Bounce Back and Live!

Have you ever read an article and felt you had to share it with the world? This article here was like that for me, so I've put this link here for as many people as are likely to read this blog post.

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/03/the-benefits-of-optimism-are-real/273306/

I've been told by others that I'm a resilient person. I've had troubles and trials in my life, as we all have at times. My life is a good one though - I have family and friends I love and who love me back. My life allows me to do the things I love to do, and that give me enjoyment.

I can't really see any reason at all not to look at life in a positive way. No matter what happens today, the sun will go down and then come up again tomorrow. Read the article, and feel the truth of it. And please, leave a comment here - I'd love to know what you think about it all.

Sitting and Thinking...

Sitting and thinking are two of my favourite things to do. My thoughts often appear on Facebook on my own page and in the comments of friends and others. 

These thoughts sometimes surprise me, and I wonder whether I am repeating things I've read previously. The following thought is one I quite like, and feel the truth of. I've done a quick search for it on Google, and didn't find it there. 

I'll post it here, and if anyone knows if it's ever been written down before, please let me know where and by whom. So here is my thought:

There are none so ignorant, as those who falsely claim knowledge.

This thought came to me this afternoon, after reading through the goings on that happened on my Facebook page yesterday/last night. I'm not saying any more about that - I'll leave it for others to draw their own conclusions...

Tell Yourself You Can, and You Will!

The power of affirmations is amazing. I was studying last year, and was having trouble sticking with the level of study required.

Then I read something about affirmations and was inspired! I began telling myself I was a good student, over and over throughout the day. I did this for nearly a  month, and it became easier for me to keep my head down and get on with doing my assignments.

I got through, and because of the affirmations and my application to doing the work, I now have a qualification in Community Services Work. Since getting that qualification, I feel more capable of doing whatever I set out to do. 

You can find out more here http://www.successconsciousness.com/go.php?wellness28&4

This year I've gained a grant to pay for a mentor to help write a memoir in verse dealing with my new life living with Multiple Sclerosis. I told myself I could do this, and I did. I truly am a believer in the power of Affirmations!

Keeping Busy, Keeping Well

I've been busy lately, connecting with others who have the same chronic illness. I've had Multiple Sclerosis (MS) for more that 2 years, perhaps 7 years. I was diagnosed with MS in February 2010. This could have been a terrible lifestyle destroying thing, if I let it be such a thing.

I didn't let it do that to me. Instead, I let myself explore this new life, by writing about it all. I wrote a list of reasons why MS was a good disease to get, in a humorous way, and then posted that to a website to share my words with a larger audience. 

Having MS and pursuing my favourite creative method go together extremely well. I'm a writer, a poet, and having MS means I sit down a lot. If I do too much in a day, fatigue hits me, and my legs get shaky and standing up becomes difficult. 

So I can keep busy, writing, thinking and discovering new things. I can keep on being creative, despite my illness. And I can help other people to discover ways to be creative too. Keeping busy at what you love to do is a great way to maintain a positive attitude.

And maintaining a positive attitude leads to a better life!

Rate Your Way to a Better Life

I just found this on a list of things - 40 Tips For Getting “Unstuck” In Acceptance & Commitment Therapy.

I received an email from a group ACT Mindfully | Acceptance & Commitment Therapy Training advertising a workshop. I'm not going to the course, I'm pretty sure it's too far away, and too expensive, but they had the list available for people, so I took a look. It's well worth looking at further, and I'm sure I will do that later, but this particular item jumped out at me and I felt I had to share it with you:

11. If you’re not sure where therapy is going, ask client to rate quality of life now on a scale of 0 to 10. Then ask what needs to happen to take it up one level. This leads you directly to goals, values and barriers.

This spoke so loudly to me, both personally, and in relation to other people I know and see. I can apply it to my own life at the moment and apply the quality of life rating to things that aren't going well, like I want them to go. I'm pussy-footing around doing something right now, and if I were to rate how I'm feeling about how that thing is going, I would have to rate it at a 5.

If I ask myself what needs to happen to take it up a level, and to then set goals to achieve that, and to list the values I have that will help it to occur, and the barriers there to stop it from happening, well then I would know what I have to do to hit the rating of 6.

Having written all of this down, I'm thinking about that 6 rating already, and I feel as though I am a tiny bee's breathe away from achieving it now, I've got an idea of what I have to do, and what might stop me from doing it. I also know what I have within me to help me to get it done.

I'm feeling powerful now, and I WILL get this thing done!

I hope you can find your way to get 'Unstuck'. Here is the website where they have lots of information about these things.

This way to get unstuck refers to what a therapist could suggest to a client to help them. I'm not a therapist, but a thinking person who cares about my own happiness and the happiness of others. Writing things down has been a tool I have used many times in my life, it helps me to think things through, and not waste time worrying.

I hope you can find ways to get unstuck in the important things in your life!