Totally crazy . . . .

Believe in yourself

and you will see

how happy and free

you were meant to be!

And the totally crazy thing is that when you do believe in yourself, things, material things, and dreams, without explanation, begin showing up in your life. You see, when  you truly believe in yourself, you stop living in the past and your regrets and sorrows disappear. You stop worrying about the future and your doubts and fears fall away. You stop focusing on what you're not and begin seeing all that you already are. Then, with your mind as calm as the glassy sea, you effortlessly think thoughts of gratitude for the present and for your dreams tomorrow. These thoughts will then do what all thoughts must do: strive to become the things and events of your life. But this time around, now that you believe in yourself, they'll have much less competition.

Totally crazy.

Happy Friday!

Have a wonderful weekend!

From the book

Choose Them Wisely

Fake it 'til you make it . . . .

Celebrities always look so confident, don't they? I have so often read articles in which many of them confess that they do not feel as confident as they seem. We all suffer from low self confidence from time to time. There will always be days when we are just not feeling it. But it truly is all in our minds. It's about the way we perceive ourselves, and the ability to feel it lies essentially in our own hands. How cool is that? If you see yourself as an attractive person who is capable and energetic, others will see you the same way.

Believe in your abilities! Give yourself credit for what you do. The more you value that, the more you will build self-assurance in what you have to offer. 

Be grateful! At the end of every day, write down three things that you are grateful for, and make it a habit to appreciate life! Being grateful churns out happiness, which leads to a more confident person.

Take care of yourself! If you look good, you'll feel good. Period.

Fake it 'til you make it! If you act like a confident person, you are more likely to become that person. Positive self-talk will help you build the self confidence that you yearn for. Stop criticizing yourself. Remind yourself that you are beautiful and talented until you believe it. 

"No one can make you feel inferior 

without your consent."

-Eleanor Roosevelt

Show 'em what you've got! . . . .

I hate to break it to you, but people aren't always really happy for you when you succeed. Please don't let them control you with jealousy. If you let them, they will define you in a way that is convenient and nonthreatening for them,..... which is completely unfair, don't you think? Don't let them dampen your spirit or your passion just because it works for them! You are alive for a special reason and that reason is to be the best that you can be. Do not allow anyone to take that responsibility from you, especially not for the sake of their own comfort. When you were a child, you couldn't stand up for your own authenticity, but you sure can now! The real you is set apart by all that is within you...... confidence, hope, optimism, joy and purpose. Show 'em what you've got!....... Rawr!

"Jealousy springs more from love of self 
than from love of another." 


-Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Photo via Google Images

We Teach People How to Treat Us . . . .

You either teach people to treat you with dignity and respect, or you don't. This means you are partly responsible for the mistreatment that you get at the hands of someone else. You shape others' behavior when you teach them what they can get away with and what they cannot.

If people in your life treat you in an undesirable way, figure out what you are doing to reinforce, elicit or allow that treatment. Identify the payoffs you may be giving someone in response to any negative behavior. For example, when people are aggressive, bossy or controlling --- and then get their way --- you have rewarded them for unacceptable behavior.

Because you are accountable, you can declare the relationship "reopened for negotiation" at any time you choose, and for as long as you choose. Even a pattern of relating that is 30 years old can be redefined. Before you reopen the negotiation, you must commit to do so from a position of strength and power, not fear and self-doubt. The resolve to be treated with dignity and respect must be uncompromising.

The worst thing you could do is make a lot of noise about changing things, only to revert to the old, familiar, destructive patterns. To talk about change and not take action to do it is to teach that person to treat your statements and declarations lightly. You will teach him or her to be patient, confident that you will soon give in. Where your relationship standards are concerned, commit to yourself that, although it may be difficult to effect change, you must not compromise. To compromise in this area is to sell out your most precious commodity: YOU.

We teach people how to treat us. Own, rather than complain about, how people treat you. Learn to renegotiate your relationships to have what you want.

From the book Life Strategies

Good to know . . . .

Photo via Patterson Maker

Permission Granted . . . .

