CBT Thought Record

Jan17

Image

My therapist told me about a tool that can help us examine and pay conscious attention to our thought patters, particularly negative thoughts. It is designed to help us pay attention to a negative emotion and negative automatic thought that accompanies it. Then we think of evidence that supports that thought and evidence that does not support it. Then we come up with an alternative thought and in the end write the feeling we experience after that whole observation.

It’s called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Thought Record and comes in the form of a worksheet that an be printed off line.

 

I would like to share this technique with people.

 

It can also be done in a journal too.

It goes like this:

 

Section 1: Where were you?:

(Where were you?, What were you doing?, Who were you with?)

 

Section 2: Emotion or Feeling:

(Emotions can be described with one word. E.g. Angry, sad, scared, Rate 0-100%)

 

Section 3: Negative automatic thought:

(What thoughts were going through your mind? What memories or images were in my mind?)

 

Section 4: Evidence that supports the thought:

(What facts support the truthfulness of this thought or image?)

 

Section 5: Evidence that does NOT support the thought:

(What experiences indicate that this thought is not completely true all of the time? If my best friend has this thought what would I tell them? Are there any small experiences which contradict this thought? Could I be jumping to conclusions?)

 

Section 6: Alternative Thought: 

(Write a new thought which takes into account the evidence for and against the original thought)

 

Section 7: 

(How do you feel about this situation now? Rate 0-100%)

 

I will provide a true example of mine that I gave to my therapist.

 

Section 1: Where were you?:

(Where were you?, What were you doing?, Who were you with?)

On the sofa, reading and my mom was in the room with me.

 

Section 2: Emotion or Feeling:

(Emotions can be described with one word. E.g. Angry, sad, scared, Rate 0-100%)

 

Brief feeling of depression, strong negative emotion. About 90%.

 

Section 3: Negative automatic thought:

(What thoughts were going through your mind? What memories or images were in my mind?)

Negative thoughts and feelings and thoughts of failure and lack of accomplishment popped into my mind. I experienced memories of not accomplishing things I wanted to or planned to and memories of things I did wrong. And believing that I will never or can never accomplish much.

 

Section 4: Evidence that supports the thought:

(What facts support the truthfulness of this thought or image?)

It took me longer than it could have to graduate college. I still live with family and not on my own. I don’t have a professional job yet.

 

Section 5: Evidence that does NOT support the thought:

(What experiences indicate that this thought is not completely true all of the time? If my best friend has this thought what would I tell them? Are there any small experiences which contradict this thought? Could I be jumping to conclusions?)

It took me longer to graduate but I did graduate. I have a job and had the job for a while. I have accomplished other things and have the ability to understand and adjust to things. I would point out to my best friend all of the instances where s/he did accomplish things big or small. Every accomplishment matters.

 

Section 6: Alternative Thought: 

(Write a new thought which takes into account the evidence for and against the original thought)

 

I can accomplish things and will accomplish more if I am determined and do my best. Failing at something doesn’t make someone a failure as a whole and failing is ok, I can just try again and accept what I cannot change. Certain things take longer than others and everyone lives and experiences at their own pace.

 

Section 7: 

(How do you feel about this situation now? Rate 0-100%)

Much more positive and optimistic. Around 100%.

 

I believe this is a very positive and effective habit to develop. It can help us think objectively and see all sides of a situation and come up with more positive alternatives to self-limiting thoughts or beliefs.

 

Here is a link that can help guide you and explain more in depth about cbt thought records. The examples this page provides are slightly different than mine because I have not used this page’s examples yet, I only did this the basic way my therapist told me about.  

 

http://www.cognitivetherapyguide.org/contact.htm

 

I hope this can help some people! 😀

 

Xox0 Kim ❤

Parakeet Paradise <3

Jan16

Image

Image

Image

Image

My dad has three beautiful parakeets, two girls and one boy. Lennon & Dylan are the girls and Elvis is the boy. They are so adorable and do the cutest little things. My dad read that they get to know people and their routine schedule and they like to follow their schedule everyday. They have two cages, a small one and a large one filled with food, water, perches, mirrors, toys…

The cages are kept open morning until night when they go to sleep so they can come out and fly around. We make sure there’s nothing that is a threat to them. And they have two ladders hanging close to the ceiling where they fly up and play. To some people’s surprise, they actually like being in their cages and choose often to go in on their own sometimes to play with their toys and sometimes just to sit on their perch and rest.

