Consciousness of the body means exactly: a subjective awareness of bodily sensations arising under the influence of stimuli that originate both outside the body and in its interior.Emotions are diagnosed using a combination of separate bodily sensations: e.g. shallow breathing + accelerated heartbeat + cold sweats = I’m scared.

Exercise illustrating a basic body consciousness:

• First of all, do not move. Note the position in which you sit now.

• What kind of sensations you begin to realize? Scan your entire body: pay attention to the head, neck, chest, back, abdomen, buttocks, legs, feet, arms, hands.

• Are you feeling comfortable? – Do not move, for now.

• How do you know whether you are comfortable or not? What experiences indicates comfort or discomfort?

• Do you feel the impulse to change the position? – For now, do not do so only acknowledge impulse.

• Whence comes this impulse? If you had to change your position, what part of your body you will move in the first place – do not do it yet. First, determine discomfort, which lies at the source of this impulse: is this tension? Is this something that starts to numb? Do you feel cold toes?

• Listen now your impulse and change your position. What has changed in your body? Do you breathe easier? Does the pain or tension decreased? Are you more vigilant at the moment?

• If you do not feel an impulse to change the position, you can just be comfortable. Please note the signals from the body which inform you that you are comfortable: are your shoulders relaxed? Is your breathing is deep? Is your body generally warm?

• Then change your position, regardless of whether you are comfortable or not (if it is done in accordance with above instructions, do it again). Change location or way of sitting. Move somewhere else: try new chair, stand or sit on the floor. Take the new position and stay in it. Then again make a body scan of whether you are comfortable or not? What bodily sensations telling you about your it: tension, relaxation; warm cold; ache; numbness, depth and location of breath and so on. This time pay attention, are you more alert or awake in this position, or the last?

• Try the third position. Rate it as described above.Make a few notes about your experience using terms relating to bodily sensations: voltage, temperature, breathing and so on. “I sat on the chair, felt the tension in my arms, and my feet were warm. When I changed my position into standing, my feet were cold, and my shoulders relaxed … “Sometimes we forget about our bodies (or we perceiving it as our enemy not a good friend) as we are living only in our heads – take a break from your mind and give your body some attention 🙂

Cognitive distortions

Let’s start with what cognitive errors are actually. This is a general term for an irrational way of perceiving reality. They may be caused by limited cognitive resources, lack of time, lack of motivation to formulate correct judgments or a desire to maintain well-being. In short – logic suggests something completely different, and yet we behave in contradiction to it. It happens that cognitive errors are helpful – they speed up the decision making process, and the risk they carry is small compared to the profits. It also happens, however, that their effects are catastrophic. That is why it is worth to be aware of them, observe how often and in what situations they appear with us and work out a way to get out of them if necessary. Below are some examples of typical thought traps.

1. Anchor heuristics: According to this principle, people attach the greatest importance to the first information they hear. It becomes a point of attachment and based on it then the whole thinking process is activated. This information, therefore, defines in some way the space and scope in which you then move, is a reference point. It is worth remembering, for example, during negotiations – according to this principle, when negotiating your salary, it is worth starting with a high amount, not only to leave room for concessions, but also to “anchor” the other side on the desired scale.


2. Contrast effect: I have been using a certain smartphone model for a long time. The times of splendor were already behind him, a bit bad, photos did not go out as beautiful as on a much newer model of my partner. When we compared the two phones with each other – mine seemed definitely weaker, had fewer functions and I felt that I would like to replace it as soon as possible. Until one day my phone landed on the floor, the quick went to a small poppy and for a few days I was to transfer the SIM card to the previous camera, which I saved for exactly such a case. And you know what? When I started walking with this quite old camera in my pocket, my last phone (the one that crashed) didn’t seem so weak anymore! It had a much better camera, faster processor, more functions. He was regarded as the pinnacle of technology in my eyes! And I dreamed of returning to it, even though recently I wanted to exchange it. The contrast effect worked, i.e. increasing or decreasing the observed features of the object depending on comparing it with another. You will observe the same phenomenon in relationships with people – the assessment of traits, abilities, competences, predispositions, skills can be very different depending on who you take as a reference point and with whom you compare. Objectively, this should not happen, because the characteristics of a person or object do not change at all, but a person is not a computer – it is not always logical.


