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10 Habits Make it Easier to Stop Self-Loathing

February 22, 2021 by Sarah Barkley

Everyone experiences self-loathing sometimes, but it can hinder your ability to love yourself. If your self-hatred becomes severe enough, it can interfere with your goals and relationships, and it can cause a lack of self-confidence. When this happens to you, you must find a way to stop self-hatred and start loving yourself again.

Sometimes, you will be well-aware that you are self-loathing. Other times, you may not even realize that you are doing it because there are many unexpected signs. There are signs that you can watch for to recognize if you are experiencing self-hatred, including the following behaviors:

always trying to please others
you are always apologizing, sometimes multiple times, for the same thing
your expectations are too low
a lack of motivation, or you motivate yourself with tough love
you have negative self-thoughts
fixating on what goes wrong
you tell yourself that if something doesn’t work out, you won’t have another chance

If you experience any of these signs, it is normal. It happens to everyone, but there is a way to get through it and start loving yourself again. Work to develop new habits that make it easier to stop self-loathing.

How to Make it Easier to Stop Self-Loathing

Here are some tips to help you stop being so harsh on yourself.

1. Recognize Your Triggers

Many situations can cause self-loathing, and overcoming it requires that you figure out what triggers you. If you can figure out the triggers, you can either avoid those situations or make a positive change during them.

One way you can determine your triggers is through journaling. As you write out your problems, worries, fears, and concerns, you can recognize the consistencies. Writing in a journal also helps reduce anxiety and depression, both of which contribute to self-hatred.

Think specifically about the instances you self-loathed throughout the day. Doing this before bed can help because you can reflect on an entire day and acknowledge what you were doing, where you were, or who you were with. Even the time of day the self-loathing began can be a trigger.

Once you have determined your triggers, then you can decide what to do. You can choose to eliminate the trigger, or you can make changes that improve it. Find healthy coping mechanisms to help you overcome the things that trigger you.

While anything can trigger your self-loathing, there are common triggers. Some of the common triggers include:

recalling a traumatic experience
being put down consistently
comparing yourself to others
life changes, no matter how big or small
obstacles or challenges
physical or mental abuse

2. Treat Yourself the Same Way You Treat Your Loved Ones

You wouldn’t treat your loved ones negatively, so stop treating yourself that way. The next time you notice that you are self-loathing, think about how you would treat others in that situation.

If your loved one is in a bad situation, you won’t make it worse with your words. You would likely say uplifting things, give them good advice, and support them. Do the same for yourself rather than being negative, and work to build yourself up.

3. Be Grateful

Practicing gratitude can quickly help you stop self-hatred and start loving yourself again. Focus on the positive things in your life instead of fixating on the things you don’t like. It will be easier for you to focus on self-love and building your self-esteem if you spend time being thankful.

If you have a journal, gratitude is another thing you can add to it. Spend time each day writing down things you are grateful for and include positive things about yourself.

4. Make Changes in Your Life

Changing your life for the better is always a good thing, but even more so if you want to stop self-loathing. Change isn’t bad, and it can push you to be better and challenge yourself. Plus, change can help you get out of cycles of self-hatred so that you can love yourself again.

If you know a particular place or situation triggers your loathing, change it. You can avoid the area or situation or make changes to create a more positive experience. Some of the things that you may need to change include:

your job
the people you spend time with
your home

Change is hard, especially when it is a significant change. Fight your fear of change and dive in knowing that it is for your happiness and self-love. Everything will work out, and you have to have faith and love yourself.

The changes you make don’t have to happen all at once. Take your time and do a little more each day until you are where you want to be.

5. Talk to Someone

When you realize that you are self-loathing, find someone to talk to about it. Make sure it is someone you trust and will help boost your spirit. As you tell them the things on your mind, they will counter it with positivity.

Before you know it, their positive comments will come to mind even when they aren’t around. Plus, their excellent remarks will give you something else to be grateful for.

