via Diary of a Depressed Christian
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Love everything about this young lady โค๏ธ
Check out her blog post…๐
Did You Know May is Mental Health Awareness Month ๐
All month long I will share important information, tips, and ways you can help support yourself or someone you know who suffers!๐
Is Depression Real??
Depression is a real illness as it involves the mental, emotional and even physical faculties of the person. It is not just a transient sad feeling that will go away when one wills it to. There are symptoms and signs as well as corresponding treatment. If not handled properly and immediately, it may escalate to worse conditions. Like any other illness, depression has also variations.
What Is Mental Illness??
A mental illness is an illness the affects that way people think, feel, behave, or interact with others. There are many different mental illnesses, and they have different symptoms that impact peoplesโ lives in different ways.
Mental Illness Can Effect Just About Anyone!!
Mental illness does not discriminate; it can affect anyone regardless of your age, gender, geography, income, social status, race/ethnicity, religion/spirituality, sexual orientation, background or any aspect of cultural identity.
A person with mental illness needs a lot of support from the people he or she trusts. The family members and the friends is the best source of love and support. The best thing to do is to show some compassion and understanding, the person is sad enough as it is, they don’t need to feel alone and alienated.
Once a person has been diagnosed with mental illness people should learn about the effects the disorder has on an afflicted person’s behavior and personality. This way, we won’t be shocked and taken aback by the changes in the person. We should not take personally whatever the depressed person does.
A big part of helping someone who suffers from mental illness; is to stop ๐ซ the stigma around it!!
I look forward to educating you all month long on this topic as itโs so near and dear to me,
Stay Tuned ๐
Click Here To Download Your Free Mental Health Journal on me:::๐๐พโบ๏ธ
๐ผ๐ง๐ ๐๐ค๐ช ๐๐๐๐๐ฎ ๐๐ค ๐ฝ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐จ ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐๐๐ฎ & ๐๐๐๐ …๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐จ
Happy Monday again under quarantine still…yes I know this has got some of us down, but we are going to have to look on the bright side and try to remain happy! Hopefully, these tips below will help you have a better Monday and week…๐๐พ
Change your Perspective
Ever notice how positive people just seem to be happier than those who are perpetually negative about life? By simply choosing to change your perspective on life or on a bad situation to a more positive one, you may be pleasantly surprised when better things start happening.
Smile!
The simple act of smiling can have a positive impact on our state of mind. A smile can elevate self-esteem and relieve stress. By smiling at a complete stranger, you may be brightening up his day. This generates positive energy we call good karma…remember we are all facing the same troubles!!!
Practice Compassion
In order for yourself and for others to be happy, choose to practice compassion. When someone wrongs you, take a step back and assess the situation with compassion. It will only serve to make you feel great and probably annoy them to no end as well.
Show Affection
Showing affection to your friends and loved ones is another way to generate good happiness. Hug a friend or tell your parents you love them today. Knowing that you care about people and people care about you makes you feel good inside and this generates the kind of positive energy that makes you happier.
Respect Yourself and Others
Recognizing your own self-worth is one of the first steps to being happy. Once you acknowledge your own worthiness, treat others with respect as well. When you feel good about life, you’re more likely to make choices that are good for you and your happiness.
Even if you donโt believe your circumstances can change, practicing kindness and compassion as well as the act of positive thinking can only serve to make you and the ones around you happier.
Have a great week,
Need a Boost of Productivity During Quarantine ๐๐พ
Quarantine Depression is definitely a thing, because I myself have experienced this from time to time and each day that passes I fall deeper
into this trapโฆbut today I decided in order to stay productive and go after my goals I had to get up and get going, and here are 5 ways you can boost your productivity too:
1) Come to Grips That It’s OK To Rest:
Now, I know you all have been seeing everyone on social media doing the most ๐but I assure you they just doing it for the likes, it’s ok if you don’t have much going on and you have to be ok with the fact that today isn’t your day to get up.
2) Do One Thing At A Time:
Yes, I know that everyone is telling you to use this time wisely, but hell when you are depressed you never have the energy like other people. So I suggest that you put one BIG thing on you to-do list and try to get that done. It could be cleaning out that cluttered room, opening up old mail, catching up on your kids work during spring break, or doing something in your biz. Set the bar low, give yourself that one thing that needs to be done and do it. You can always complete that task tomorrow as well.
3) Create A Go-To Happiness Routine:
Motivation is awesome, but it won’t really help unless you also have some other coping skills to help with your depression. Everyone has a different way of coping. Sometimes when your depression is really bad, you have no energy at all to do anything.