3. Confirmation effect: It is a tendency to seek only arguments confirming our opinion or thesis and to omit those that contradict or verify it. I bet you sometimes fall victim to this cognitive error. You face a complex problem at work, but you already have similar experiences, a developed way of working. Based on this feeling, you formulate your decision. The boss asks you to think about it, so you start rummaging in the data and … by some strange luck they all confirm your point of view. You go to a meeting with this decision, a teammate expresses his fears and recalls situations in which a similar approach ended in failure. So you enter into a fiery discussion, because someone dares to question your opinion, which you confirmed by analyzes. But say – what did you look for in the data? Did you accidentally subconsciously reach for only those that were supposed to confirm your point of view?Next time, go to a higher level and try honestly … refute your thesis before others do it for you. Only then will you find out if it is real. By the way, watch out for the decision support effect, according to which it is much more difficult for us to get out of the choice we have made, even though in time we start to notice its shortcomings.


4. Focus effect: The point is that you pay so much attention to one aspect/feature that you ignore the other, equally important. Recently I experienced it buying a fridge. Normally, with such a decision I would be guided by functionality, technical parameters and price. However, because of the architectural design there were big restrictions on its size – this aspect came to the fore! It came to the point that we began to compare selected models only in terms of dimensions, forgetting that we wanted a zero chamber, good energy class and easy cleaning. One evening I sobered up, knocked my head and called the architects to change the design. I did not intend to limit myself any longer, because in a few weeks it would not have any impact on my comfort of use. I shook off the focus effect.

5. Shock illusion: Have you ever been nervous about being nervous? Or remain in a very unsuccessful relationship only for fear of suffering and loneliness after separation? The illusion of shock probably worked then, i.e. the tendency to overestimate the intensity and severity of future emotional states. The effect also works the other way around – we sometimes overestimate the feeling of happiness that overwhelms us when we get a promotion or go on vacation. Watch out for a hard landing, when the state of nirvana you hoped for would not prevail! Preferably instead of thinking about what it will be like in a while – focus on how it is now.


6. Reluctance to Loss: It’s a tendency to prefer avoiding losses over multiplying profits. This, of course, involves the risks we are willing to take. Loss seems to us more severe than no profit. Because we already have something, we are attached to it, it is ours. And the potential profit is only potential. And of course in certain situations this approach can be helpful – it protects us from taking irrational risks. However, if the fear of loss begins to cut you off from new opportunities or development – make an effort to get out of this trap.


7. The principle of attachment: Occurs if you act or form an opinion in a certain way, just because most people do/think so. You follow the crowd without actually assessing the benefits or losses. Sometimes because you lack the full information, sometimes because of time, and sometimes you simply save energy needed to make your own decision. Recently, I heard a good example from one of the neighbors. We talked about the advantages of wooden and stone terraces. The neighbor admitted that in retrospect he would definitely prefer to have a wooden terrace, but when he constructed it, everyone around decided on the tiled option. So he went the same way instead of breaking out.


8. The gambler’s paradox: If the heads have fallen out of coin in the last 10 tosses, what is the probability that it will also be eleven times? Exactly 50%. And yet it seems to us much more likely that we will finally see the eagle. After all, it’s impossible for this tails chain to last without a break. Gamblers very often succumb to such delusion (e.g. when playing roulette), hence the name of this cognitive error. Why is this happening? We assess individual coin tosses as being dependent on each other, forming a series in which the coin “remembers” to which side it fell previously. In fact, however, these events are completely unrelated to each other and the probability is determined separately for each of them. So if you play a lottery or any other game of chance – remember this trap!


9. The illusion of asymmetrical insight: Do you think you know everything about your partner, friends, colleagues? Do you know their needs, strengths and weaknesses, values, preferences? You always tell them what they should do, choose, say. And at the same time it annoys you if someone is wondering what is best for you, because how can he know it … You probably fall victim to the illusion of asymmetrical insight and overestimate your knowledge about others, you consider it much deeper than the knowledge of others about you. Be careful, because this approach can seriously threaten your relationships.
10. The illusion of transparency: Can’t he see that I’m sad? Instead of staring at the TV or going to training, he should pay attention to me. He certainly knows how I feel, and yet he ignores me. Maybe he doesn’t care about me anymore? STOP! Before you get into such thoughts, think about whether you’re accidentally heading into the trap of another thought trap – the illusion of transparency. It involves overestimating the visibility of your emotional state to other people. You think it is obvious and clear that you are sad, angry, nervous, tired today … but the world does not see it at all! So if you enter an interview and are afraid that recruiters will immediately notice your high stress level … there is a high probability that you are wrong. The same applies to public speaking, competitions and important meetings. People don’t have radars in their heads. Of course, if they are distinguished by a high level of empathy, they will probably notice subtle signs flowing from body language, tone or tempo. However, they see and know much less than you think. Your mood is not always written on your face, so if you want someone to notice it, just talk about it.

