Category: Happiness

Confidence, Courage, Depression, Enthusiasm, Happiness, Identity, Love, Optimism

How to Repulse Energy Vampires

vampires

“Mmmm,” the vampire thinks to him/herself while looking over your glowing aura, “that much energy could sustain me for months!”

Your happy smile slowly fades as dark clouds creep across the bright morning sky. You don’t understand why you’ve begun feeling more down than usual lately. Nothing is actually wrong, nothing you can name; life should continue going great! But it’s just…not, exactly. You feel more tired and less optimistic than usual. If only you could shake off this miasm, then you could get back to being your normal, cheerful, productive self.

Some energy vampires are overt and obvious. They complain. They undermine every effort with negativity and pessimism. They criticize, blame, and argue. Such incessant actions create a heavy iron anchor that you must drag behind you if you can’t avoid them. “See?” they ask as you grow weary and irritable from carrying their load, “didn’t I tell you how awful the world is?” Continue reading “How to Repulse Energy Vampires”

Depression, Happiness, Healing, Identity, Optimism, Psychology, Thinking

Thinking Distortions

seeclearlyIf you ever find yourself feeling frustrated that things aren’t working out better or suffer from any degree of anxiety, depression, or low self esteem, then there’s a strong chance it has something to do with Cognitive Distortions. If you’ve never heard of these pesky bad habits, then you’ve been missing out on a huge opportunity to make your life better and easier!

To be concise, thinking distortions are ways we sometimes think that – when you actually think about them – make no sense and often destroy your mood, motivation, and chance at living a happy, successful life.

Read through the list below and see which patterns you recognize in your life. Sometimes merely recognizing irrational thoughts when they happen provides enough clarity for you to stop thinking that way.

In case that’s not enough, we’ll also provide Continue reading “Thinking Distortions”

Top Ten Depression Cheats
Depression, Happiness, Healing, Thinking

Top Ten Depression Cheats

xboxroomatesI’ve never considered myself a gamer, but I was wrong. It turns out that life itself is a game. In fact, it’s a whole series of games, and we all play them nonstop.

These games aren’t a waste of time, either; they happen to be the best way to learn life’s lessons – which is the whole reason we’re alive on this earth in the first place. The sooner we realize that life is a game and play to win, Continue reading “Top Ten Depression Cheats”

Happiness, Healing, Love, U of Life

Love Conquers All

We’ve heard it before but we barely understand how consistently love resolves all conflict and solves or improves all problems and circumstances.

Ponder the following examples and ask yourself how you can apply love to improve your own life in ways you never considered:

Who intimidates you?

We feel intimidated when our insecurities get triggered.

  • Do you ever wonder if you’re good enough to be loved and accepted? If so, someone more skilled, attractive, funny, wealthy, popular, or [insert your particular insecurity here] may “make” you feel uncomfortable because it reminds you of your allegedly unlovable flaws.
  • Do you ever feel like the world is unsafe? If so, someone overbearing may seem threatening and dangerous to you. Okay, some people really are threatening and dangerous, but most would never really want to hurt you, and 96% of the world wants you to succeed and be happy! (Deep down, the other 4% do, too.)

The solution? LOVE whoever you feel threatened by. Maybe they will respond with kindness, but that’s not the guarantee.

The promise is that your focus will change to something far more positive and healthy, and once that draws attention away from your vulnerabilities, they’ll stop getting triggered and making you feel bad. Continue reading “Love Conquers All”

Balance, Courage, Happiness, Success, Thinking, Traits

The Secret to Keeping your New Year’s Resolutions

It’s that time of year again! Time to pretend that next year will turn out different than all the other years before it. “This year,” we promise ourselves, we’ll stick to our resolutions, get in shape, stop smoking, get that new job…and then, we know – we just KNOW it, then we will be happy. Then life will be good.

Well? It’s true! You will be happier and life will be better. Or rather, life would be better if you actually kept working at your goals.

