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Heroes and Loving Yourself

By Ali Bierman

Heroes are not more brave than the next person. They love themselves, feel confident and live with faith in their own ability and in a Higher Power. Those factors allow them to act even when they feel fear or uncertainty.

When you examine the lives of people celebrated as heroes you find they acted as they did because for them, in that moment, they chose to take certain steps that others failed to do. They did not stop to think it over. They took immediate action to remedy a situation: to help someone in need or to move themselves to a new and better place.

Rarely do those whom we admire see their actions or, in many cases how they live their challenging lives every day, as doing anything other than what they needed to do.

After the brain injury left me struggling to make it through each day, many people told me how courageous I was. You know what? I made a choice to move forward with my life, no matter how hard it was, and grow and make my life count. I decided to make a difference for others despite the effort it took until I finally healed.

For me the choice was watch life go by (as millions of people do every year who suffer the same type of injury and functioning impairment) or jump in and figure out how to live every day to the fullest.

I saw no acceptable alternative.

When you know your purpose in the moment or in the daily stream, nothing stops you from doing whatever it takes to fulfill what you came here to do!

Hmm.

I never thought about it before. By making the choice I did what actually happened is I lived my life as if I was normal and fully functioning. In other words, without consciously making the decision to do so, I "acted as if" all was the way I desired my life to be.

See? It works!

I had not even heard of that concept at that time. The whole world that exists beyond what our five senses can detect was a compete unknown to me then-well, unknown to my conscious mind, anyway. Clearly my Spirit guided me back then-always does. I guess I started paying attention to the messages back then without knowing what I was doing.

I write to see what I am thinking. Right now I see a major breakthrough appearing in my reality.

What a huge gift!

Ah! But wait. Here is more.

Ever since I healed, I found myself very impatient with people who choose to stay stuck. You find those people in support groups-but not to get them through a trauma. I am talking about those who choose to stay focused on and therefore limited in life by what happened to them. Many build their identity on aligning with their label--be it, abuse survivor or the victim of some disease, etc.

I saw that truth n the brain injury support group I was in back in 1996. When I figured out how to heal and offered what I discovered and applied to the group not one person asked for help. Not one.

All these years I judged those people for choosing to use whatever trauma they endured as an excuse to not participate in or take responsibility for themselves. Let me tell you, when your functioning is severely impaired you have one great excuse for not taking responsibility for anything.

In this moment I just awakened to the fact that each of us walks our own unique path and it just is not possible to know the Spiritual path of another individual. Each of us is exactly where we need to be at any given moment.

I knew that in my head. Now I live it in my heart.

Ready to discover the secrets to have amazing relationships and completely change your life? Click here for your free video series and bonus recording from Ali's 7 Secrets to Relationships That Last and Last System.

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ali_Bierman
http://EzineArticles.com/?Heroes-and-Loving-Yourself&id=6628789

This article gave some good insights,  some perspectives that I had not really thought about before.  I think it is one of those reads where you come away with a slightly better attitude about things.

My Thoughts on Self Improvement and Dating

I've posted up some articles on this blog that all have a self improvement kind of theme or feel to them and there is a good reason for that.  Everything that we do to try and make or lives better is really a form of self help,  though we typicall only see self help as goal setting and such.

Any desire,  whether it be to attract the right job, the right situation,  or to attract the right woman is a goal and you have to approach it the same way.  Most people don't put dating into that category,  but they really should.

This is going to be a short post,  just some random thoughts that I have about self improvement and dating.

Here's some more:

1.  Don't try to ignore the fact that you want to improve your life and that is why you want to get better at dating and relationships.

2.  Don't knock principles until you give them some real thought on the topic and the method.

3.  Expect the best.

One Path to Serenity: Solitude

By Michael Anthony Martin

Being alone is a frightening thought for many of us. All of our lives we have been with other people. As children we live with our siblings and parents. As teenagers and students we gather in groups and share classrooms and dormitories. As adults we are part of companies and organizations and create our own network of family and friends so that we are almost never really alone.

We have a very real, physical need of the company of others in our lives. The companionship and relations that we share with people that we learn, play, work, live and love with is crucial to our sense of belonging in the world. We grow in our relationships with other people by watching them both succeed and fail, survive or prosper. We listen and learn and confide our secrets to them. It helps keep us sane and balanced.