You have permission to be who you are. You have permission to love what you love. You have permission to be with the people you wish to be with and to do the things you want to do. You have permission to ask questions, to experience all the pains and pleasures of your life.

You have permission to listen to your body's needs and to meet those needs. You have permission to explore your inner heart. You do not have to separate yourself into airtight compartments labeled body, mind, soul, spirit. You have permission to be a whole person, not a fragmented collection of miscellaneous parts.

You do not have to twist yourself into a pretzel to become someone you are not. You don't have to squeeze yourself into a tight little box to fit someone else's expectations. The universe has given you permission to be yourself.

Breathe a sigh of relief. 

Allow growth and change to happen. 

You have spent too much time beating yourself up for the wrong reasons. 

It will be all right.
Permission is granted.

From the book 

The Art of Encouragement

by

Candy Paull

Photo by Joel Rhodin via Agent Bauer

You have the power . . . .

Passion, excitement, and confidence are the important medicines that we need every day. At some time or another, all of us have encountered people who seemed to be larger than life somehow, people whose experience of life was filled with color and excitement. In short, they were excited about life and were having a ball. Through them we catch a glimpse of what the authentic life is like. Is it possible that you are an excitingly unique individual with the need to do and be all of who you are, yet you are denying that powerful individuality, and you remain bogged down and buried in a world of "responsibility traps" and "don't make waves" conformity? Think back to when your own life was the most interesting one you knew, and you couldn't wait to see what would happen next. Perhaps most important was the fact that you accepted your self for who and what you were. Whether you know it or not, you will always have a tremendous power to determine your life. You can make your life hum if you will link up your true self and your world. To do that you have to get intimately in touch with you. As you address the question of you, starting now, stop dealing in opinions or assumptions, and start dealing in facts. That fact is, it takes so much energy to be what you are not, and it takes so little to be what you truly are.

Compiled from a Self Matters calendar
Photo via Google Images

GUTS . . . .

Happy Friday!

Wishing you a lovely weekend!

Photo by PASCHOAL RODRIGUEZ 

via One League Artists

You have the power . . . .

Happy Friday!  Is your day shaping up the way you would hope? If not, ask yourself what one thing you could do today that would make a positive difference in your life and the lives of others. First of all, begin by adjusting your attitude.  What are you telling yourself today about who you are and what you can do? Do you believe that you can't make a difference? That you have no power? That you're not important enough? I read an article recently that said "Until you can recognize the magnificent potential that is locked up inside you, strapped down by all those negative beliefs, you will not be able to release it and live to your full potential." Thank you Johan Campbell! How amazing is that? His article goes on to say, (and I'm paraphrasing); We are so busy trying to please other people, often at the expense of our own desires, that we have no time for our own happiness. This you must know..... there are people who love you, there are people who care about you but until you learn to love yourself, until you learn to care about yourself, until you learn to respect yourself, you will never truly appreciate the love, care and respect of others. 

You have the greatest power of any living thing on this planet. You have the power of choice. You have the power to choose how to behave, what to say and when to say it. You have the power to control your attitude. You have the power to make a difference.

Act as if what you do 
makes a difference.

It does.

-William James

Find your wings! . . . .

Everyone has inside him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don't know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!

-Anne Frank


Happy Friday!
Have a lovely weekend!


Photo via Google Images

You're enough as is . . . .

How is it that you see least what those closest to you see most --- that you're rare and beautiful, strong and able, accomplished and successful? It shouldn't be like this. It's time you saw what the rest of us see, that you're already enough as is, that you deserve to see your dreams manifest, and that you've already bloomed into the kind of person you dreamed you'd one day become.

Ok?
 Beginning to see?

(It just takes a little practice.)

If every flower

tried to look like another,

they'd forget that they're special

and unlike any other.

From the book Choose Them Wisely

by

Mike Dooley


Photo via Faces

Inner beauty is what lasts . . . .

I am a huge fan of the Dove ads and their Campaign for Real Beauty. Their website states: "We see beauty all around us. At Dove we want to free ourselves and the next generation from the beauty stereotypes.......and it's why we continue to create thought-provoking ads, confidence-building programs and messages that embrace all definitions of beauty."
In the following article you will see the importance of offering practical advice on how to help young girls foster healthy self-esteem and avoid body dissatisfaction.

