List of Inspirations – Sunday, October 7, 2012

<a href=”http://www.positivelypositive.com/”>http://www.positivelypositive.com/</a> The Positively Positive Blog

Which I read often and receive their e-mail updates, I came across this wonderful idea introduced to the blog by

<a href=”http://www.positivelypositive.com/2012/10/01/the-list-october-2012/

”>Eric Handler in his “The List” post</a>

The idea is that every month he will make a list of any interesting, inspirational, helpful material he has come across that month. This can include movies, books, ideas, anything.

I decided to try something similar every now and then! Please give credit for this incredible idea to Eric Handler, of the Positively Positive blog!

In the last week some inspirational ideas or things I have come across or thought of are:

1.) This quote by Johnny Cash:

“I’m thankful for a pair of shoes that feel really good on my feet; I like my shoes.

I’m thankful for the birds; I feel like they’re singing just for me when I get up in the morning… Saying, ‘Good morning, John. You made it, John.’

I’m thankful for the sea breeze that feels so good right now, and the scent of jasmine when the sun starts going down.

I’m thankful…”

~Johnny Cash

I love this quote. It is so sweet and loving. Just to acknowledge and appreciate and give thanks for the simple wonders and pleasures around us is a great and extremely effective for bettering our lives and the lives of all around us. Even seemingly ordinary things that almost everyone we know has access to or possesses like a pair of shoes are something to feel immense gratitude for.

Without shoes, we wouldn’t be the same.

2.) Positive Focus: This is something I frequently think about. While it is important to acknowledge what is wrong in the world and around our lives and to take care of that when we can, it is equally important (to feel happier and healthier) to frequently acknowledge what is right with us and the world. We can make mental gratitude lists but it is much more effective to write it down somewhere on paper or on a computer/phone or other technology. I will post another entry soon on the topic of positive journaling. When positive focus becomes intentional and turns into an ingrained habit, we will be much happier and appreciative of life in general.

3.) Craft ideas/Fun Activities: Even if you aren’t very talented at any kind of creative activities, you can still have so much fun creating! Coloring, drawing, painting, writing, gluing, all kinds of stuff like that. This can take your mind off of negative events and thoughts for a while and you can even build on your creative skills!

A.C. Moore has lots of cool craft stuff or just get construction paper and markers!

4.) This quote I also saw in the last week: “All love stories are beautiful but ours is my favorite.” <3. This is a beautiful quote because it is about love and conveys great confidence and appreciation for what the person has but also acknowledges the beauty in what someone else has. There’s no envy here. No negativity. No putting others down or being arrogant. Just love and satisfaction. We should all strive to love and accept what we have while being happy and appreciating the happiness of others as well.

5.) Take the opportunity to understand someone else’s situation/pain and see the beauty underneath: I was recently thinking about counseling centers and mental health centers and how some of them have workers/counselors who seriously mistreat people who struggle with substance addiction or abuse. They treat them as if they are not as worthy of compassion and empathy as other patients and not only counselors do this but often many “ordinary” people do. Friends, family members, strangers…. Often treat people struggling with addiction as if they are horrible people that there is no hope for. For many people, all they see is the monster that the addiction created. But underneath the tragic addiction is a beautiful person with much potential. This doesn’t just go for people struggling with addiction but anyone who may be difficult to have to associate with for whatever reason that may be.

If we extend warmth and compassion and empathy there’s a chance we will touch someone’s life for the better. When a person hurts us in any way it’s often so easy to get angry and devastated and want to hurt the person back. That makes sense and is a normal reaction. I think most everyone has done this. But I got to thinking how it would benefit us all to try to just understand even just a little bit, someone else’s situation or point of view.

6.) Just a random idea: If you’re stuck and feeling uninspired in any situation or if you are depressed and feeling apathetic and want to do nothing, do something anyway. Whatever you usually love to do. If you are some kind of writer, even just someone who writes in personal journals for yourself or creative writing, and you have no idea what to write, just put the pen to paper and see where it goes. If you don’t even try, you’ll never see what happens. And if you’re depressed and indifferent to everything, just go about your usual day. Force yourself out of bed and get your body moving. If you usually like makeup, put it on. I find that this helps me so much more than staying in bed and being blahhhh all day. It inspires me, even if not much, to just keep going and laying around all day being depressed just adds to the depression. Nothing wrong with laying around though and being lazy every now and then just because but don’t let your depression stop you!

I hope you find these helpful and inspirational! And I plan to post more like this often!

And I hope you all have a beautiful day. ❤

XoxoKim

P.s. If this post is completely weird looking it’s likely because I made an attempt to use some html stuff to make the links clickable. I used to have some good basic knowledge of html stuff when I was young but through the years, it all escaped me! ;-). So I may have messed it up a bit!