They also have a swing that they swing real fast on! It’s so adorable! They each have unique personalities. Elvis is the largest. He has a big cute belly and he likes to keep his feathers unkempt. Lol. And he loves to get away for a while and sit in the smaller cage on a perch all by himself. I guess that’s when Lennon & Dylan get on his nerves! Lol. Dylan is the least afraid of people but she still is. At first she wasn’t but she picked up the slight shyness to people that the others have. They’re not afraid when people are near but they don’t want to be held by anyone. But they fly very close to us. Lennon loves her ladders and her mirrors! They all get along very well and they love each other. They are very loving little birdies. One of my favorite things is when they kiss each other real fast over and over and over! It’s so amazingly adorable, I’ll have to get it on video one day when I can catch them in action and have my phone ready! Lol And another favorite of mine is when they are on their swing, swinging very quickly! It’s so cute & funny!

They follow each other around and interact with each other very frequently.

They are all beautiful colors, Elvis & Lennon are vibrant green and yellow and Dylan is pastel while and blue.

These little birdies are nature’s inspiration. Just watching them is awe-inspiring.

I often wonder what they’re saying when they chirp so frequently and if they use the same chirps to say the same things again later and if they always understand the chirps of one another. But I like the little mystery of wonder and not exactly knowing.

 

They don’t seem to mind getting their picture taken but I always turn the flash off when taking pictures of small animals such as birds because I heard that the flash can hurt or even kill them somehow.

 

I’m blessed to be able to walk into Parakeet Paradise every day!!! 😀 ❤ 🙂

 

X0xoox Kim ❤

Just saying THANKS and also bragging just a little! lol ;-)

Jan16

Hello everyone!!  I appreciate each and every one of you!  All the readers, the likes and shares, the lurkers who may appreciate my blog content but not comment, my followers who I have recently found out about, all the people who comment…..ALL of you.  As you may know I mostly use my mobile phone and cannot see everything I can see on a computer.  For example, I cannot see my spam folder on my phone.  I have just recenly begun using my dad’s computer sometimes and i noticed my spam folder on here which I never even realized exists until tonight,  I found 27 messages in there, many of which are not spam at all but actually extremely kind and warm, friendly messages about my blog and me.  So I unspammed the messages branded as spam and approved them.  I was able to respond to some but my connection isn’t very good tonight on the computer.  Whenever I see a message I will ALWAYS respond and NEVER ignore and I will never take long to respond.  Every person deserves a response and I appreciate all comments and everything even if you don’t agree with me on everything.  So I promise to get back to each and every one of you very soon when my connection does not suck! lol  I believe part of blogging is responding to readers’ comments.  And it often seems rude not to acknowledge people who are kind enough to take the time to contact someone.  I am not extremely computer savvy either so sorry for any mistakes or anything or if I accidentally miss something. Thank You all!  And i just got to see what my blog actually looks like on a compter and it’s really quite pretty! lol!!  I love the lovely color and beautiful flowers and stuff I see.

Much love and appreciation to all of you!!! ❤  🙂 😀 ❤

x0xo Kim ❤ 😀

Don’t care what people say, just follow your own way.

Jan14

I have been realizing that I am coming to care less and less about what people think of me and the things I do. And I like it. There are some things I wouldn’t do before that would have benefited me because I felt silly about it like people would think it’s weird or whisper about me or something. But I’m not so much like that anymore and it’s really doing me good.

 

Example 1: Yesterday I wore pants that are too tight for me. I have no idea what possessed me to think I would be able to squeeze my ass into size 3/4 pants but I did! And they felt so tight that I was uncomfortable but I wore them anyway because I felt that they look good on me and I never wore them before and it felt like having new pants! Lol. So I wore them to work and they hurt so bad even more! I wore a kind of long shirt with them. So I decided to un-button and un-zip them and whoa did it feel like Heaven!!! No one would see that they weren’t zipped or buttoned exactly because my shirt covered the zipper but the corners of the pants were poking through my shirt and people could see that! It looked kind of weird! I was so tempted to zip and button them back up to prevent people thinking something negative about it but I thought about what that would do to me. And what would people seeing them poking through my pants do? Nothing! It just wouldn’t look right. So what if people laughed or smirked or just thought something negative?! That would not have hurt me. But zipping and buttoning those pants sure hurt! So I decided to do what’s truly best for me, not do something out of concern for what people think of me. And no one seemed to think anything! 🙂

