Are You As Sick As The Secrets You Keep?`

Image by LeandroDeCarvalho on Pixabay

Sometimes we harbor secrets in our hearts and minds. And these secrets determine how we live our lives. In the recovery groups we learn that "We are only as sick as the secrets we keep." These secrets may be in our subconscious and determine how we think and feel about what happens in our lives.

The secrets may be in your memory and you don't share them because of fear. This fear can keep us sick, in mind and body.

In a TedTalk the syndrome is described in a way to make sense of it. Kristy Spraggon shares her secret in just over eight minutes.

What are you keeping secret? How does it affect your life? Find someone to share it with so that you can be free.

Image by Myriams-Fotos on Pixabay

Happy Birthday?

There is just something about birthdays that can trigger good or bad feelings, memories.

I'll be 77 years old tomorrow, Monday the 25th. And this year it doesn't feel good. Usually I celebrate the years as they pass and find good things cropping up all around me. This year I'm struggling to do that.

I've had some physical setbacks that leave me feeling discouraged about my future. While I know that there is a whole lot of goodness in my life, I'm depressed and struggling to connect with the good.

How do you approach your birthday? Since I've been having medical issues and, more recently, I've fallen, it is painful and a struggle just to move around. While I know the pain will lessen in time, I have concerns of being an old lady who falls a lot.

I've got to adjust my attitude! This young woman in this TedX talk tells how it matters.

And I know that is true. I just need to want to do something badly enough to do it!

Don't worry. Be happy.

Sorry

Do you have trouble apologizing? Is your apology meaningful or is it a reflexive "Sorry" that does little to heal a relationship.

YouTube provides a video that can help you "get it right." Check it out.

I'm sorry I didn't get a blog published for yesterday. That's not a big deal in the scheme of things. But it gave me an idea of what to post about. We are in a time when apologies are more about getting something than giving something, if there is an apology at all.

Some really bad behaviors go on without apology. Or the apology is not meaningful. And we are left with a jumble of unresolved emotions. This ruins relationships. Check out why apologies are important in the TED Talk below.

So, I'm sorry I missed a deadline because of a medical emergency. But all is well now and I hope to stay on schedule in the future. I want you to be able to count on a post each Wednesday and Sunday.

Kids Know

We can learn a lot from kids. They know things we've forgotten. We probably knew them when we were kids. But somehow growing up has taught us to ignore what we knew then.

Children are wise beyond their years. They can teach us about love. And in this Valentine month, let's see what they know about love in this YouTube video:

Laugh and the World Laughs With You

And that's a good thing! Laughter is healthy and healing. Laughter creates bonds between people. Laughter can change the world. When you laugh and the world laughs with you, change will happen, change for the good.

Check out this TedTalk.

Our world could sure use more laughter, that's for sure.

What Do You Think?

Have you ever been told that you are what you think. Your brain is very powerful. When you learn to use it to make the changes for a better you and a better world, you will be surprised at how successful you can be.

If you want change, then you must change your mind. Watch this brief video for an explanation of how that works.

So, how do you forsee YOUR future? Try changing one thing today, just some little thing, like doing some task with your non-dominat hand. If you did that often enough, you'd teach your body to do it better than your brain. It would become a habit.

Learn some new fact today. It will change your mind in some way. Use it, remember it, and it becomes a permanent part of you.

Yeah, we are what we think.

Thank You Isn't Enough

Well, it's a start. But most everyone is positively effected by expressions of appreciation. 

I have worked for several kinds of bosses. The best have been those who expressed appreciation for something that I've done. I work best for appreciation!

Take four minutes to hear more about the value of appreciation, and how you can change the world using it.

"In every day, there are 1,440 minutes. That means we have 1,440 daily opportunities to make a positive impact." - Les Brown

Tell someone something that you appreciate about them.

How Do You Celebrate Your Birthday?

When I was growing up, birthdays were a big day at our house. There was always a birthday cake, except for my older brother who sometimes asked for lemon merainge pie instead. 

Sometimes we had a party with our friends invited, where we'd make party hats and play games and get little presents.

My mother seemed to always enjoy celebrating our birthdays. It was like it was our own personal holiday. I doubt if they had much to celebrate with when she was growing up and wanted us to have better.

For much of my adulthood my birthday was not terribly special, especially when I had no loving spouse. The kids would make me cards, though, and insist I bake a cake. For a long time I was single when my husband left us. We were really broke and the presents were usually what the kids made and a check in the mail from my Mom.

Then I was single and my kids were gone. I got birthday cards, usually, from friends, but I was still really poor, so didn't do much celebrating. I was struggling to go to graduate school and working a part-time job. It was a very lonely time because I commuted to school and wasn't involved in school activities. And I was living alone in a friends house as a house sitter. I had a couple of local friends and they checked in on me. But for the most part it was very lonely.

I finally finished school.  I had been living in a little cheap apartment. I had two temporary very part-time clerical jobs and couldn't find a job in my field in the town where I was living. I couldn't keep up with my expenses, so I gave up housekeeping and went to live with my mother in Columbus, Ohio. She, of course, always remembered my birthday. After a bit there I found a temporary job in my field and then a permanent one. Things were looking up.

My birthday is in February. In Central Ohio, that month is the grayest month, cold and damp and depressing. So after I moved into my own place, I began celebrating February as BGTL Month - Be Good to Lucinda Month. Every day of February I do something that makes me happy, makes me feel good.

It is sometimes hard to come up with 28 things, but I always manage. You see, being good to myself doesn't have to be a big thing. While there are some special things I do, any small thing can feel good. This month is no different. So far I've had Wendy's chili, which I really like. And spent an afternoon playing with my great-granddaughter. Today I will spend time doing art work.

While these are all rather normal things, the perspective of doing them as a way I am being good to myself makes all the difference. Why don't you try it? Whatever month your birthday falls in, spend it being good to yourself. Can't manage it for a month? Start with your birthday week.

Hope you have a happy birthday month, too! Let me know how it goes. And if you have suggestions for things I might do to BGTL, please leave them in a comment. (Actually, your comment will make my day special!)