Oh, there are many pranks that the mind plays on us. And above I mentioned only a few of them. Have you found a trap that you often fall into yourself? I hope you will now increase your mindfulness and capture these situations.

Our inner child is still within us. It did not go away with the process of growing up. This is the voice we hear in times when we allow ourselves a bit of freedom and get excited about various things. It is this voice that sometimes asks us how to heal all kinds of emotional wounds from the past…

We often hear about “the need to heal our psyche.” Simply put, you can treat her as a child who is still in us. Our first years of life and experiences that we acquire as children will shape the majority of our personality, our values, emotional balance and self-esteem. However, these early memories can also become full of fears and anxieties casting a shadow on our adulthood. But they can also be only nice and positive memories of a full and happy childhood that accompany us as we become adults.

It is there, in the middle of an extremely well hidden corner of our soul, that our inner child hides. A lot of adults pretends to be mature people, extremely confident. Each of us would like to see ourselves as a well-protected, in massive armour of a great warrior who can easily face the complicated world outside. However, many times after we close our eyes, we realize that something is missing. That something hurts us. Something causes various mental wounds that do not occur outside the body, but inside, in our mind. Inside each of us is a child with different levels of development and unmet needs. It’s time to discover them and give him a helping hand.

The requirements and expectations of our inner child:

It is already clear that it will be important to accept that our own inner child is within us. At this point we come to another important issue – what our inner child can ask us or what we would like to ask him/her. Here are some suggestions: Your inner child may ask you to solve some of his past aspects. You may need to explain some childhood events. Perhaps one of them requires forgiveness or offering it to someone else? However, if you don’t have any emotional problems from the past that still remains unsolved then our inner child requires us a little more fantasy and freedom, so that we are less susceptible to various restrictions in our daily lives. It will be important that you allow yourself to make your reality a little more colourful and attractive. To this end, you need to reject all your fears and stress. Be more spontaneous. Let us have a little more laughter, recover some of the lost innocence and let’s get to know our emotions again. Our inner child also expects love. Let’s love and be loved. Let’s overcome your objections, shame or your gray and colourless image as an adult. Let’s just allow ourselves some emotional freedom.

How to cure our inner child?

The whole process of emotional healing requires full and true conviction of the rightness of our decision. No one can become free if we want to force him to do so. Throw away your mask behind which you are hiding, do not judge yourself or criticize your behaviour. Just lay out everything you have in front of you and promise yourself that you will cure your inner child. You can change your attitude in one day, but it can take longer then that. The ideal situation is that you will be able to say to yourself: “Well, I have suffocated freedom for such and such reasons, but now it’s time to free my inner child.” Thanks to this, you will realize that you have found yourself on the right path, and the target located at its end will provide you with a sufficiently strong motivation to embark on a journey during which you will realize that you have nothing to hide. But first it should be perfectly clear to you that we cannot solve a specific problem unless we first find out that it really exists. For example, think about your everyday life…

Make changes:

Do you constantly struggle with too much stress? Have you lost your hope? Do you feel that your partner does not make you a happy person? Is there any kind of love that you miss and you can’t define? This simple and small exercise, described below, involving visual and emotional reconstruction of events that can help you in many ways:- Take your picture from the time you were a child, e.g. aged 7 or 8- Focus. Let the memories come back to you. In silence and concentration evoke these years from the recesses of memory and feel free. After a while, emotions and images will come to you.- Now imagine yourself with this child. There will be two of you then. You as an “adult” and you as a “child” face to face.- You can now ask him or her what he feels, what he thinks, what she lacks, what he needs. Ask what this child you would like to have or get to feel completely at ease and confident.

Think about this. Without a shadow of a doubt, this exercise can be helpful.