Additionally, you will feel more motivated to be what that person said you are. If they said you are successful, you would work harder to reach your goals. Likewise, if they said you and kind or helpful, you will do things that enforce that idea.

If you don’t have someone close to you that you are comfortable talking to, then there are other options. You could talk to a therapist that can help you stop self-loathing and learn to love yourself again.

6. Stop Criticizing Yourself

If you continually criticize your appearance, personality, or abilities, you will struggle to love yourself. You will believe those negative thoughts or words about yourself, and you will slow your progress.

Self-criticism is a direct cause of self-loathing, so you must stop if you want to love yourself. When you realize that you are critical, change your mindset and replace the negativity with positivity.

7. Acknowledge Your Strengths

You can’t hate yourself as you think about the things you are good at. Learn to recognize your strengths and remind yourself of them in times of self-hatred.

If you can’t think of what you are good at the first time, ask those closest to you to help you come up with some ideas. They will know your strengths, and as they tell you what they are, you will begin to recognize them, too.

8. Give to Others

Studies show that when you give to others, your negative feelings will decrease. Plus, you will notice a boost in your self-esteem, and your stress levels will reduce. This can help you push away the self-hatred and start loving yourself.

You don’t always have to give gifts. Simply giving your time will be more than enough. Volunteer, help a loved one or friend or do a random act of kindness for someone. You will feel better about yourself right away.

9. Forgive Yourself and Show Compassion

To let go of self-hatred, you must first forgive yourself. If your trigger is thinking about painful moments from the past, then this is what you need to do. Forgiving yourself is the only way to release those negative feelings that the memory brings.

You also must show yourself compassion. Think about the way that you would forgive those your love when they have made a mistake. Then, forgive yourself in the same way because no one is perfect, and everyone deserves forgiveness.

10. Don’t Compare Yourself to Others

Comparing yourself to others is one of the most harmful things you can do to yourself. When you compare yourself to others, it is an unfair comparison. Remember that you are only seeing what the other person wants you to see.

This is a huge problem with social media because many people don’t post the negative parts of their lives. They often portray their lives to be perfect when, in real life, everyone has issues.

When you compare yourself to others, it can lead to self-loathing, depression, and decreased self-esteem. Instead of comparing yourself to others, try comparing yourself to where you were in the past. As long as you are making progress in your life, you are on the right track and doing great.

Final Thoughts on Habits to Make it Easier to Stop Self-Loathing + Start Loving Yourself Again

Self-loathing is an issue that everyone deals with occasionally. For some, it happens more often and for extended periods. No matter how often you experience it, you must find a way to start loving yourself again.

Figure out what triggers these negative feelings, and then work to make a change in your life. No one is perfect, so forgive yourself and treat yourself the same way you treat your loved ones. Always remember that you are good enough and on the right path.

If you can implement some of these habits to start loving yourself again, you will quickly notice a change. Use these habits to learn self-love and experience happiness and peace in your life.

New University Study Links Childhood Diet to Adult Health

February 22, 2021 by Kristen Lawrence

New research shows that a childhood diet can affect one’s health all the way into adulthood. The UC Riverside study found that eating excess sugar and fat as a child can change your gut bacteria permanently. Researchers discovered that this held true even if a person eats healthier later in life. A paper summarizing this study on mice recently got published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

The groundbreaking study revealed that adult mice fed an unhealthy diet as juveniles had a less diverse microbiome. Furthermore, these mice showed a decrease in the number of gut bacteria as well.

“We studied mice, but the effect we observed is equivalent to kids having a Western diet, high in fat and sugar and their gut microbiome still being affected up to six years after puberty,” said UCR evolutionary physiologist Theodore Garland.

The microbiome consists of the total bacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses living both on and inside humans and animals. Most of these microorganisms reside in the intestines and help to bolster the immune system. They also assist in breaking down food and helping to synthesize essential vitamins and minerals.