But just as important to our sanity and fundamental to our serenity is the time that we spend alone. We may not have much of it in our lives, especially if we have work, family and community commitments, but we need to take advantage of those opportunities to practice solitude, the act of being alone and comfortable with ourselves.

Solitude is a way to reclaim your true self, not the worker or brother or sister or grandmother of others, but the essential you, the spirit that lives inside your stretched skin. It is a time to know yourself, to evaluate your progress in life, to regenerate your batteries for the next Mount Everest that you hope to climb.

It is a time for reflection of the past so that you can learn. And for imagining a vision of the future which you would like to create.

You have to take this time, for yourself, in order to be able to give to the world or to others. So have a look at your life and see what you are using your solitary time to do. Are you spending it on entertainment which may be relaxing but not necessarily rejuvenating? You may be spending it to catch up on your sleep, in which case you may be sleeping through your best ideas. Maybe you might want to get an extra half hour a night in bed.

Treat your alone time as your special time. It is your gift to yourself. You can sit and read a good book; you can build something with your hands or work in your garden. You can use it to write or paint or learn a new skill or take a class in something you always dreamed of doing, but never had the time. Most importantly, use your solitude to become more comfortable about who you really are.

Mike Martin is a freelance writer and workplace wellness consultant. He has written and published thousands of articles about workplace issues for magazines and publications in Canada, the United States and New Zealand. He has worked in human resources for over thirty years and has experience both as a senior manager and a union leader. For the past fifteen years he has worked with dozens of small, medium and large organizations in the areas of workplace intervention and conflict management.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Anthony_Martin
http://EzineArticles.com/?One-Path-to-Serenity:-Solitude&id=6576249

I like the idea of exploring how important is to be at one with your alone time.  The fact that so many people can't be alone is why they end up in horrible relationships,  and that really is bad.  When you can handle that alone time,  then you really don't need to worry about ending up with the wrong person.

Anger and Forgiveness - Two Powerful Emotions

By Alice Hocker

When you experience anger, how does it affect your emotions? The definition of anger is: A strong feeling of displeasure or hostility. When you forgive, how does that affect your emotions? The definition of forgiveness is: To cease to feel resentment against another; to pardon.

Once I began to pay attention to how physically and emotionally anger affected me this is what I discovered. I would get so worked up that I would begin to feel life being drained from within me and physically every expression from my face right down my entire body changed! I was not always tuned into these feelings at the time I experienced anger, but once I did, it altered the way I began to handle the emotion of anger and it was an immediate change within me.

Acknowledge the emotion of anger
Anger is a barrier/ ill will towards another repels gifts that the Universe wants to give to you. A lot of healing is done when you are able to acknowledge the anger, deal with it; forgive and move forward. Anger is a real emotion and through life it is one that will have to be dealt with. Forgiveness is a must also.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Proverbs 18:21.

Words and thoughts are very potent because this is what the Universe hears... What you speak and what you think is what you receive. Thought is energy and thoughts change the balance of energy around us, and that brings changes into our lives. You can see how this will affect whether the change that it brings about is positive (forgiveness) or negative (anger).

Often times we spend so much time and energy on being angry. Anger is like poison to our bodies in that we spend so much time on being angry, it drains us of the positives that we should be focusing on. Anger is slowly replacing the positives with all negatives and that can destroy us. You cannot change anyone else, only your thoughts can change you. So it's like our own arsenic and lace. We think we are hurting the one we feel has wronged us, waiting for them to "die" if you will, when the one who is hurting and "dying" is US! They don't even know what we're quote unquote "trying" to do to them!

From time to time we all experience anger. The key is to address it when it happens so we are able to release it and get back into that state of feeling good allowing the blessings to flow in our lives.

Forgiveness
We must release any negative feelings or thoughts that are unresolved. WE MUST FORGIVE... Forgiveness is such an important step in our healing. Sometimes after I have sincerely forgiven someone, out of thin air a negative thought about that person may enter into my mind. I have trained myself when this happens to immediately begin to lift up positive thoughts for that individual.

For example: I might say something like, "I wish you a great day filled with love and joy." I will repeat my offering (prayer) for that person over and over until I experience peace in my heart leaving me feeling good once again. With Law of Attraction, you get the essence of what you think about. If your focus/ your feelings are negative, that is what you will be attracting.