Core beliefs – contain basic particles of knowledge about ourselves, other people and the world in which we live. Core beliefs are formed from an early age of our lives and are usually based on our children’s interpretations of the various events in which we participate, and interaction with people around us. Often their source are parents, guardians or older siblings, because it is with them that we spend the most time and observe them trying to learn how to move in a world which is complicated for children. Because of the time they begin to form (early childhood) and their sources (important people), core beliefs are characterized by the fact that:- They have the form of simple statements like: I’m stupid, useless, others are critical, hostile, the world is dangerous. (They can also have positive content, like others are helpful or I’m special);- We automatically accept their content as the truth about the world, others or ourselves;- They are deeply rooted in our psyche and very often we are not consciously aware of their content.Usually they activate automatically, and we notice it feeling unpleasant emotions and/or observing the appearance of automatic thoughts related to a given situation.The impact of core beliefs on the interpretation of events:Core beliefs are a kind of filter through which we interpret reality. Let’s examine it on two examples:1. Chris conducts a lecture for students. Some listeners seem very interested, some just listen, and some seem to be very bored. Being convinced “I AM UNIQUE” Chris focuses primarily on the part of the audience that seems very interested – their interest causes Chris to appear in the thought “I’m good at it”, “I’m doing great”. The fact that some seem to be bored, Chris explains to himself thinking: “What are they doing in college? They are here by mistake!” And “They are idiots, they cannot appreciate my knowledge.” Thus, Chris’s belief of his uniqueness is maintained.2. Robert’s belief is: “I AM INCOMPETENT.” With this core belief in a similar lecture situation, he would focus on those bored thinking: “I shouldn’t be here, I’m not fit for it!”, “This lecture is a failure!”. He could think of those very interested: “They are probably waiting for me to make a mistake and make fun of me!” As a result, Robert’s sense of incompetence persists.In the examples with Chris and Robert we can observe one more important feature of core beliefs: looking at the world through their prism we also automatically make a certain selection of information – we tend to easily catch information CONFIRMING our belief and to reject or distort information that PRESS the truth of the belief. As a result, our beliefs can sustain themselves. Because of this, core beliefs will not fade away, no matter how much we would like to.How to change the content of core beliefs?The good news is that our core beliefs are just concepts about ourselves, not objective truth. We can try to identify them by looking for repetitive patterns in situations where we observe the appearance of unpleasant emotions and observe our automatic thoughts. Once we realize the content of unhelpful core beliefs, we can begin to observe the situations in which they activate and their impact on our thoughts and emotions. We can also try to question them by asking ourselves: “If my belief were the opposite of what I am now, how would I perceive this situation?” Thanks to this, we will be able to approach various situations more rationally. By challenging unhelpful core beliefs we can also re-build a healthy relationship with ourselves. Try – you are worth it 🙂

Disputing your self-talk means challenging the negative or unhelpful aspects. Doing this enables you to feel better and to respond to situations in a more helpful way. Learning to dispute negative thoughts might take time and practice, but is worth the effort. Once you start looking at it, you’ll probably be surprised by how much of your thinking is inaccurate, exaggerated, or focused on the negatives of the situation. Whenever you find yourself feeling depressed, angry, anxious or upset, use this as your signal to stop and become aware of your thoughts. Use your feelings as your cue to reflect on your thinking. A good way to test the accuracy of your perceptions might be to ask yourself some challenging question. These questions will help you to check out your self-talk to see whether your current view is reasonable. This will also help you discover other ways of thinking about your situation.

There are four main types of challenging questions to ask yourself:

1. Reality testing:• What is my evidence for and against my thinking?• Are my thoughts factual, or are they just my interpretations?• Am I jumping to negative conclusions?• How can I find out if my thoughts are actually true?

2. Look for alternative explanations:• Are there any other ways that I could look at this situation?• What else could this mean?• If I were being positive, how would I perceive this situation?

3. Putting it in perspective:• Is this situation as bad as I am making out to be?• What is the worst thing that could happen? How likely is it?• What is the best thing that could happen?• What is most likely to happen?• Is there anything good about this situation?• Will this matter in five years time?When you feel anxious, depressed or stressed-out your self-talk is likely to become extreme, you’ll be more likely to expect the worst and focus on the most negative aspects of your situation. So, it’s helpful to try and put things into their proper perspective.