So create your go-to happiness routine that will help motivate you and get you up and working, it could be listening to music while you work, a podcast (mines preferably ๐), or anything that keeps you happy while you are trying to be productive.
4) Be Kind To Yourself:
When you beat yourself up about feeling depressed, or you let others make you feel badโฆthen you are just feeding your depression. So when you are lacking motivation, STOP speaking unkind words to yourself and don’t call yourself names, you know like ‘lazy’, ‘worthless’, ‘hopeless’ or ‘stupid’! Don’t be freaking mean to yourself, you don’t deserve to be treated badly, and this will only keep you feeling badโฆsnap out of it booโฆ๐๐ช๐ฟ
5) Stop Getting Distracted:
As I’m typing this, I have answered the phone, checked FB, watched the end of a movie, and sipped on an adult bevearage๐น. See all of these things are distracting me from being productive in my office, and you can’t let this happened to you. Put yourself in a stress free zone, by creating an environment in which you’re less tempted to get preoccupied with something than what is on your to-do list. Yes, I know this isn’t always easy but you are going to have to try hard to stay the course.
Hope these tips help boost your productivity and reduce some of your depression. Remember you are not alone and to reach out to someone if it gets too much! Don’t let this quarantine get the best of youโฆ
Transformation Coach /Mentor
Happy Easter Sunday
“Blessed are those who have not seen and have yet believed.” โ John 20:29
I hope each of you are celebrating with your quarantined loved ones! This year seems kind of strange not being able to attend church or enjoy family, along with those Easter ๐ฐ egg hunts.
To be honest I really never have big celebrations with my family anyway, so I’m ok with just enjoying a nice day full of naps, movies, and good food!
If you are one of those who are having trouble being away from your family today, try to think of the real reason for the season and plan something special for your quarantined loved ones!!!โบ๏ธ
Remember we all can get through this, we are all in this together! If you are feeling the need to see your family, hold virtual dinners, call them, or text and let them know you are still thinking of them!
Have an awesome rest of the day, many blessings to you all๐๐พ๐
The 10 Steps To Emotional Healing
Hello there friends, I know this post may catch you by surprise, but I really wanted to share with you all as well because I know some of you are still trying to heal from some wounds!!! I started a new series this month in my Facebook Group ๐๐ฃ๐ก๐๐๐จ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐๐จ๐ : ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ค๐ช๐ฃ๐๐จ: ๐๐ค๐ข๐ข๐ฎ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฟ๐๐๐๐ฎ ๐๐จ๐จ๐ช๐๐จ
You may think that emotional issues should be relegated to the couch in your local therapist or psychologist’s office, yet if you have experienced anything in your past that has left you feeling hurt, disappointed, or not enough, you are walking around with unresolved emotional issues. ๐คท๐ฝโโ๏ธ
While you may think you are masking them effectively and they don’t affect your life, or business. Have you ever met an irate or rude vendor that just seemed to have a chip on their shoulder? Have you had to deal with an employee who seems to be depressed or have sadness in their energy? Have you ever held back from sharing a business idea or your business vision with someone because you doubted that they would take you seriously? Have you met someone who just walks around cranky all the damn time๐คท๐ฝโโ๏ธ…I bet you have or you’re that person!
All of these scenarios exist solely because of unresolved and unhealed emotional issues. Whether or not you are aware of it, I would be willing to bet that you are still harboring something that is holding back your success. Unless you are highly aware of the state of your heart and know how to walk yourself through the steps to emotional healing, you are more than likely to slow your potential success because of your issues.
Now for the good news, you can do something about it. As a matter of fact, you can be completely free of any and all emotional triggers, pain, and unresolved hurt. Although it doesnt happen overnight, the old myth that time heals all pain is simply not true. You only heal and release to the extent that you handle the pain. While women usually cover their emotional issues with sadness, shopping, or developing a hardened attitude, men hurt shows up with exaggerated toughness or a larger-than-life ego. It may also show up in cockiness or avoiding relationships that could potentially leave them open to future hurt.
By following the steps below, you can eradicate your messed-up emotions once and for all:
- Acknowledge that incomplete pain is present.
- Identify the source of the pain. When did it begin? Who is it associated with? When was the last time you remember not having this emotional pain?
- Fully realize the depth of the pain you are feeling. When you allow yourself to feel it, how badly does it hurt? Where do you carry the pain?