It genuinely feels good to release negative thoughts and keep your mind focused on the positives that are in your life and the blessings that God brings to you on a daily basis.

Alice Hocker invites you to join in and share your thoughts at http://abundantlivingeveryday.com
Living life in abundance feels so very good. You can live this life everyday! My desire is that you acquire the "super-conscious level" of living because it will change everything in your life... You will see EVERYTHING in a new and refreshing way!
With that said, add your comments... Let's get this party started!!! Your comments will be the music we need to dance to.... http://abundantlivingeveryday.com
I look forward to hearing from you!
Through my website listed above, you may purchase Law of Attraction Live It, Own It, Achieve It. It's available as an MP3 download, a CD audiobook or an ebook.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alice_Hocker
http://EzineArticles.com/?Anger-and-Forgiveness---Two-Powerful-Emotions&id=6629624

I liked this post as well,  due to the fact that anger and resentment can really make it hard for someone when it comes to their dating and their relationships.  The more negative energy that you carry into a new dating experience or a new relationship,  the worse off you are going to be.  Another very good take away is that it just feels good to let those things go.

Life's a Journey Not a Destination - Stop Asking For Directions!

By Deborah Laurel

Our society tends to be very goal-oriented. We set long-term goals and short-term goals. We make daily to do lists. High school freshman are expected to know the course of study they should take. College freshmen have to select a major area of concentration. It seems as if we should all have our lives wrapped up in a tidy prefabricated package.

Yet how many of us make our living using that college major? How many of us are doing something entirely different from anything we could ever have planned, expected or even imagined?

Change continues to happen at a whirlwind pace, leaving us exhausted and breathless. There are absolutely wonderful inventions, devices, careers, treatments and philosophies today that literally did not exist 20, 10 or even 3 years ago. Given that rate of change, how can anyone plan ahead?

Because we don't know where we are going, it isn't even possible to ask for directions. We may think we know our destination and people may give us directions they intend to be helpful, but something unforeseen can and probably will derail us. As they say, the only constant is change.

All that we really can count on is what is happening at this very moment. Yet how many people are waiting: to lose 20 pounds, to get a better job, to move to a better location, to learn a new skill, to recognize signs of attraction from women, to remodel the house, to reconcile with a family member, or something else before they can start living and enjoying their lives? The excuses are endless.

In the meantime, magazines, webinars, television, social media, radio personalities, friends and family are all delighted to offer a tsunami of information, advice, tips, and shortcuts to these and many more desired ends. There are countless "how to's" everywhere you look.

There is nothing wrong with making plans. Setting goals and making choices can be useful in starting us off on our way and getting us back on track when we wander off. But often what we learn about others and ourselves when we take those side trips is necessary and invaluable. And who's to say that these side trips aren't the true paths that we should follow?

I can't read a map, so I have to pay attention to where I am. Maybe that is why I wonder what happened to being present and simply living the life we have now? What happened to accepting ourselves for who and what we are, imperfect though we may be? We are human beings, not saints.

Yes, we are all works in progress. We can and should aspire to better, healthier, happier, more successful lives. But living a life on pause, waiting for something that may or may not happen to transform our lives, is a sure recipe for regret.

Deborah Spring Laurel has been a trainer and a consultant in the areas of workplace learning and performance improvement for over thirty years. She has twenty-five years of experience as the President of Laurel and Associates, Ltd,, an international human resource development training and consulting firm that specializes in enhancing interpersonal dynamics within organizations. To see over 390 other training tips, go to her blog at http://laurelandassociates.blogspot.com. You can visit her website at http://www.laurelandassociates.com or contact Deborah directly at (608) 255-2010 or dlaurel@laurelandassociates.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Deborah_Laurel
http://EzineArticles.com/?Lifes-a-Journey-Not-a-Destination---Stop-Asking-For-Directions!&id=6634536

Even though this has nothing at all to do with dating, per se,  I thought it was a very good read none the less.  There are a lot of good points in this article that I think anyone can really find valuable and useful to their life.  We are all works in prgress,  whether we are learning how to intrepret attraction signs from women or we are learning how to use goal setting to better our experiences in life.