Also, the two adorable cuties in the picture are my dad’s parakeets, Elvis & Lennon! ❤

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Oct3

Well, not really. Not just yet but this girl can dream. 😉

I love how it feels like the season is changing now. To me, it’s incredibly beautiful when the seasons are in the process of changing. I know it’s supposed to get extremely hot again soon, like 80 degrees or whatever but for the last couple of days, it seems that fall is finally in the air after what, to me has felt like a long hot scorching summer. Summer is sweet! But I’m ready for cool weather, candy corn, delicious caramel apples, pumpkin spice coffee (which I am enjoying right now!!), hoodies, cold nights, crisp brightly colorful leaves, pumpkins, scarecrows….and even Santa Claus, pine trees, apple cinnamon, glistening snow, gingerbread people, Winter Wonderland, mistletoe, jingle bells, cozy, warm blankets at night, and cheesy, sappy old Christmas/holiday cheer music…and More!!! Yay!! Lol

I’m like a little girl deep in my heart! I get thrilled over simple pleasures and little kiddie things!! Lol But that’s alright! <3. Those are things that so many people overlook and outgrow or just feel too old for. But the truth is, we’re never too old to let that inner child run wild!

I’m just about over the excessive heat, air conditioners, bikinis, pools, sprinklers, bbq’s, longer hours of daylight, extreme humidity (eww), sticky haze, and all that good stuff. I’m ready to kiss it all goodbye until we meet again next year! 🙂

I find that the fall and winter seasons deeply inspire me.

There’s just so much to be happy about and look forward to in the fall and winter. Like all those little things I mentioned above!

And after a year goes by I find myself ecstatic as the season approaches.

I just love the feel in the air.

🙂

I have already downloaded some holiday music! Christmas songs are the best!!

I will never outgrow the thrill of holidays and festivities! Lolz!

This nearing season is like the world’s gift to me! ❤

This year, I will search for some fun seasonal activities or projects. I’m horribly unskilled at arts and crafts, drawing, creativity or whatever but that doesn’t mean I can’t still have fun and do all that anyway! 🙂

Last night my sister and me went to A.C. Moore and bought lots of Fall themed arts and crafts material to decorate with. We got an old pair of stiletto shoes and decorated them to look real pretty! And we’re quite proud of our accomplishments!

Another thing I would very much love to do is volunteer work helping people.

I looked online and found a hospital close to me where they need volunteers to work at the desk and comfort patients in like the emergency room.

That would warm my heart to help hurting people in situations like that.

I am in the process of filling out the application. It’s just that it’s kind of like getting a job I think. Even though it’s not paid work. So since I don’t have much work experience in that kind of environment I may not get chosen. But it certainly won’t hurt to try!

Xoxoxo Kim ❤

A Kind Heart

Sep12

“Strong people don’t put others down…they lift them up.” ~Michael P. Watson

We should try to build each other up, not drag each other down. I have seen so many people who intentionally, consciously go around looking for and focusing on the flaws they see in people, even trivial ones like someone’s physical appearance and many of the “flaws” they point out aren’t even flaws, just differences. I believe that most people who are generally truly satisfied and happy with their own lives and self don’t go around trying to degrade and vilify others.

We all have something that someone else will view as unpleasant or as an imperfection or flaw. No one is absolutely perfect in everyone’s eyes.

I can even understand not liking a certain person but I have known people who negatively gossip and degrade everyone they can about every aspect of the people.

Sometimes when people would do something bad to me or talk negatively about me or make stuff up, I would seek revenge and do it back to the person but I have come to realize that that isn’t the best that I can be. I’m better off ignoring them or confronting them in a civilized manner. I don’t have to like people who destructively criticize me but I can handle it better than lowering myself to their level. The truth is, it’s not good to myself, that person, or the world around me to degrade anyone even if that person is doing something wrong. I think constructive criticism is often good but should be gentle and truly intended to help a person, not drag the person down.

I recently saw a picture on Facebook of a girl who is not very thin that someone put on so that everyone can make fun of her. There were so many negative comments, not one constructive, just cruel to try to be funny or hurt her.

I find that absolutely horrible that someone can want to devastate her like that. They don’t even know her. It wasn’t even like she did something seriously wrong to them. And even if she did, it wouldn’t be right.

But it’s even more weird that they would do that to a person just because of her weight.

I also saw recently on Facebook that a girl who is twenty-something posted a short list of goals she would like to accomplish.

Some of them are to make more friends, make more bead bracelets, paint her nails more, learn to drive, start a craft business at home….all simple things like that.

People vilified her for being so simplistic and called her pathetic and immature and said those are goals she should have had when she was a teenager.