- Ask yourself what you made it mean about yourself. What conclusions did you draw about yourself? What did you attach or Velcro to what happened? How are you punishing yourself? How are you sabotaging yourself? Did you make it mean that you arent good enough or worthy enough?
- Remember the negative and positive that you experienced. What lessons did you learn? What blessings have come out of the pain?
- Express your pain. Let it outbring completion to the situation without doing harm to yourself or anyone else. Go beyond the anger. Write it. Speak it. Scream it (into a pillow or on a walk in the woods).
- Re-program yourself to redefine your reality. Work on the things that make you feel lovable and deserving of the best. Post what you really want to internalize and believe on your walls, in your wallet, on your desk and on your dashboard.
- Pray! Pray! Pray! Take time to get in touch with God and the fact that you are a child of God. Give your burden to God. Release it. Ask God to take the pain from your heart and spirit. He will. You can wake up and no longer have to carry that raw feeling of hurt and pain.๐๐พ (my fav step)
- Forgive yourself and the other(s) involved. They didnt know better or didnt act on what they know to be right at the time. Even if it appeared that they vindictively or purposely set out to hurt you, they did what they knew to do at the time. They may have even been doing the best they could at the time. Write a letter to every person you have not yet forgiven. Ask a friend to pretend to be that person and listen to all you have to say. Talk it out with yourself. Do what you have to do in a safe way.
- See it, speak it, be it!!! ๐ช๐พ
You can take any issue still hiding out in your emotional baggage and walk through these steps and you will be released from it. The best way is to think through the steps and then write them down to get them out. Once you write them down, do something with them. Burn them. Tear them up. Bury them. Perform some ritual that represents letting it go. I once even went to a stream, ripped up my steps and watched them go downstream. ( I know parks are probably closed due to the virus) Do whatever it takes to be emotionally free of your barriers to the fearless life you deserve. It is not only possible, it is your time.
I’m rooting for you…
XoXo
Join me over in my group if you are dealing with:
A narcissistic mom/dad, spouse, friend, or co-worker! I will go into how we can confront, heal, and forget the abuse…remember there is no judgment in my group!!! โบ๏ธ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ก๐๐๐จ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐๐จ๐ : ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐, ๐๐๐ง๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐, & ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ข ๐ฟ๐๐ฅ๐ง๐๐จ๐จ๐๐ค๐ฃ
โก๏ธDonโt forget to check out my Youtube for more motivation and follow me over social media: @oliviabshepherd
Tuesday Tips: Increasing Prosperity With Positive Thinking During This Scary Time…
Increasing prosperity in our lives can be accomplished by having the right frame of mind. The truth is, our thoughts are very powerful. They are capable of influencing every aspect of our daily lives, from our physical health to our social behaviors. I’m sure you’ve heard the adage, “As you think, so shall you be.” During this difficult time, I’m sure you know someone who knows someone, or maybe you like myself are experiencing jobs being cut due to this Coronavirus ordeal.๐คฆ๐พโโ๏ธ This is a scary time, but I always believe we can’t let those negative thought patterns hinder our growth process or our wish to improve prosperity in our lives.
If we want to improve our lives, we must first improve our thoughts. Harnessing the power of thought in a positive way has the ability to create great change in our lives, including our financial well-being and prosperity. But how? How do we take something as intangible as thoughts, and manifest them into a physical reality?
We must first understand that being prosperous is more than having a lot of money.
Prosperity is a mindset, a way of interacting in our lives, and a way of thinking. Mastering this train of thought is not easy, but it is simple enough if we keep working on it consistently.
Following are some ideas to help you improve your thoughts, and ultimately
attract more prosperity into your life:๐๐พ
1๏ธโฃ Be grateful for the blessings in your life right now. Take a few minutes each day to express heartfelt gratitude for the good things in your life. Even more powerful, write a few of these blessings down each day. This helps to put your focus in the right direction — on abundance, not lack. (especially during this difficult time)
2๏ธโฃ Use positive affirmations to begin training yourself to think positively. Use “I am” statements such as “I am worthy of all that is good.” Write the statements down and repeat them nightly before bed. Over time, this will implant these thoughts into your subconscious mind, and you will begin to naturally believe them. (I’m obsessed with affirmations ๐)
3๏ธโฃ Creative visualization can help you achieve prosperity by determining what it is you wish to achieve, and then thoroughly creating that image in your mind. This works in the same way affirmations do. Our subconscious will fill with images of prosperity, and eventually these subconscious “truths” will manifest in the physical. “See” yourself as being prosperous, and you will become so. ๐ค
4๏ธโฃ Encourage yourself with the belief that you can achieve great things. This could also be one of your affirmations, but expand on it. If you know you can earn a certain salary, tell yourself you can earn more. Allow yourself to believe all things are possible, and you will gain the confidence needed to reach higherthan you ever imagined you could. If you believe you can do it, you are more likely to take the risks associated with people who are highly successful. Prosperity and success go hand in hand, so take risks and aim higher.