 

Example 2: I was very sick for three weeks recently with another head and chest cold and kept getting cold & hot. Very hot. To the point I could get cold showers and go out in freezing weather with a short sleeve shirt and no coat or hoodie or anything. I had to go to work and was so hot that I felt I would black out but I knew if I took my hoodie off and just wore my short sleeve shirt, people would think it’s weird or like I’m showing off. But again I did what’s best for me. I wore just my short sleeves. People did say stuff about it but mostly just funny, joking comments like “What do you think you’re in the Bahamas?!” Lol! 🙂

 

Example 3: When my family gets angry at me sometimes they sling personal insults at me and it used to depress me or put me in a low mood but now I don’t care as much! I still don’t like it, who would, right?! But it doesn’t get to me so much anymore! That is something to be proud of! 😉

 

Example 5: I used to obsess when I would say something to someone, especially someone that I did not know well or at all, that came out wrong or not how I intended. Sometimes, even, throughout the day I would be thinking “Wonder what s/he’s thinking about me for saying that or wonder if s/he misunderstood or thinks I’m weird or something?”. Now I don’t obsess. I let it go. Chances are anyway, after an unpleasant or unplanned or unfortunate encounter when you embarrass yourself, people aren’t even thinking of it anymore anyway. You are because you’re the one who embarrassed yourself but the other person likely has other stuff to think of than to dwell on your little mishap! Lol. So let go! Anyway it’s ok, there are worse things than doing or saying something stupid in public. I know the thought sounds scary but it really is just trivial. 🙂

 

This isn’t out of apathy to the world or people, it’s about doing what’s best for me and not letting fear of what negative things people think or say control me or drag me down. I believe it’s because of strengthening my positive thinking habit and working on my self-esteem in general. When we have good, healthy self-esteem we will still care to some degree what people think about certain things and that is ok but we will generally not let it control us or make us change or feel low about ourselves or our choices. We will not hurt ourselves just to please others or prevent negative gossip about us.

It’s unrealistic to expect ourselves or others to never, ever care in any way, in any case what others think about certain things but we should value our own health, comfort, and opinions of ourselves over the negative thinking of others. There are much more important things and thoughts to entertain than the idea that people are gossiping about you or thinking bad about you. If they are, oh well you can be above that and just be you and accept yourself for who you truly are. ❤

😀

 

“If you want, then start to laugh

If you must, then start to cry

Be yourself don’t hide” ~Enigma 

(Check out this fabulous and sweet song by Enigma, “Return to Innocence”!!!)

 

Xox0 KimImage

If you really knew me…<3

Jan12

So this is a blogging trend and I decided to do my own.

It’s just random facts and things that people may or may not know about me! Maybe you’ll find them interesting, maybe not. Maybe they are useless, maybe pointless, or maybe fascinating! Yay! Lol 😉

 

So if you really knew me..

 

 

You would know that I’m a makeup junkie and love getting dolled up at all hours of the day or night. Sometimes I don’t put my makeup on until late at night just before retiring to bed just because I feel like it. Or I wash off my makeup that is already on and go for a different look. Lol. Sometimes I straighten my hair before bed even though I’m only going to get a shower in the morning and it will go right back to it’s extra wavy, sometimes almost lightly curly self! And I prance around in 5 inch stilettos in my house sometimes at midnight and put on dresses. Yeah, don’t ask…. 😉

 

You would know that I am a self-help/inspiration junkie who loves self-help books, blogs, websites, articles, whatever I can find and I can find inspiration in just about anything. And want to teach the world all I can. ❤

 

You would know that I am extremely simple but not dull.

Girls are often known for being complicated or complex and somewhat hard to figure out. But not me! 😉 And while I have a rich inner-life/thoughts and stuff I am easy to understand when I say something there’s usually not some underlying implication for people to have to analyze or interpret or rip apart to understand. If I say “that’s ok.” It IS ok! I don’t expect people to be my mind readers. If I had a boyfriend, I would tell him like it really is and not expect him to have to delve deep inside to figure out what in the hell I’m actually talking about. If I say, “do what you want” then do what you want! Lol. Straight talk is what’s up! I don’t make things more complicated than they have to be. I am willing to compromise, even give some things up to avoid big blow ups. And since my family is looney, I have learned even better how to be more simplistic to avoid lots of bs.

