide for ourselves as individuals.  What’s right for one person may not be right for the next.

Ruminating or getting stuck in sadness or fear won’t get anyone anywhere, but neither will ignoring such feelings completely.  Many people, including myself, believe that with every experience comes a lesson.  We can only learn from our experiences if we acknowledge and feel ALL of the emotions that are attached to them.  If something frustrates you but you refuse to acknowledge that frustration or try to convince yourself out of it, you cannot recognize that something is happening that you want to change in the first place, let alone make a change that will help you feel better!  This principle applies to many emotions.  If we’re sad but we don’t acknowledge that sadness, we cannot adequately identify what it is about our current circumstances that is causing us to feel sad and therefore cannot do anything about it!  Repressing feelings or convincing ourselves we do not feel a certain way does not serve us!

Today, crying takes courage.  The ability to cry requires us to be vulnerable and vulnerability can be a scary thing in an individualistic society that values strength as much as ours does.  Crying also requires us to be in touch with our true feelings, which can be a frightening experience as well.  For example, if you grew up learning that not only is crying a sign of weakness, but sadness and fear are as well, you probably learned to repress those feelings almost automatically when you have them.  To acknowledge and own them as your true feelings at any given time is hard!

Bottom line: Tear’s don’t mean you’re losing.

In fact, tears often mean you are winning.

(via insight-inspiration)

Filed under art cry emotions inspiration mental health positive psychology ptsd quote recovery self help substance abuse tears ed eating disorder bulimia anorexia

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Do you have a problem that is stressing you out or causing anxiety and discomfort?  What if you could reduce this discomfort and anxiety by entertaining the idea of looking at your problem as an opportunity??   If your alarm bells have already started sounding at the mere thought of this “problem” and you find yourself saying something to the effect of ” NO I haven’t, because _______ IS a PROBLEM,” try stopping for a minute to think.  The reaction I just described is a feeling based reaction, not a thought based reaction.  Yes, it’s a thought itself but this particular thought is based more on feelings of worry, fear and frustration than facts.  These emotionally based thoughts often fuel worries and anxieties keep us stuck in the cycle of: Problem presented —> experience a feeling (fear, worry, etc.) —> increased anxiety (not a feeling, but the body’s response to feelings that precede it) —> emotionally based reaction —> more anxiety —> bigger feelings —> bigger emotionally based reaction to compensate —> EVEN more anxiety ……… you get the picture. If you’re looking for a quick and/or permanent fix, you can stop reading now. I hate to break it to you, but those don’t exist.  If you are interested in first acknowledging the difficulty of your current situation (which is a vital step in this process), as well as exploring some new ways to think about things that might help you feel better and problem solve more effectively, continue on! When a problematic situation comes to mind and the uncomfortable feelings start flooding in, try stopping for a minute to really think about what opportunities you already have and what opportunities could potentially come from your current set of circumstances.  Please, don’t mistake me here; thinking in this way won’t make the problem go away, but it will help build strength and resilience when the going gets rough.  It will also help create adequate space to have the mental clarity to use problem solving skills effectively.   Good things are out there and they will come, as long as we’re open to noticing and receiving them.  If we’re constantly viewing challenges as problems, we’re not actively seeking or even leaving any room for opportunities!  I’m not saying it works like magic.  It doesn’t.  We are often quick to blame one’s thinking habits for their down mood or less than chipper attitude.  Our thoughts are a large contributor to how we feel, but how we experience out feelings is really much more complex than simply changing a thought.  We all face problems and challenges of different shapes and sizes but we can help create space for ourselves to problem solve more effectively by viewing problems as opportunities for meaningful change to occur.   If worrying is getting in the way of life today (or any day for that matter), ask; in what ways can I view this problem as an opportunity? If you’re really dedicated to answering that question, you are bound to come up with at least a few.  Recognizing these opportunities will decrease your level of anxiety and boost your mood, at least a little bit!

Do you have a problem that is stressing you out or causing anxiety and discomfort?  What if you could reduce this discomfort and anxiety by entertaining the idea of looking at your problem as an opportunity??  

If your alarm bells have already started sounding at the mere thought of this “problem” and you find yourself saying something to the effect of ” NO I haven’t, because _______ IS a PROBLEM,” try stopping for a minute to think.  The reaction I just described is a feeling based reaction, not a thought based reaction.  Yes, it’s a thought itself but this particular thought is based more on feelings of worry, fear and frustration than facts.  These emotionally based thoughts often fuel worries and anxieties keep us stuck in the cycle of:

Problem presented —> experience a feeling (fear, worry, etc.) —> increased anxiety (not a feeling, but the body’s response to feelings that precede it) —> emotionally based reaction —> more anxiety —> bigger feelings —> bigger emotionally based reaction to compensate —> EVEN more anxiety ……… you get the picture.

If you’re looking for a quick and/or permanent fix, you can stop reading now. I hate to break it to you, but those don’t exist.  If you are interested in first acknowledging the difficulty of your current situation (which is a vital step in this process), as well as exploring some new ways to think about things that might help you feel better and problem solve more effectively, continue on!

When a problematic situation comes to mind and the uncomfortable feelings start flooding in, try stopping for a minute to really think about what opportunities you already have and what opportunities could potentially come from your current set of circumstances.  Please, don’t mistake me here; thinking in this way won’t make the problem go away, but it will help build strength and resilience when the going gets rough.  It will also help create adequate space to have the mental clarity to use problem solving skills effectively.  

Good things are out there and they will come, as long as we’re open to noticing and receiving them.  If we’re constantly viewing challenges as problems, we’re not actively seeking or even leaving any room for opportunities!  I’m not saying it works like magic.  It doesn’t.  We are often quick to blame one’s thinking habits for their down mood or less than chipper attitude.  Our thoughts are a large contributor to how we feel, but how we experience out feelings is really much more complex than simply changing a thought.  We all face problems and challenges of different shapes and sizes but we can help create space for ourselves to problem solve more effectively by viewing problems as opportunities for meaningful change to occur.  

If worrying is getting in the way of life today (or any day for that matter), ask; in what ways can I view this problem as an opportunity? If you’re really dedicated to answering that question, you are bound to come up with at least a few.  Recognizing these opportunities will decrease your level of anxiety and boost your mood, at least a little bit!

Filed under anxiety mental health problem opportunity picture quote inspiration positivity psychology self-help

8 notes

The future started yesterday. New Rule: Nothing “starts tomorrow.”  Today day is about half over … what are you going to do to make this day even better?  No matter what has already happened today, you have the ability to make it better.  If it’s going well … keep going.  If you’re feeling down, don’t chalk it up as a loss just yet.  Don’t wait until tomorrow to turn things around.  Seize the moment … this moment!  Do. It. Now. Don’t wait until tomorrow.  Start TODAY.  Why?  Because you’re worth it and you CAN.

The future started yesterday.

New Rule: Nothing “starts tomorrow.”  Today day is about half over … what are you going to do to make this day even better?  No matter what has already happened today, you have the ability to make it better.  If it’s going well … keep going.  If you’re feeling down, don’t chalk it up as a loss just yet.  Don’t wait until tomorrow to turn things around.  Seize the moment … this moment!  Do. It. Now.

Don’t wait until tomorrow.  Start TODAY.  Why?  Because you’re worth it and you CAN.

Filed under inspiration support anxiety depression ed eating disorder substance abuse alcohol ptsd psychology quote art love