A healthy body consists of both pathogenic and helpful organisms. However, an unhealthy diet, high stress, sedentary lifestyle, illness, or antibiotic use can alter this balance. Then, the body becomes vulnerable to disease because the immune system can’t function properly.

How the study worked

The research team divided the mice into four different groups and observed impacts on their gut bacteria in the study. The four groups included the following:

one consumed a standard healthy diet
another ate an unhealthy “western” diet
one group received a running wheel for exercise
another group had no access to exercise

After three weeks on a specific diet or exercise routine, the mice returned to their regular diet. They also went back to not exercising, as this is standard for laboratory mice. At the 14-week mark, the team observed the amount and diversity of gut bacteria in the mice.

What the study on childhood diet and impacts on gut bacteria revealed

The team found a much lower number of bacteria like Muribaculum intestinal in the mice fed a Western diet. This type of bacteria helps with carbohydrate metabolism, which ensures a steady supply of energy to cells. Their analysis revealed that the gut bacteria responded to the amount of exercise the mice got as well.

The Muribaculum bacteria increased in mice given a healthy diet who had access to the running wheel. However, it decreased in mice on a Western diet, no matter if they exercised or not. The team believes that this bacteria and the family of bacteria it belongs to may affect its host’s energy levels. Researchers continue to study the other functions of this type of bacteria.

Another study found that a very similar bacteria species to Muribaculum increased in number after five weeks of treadmill training. This implies that exercise alone can impact the number of gut bacteria present.

However, UC Riverside researchers found that childhood diet impacted the microbiome much more than early-life exercise habits. Garland’s team wants to perform an additional experiment, taking samples more often during the study period. This will allow them to gain greater insight into when the microbiome begins changing and how long these changes last.

Researchers say that no matter when these changes first occur, the microbiome’s long-lasting effects were striking. In the study, they knew that even after 14 weeks, the mice’s microbiome still hadn’t returned to normal.

Garland says the study can be summed up with this: “You are not only what you eat, but what you ate as a child!”

Childhood diet plays an important role in overall health.

What you eat affects not only your physical health but your mental and emotional health as well. Unfortunately, many kids today grow up without vital nutrients due to poverty, parental influence, and other factors. The obesity rates have skyrocketed not only in Westernized countries but in developing countries also.

According to the CDC, here are statistics about the childhood obesity epidemic in the U.S. in 2015-16. These are the most current numbers. However, they’ve likely risen since then.

For children and adolescents aged 2-19 years:

The prevalence of obesity was 18.5% and affected about 13.7 million children and adolescents.
Obesity prevalence was 13.9% among 2- to 5-year-olds, 18.4% among 6- to 11-year-olds, and 20.6% among 12- to 19-year-olds. Certain populations are more vulnerable to childhood obesity.
Hispanics (25.8%) and non-Hispanic blacks (22.0%) had higher obesity prevalence than non-Hispanic whites (14.1%).
Non-Hispanic Asians (11.0%) had lower obesity rates than non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics.

Obesity levels have been rising over the past 40 years due to unhealthy diets and lack of exercise. Childhood diet impacts a person for life, and eating nutrient-poor foods puts them at risk for physical and mental illness. As the gut houses 70% of our immune system, it makes sense that a more robust microbiome would correlate with better health. Another study shows that a childhood diet rich in protein and fiber increases gut bacteria, and therefore, immunity.

Most people know that eating processed foods, sugar, and high-fat foods cause health problems. However, scientists have just begun to understand how diet impacts our gut bacteria and immune systems. Hopefully, this research will encourage parents to feed their children healthy foods to enhance their microbiome.

Final thoughts: childhood diet significantly impacts adult health and microbiome

A groundbreaking study from UC Riverside researchers found that what a child eats affects them for life. It can alter their microbiome permanently, even if they begin eating healthier in adulthood. Therefore, it’s crucial to feed kids plenty of fiber and protein to increase their gut bacteria. Sadly, many children today suffer from malnutrition, despite obesity rates skyrocketing.