 

You would know that I generally don’t get angry, anxious, or even too unhappy when things accidentally don’t go as planned. I just go with the flow even when plans turn out to be a wreck. Stuck in traffic? Oh well, I’m here what can be done now?! Someone Cancels at the last minute? Alrighty I’ll just make new plans!

 

You would know I’m a lazy kind of girl. Truly! I don’t have that “A” kind of personality that people speak of. I’m not uptight and perfectionist-like. Noperz! I just take things lightly, I procrastinate, I’m a slacker. Lol. But I won’t let others down and at my job I do the best I can. Yup! Lol 😉

 

You would know that I love my gossip just as much as the next girl. But I won’t gossip in a way that will hurt anyone or to people who will blab someone’s stuff to someone else.  

 

You would know that I don’t watch tv and haven’t in years. I cannot bring myself to sit and watch a television show but I know there are so many I find interesting. I don’t know about tv or all those tv shows people speak of these days and all those young/new celebs and reality tv. Nothing wrong with watching tv, it’s just not my cup of tea!

 

You would know that I am what is considered an “open book”. I’m good at expressing myself, sharing my stories, struggles, dreams, happiness, pain, anything really. Even to people I don’t really know.

I am shy but not secretive or shady. I can keep other people’s secrets but don’t really have many of my own.

 

You would know that I’m very easy going, easy to get along with, super friendly but very shy at first.

 

You would know that I feel other people’s pleasure and pain almost as if it were my own even if I don’t know them or just read about them online. I once stumbled upon a beautiful girl’s blog who was getting married in just a few days.

And I could just feel her immense joy and elation and so much happiness for her. The anxious-ness, the disbelief! The “omg! This is really happening!!” feeling!! I felt as if it were someone so close to me getting married, like my sister or friend, or me, myself! And I never even met her!

❤

 

You would know that I’m extremely patient. Good with kids and difficult people. I work at a store where people change their minds often after I already make up their ice cream hot fudge sundae with crushed cherries, pineapples, wet walnuts, extra whipped cream, carmel and chocolate syrup and cherry on top to a large ice cream cone with rainbow sprinkles. Lol! I just make it over, no problem!

And they are usually very friendly about it and apologize frequently but I tell them there’s no need! You should get what you want!

 

You would know that I think I would love to and be good at working with special needs kids. They require so much love and care and patience and I just am bursting with all of that and would love to care for them.

 

You would know that “misery loves company” is not really true for me. When I’m miserable I usually like to know that great things are still happening to other people. One day not so long ago I was in a low mood feeling like a failure and like nothing would ever go right for me, like I wouldn’t accomplish anything, ever. Then I saw a group of beautiful young women in a wedding, walking up the street towards me. A stunning young bride in a gorgeous white dress that clung to her and all her gorgeous bridesmaids holding beautiful red flowers and wearing clingy black dresses, all in stilettos, with their hair all beautifully fixed.

It immediately uplifted me. They were all genuinely glowing and getting their picture taken together. I thought to myself my world kind of sucks today but at least all is right in their world! ❤ 😀

 

You would no that I’m know grammer or spellin’ nazi! Don’t care!! Lol. As long as I get the gist of what someone is saying/writing it’s alright with me! And yup! I spelled those words wrong on purpose as a joke! Lolz. I’m a joker!

When people are debating or arguing online and start attacking each other for spelling and grammar, to me it’s a sign of weakness in their arguments. They probably don’t have a strong enough argument or points so they resort to attacking spelling mistakes. Or they are just bitter for the other side and want to get them however they can. :-/

 

You would know that I’m the biggest fan of Oldies, 50’s and 60’s music that you’ll probably ever meet and always have been for as long as I can remember!! If it’s an oldies, I can guarantee you I probably know it and the name of the singer/band who sings it. And in school, as a young girl, I would lie to other kids about it and act like I liked the music they liked. The newest, “coolest”, trendiest music. And I would search the lyrics online and facts so I would be able to join in and answer questions that I was asked! I wasn’t about to spill my dirty little secret! Lmao! When I was 18 years old in college I finally quit my lies and embraced my true, passionate love for Oldies! Now I’m a PROUD Oldies lover! And I’ll scream it off the rooftops! Mmmm hmmmm! ❤ 😉

 

You would know that I’m kind of a “good girl”. Never got in much trouble anywhere, never enjoyed the club scene or been bar hopping, don’t care about loud crazy parties, never hosted any or been to many, never been to college parties….no alcohol or cigarettes for me. I like staying home, Reading, cafes with friends, restaurants, movie theatres, walking….things of that sort. 