4. Using goal-directed thinking:• Is thinking this way helping me to feel good or to achieve my goals?• What can I do that will help me solve the problem?• Is there something I can learn from this situation, to help me do it better next time?Recognizing that your current way of thinking might be self-defeating (e.g., it doesn’t make you feel good or help you to get what you want) can sometimes motivate you to look at things from a different perspective. You can conquer your negative self-talk today by challenging yourself with these questions every time you catch yourself thinking something negative to yourself. Try it 🙂

Learning effective communication can feel like mastering a new language. A number of ingrained patterns can make the process especially challenging:

• Low Self-Esteem — It is difficult to be in a healthy relationship with someone who has low self-esteem. The person may be so busy wondering what other people think of him/her or feeling unworthy of love that they, consciously or unconsciously, push people away.

• Perfectionism — People often put pressure on themselves to be perfect — to say the right thing every time and create a perfect image of themselves in the minds of others. But authentic relationships aren’t showy; rather, they are defined by honesty and acceptance of self and others, flaws and all.

• Shame — Some people feel a great deal of shame, particularly in early recovery when they begin to face the consequences of their past behavior. Left unchecked, shame can be paralyzing. Shame directs the person’s focus inward, preventing them from listening attentively and being honest, spontaneous and fully engaged in conversation.

• Dishonesty — In active addiction for example, dishonesty not only came naturally but also served a valuable protective function. Lying and manipulating others allowed the compulsive drug use to continue, which at least at the time seemed essential for survival. In recovery, dishonesty is the enemy of effective communication (and of recovery itself). You cannot develop genuine intimacy with others if the relationship is built on dishonesty.

• Lack of Boundaries — people have difficulty establishing healthy boundaries. They may say yes when they mean no; they may trample on the rights of others. It is common for people to divulge too much information too soon and trust others without discernment.

• Aggression/Passivity — In conflicts with others, do you have difficulty finding the balance between saying something overly harsh and not saying anything at all? A lot of people do, especially those who haven’t had much practice coping with anger. You may be overly passive, bottling up your feelings or giving undue weight to other people’s needs; overly aggressive, disregarding other people’s rights and trying to “win” at all costs; or passive-aggressive, trying to accommodate others on the outside but acting aggressively in subtle ways (e.g., saying yes but meaning no). All of these approaches allow conflicts to go unresolved.

Five essential skills for effective communication

Fortunately, communication skills can be learned, and are an area of emphasis in psychotherapy. Some useful tools in early include:

Assertiveness

Positive communication requires people to let go of familiar tactics like manipulation and replace them with assertiveness. This doesn’t mean getting pushy or demanding what you want, but rather approaching others with honesty and straightforwardness to prevent misunderstandings and to protect yourself from being taken advantage of.Assertiveness is having the confidence to say no when needed, and accepting limits set by others. It is taking responsibility for the consequences of your actions while allowing others to own their own feelings and actions. It means doing these things even if they make you unpopular or challenge you to step outside your comfort zone. In some cases, it may mean ending a relationship with someone who repeatedly disrespects your boundaries.The tools of assertiveness include making specific requests, establishing eye contact, refraining from being overly apologetic and using “I feel” statements to avoid blaming others. By setting and enforcing healthy boundaries, you can get your own needs met while still respecting the rights of others.

Positive self-talk

The way you communicate with yourself is just as important as the way you interact with others. Your inner voice may be your worst critic, haranguing you with guilt and shame. By challenging negative self-talk with positive affirmations and praise for each step toward self-growth, you turn this voice into your biggest supporter.

Reading social cues

Some of the most important components of effective communication don’t involve words at all. Often we are left to read between the lines by observing body language, facial expressions and tone of voice if we want to fully understand other people.

Give and take

Relationships are a two-way street. When others listen to you and offer support, you do the same in return. For some people, this concept may require practice along with gentle reminders from loved ones.

Empathy

Empathy is one of the most fundamental human capacities. It involves stepping into someone else’s shoes and trying to understand their thoughts and feelings. Attending self-help support groups can help restore the empathy deficits through sharing stories and lending support and feedback to others.Without these fundamental skills, relationships can be stressful and triggering. A simple misunderstanding can feel like a colossal failure. Although awkward at first, communication skills can be mastered by anyone at any stage of life. Empowerment, confidence and less stress await people who learns to communicate effectively.

Value plays an enormously important role in emotional well being. We feel authentic when we are true to our deepest values, numb when we’re indifferent to them, guilt and shame when we violate them, and utter meaninglessness when we lose touch with them.

The significance of value becomes clearer in behavioral language, used as a verb rather than a noun. To value someone or something is to hold that person or thing as important – above and beyond survival considerations – and worthy of appreciation, time, energy, and, if necessary, sacrifice. Valuing enhances the self. We become fuller persons when we love, connect, appreciate, improve, protect; we become more valuable as we create and maintain value.