They were comparing their busy, stressful lives to her laid back, calm, peaceful one.

I think that’s ridiculous because there’s nothing at all wrong with having simple goals even as an adult.

Being busy and stressed out isn’t better than focusing on the simple pleasures in life.

It’s up to each person to choose how to live.

We shouldn’t judge other people by our own standards or dreams.

It’s amazing to focus on the small things and be child-like and youthful. That’s not the same as immature.

Busyness and stress do not equal purpose or value anymore than peace and calmness, and simplicity do.

If someone is content with a simple life of simple goals and small things then that’s great.

What matters is that we all have a sense of purpose and happiness with how we live, not what brings us that happiness or sense of purpose. We’re all different and that’s a good thing.

People were also severely criticizing stay at home moms, saying they do nothing and throw away their lives slaving over children and housework instead of doing great things. And calling them lazy.

I also find this ridiculous.

If that is what their heart desires, to stay at home and care for their children, that is great that they have the opportunity to do that.

Just because that kind of life doesn’t appeal to some doesn’t mean it isn’t great.

Like I said, we should all do what we want, whatever brings us joy and a sense of purpose, not what others think we should do.

I have been negatively criticized by some for my frequent positive and cheerful attitude. Someone has actually called it “disgusting”.

I have also heard people call positive attitudes “immature”, “fake”, and “annoying”.

It’s ok for people to have those opinions even though I disagree. Being positive as much as possible does not entail ignoring negative things or repressing them, just not letting them drag us down or get to us too much.

I also think it’s wise and very mature to look at the bright side instead of frequently flipping out and reacting negatively to any little thing that goes wrong.

I am aware that negative things should be addressed and not always be completely ignored. But that doesn’t mean we have to obsess over them and dwell on them and get severely depressed over them.

I think we should absolutely focus on and bask in the small pleasures around us. They’re everywhere if we would just slow down to notice. We can’t always have big things that will bring us pleasure. We can’t always buy expensive things, or win the lottery, or go on a big vacation or have the job of our dreams and even if we do get those things, very often the thrill is diminished after a while when it’s no longer new. The novelty wears off and the thing is taken for granted.

The truth is we should take parts of our day everyday to feel gratitude for everything we have, big and small.

Whether or not we have those big things, the little things are there everyday and can bring us immense pleasure. ❤

The truth is if people feel the need or desire to attempt to drag others down for no specific reason and speak/write negatively of them the people very likely have a problem with their own lives and selves and they either don’t consciously realize or are too afraid to examine themselves and attempt to change for the better. So instead of negatively/destructively criticizing others, they should instead examine themselves and their own lives. That is way more effective than dragging other people down. Negative talking about other people is rarely productive or effective in a positive way.

It may bring the person doing the negative talking an initial sense of gratification for a few minutes or whatever but in the end it does not make that person a better person at all. In fact, I feel that when we degrade each other, in the process we are lowering and degrading ourselves. We’re not being the best we can be but instead sinking to a level we can be way above. Why not be the kind of person who uplifts and brings people up and sees the goodness and beauty in people instead of the “flaws”?

When people are unhappy and bitter in their own lives, they often feel relief trying to convince themselves that someone else is “worse” than they are. But whether or not that’s true, pointing it out about someone doesn’t make you any better than you were or better than that person.

Chances are, if you talk negatively about people, they will do it back to you and try to make you feel low, perpetuating the whole thing. This isn’t good for anyone.

We should allow other people’s beauty, successes, fortunes, happiness, and accomplishments to inspire and motivate us, not make us feel jealous and depressed because we don’t have what they have. We can all do something great for ourselves and others. Even something as simple as being uplifting and positive and encouraging. You don’t have to accomplish big things to be great.

Just being a great person with valuable qualities and characteristics is good enough.

If you are someone who feels the need to vilify people you don’t even know well or people who haven’t done this to you, you will likely benefit by examining yourself more instead of those people because this is an indication that you are unhappy or bitter about something in your life. Then you can work on yourself for the better.

It is normal and even ok to get a little jealous sometimes or strongly desire what others have. But when it’s so frequent or strong or interferes with your life or friendships/relationships with others then that’s when it becomes a problem. But the good news is that it can be helped if you focus on the goodness in yourself and cherish it and not let what you think are flaws make you feel low about yourself.

Let’s feel happy for ourselves and others who experience great things!! ❤

I’m extremely empathetic which is great but also has a somewhat negative side.

I take great pleasure in the success of others but I also take on the world’s pain.

I find though, that I absolutely love feeling thrilled for others as I am for myself when great things happen to them.

When we help others and uplift them, it makes ourselves feel wonderful.

🙂

“Tearing others down won’t get you any higher.”