If children learn healthy habits early in life, they will carry these over into adulthood. Since diet impacts the gut more than exercise, parents should emphasize healthy eating at mealtimes.

Top Therapist Explains Why You Should Celebrate Your Imperfections

February 22, 2021 by Power of Positivity

So many people feel stressed about their imperfections. It’s a behavior that has been pushed since the dawn of civilization. In fact, people desire so much to be perfect that they may do bizarre things to achieve this desire.

It can be stressful to try to live up to perfection. Even if you enjoy being perfect or striving to be perfect, it can still bring on a lot of stress. It’s not healthy to live this way.

This leaves one to wonder. If it’s so unhealthy to try to be perfect all the time, why do you do it? You may be unaware of how much you’re hurting yourself with this desire to meet impossibly high standards.

As crazy as it sounds, you may need to aim lower. Here is why.

To Be Human is to Be Flawed

As California therapist Sharon Martin, LCSW wrote, “everyone has flaws and makes mistakes.” In her article, Embrace Your Imperfections, she points out many ways in which people are flawed and why you shouldn’t be concerned about these flaws.

People are late all the time. They may eat out too much and not exercise enough. Sometimes people are too mean and other times they’re too nice.

Sometimes people get lazy and ignore their responsibilities. While all of this is frowned upon, Dr. Martin points out that it’s perfectly normal to make mistakes and to be flawed. Therefore, you shouldn’t beat yourself up about it.

When you think about it, mistakes are mistakes and you should learn from them, but flaws are only flaws because someone said they are. These flaws become taboo because of expectations that society has created to make people fit in and stay in line.

This doesn’t mean you should become a rebel. However, you should realize that you feel flawed because you’re comparing yourself to others who you think are not flawed. Dr. Martin said that looking outward at people makes you think that they have it all together, but you aren’t getting the full story.

One great point that Dr. Martin made in her article was that you don’t hold others to the high standards that you hold yourself to. If you did, you may begin seeing little cracks in the façade of their perfect life.

What is the Definition of Perfect, Really?

It’s normal to be less than perfect. In fact, when you think about it, it’s hard to even define what makes a person perfect because we’re all different. That would mean that only one person on earth is perfect.

Every human being on the earth is unique – even identical twins have differences. Who’s to say that one person is perfect and the other isn’t? Does it make sense that one person out of a global population of over 7.8 billion people is the only perfect person on the planet?

The definition of perfection started being shaped the minute you were born. “In childhood, many of us learn that we need to be perfect—that we have to look a particular way, act a particular way, and meet other people’s expectations even at the expense of our own wellbeing,” says Dr. Martin,”…and our childhood experiences often plant the seeds of perfectionism, giving us the message that we’re not good enough as we are.”

As Dr. Martin is pointing out, perfection is simply a perception. It’s one that someone – your parents, your teachers, your neighbors, celebrities on television, the President – embedded in your brain. Perfection is more idealistic than anything; it’s society’s expectations of you.

You grew up not wanting to disappoint society. You’re taught to do your best, be your best, put your best foot forward. There is nothing wrong with striving to be your best but striving for some unattainable concept of perfection will leave you disappointed every time.

Five Tips to Help You Embrace Being Less Than Perfect

Hopefully, you’ve now realized that perfection isn’t real which means that imperfections aren’t real either, at least not in the sense that they are a flaw. Maybe you aren’t like everyone else and maybe you don’t have it all together like you think your idol does. In fact, your idol may be surprised that you think they’re perfect because they have the same misconceptions about perfection that you do.

The things that you consider as imperfections…you should embrace those things. That’s who you are and that’s quite alright. You should never feel like you aren’t good enough for being yourself.

In her article, Dr. Martin gives one of the best reasons you should embrace your imperfections. They make you an authentic person.