 

You would know that I’m the kind of girl who goes to great lengths no matter the cost to myself, to help others whether or not I know them.

One day I dragged my ass to the acme and 1:00 in the morning because I found out the gay/straight alliance in college was having a bake sale to get money for awareness for lgbt issues and I just knew I had to help so I bought stuff to make cookies!! Lol!

 

You would know that I rarely negatively judge people. No matter how different they are than me. No matter how “unusual” or “abnormal” they or the things they do are. I’m laid back, easy going.  

 

You would know that I don’t understand math or politics for the life of me no matter how much I try but still find those subjects fascinating. Seriously, I couldn’t do a basic addition Math problem to save my life. But I can write good essays and research papers, or so I have been told. Lol. So I’m not completely dense. I guess? Lol 😉

 

You would know that I’m absent-minded as can be. I lose things. I lose money, probably more often than not. I lose 20 dollar bills a lot. I forget where I put things. I look at the clock to see what time it is and am not paying attention and have to look again, I walk into a room and forget what on Earth I’m doing in there. Lmao! I’m a disorganized mess! 

 

You would know that I’m easily amused. Very. Very easily amused. I laugh at everything and nothing. At myself and all! The most inappropriate things and the most “boring” (according to others) things. When I’m in the movie theatres I’m the one still laughing hysterically long after everyone else has stopped. Lol! I laugh when I’m alone and with people. But I don’t like jokes that have to do with death or disease. I don’t laugh at those. They are cruel and they disgust me. I don’t like jokes about presidents being killed and the Titanic sinking. I don’t care how long ago it was. I don’t like jokes about Michael J. Fox and his Parkinson’s Disease. That is vicious. I don’t like jokes about suicide victims. That is low. I’m very easy to entertain. 🙂

 

You would know that I’m not easily offended. And I don’t always take things too personally or too hard. Life just isn’t meant to be taken so seriously!! 😀

 

You would know that I used to mostly always only dress in black when I was a girl. About 20 (or a bit younger) – 23 or 24 years old, only wear dark makeup, black nail polish. Lots and lots of bracelets, piercings all over (still wear the bracelets and have the piercings). I was constantly labeled as “goth” or “semi-goth” and called the gothic girl frequently. But I myself have never considered myself goth. But never minded the label. Now there’s much color in my world. I paint my nails various colors, wear colorful clothes….

 

You would know I love reading facts about people whether or not I know them. I love reading people’s bio sections, their favorite color, favorite food, “weird” quirks, funny stories, personal blogs about their families and kids and happy lives, even what many consider “boring” facts, lists such as this. I just love people and their lives!

❤

 

You would know that I love babies. My heart melts at the sight or sound of them! I wouldn’t mind watching someone’s or holding a big baby and as a girl, I loved playing dolls, house, kitchen, but I never not once wanted a kid of my own and I know I never will. Just zero desire, not my cup of tea. Doesn’t interest me. Not for any specific reason. As much as I adore kids I just don’t have that natural desire that I guess most girls have, to have kids. I have been criticized for that one but guess what….? I don’t care! Lol 😉 

 

You would know that I am also the biggest fan of sappy love songs, specifically old ones, and I love my sap! I love love and friendship and songs and poetry that conveys the warmth of it. I love romantic comedies and friendship movies….

 

I guess this is it for now! Thank You for getting to know me better! ❤

 

P.S. When I get a shower, it usually steams up the medicine cabinet mirror. Which is the mirror I like to use to put my makeup on because I can get closest to it. I can’t keep the door open because my dad’s parakeets can get out. I got tired of it always being steamed up and even when I make an attempt to clean it with a towel, it smears and gets worse or whatever. So today I came up with the absolutely brilliant idea to put a towel over it! So the steam wouldn’t get to it! I felt proud of my sudden great idea! So after the shower I ripped the towel off and……. Much to my surprise, it was steamed up anyway! Lol! Words cannot express my disappointment and confusion! I stood there for like two minutes all grim and doing nothing! And then? I laughed at myself and went about my day! Yeah this is probably like the most random thing you have read all day! I know. But I just felt like it! 

