Collection of Reading Resources

Through the years, i have found many articles useful and collected them for future references. I would like to share some with you…

27 July 2020

Letting Go . . .

To “let go” does not mean to stop caring, it means I can’t do it for someone else.

To “let go” is not to cut myself off, it’s the realization I can’t control another.

To “let go” is not to enable, but to allow learning from natural consequences.

To “let go” is to admit powerlessness, which means the outcome is not in my hands.

To “let go” is not to try to change or blame another, it’s to make the most of myself.

To “let go” is not to care for, but to care about.

To “let go” is not to fix, but to be supportive.

To “let go” is not to judge, but to allow another to be a human being.

To “let go” is not to be in the middle arranging the outcomes, but to allow others to affect their own destinies.

To “let go” is not to be protective, it’s to permit another to face reality.

To “let go” is not to deny, but to accept.

To “let go” it not to nag, scold or argue, but instead to search out my own shortcomings, and correct them.

To “let go” is not to adjust everything to my desires but to take each day as it comes, and cherish myself in it.

To “let go” is not to criticize and regulate anybody but to try to become what I dream I can be.

To “let go” is not to regret the past, but to grow and live for the future.

To “let go” is to fear less, and love more.

Author Unknown.

28 July 2020

Be Happy

Start Your Day Right
Wake up with a smile and focus on all the good things you’ll be doing during the day. Have a good breakfast, greet your loved ones cheerily, and take some pride in your appearance. All these are bound to arm you with cheer to face your day.

Keep Great Memories Handy
When you’re feeling especially down, keep some pictures from a great trip or an album of your loved ones in your desk drawer. Browse through them for an instant pick-me up.

Put A Smile On your Face
If you look unhappy chances are you’ll feel unhappy. Put a smile on your face and get rid of crinkled up brows and frown lines. It works. Really!

Colourful Feelings
For a quick lift focus on warm colours like red, orange, and yellow. These are happy colours that will instantly bring cheer.

Be A Kid
Keep a tin of play-doh in your desk and play with it when you’re feeling stressed. Better still, let your creative juices flow and make little shapes.

Happy Scents
Take a deep whiff of peppermint, vanilla, and citrus for a happy mood lift. These are all scents that increase beta brainwaves which are known to trigger feelings of happiness. You’ll feel more awake, alert, and upbeat.

Keep A Happy Journal
Try recording happy thoughts and feelings, and all the little things you’re grateful for. Read it a few weeks later and you’ll feel more optimistic about your life.

Walk Tall
Walking with your head-up, and a confident smile on your face will not only do wonders to project a positive image, but you’ll feel happier and better about yourself.

Exercise For Joy
You’ve probably heard it before, but it bears repeating that any form of exercise three to five times a week is an instant mood booster. Exercise has even been known to cure depression.

Take In The Moment
Stop for a few minutes from whatever you’re doing and let your senses take over. Take a deep breath of fresh baked bread, listen to the patter of raindrops, or just feel the warmth of the sun against your face. Indulging in the purity of sensations can help to overcome feelings of misery.

3 August 2020 Don’t Worry, Be Sad Sadness isn’t always bad. In fact, it serves as a vital emotion that can inform and enrich every aspect of our lives. Sometimes in our pursuit of happiness, we forget that melancholy forms a valid and important part of our emotional spectrum. In fact, it’s a necessary part of growth and of life. How could one be considered “alive” — much less sensitive, honest, and intelligent — without responding to the often cruel and confusing world we live in with some sorrow. So rather than try to pretend that sad feelings don’t exist, learn to recognize, honor, and even celebrate your blue emotions. Try these tips for giving your sad feelings their due: Grant yourself permission to be sad. Denying blue feelings will only force them underground (where they can do some real damage). Deal with them honestly in the full light so you can get a grip on what they are and what they mean. Have a blues day. Schedule a day or evening just to be alone, listen to pensive music, and to catalog your thoughts and feelings. Knowing that you’ve got a whole day to be unhappy can be satisfying and even strangely uplifting. Give sadness a name. Can you identify the cause of your sad feelings? Are they tied to a personal loss or another unhappy event? Get to the bottom of your feelings. And give it time — don’t rush yourself into a false explanation. (A therapist can, of course, be a big help in this process.) Think of unhappy feelings as growing pains for adults. They may be signs of some impending changes you need to make in your life. Honor the signals you’re sending yourself and take the course of behavior they are guiding you toward. Know when sadness turns into depression. Sadness is one thing; depression is another — and a potentially damaging and dangerous thing, at that. Signs that you’re experiencing clinical depression rather than just a bout of the blues include changes in appetite or weight, disrupted sleep patterns, thoughts of death and suicide, loss of interest in beloved activities, and feelings of intense lethargy. If you’re experiencing these or other symptoms of depression, immediately seek out a qualified therapist to help you work through your painful feelings. Prepared by Eden Fairchild for Dreamlife

7 August 2020

Vulnerability

Some of us may have a decision that no one was ever going to hurt us again. We may automatically go on “feelings freeze mode” when faced with emotional pain. Or, we may terminate a relationship the first time we feel hurt.

Hurt feelings are a part of life, relationships, and recovery.

It is understandable that we don’t want to feel any more pain. Many of us have had more than our share. In fact, at some time in our life, we may have been overwhelmed, crushed, or stopped in our tracks by the amount of pain we felt. We may not have had the resources to cope with our pain or take care of ourselves.

That was yesterday. Today, we don’t have to be so frightened of pain. It does not have to overwhelm us. We are becoming strong enough to deal with hurt feelings. And we don’t have to become martyrs, claiming that hurt feelings and suffering are all there is to life.

We need only allow ourselves to feel vulnerable enough to feel hurt, when that’s appropriate, and take care of ourselves. We don’t have to analyse or justify our feelings. We need to feel them, and try not to let them control our behaviour.

Maybe our pain is showing us we need to set a boundary; maybe it’s showing us we’re going in a wrong direction; maybe it’s triggering a deep healing process.

It’s okay to feel hurt; it’s okay to cry; it’s okay to heal; it’s okay to move on to the next feeling, when it’s time. Our willingness and capacity to feel hurt will eventually be matched by our willingness and capacity to feel joy.

Being in recovery does not mean immunity from pain; it means learning to take loving care of ourselves when we are in pain.

14 August 2020

Have You Learned Yet?

Mistakes can be great teachers.

The lessons you learn from them are very specific,

Compelling and highly appropriate to your own unique situation.

Your mistakes are custom‑designed lessons,

Made just for you.

Remember, Mistakes are very persistent teachers.

If you fail to learn from them,

They’ll keep coming back, stronger each time, until you do.

Learning from your mistakes is more than just an intellectual exercise.

Once you’ve truly learned from a mistake,

It will change your actions or behavior.

When you realize that you’ve made a mistake, consider this.

Have you learned its lesson yet?

Are you doing something differently as a result?

Are you taking actions to prevent them from coming back?

If so, then you’ve made the very best of the situation

And used the mistake to your advantage.

You’ve learned for better, you’ve grown,

And you’ve become more effective.

A successful life is built in large part by trial and error.

Give your mistakes the respect they deserve,

Learn what they have to teach,

And they will propel you forward.