Authentic people connect better with others. No one wants to connect with a person that is fake and is a liar. People can tell when you’re pretending and, since no one is perfect, you would be pretending if you come off as perfect.

Authenticity means being able to admit that you have struggles and concerns in life. By doing this, you can help other people. Some people need to know they aren’t alone in their struggles – that it’s normal to have these issues. You could be an inspiration to someone simply by being authentic.

This doesn’t mean that you can’t aim to do better. It’s always good to recognize that you may not be your best self at the moment so that you can improve yourself. However, at no point during this process should you feel like a flawed or imperfect individual.

When you embrace your imperfections, you’ll find that you are a better and more whole person. You’ll be happier and more relatable which is much better than being some fictitious, perfect drone.

How to Embrace Your Imperfections

It’s not always easy to embrace your flaws, especially if you’ve spent a lifetime pretending that you don’t have them. However, with some practice, you can learn to accept yourself just as you are. Here are a few tips that will help you begin to accept your flaws.

1. Start looking at your flaws differently.

This is the first step to acceptance. Realize that your flaws aren’t flaws! Call them what you want – quirks, character traits, etc., but realize that there is nothing wrong with these parts of you. It’s okay to look at areas of yourself as areas that need to be improved but let go of the notion that these areas are wrong or bad.

2. Take care of yourself.

Unfortunately, it can be too easy to slip into a routine of not taking care of yourself when you’re stressed about flaws. You may begin to think that there is no point in taking care of yourself because things aren’t getting better anyway.

This is the wrong way to think. When you look and feel your best, it’s much easier to accept yourself for who you are. Therefore, no matter how hard it may be, make it a habit to always take care of your health and your appearance.

3. Remember that your thoughts are just thoughts.

Sometimes people get caught up in negative thoughts. Let’s face it – we all have negative thoughts from time to time. However, it’s important to realize that these are just thoughts, not necessarily reality.

You probably won’t stop having negative thoughts (although you can practice having less of them), so you need to learn to have the thought then push it out of your mind. Having affirmations around you can help with this. Put them directly in your line of sight and refer to them when you’re having negative thoughts.

4. Stop being self-critical.

Remember that you are your own worst critic. The way you see yourself is usually not the way others see you. You may criticize things about yourself that others have never even thought about.

This doesn’t mean you should live your life according to what others think about you. This means that you should stop worrying about all the things you think are wrong with you. Focus on the positive; focus on what you can do instead of what you can’t.

5. Set realistic goals and expectations.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to improve areas that you’re lacking in, but you need to be realistic about what you can do.

An example is comparing yourself to your idol or a celebrity. Vowing to look like a celebrity in six months is likely not feasible; in fact, that celebrity probably doesn’t even look like what you see in the media. They wear tons of makeup, use plastic surgeons, wear slimming clothing, and have their photos photoshopped.

Your looks aren’t the only area in which you should have realistic expectations. Other areas are your education, career, love life, family life, religion, and more. Stop placing so much pressure on yourself to be perfect and improve yourself little by little. Your goals need to be smart and attainable so you don’t set yourself up for failure from the beginning.

Final Thoughts About Learning to Love Your Imperfections

Dr. Martin’s article highlights how today’s society makes it much too easy to obsess over your flaws. Standards of living seem to keep going up making it a struggle to meet those expectations. However, you must resist the urge to be perfect because perfection is simply a façade.

Embracing your imperfections is the only way to bring some peace to your life. Realize that you don’t have to be perfect because no one is perfect. It’s okay to have flaws.

Above all, love yourself and take care of yourself. This will help you feel good and stay positive, and eventually, you’ll find it easier to accept yourself just the way you are.

6 Habits That Rewire Your Brain to Do Hard Things

February 22, 2021 by Lakeisha Ethans

Do you often struggle with difficult tasks? Most people do! It’s hard to stick to working hard on things that are involved, time-consuming, and out of your comfort zone. Fortunately, you can rewire your brain to accomplish these things.