😀 

 

You just gotta love me! :-p

 

Xox0 Kim 😀 Image

Staying Positive even during negative situations

Jan12

Here are some tips for how to stay positive even during difficult struggles and pain or during other people’s negativity when you have to be around it.

These are things that help me and I hope they will help you too. We are all different and unique and not everything that helps one of us will definitely help another so you have to try and practice various things until you find what is best for you but I believe these things will help many people.

 

1.) Give thanks.

Think of the things that actually ARE going right. You can start with simple things like your health, your senses, the sky, stars, daylight, sun, moon. Maybe you have wonderful friends and great family even if you cannot be near them as often as you would like. Do you have a fantastic job or at least an ok one for now? Or maybe sweet pets or great food! Make a list of all you have.

 

2.) Color/arts and crafts

 

If you are into creation you can draw or color and get lost in the activity to take your mind off of the negativity for a while. It can help you to create something and be proud of your creation!

You can cut colorful pictures out of magazines or cut out letters and make them into inspirational quotes to glue on construction paper.

3.) Meditate

Mindfulness mediation is something I love and it puts my entire body at ease. Close your eyes, sit in a comfortable position and focus on your breath. Check out meditation Oasis. http://www.meditationoasis.com/podcast/listen-to-podcast/

 

4.) Walk –

If you can, go for a walk. Pay close attention to your surroundings. Take in the wonder of the colors, the sounds, the feel, the scents…everything. It can help relax you and put your mind onto something positive in the present moment.

 

5.) If you can, try writing to, calling, texting a positive friend. True friends are always so uplifting and great to talk to. Even if you don’t want to spill your problems at the moment, maybe you can talk about pleasant things.

 

6.). Try positive journaling where you write and focus on the good in your life or about yourself. List your dreams, goals, hopes, plans, great qualities, fun things…

 

7.) Positive music, songs, read positive lyrics and quotes, print them out, write them down

 

8.) Exercise – this is a great outlet for stress and frustration and makes your body feel amazing. You can engage in a vigorous work out or jump on a trampoline or something simple like a quick walk.

 

9.) Read uplifting books

 

10.). Search the net for some positive outlets to take your mind off of the pain & craziness of the moment.

 

11.) Animals – animals are beautiful and loyal friends. They love unconditionally. If you have none, try to be near a friend’s, walk by a dog park and see the joyfulness that runs wild in there! 😀

 

12.) Take good, loving care of yourself! You deserve it! No matter what is going on, nurture yourself and speak/think kind, loving things about yourself. Think of your good qualities – physical and emotional. Get good rest and good sleep. Maybe a full body massage? Or a mani/pedi. And reward your body with healthy foods and maybe a delectable snack like chocolate cake or whatever you consider a delicious treat. Treat yourself how you would treat someone you love.

 

13.). Do not put off stuff you love. Still put on your makeup if that’s what you like. Get dressed up, fix your hair…

 

14.). Watch an uplifting, comical movie

 

15.) Read funny jokes, get a good laugh! 😀

I hope these things help you!

❤

 

X0xo Kim 🙂 😀

 

P.S. The picture is one I drew to represent peace of mind. It’s a white dove still flying with her wings up even in the midst of a wild storm with rain & lightening. It’s meant to show the fact that we can stay peaceful, calm, and serene even during environmental turmoil. My sister and me came up with the picture and I drew it.Image