What is the most important thing about you as a person?
As long as you are true to the most important thing about you, you will feel authentic.

 

There is no couple who would not argue, but everyone has a way of dealing with the conflict. It turns out that how we deal with such situations tells a lot about the future of the relationship.

Dr. John Gottman, one of the best-known therapists in the US, based on his long-term observations on couples and their quarrels, developed a set of tips suggesting what to avoid that the relationship lasted long and happy. Dr. Gottman also distinguished four most common groups of behaviors that generate conflicts in a relationship.

Below we present the “Four riders of the apocalypse” according to John Gottman:

1. Criticism

It is good (and even healthy) to talk about what does not suit us in our relationship. The problem arises when such remarks become criticism. Comments refer to events or behaviors that we want to change, while criticism affects the partner personally. When you start to generalize and say that your partner “always” or “never” does something (or does), you start to criticize him/her.

What to do to avoid it? Try to talk about what you do not like in a relationship without blaming your partner. Give expression to your sadness, but do not talk about guilt. In addition, avoid the words “always” and “never.”

2. Defensive attitude

The symptom is that when someone suggests that we have done something wrong, we automatically answer “It’s not my fault!”, Usually adding some excuse to it. Sometimes, we preventively go to defense before someone accuses us of something. Defensive attitude may also manifest itself in the fact that we respond to our partner’s grievances. For example, when he accuses you of not washing dishes after yourself, and you answer that he never litter.

What to do to avoid it? The problem with a defensive attitude is that it does not allow you to see your role in the problem raised by the partner. You focus only on defending yourself that you do not pay attention to what’s bothering your partner. This leads to increased frustration in the relationship. Instead, try to take responsibility. If your partner is communicating to you what is wrong in your relationship, he/she will take his/hers word for it. Think about whether he/she is right and what the problem is.

3. Offense

Everyone sometimes gets angry, but if you insult your partner during an argument, it is a clear sign that something needs to be changed quickly. This attitude is the best sign that divorce is hanging in the air.

What to do to avoid it? Instead of concentrating on things that annoy you, try to create a culture of appreciation in which you both focus on what you give yourself. When you begin to feel negative thoughts about your partner, try to imagine what your life would look like without him.

4. Building the wall of silence

It’s not about what you do, but what you do not do. Imagine how the wall would react if you told her about your feelings. If you are silent or answer half-words, you refuse your partner any communication. This happens most often when we are overwhelmed by the partner’s negativity.

What to do to avoid such a situation? Instead of avoiding answering, taking a closed attitude, tell your partner that you need some time to answer. Tell him that you are upset / upset and you need to calm down to get back to this conversation later.

What is the most difficult for you in your relationship? What you would like to do about it?

~ Focus on what you can control, not what’s out of your control: be solution-focused, not problem-focused;
~ Use events as learning experiences, the Chinese symbol for crisis is made up of the two symbols for danger plus opportunity: be flexible and open-minded;
~ Alter your perceptions, don’t try to change others. As Epictetus said “It is not events which disturb us, but our view of those events.” Enhance rational thinking to prevent negativity from spinning out of control!
~ Limit the hostility factor. The negativity and anger we harbor for others is more destructive to the one who harbors the resentment: be generous and giving in spirit and avoid a negative focus;
~ Strive for GOODNESS, not PERFECTION. Give up the need to be right. Limit defensiveness. Forgive – both yourself and others. Accept limitations. Let go of “shoulds” which make one bitter;
~ Develop compassion. Choose kindness over being right. Resist the need to be critical;
~ Develop good self-care habits. Allow yourself “mental health breaks” and “time out” regularly. Take care of needs in mind, body, and spirit. Eat well, exercise and get enough sleep. Pamper yourself. Set limits, prioritize, and delegate;
~ Don’t isolate yourself – CONNECT! Avoid self absorption. Seek to understand – not to only be understood;
~ Look for the humor in things. Lighten up! Life is too serious to be taken too seriously;
~ Develop mindfulness. Learn to live in the present. Don’t ruminate on events, which can’t be
changed.

 

Attitude is a choice.
Happiness is a choice.
Optimism is a choice.
Kindness is a choice.
Giving is a choice.
Respect is a choice.
Whatever choice you make makes you. So, what choice you will make today?