The fact of life, though, is that these tough times will come, and you’ll need to be able to handle these complicated problems in as positive a manner as possible. Learning certain routines and habits can help get you accustomed to the concept of handling challenging work in better ways. Here are six practices that rewire your brain to do difficult tasks.

1. Meditating

Meditation is famous for its ability to change the brain’s structure, allowing for boosted cognitive function and better task completion. It sounds far-fetched at first, but it’s grounded in reality and science, and the fact that it’s convenient to do anytime, anywhere, and is entirely free to practice is a great bonus. Here are some ways meditation achieves the lofty goal of rewiring your brain for complex tasks:

· Cerebral Blood Circulation

The brain requires sufficient nourishment and oxygenation to function at its best. Improved circulation can help the brain, and many of its little areas to work in better conditions, allowing for better focus and sustained attention, improved emotional regulation, and general management of tasks and feelings. Studies indicate that meditation can boost blood flow to the brain, allowing these improvements to occur.

· Stress Relief

Difficult tasks bring stress levels to a peak, making it harder to do those tasks at all. Meditation is renowned for its calming effects, allowing you to decrease stress responses and chill out for a little while, bringing your emotions back to a balanced level.

· Grey Matter Density

When you meditate, the density of your brain’s grey matter increases around your brain stem, packing more neurons into a tight space quickly. This is great because it boosts your cognitive performance, according to research. How? Think about it like transistors on a computer or central processing unit; the more transistors, the less energy consumed and/or the better the CPU’s performance. Basically, the act of meditating makes you more efficient in energy use, performance, and productivity!

· Stacked Benefits

Meditation does a lot of minor things that don’t seem very groundbreaking at first. But with regular practice of meditation and increased meditation session length, these benefits stack on top of each other. This essentially allows you to “rewire” your brain by adding all sorts of “upgrades” of sorts to its cognitive function.

2. Prioritizing Commitment, Not Motivation

A lot of people think about difficult tasks in a somewhat romanticized way. They seek to feel inspired and motivated to stick to them as if they’re protagonists in a movie facing a significant hurdle or challenge that will ultimately unlock their real inner strength.

Sure, you’re indeed the protagonist of your own life, but things don’t work out in the real world like they do in the movies! Research has found that more than half of all people who make resolutions to change often give up within half a year and that most people make the same resolution in life more than ten times without achieving their goals.

What does this mean?

These statistics are not meant to dishearten you but to show you the simple fact: resolve, motivation, and inspiration do not last. They peter out at some point, and you have to have something stronger than that, keeping you to your goals. Meaningful changes that last are not borne out of something so fickle!

What you need is to learn to prioritize commitment over motivation. There will be days where you hate your tasks and don’t feel like doing them, no matter how much you hype yourself up. This is where the values of commitment will keep you going. Patience, consistency and an understanding of the importance of sticking to things are all far more crucial than being inspired even when it’s hard.

On top of all of this, it’s important to remember that long-term training is one of the only real ways to rewrite your brain permanently altogether. The goal is not to get a lot of practice in at once but to stick to a regular schedule of doing something often. A few hours a week can work wonders, say studies, so it truly is a commitment that is more necessary than inspiration that has you working for days on end. It rewires your brain to stick to things in moderation for long-term achievement.

Need more assistance in long-term training? Therapy, workshops, masterclasses, and more are available in this great 21st century, easily accessible to anyone!

3. Managing Stress

Difficult tasks are stressful. There’s no doubt about that! And a little bit of stress is unavoidable now and then. Sometimes, it’s undoubtedly necessary to handle stressful events and keep going anyway without pause.

But, on the whole, stress needs to be managed. No one works better when they’re under pressure. If anything, it leads to low-quality results that barely meet requirements, are rushed, and are a pain to complete!

Do you feel like you’re more accomplished when you’re stressed out? There’s an explanation for that. Stress hormones exist specifically to force you into overdrive. These neurotransmitters set off your fight-or-flight response, filling you with adrenaline that helps you power through the stress.