5๏ธโฃ Start a savings account. As strange as it sounds, think about this: Like Attracts Like. Even if you can only afford to put a few dollars into your account every month, it will begin to build up and attract more money.
6๏ธโฃ Finally, believe you are already wealthy. The creative ability of our thoughts is such that we lend more power and energy to whatever we consistently focus on. Focusing on lack will create more lack. Focusing on wealth and prosperity will create . . . guess what?
Remember that this is a process. You likely won’t change your circumstances in one day. But over time, with consistent focus, your thoughts will begin to attract what you want. Once you master this power of thought, there are truly no limits to what you can create!๐ช๐พ๐
Hope these tips find you well as we are all thinking ๐ญ about our future or lack thereof when it comes to our finances….
๐๐พ* ๐ฟ๐ค๐ฃโ๐ฉ ๐๐ค๐ง๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ โ๐จ ๐๐ค๐ช๐ฉ๐ช๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐๐ค:
Change Your Mindset, Change Your Monday
*๐ผ๐ก๐จ๐ค ๐๐ค๐ฌ๐ฃ๐ก๐ค๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ค๐ช๐ง๐ฃ๐๐ก ๐ฅ๐๐๐:๐ผ ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ ๐๐ฃ ๐ผ ๐๐๐๐
Monday Motivation…Do you Need a little extra push๐ช๐พ
Happy Monday Friends…here we are again another Monday right ๐คท๐ฝโโ๏ธ you have said all weekend that this Monday will be the Monday you get started on goals!!!
How is that going right now? Or have you completely run out of steam already…good grief Monday isn’t over yet๐
Do you find it hard to stay motivated about the goals you have set?
Do you feel like giving up even before you get started?
Guess what….I have been there too!
I know all too well how hard it is to stay motivated especially if you suffer from mental health issues like I do! And guess what that’s ok…
Motivation is literally the desire we have to do things. It is the difference between waking up before dawn to get started on a particular project and lazing around the house all day watching TV. It’s the crucial element in setting and attaining goals. Research shows you can influence your own levels of motivation, but far too often, we fail to do so. Staying motivated can be a real struggle. When trying to maintain motivation, our drive is constantly assaulted by negative thoughts and anxieties about the future.
Here are a some tips to help you get motivated and achieve those goals:
1๏ธโฃ Put your goals in writingโSometimes, the act of writing down what you are going to do is a strong motivator. Writing down goals helps you make them more specific and less vague. When you write them, use action verbs.
2๏ธโฃ Give all your goals measurable outcomesโBy doing so, it helps you know when youโve achieved each goal you set.
3๏ธโฃ Make a list of obstaclesโAlways think of everything that might stand in your way and decide what you can do about each obstacle. If you design a plan, youโll reduce the influence of each obstacle and increase the chances that you will be successful.
4๏ธโฃ Donโt procrastinateโProcrastination is a form of self-regulatory failure.
The old saying, โNever put off until tomorrow what you can do todayโ is one you should live by. If you do this too often, your โtomorrowโ may never come, and youโll never reach your goal. ๐คท๐ฝโโ๏ธ
5๏ธโฃ Keep a positive attitudeโThere is nothing more powerful for self-motivation than the right attitude. You canโt choose or control your circumstance, but can choose your attitude towards your circumstances. ๐ช๐พ
6๏ธโฃ Avoid negativityโIf youโre canโt approach something with a positive attitude, at least approach it with an open mind. Negativity will only achieve negative results.
The way you feel about yourself is important. Being motivated and completing goals will help you feel fantastic about yourself. As a motivated self-starter your self-esteem will soar. You will accomplish much more, have greater success and live a full life.
Hope these tips help you to jumpstart your Monday and teach you how to stay motivated about your goals…
Wishing you all an amazing goal getting week,
*Also check out my new Youtube video below for some more inspiration to make this Monday a lot better:๐๐พ
3 Quick Tips To Be Ready For Monday
*Enjoy this weekโs printable Goal Tracker
Tuesday Thoughts…Whoโs In The Driver Seat of Your Life…Learning to Take Responsibility!