Sharing is Caring <3

Jan10

<ssharingelphia-20130110-04045trong>Just a thought of mine on sharing personal stories of pain and strength & perseverance with people.
I believe sharing stories of pain is a good thing. One reason is it is potentially healing for both the speaker and listener. And people can get positive feedback and different kinds of support/help. Some people claim that sharing personal stories of pain is done out of desire for sympathy & wanting attention and a sign of weakness and drama-loving. This is not always true in the sense that they claim. Anyone who talks wants attention, the attention of the listener or person being talked to. We all do things for attention in that sense so it’s true in that way.
But not everyone who shares personal struggles is doing that for extra attention just to get people to feel sorry and “fall all over them” or have drama. It helps to express pain & sorrow. It helps the person expressing it and it even has the potential to help the listener. Hearing other people stories can inspire us and let people know they aren’t alone and help people get new ideas of things that may help them.
I have heard of debates with medical doctors as well as psychotherapists and counselors. Should they share their own pain and personal struggles with patients? People often disagree on this topic. Since I’m not a doctor or therapist of any kind I may be over stepping my boundaries in some way but I am a patient and someone who thinks so I guess I’m somewhat qualified to answer that! Lol 😉
I believe it’s definitely ok and helpful for doctors/therapists to share their own pain or stories to a certain degree. Of course if you’re a health professional of any kind you don’t want to take over the entire session and turn it all on you but sharing a brief story or comment is very helpful to certain people. I guess you have to use your intuition and certain signs the people display to tell you what patients may benefit and which ones likely will not. But doctors/therapists are people too and have their own struggles and pain and it’s ok to talk about it and express it.
So, no, not everyone who expresses pain is an attention seeker in the way people are saying. And anyway, there’s nothing wrong with wanting a little bit of sympathy & understanding for true problems and pain; it helps with healing & recovery for both mental and physical conditions. It can be helpful. We just should not create or make up pain & problems just for sympathy.
Peer specialists are people who are certified in helping others who struggle with some of the same mental health conditions/addictions as they have struggled with at one point. They are people in recovery who are doing well and now have a strong desire and are specially qualified to help others who are in a place similar to the place they were once in. They are required to share their own pain & struggles in a special way that can benefit their peers.
I am currently attempting to become a certified peer specialist. I have to get accepted into the training to become certified and then apply for a job with the new qualifications and certificate.
I have filled out an application and got a recommendation letter and my resume! I think the only thing that would make me not get accepted is the fact that I don’t have much work experience in the area of mental health but I’m going to try anyway to get accepted and be optimistic and hopeful!!
I am very open to listening to other people’s problems.

Sharing is caring!!! ❤ ❤ ❤

🙂 😀

Lovingkindness

Jan10

Plant Kindness, Harvest Love. ❤

 

Saw this little inspirational gem walking by someone’s house and of course I had to stop and take a pic! I love accidentally stumbling across little reminders and blessings such as this. I believe it’s so true! Be kind & loving, always. 😀 🙂 ❤ImageImage

Morning Glory

Jan8

Mornin’ darlings!!!

 

It’s morning here in sunny, Philadelphia, Pa!! ❤

 

  I got up extra early today to attempt to get a picture of the sunrise, something I always wanted to do. I have so many of the sun setting but none of the sun rising! But I have seen some beautiful sunrises in this life! Today is too cloudy though! That suuuccckss! Lol oh well. One day I WILL accomplish this goal! Maybe in the sweet Spring! 😉

 

Today, I’m greeting this morning with veneration & love!

 

I’m in a lot of pain and have been for a couple days because of my tmjd, pain disorder, and then I threw out my back, neck, and shoulder which makes it worse and the cold weather compounds it.

But I’m still in a great mood! 

😀

Let’s face it, I’m a bum! Lol ok well not in the strictest sense of the word. I do like to work. I love going to work and working and I like working out at the gym when I get around to it. And walking is amazing. But I also love lounging around and I tend to sleep late and find myself waking up in the afternoon very often.

 

But I always wish that I would get to sleep early enough so that I wake up early in the morning on my own, replenished and well rested without going right back to sleep. That has happened before and sometimes I have to get up in the morning when I have somewhere to be that early. Like this morning. And I find that there’s something so magical and wondrous about the crisp new morning and being up and alive, fully participating in life. Just like the new year, I believe morning is symbolic of new hope & new beginnings, of new birth and all possibility. It’s a beautiful sunrise after a long, dark night. It’s hope. It’s light. A promise, and confirmation that there is, as a matter of fact, light at the end of darkness, a kind of rebirth. And there’s a sweet, early energy just swirling around us and twinkling about the atmosphere. We have a bright new day ahead of us where anything is possible. Maybe we’ll meet a new friend, learn something new, have some amazing new opportunities, receive an incredible phone call, receive an inspirational message or beautiful e-mail, maybe we’ll help someone in need, brighten someone’s day, be deeply inspired, or just have a sweet ordinary day that we make extraordinary.

At the first sign of dawn, the rays of sun bless the Earth with incandescent warmth & sparkling wonder, the birds sing a perfect serenade, and new hope rivulets through the vibrant blue sky.

Mornings happen everyday and we may think them too commonplace to be worthy of honor or adoration. And they do happen for many of us over & over again and that is a gift.