What does that mean? Essentially, any positive feelings or positive thinking you think you get from stress only exist because your brain is forcefully creating them. This isn’t healthy or sustainable, and eventually, you will stop being able to continue a difficult task like this. Learning to manage stress productively and effectively will help you to function more accurately and adequately in the long run.

4. Positive Thinking

Positive thinking is one of the absolute best ways to rewire your brain for complex and challenging things. It’s truly magical what a little bit of change can do in this respect. Here are some ways to enhance your positive thinking for better rewiring:

· Release Negativity

Dwelling on negative things, holding grudges in your heart about them, and finding negativity and cynicism everywhere are ways you may be holding on to too much negativity. These things have you back, perpetuating a cycle of negativity that draws you in and keeps you down. Learning to confront these thoughts, address them, and let them go is crucial to rewiring your brain for a more positive outlook on life and the work ahead of you.

· Choose Positivity Now

You have the power to bring positive thinking into your life right now at this current moment. Don’t hold off and “try again tomorrow.” Find things in life to be optimistic about, whether it’s thinking of things you’re grateful for, immersing yourself in what you love and enjoy, or spending time around positive people.

· Change The Negative Into Positive

Finding silver linings is challenging but doable. Learn to be aware of the negativity that your brain tends to get stuck on and focus on catching those thoughts before taking root. Then, seek out the good in those things. For example, when you make a mistake, instead of getting caught up in your failures, think of this as an excellent opportunity to learn and grow!

· Pay Positivity Forward

If you have trouble finding positive things in life, then create them by giving them to others. Do kind things for the people around you, volunteer for an organization you believe in, and be compassionate and empathetic to the people in your life. You’ll find that by giving out good things, you receive good things in turn. It’s a cycle, too – but this time, it’s a good one!

5. Finding Someone To Hold You Accountable

Habits are things that you are solely responsible for, but that doesn’t mean you can’t also ask for help. Studies have long indicated that having a partner-in-crime who has similar goals or is doing the same tasks as you is helpful to positive results for both parties. Even someone who holds you accountable can be beneficial in rewiring how you perceive tough jobs. Here’s why:

· Your Progress Becomes Measurable

People perform best when they can measure their results and performances. Reporting your performance to an accountability buddy – and perhaps hearing their reports in turn – is a great way to achieve them, often upping success rates significantly.

· Others Can Keep You Motivated

We’ve talked about the importance of commitment over motivation, but you’ll likely need a little bit of encouragement, at least if you want to keep things going. An accountability buddy will hype you when you need them to and call you out when you start slacking. The friendly competition may help, too!

· You Learn To Take Responsibility

Taking responsibility is a huge deal and is extremely important in life. Some people never fully master the art, but it’s one that you can’t afford to skimp on. If you want to continue performing difficult tasks on your own, you can learn to be held responsible thanks to an accountability partner.

6. Spending Time In Nature

Nature is a beautiful and powerful thing. There’s something innate in all living creatures that connects us deeply to nature. Even if you’re not fond of the great outdoors, a part of you can benefit from it, especially when you’re trying to rewire your brain.

When you regularly spend time in natural greenery, you experience boosted positive thinking, creativity levels, and ability to focus. These are all crucial factors when you’re trying to do complicated tasks, and if you want to maintain those benefits long-term, your time in nature should become a regular habit.

This is likely because when you spend time in nature, you get some exercise while distracting yourself from negative or unhealthy rumination. You stop brooding when you’re out in the sun, and you leave the stuffy environments that cause you stress and the rushing hustle and bustle that consumes your every waking moment.

Final Thoughts On Some Ways To Rewire Your Brain To Do Difficult Tasks

Challenging tasks will accost you no matter how much you try to avoid them. So instead of fighting the inevitable, rewire and reprogram the way your brain perceives them! You’ll find that it’s much easier for you to do difficult tasks when you’ve worked on changing how you think.