Ideas for Moms & Mentors

Whether you're a parent, guardian, sports coach or mentor, you can make a positive difference to the young people in your life. The following are some ideas and suggestions you can use in fostering healthy self-esteem in young girls. Teach children that their self-worth is not related to how they look. Emphasize their talents and qualities. Don't focus on their physical appearance. Talk to your children about self-esteem, body image and what it means to be beautiful.

Be a healthy role model for your children.

• Don't make comments about anyone's size or weight, especially as a "joke".
• Make sure that your child knows that you love them regardless of their size or weight.
• Treat fat and thin, tall and short, dark and fair (etc.) children the same.
• Build self-confidence and self-esteem through a range of activities, both physical and non-physical.
• Build good self-esteem in all children for who they are and what they do, not how they look.
• Feel proud of your child, regardless of their size or weight.
• Be creative and assertive in finding the right clothing and equipment for your child.
• Encourage healthy eating and physical activity for the entire family.
• Don't feel guilty or ashamed if you or your child is fat.

Work toward identifying and resisting all forms of discrimination. Remember that prejudice against size and body relates to prejudice based on sex, race, sexuality, class and physical ability.

"Outer beauty is constantly changing, 

and no matter who you are, 

you won't have it forever. 

Inner beauty is what lasts." 

 -Elle S., Colorado

Enjoy what you've earned . . . .

A lot of time I wasted

wishing I could be

the opposite of everything

my mirror showed to me.

But then one day I realized

the only thing to do

was try to be a better me

and not another you.

Life is a "package deal." If today you were a bit wealthier, skinnier, smarter, or cuter than you already are, there might have been prices to pay in other areas of your life. Maybe you wouldn't be as insightful, spiritual, or compassionate as you are today. Or maybe you wouldn't laugh as much, help as much, or roll exactly the way you do now.

Get the picture? The events and circumstances, challenges and accomplishments that have shaped your life, that have left you wanting more of this and less of that, have also honed your finer senses and polished your character as nothing else could have. You are the package! Enjoy what you've earned. Bask in your radiance. And understand that your differences from others are also your advantages. It's what you're made of! But realize they helped form the magnificence that you are today. 

From the book Choose Them Wisely

by Mike Dooley

Photo via Getty Images

Exude true beauty . . . .

Unfortunately, we live in a world that is constantly trying to convince us that if we buy their product, wear certain clothes, or  weigh less, we'll finally be happy. And while I wholeheartedly believe that when I look better, I feel better, I don't believe that's what ultimately makes you a happy person. I do believe that when you begin to live your life from your heart, authentically, that's when you will begin to find true happiness. Doing so, empowers you! It equips you to be the most effective and certainly the most genuine person that you can possibly be. And that's when you are able to outwardly show your true beauty to others. Your life will begin to hum once you allow your true self to join the world. 

"To be nobody but yourself 
in a world which is 
doing its best, night and day, 
to make you everybody but yourself, means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight. 
Never stop fighting."

-E.E. Cummings

Photo by James Strack via One League Artists

Believe in yourself . . . .

It's not who you are that holds you back,

it's who you think you're not.

-Author Unknown

Do you believe in yourself? Do you give yourself the credit you deserve? Self belief, self-confidence, self esteem...whatever you choose to call it, when you believe in yourself, your life becomes much less difficult. You achieve more, you have less anxiety and you grasp opportunities as they arise. It is a wonderful feeling when you know you can stand by your decisions, rely on yourself in difficult situations and overcome obstacles. Keep your life focused on believing in yourself and all that you are capable of, and you will soon grasp that stronger sense of who you are. Stop comparing yourself to others. Instead, turn that sense of envy or jealousy into a desire to reach further for yourself! Don't be afraid to push yourself a bit. You might surprise yourself. Everyone is beautiful in their own way, so don't let anyone tell you differently. Have faith in your abilities, and keep smiling.

I believe in you!