The birth of a new day – a perfect gift. I read in a book of Tao that most places in the cosmos are not blessed with morning. We, we are incredibly blessed.

Yes, for many of us, morning means we have to reluctantly drag ourselves out of bed, we have a long day of work ahead of us, we have to leave the comfort of our warm blankets and pillows but that is ok. Shake the sleep off and give thanks to this wonderful gift, this incredible present.  

Life here begins again at dawn. As my book of Tao says, this is blessing enough. This is happiness enough.

So give your thanks & blessing to this beautiful new morning. 

 Greet the dawn with veneration and awe!

There is a website called “Meditation Oasis” and the authors create mindfulness meditation mp3’s and generously put them on for free for us to use to guide us during meditation. They have so many, some of them are gratitude meditation, pregnancy meditation for pregnant girls, sleep meditation for children, relaxation ones, and of course, a sweet morning meditation! Check it out!!

http://www.meditationoasis.com/podcast/listen-to-podcast/

 

#34 Morning meditation

 

It’s intended to get you to breathe in the morning energy and to really become one with the morning.

 

I believe that in the morning it’s important to be optimistic and positive. Our attitudes and expectations can unconsciously impact the day ahead of us. If you are thankful for a new day and look ahead with wonder and curiosity in a positive way, and expect good things and know you have control for the most part of how your day turns out, an amazing days awaits you!

Everyday is what we make it so let’s make it beautiful! 😉

Here’s to the promise of a brand new day!

😀

 

“Morning is an important time of day, because how you spend your morning can often tell you what kind of day you are going to have.” 

― Lemony Snicket, The Blank Book

 

Just another cold, misty morning inviting,

“want to go again?”

– Mary Anne Radmacher

 

“Begin each day as if it were on purpose.”

– Mary Anne Radmacher 

 

“Each morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.” ~ Buddha

 

“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive- to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love-then make that day count!” 

― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free 

 

Now here’s one to get you to chuckle a bit:

 

“The morning always has a way of creeping up on me and peeking in my bedroom windows. The sunrise is such a pervert.” 

― Jarod Kintz,”Who Moved My Choose?: An Amazing Way to Deal With Change by Deciding to Let Indecision Into Your Life”

 

Lol!

 

Here is a great song by the beautiful Dolly Parton! 

Dolly Parton, “Light Of A Clear Blue Morning” Lyrics

 

“Its been a long dark night

And I’ve been a waitin’ for the morning

Its been a long hard fight

But I see a brand new day a dawning

I’ve been looking for the sunshine

Cause I ain’t seen it in so long

But everything’s gonna work out just fine

Everything’s gonna be all right

That’s been all wrong

 

Cause I can see the light of a clear blue morning

I can see the light of a brand new day

I can see the light of a clear blue morning

And everything’s gonna be all right

Its gonna be okay

 

Its been a long long time

Since I’ve known the taste of freedom

And those clinging vines

That had me bound, well I don’t need em

 

Cause I am strong and I can prove it

And I got my dreams to see me through

Its just a mountain, I can move it

And with faith enough there’s nothing I can’t do

 

And I can see the light of a clear blue morning

And I can see the light of brand new day

I can see the light of a clear blue morning

And everything’s gonna be all right

Its gonna be okay

 

I can see the light of a clear blue morning

I can see the light of a brand new day

Yes I can see the light of a clear blue morning

And everythings gonna be all right

Everythings gonna be all right

Everythings gonna be all right

 

Its gonna be okay

 

Cause I can see the light of a clear blue morning

I can see the light of a clear blue morning

Yes I can see the light of a clear blue morning

Everythings gonna be all right

Its gonna be okay

 

I can see the light

I can see the light

 

Its gonna be all right

Its gonna be all right”

 

Here’s to the promise of a new day. ❤

 

And I hope you all have a fantastic one. ❤

🙂 😀

X0xo Kim

 

P.S. Some more lovely quotes to inspire your beautiful life & beautiful, loving heart!! ❤ 😀

 

“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive — to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.” ~

Marcus Aurelius

 

“In the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.” ~

Kahlil Gibran

 

“Morning is when the wick is lit. A flame ignited, the day delighted with heat and light, we start the fight for something more than before.” ~Jeb Dickerson 

 

P.S. Again!!, lol

Thank You sooo so much again to all who like & read any of my blog entries! I truly appreciate each & every one of you! ❤ :-D. You are all so great! Image