Happy Tuesday….continue reading as we explore, who’s in the driver seat of your life. How often do you take responsibility for the circumstances in your life?
One of the biggest challenges that most people face in the exiting times we live in, is the feeling that their lives are just spiralling out of control. They feel like the events and circumstances of their lives have lead them along a torturous route and that they have no control over all the misfortunes and wrong doings that brought them to this moment in time.
The truth is that your life will not change until and unless you assume full responsibility for it. Responsibility, or your ability to respond, is not a way of accepting some form of blame as most people think, but rather a way of accepting your ability to respond to any situation. It is absolutely critical to realize and accept that it is never the actual events of your life but only your responses to these events that will shape and create your life. You are never the creature of circumstances and you have the ultimate ability to consciously decide what things mean and how to respond to it. You are the only one that can and the only one that will take you where you want to go in your life.
Responsibility is not some skill you need to go and find outside of yourself but it is something you already possess. All you need to do is to assume this power that calls on you to stop blaming any and everything other than yourself. Most of us have been conditioned to blame someone else for the parts of our lives that don’t work. When you take full responsibility for your life you put yourself back in charge; you get back in behind the wheel of your life and now you have the ability to control and direct your life the way you choose to. Ultimately it is not the conditions of your life but rather the decisions about what things mean and what you are going to do about it that will create the real conditions of your life.
When you are fully responsible you recognize that you are the creator of your life. At some level you were responsible. If not by your conscious actions, then by the meanings and emotions you attached to the events and experiences. Only when you accept responsibility for creating everything in your life can you start to un-create and re-create it the way you truly want. If you keep blaming someone or something else you will remain bound because you will always rely on something or someone else to be responsible for the way you feel and ultimately someone else will be responsible for the state of your life. You have to consciously unfold your arms, get out of the back seat and get back behind the wheel and start directing your life towards where you want it to go, instead of just going with the flow.
See, there are only two real choices in life, the one conscious and the other unconscious: you can either choose to be directed by the events and circumstances of life and let the river of life take you wherever it’s going or you can have both your hands on the steering wheel and decide that you are in full control. You get to decide where you go. Although you can’t control all the events of your life, you can always decide what the events mean to you and how you are going to respond. Whenever anything happens to you, you have to respond to it in order to create the outcome. Most people have fallen into the cultural hypnosis that just passes the responsibility on to someone else. This is why their lives feel out of control, because it is. They have not taken responsibility.
You create your world. When you assume your responsibility you are in charge and this is an internal shift in your thinking and behaviour. Your psychology is not just a big part of your life but it is “everything.” Winning and loosing in life is an internal game. By learning to control and direct your mind you get to choose what things mean and therefore you get to choose your response, also known as your responsibility. No one can ever give you responsibility. It is an internal process and a switch that only you can turn on or off.
Being fully responsible doesn’t mean you live in blame and self pity. It means that you live life from a place of power where you know that on some level you are fully responsible for what happened and you will be responsible for everything that is to come. Be careful how you utilize your past experiences. With responsibility comes a new emotional territory that reinvents your past. You want to use your past as a place to learn from and a place to pull pleasure from. Right, wrong or indifferent, there is a gift in there somewhere. You just need to find it. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood โ you have the ability (and response-ability) to find an empowering meaning in whatever life gives you.
Responsibility means that you are in charge. You call the shots. Nobody and nothing is in control and to blame other than you. This is how you turn problems into opportunities and how an ordinary life becomes extraordinary. Helen Keller, who was both blind and deaf, said that life is either a daring adventure or nothing. What is it going to be for you? You can either let the environment steer your life or you can get behind the wheel and take responsibility for every aspect of your life. Life is one amazing adventure, but only if you perceive it as that. By being responsible you can take yourself anywhere you want to go because you are the only one who gets to steer your ship and direct the course. You can’t control the wind but you can most certainly direct your sails.
Have an amazing Tuesday,
๐Don’t forget to download this weeks free printable: ๐๐ค๐๐ก & ๐๐ค๐ค๐ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ ๐๐ง๐๐พ
Weekly Goal and Mood Tracker Free Printable
For More Inspiration: @oliviabshepherd
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23 Ways to Build Confidence – Up and Forward on Purpose
23 ways to build confidence. Self-confidence lays the foundation for all of our personal and business relationships. Learn how to boost it today.
โ Read on upandforwardonpurpose.com/2019/04/03/build-confidence/
#reblog #mondaymotivation