Sorry to tell you the bad news, but the other part is probably not true – you will not keep your resolutions this year any better than you ever have before. Next year will end up pretty much like this one except that we’ll all be another year older.

Unless.

Unless you learn one little tiny lesson that changes everything. Continue reading “The Secret to Keeping your New Year’s Resolutions”

Confidence, Energy Work, Happiness, Healing, Identity, Love, Optimism, Psychology, Success, Thinking

How to Learn to Love Yourself

“Life is kinder to those who love themselves, because love attracts love and light, and repels and dissolves darkness.” – Shaun Roundy

Admit it – if you really, really loved yourself, you’d be happier. You’d have more abundance of all kinds in your life: friends, fun, wealth, health, and overall satisfaction. You’d even grow less attached to material things and all external circumstances, because your primary stability and satisfaction would happen on the inside where outside factors can’t touch it. This is the way life is meant to be lived.

But wanting to love yourself thoroughly doesn’t automatically make it happen does it? The fact is: life is hard and our society teaches self-loathing far more effectively than self love. Let’s take a quick look at why. Continue reading “How to Learn to Love Yourself”

Ambition, Courage, Happiness, Healing, Psychology, Success, Thinking

The Most Important Words in the English Language: “I was wrong.”

When I was 5 years old, I went to a church Halloween party dressed as a little devil. I wore a red mask, a black cape, carried a red plastic trident, and the only thing I now recall about the party is the Box Maze.

In hindsight, I see that the mistake I made inside that row of cardboard boxes taped together into a long, dark tunnel was the same costly mistake I have repeated all my life. This mistake has been the cause of inexpressible sadness, frustration, confusion, loneliness and failure after failure.

I’ll tell you what that mistake was and I’ll bet it’s the same one you’ve been making all your life and the primary source of your own sorrows. Unfortunately, telling you won’t solve your problems, but it will give you a place to begin.

All those decades ago, I got down on my hands and knees, and clutching my fiery trident in one fist, entered the maze. Everything turned pitch black but I crawled and scuffled bravely forward anyway. Continue reading “The Most Important Words in the English Language: “I was wrong.””

Happiness, Identity, Psychology, Thinking

Are You a Robot?

Last night I dreamt about being in a medieval-like land with a queen (played by my last girlfriend) and a bad guy with a big sword. If it had been a movie, it would have ended very quickly, because when the queen and I rode up to the bad guy, I shot him (just like Indiana Jones) and the conflict ended.

But then I realized that the bad guy was a robot, and it turns out he wasn’t quite dead. And all that stuff about being bad? He was just running his program. Once I pointed out that he had choice, he proved very willing and able to organize and move things in a very positive, healthy direction. He shoved his sword down through the earth and and steered the world as if it had an engine and the hilt were a steering wheel.

Please, let’s not get all Freudian now. The important question is – are YOU a robot? Are you just running your program – going from day to day doing whatever you do because that’s the way things have always been done and you feel like it and have never considered doing things differently?

If so, then integrate this new line of code: <bold> YOU HAVE CHOICE </bold>. Continue reading “Are You a Robot?”

Happiness, Healing, Identity, Optimism, Psychology, Success, Thinking

Change Your Story Today

Do you ever wish your life would change? That you would be happier or more popular or richer or less alone, etc.? Well…it can…and it’s all up to you, and it’s surprisingly simple to do.

“All the world’s a stage, and we are merely players.”

What if your life really WAS a play – would we be watching a comedy, tragedy, or just repeating history (Yours? Your family’s? Your nationality’s?) over and over like a broken record? What part would you be playing? The hero, a fool, the lover, a villain, or what?

Are you the protagonist – do you know what you want and face the challenges to get it, or are you just a minor character in your own story, and/or are you also the antagonist at the same time, all wrapped up into one, undermining all your efforts while trying in vain to get what you want?

And now for the important question – do you like your story? If not (or even if so), how would you like it to change?

Let’s get this out of the way: plays can be edited and revised. You CAN change your story by changing your character, and you can begin immediately. Continue reading “Change Your Story Today”