20 Positive Affirmations to Make You More Comfortable in Your Own Skin

February 22, 2021 by Sarah Barkley

Being comfortable in your skin is hard to do sometimes, but there are ways to achieve it. Using positive affirmations can help you love yourself and your body as it is right now. These phrases will help change your thought process to see yourself in a more positive light.

Saying positive affirmations out loud will help you recognize the areas you need to focus on. You will become more aware of your thought process, and you will have to confront your negativity. As you begin to recognize your negative thoughts, you can replace them with positive thoughts.

You can use positive affirmations any time of the day, but many choose to do it first thing in the morning. As you repeat the affirmations, take in words and allow yourself to believe them. As you make daily affirmations a habit, you will become naturally confident and comfortable in your skin.

Twenty Affirmations to Make You More Comfortable in Your Skin

While change is never easy, you can make a positive change in your self-esteem with these positive affirmations. Use these phrases to help you be more comfortable in your skin.

1. I am perfect just the way I am, and I don’t have to change for anyone.

Remember that you are perfect as you are right now, no matter what anyone else says. As long as you know that you are perfect, you don’t have to change. The only time that you should change is when you decide that you want to make a change.

2. My body deserves respect from myself and others.

You make rules for your body, and then you must make sure to enforce them. This goes for both yourself and others. Respect the skin you are in and expect others to do the same.

3. I love myself as I am today.

Love yourself as you are right now, at this very moment. Your body deserves your love at all times, even when you don’t feel perfect. Remind yourself that no one is ever perfect and that you should love yourself right now.

4. I accept the way my body looks.

You look the way you are supposed to look, and that includes your flaws. The way your body looks is a part of who you are. The sooner you can accept it, the sooner you will feel more comfortable in your skin.

5. I will embrace my imperfections and love my body.

Please don’t stop at accepting your body, but work on embracing it, too. Your imperfections are what make you unique and special, so be grateful for those differences. Love your body and all the things that make you different so that you can feel

6. The only opinion of my body that matters is my opinion.

It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks of you and your body. The only thing that matters is the way that you feel about yourself. Ignore the things other people say about you, and push away any negativity they voice.

Keep this positive affirmation running through your head when you will be around those who make you feel inferior. You are good enough, and your opinion is the only one that should matter to you.

7. My imperfections are what make me unique, and I am beautiful because of them.

You wouldn’t be you if it weren’t for your imperfections. Each unique thing about you makes you special, and you wouldn’t have that if you weren’t imperfect. Your differences are what make you beautiful, so repeat this affirmation each day for a boost of confidence.

8. I will be myself because the only person I have to make happy is me.

When you are true to yourself, you will be happier than if you go along with others’ desires. If you hide who you are or change your values for others, you will never be happy. Embrace who you are and be confident so that you can be happier and more comfortable with yourself.

9. I love myself and the things that make me special.

If you can love yourself, you will be comfortable in your skin. Repeat this positive affirmation each day so that you can start your day on a positive note. Loving yourself and the things that make you unique will help you remain comfortable throughout the day.

10. My positivity is what makes my beauty shine through.

Being positive will improve your confidence. It will help you radiate beauty and happiness, which are both positive qualities that boost your self-esteem. With that, you will feel so much more comfortable in your skin.

Anytime you begin to think negative thoughts or respond in negative ways, repeat this affirmation. This is a positive phrase that you can say in the mornings as you start your day. Plus, you can use it throughout the day as you feel you need a reminder to be positive.

11. I like what I see when I look in the mirror.

Many people notice their imperfections when they look at their reflection. Try repeating this affirmation before looking at yourself, and you will find that you do like what you see. After using this positive affirmation for a while, you will begin to like the way you look automatically.

12. I recognize my good qualities.

Just like everyone has imperfections, everyone also has good qualities. Identify the things you like about yourself and focus on those qualities instead of the ones you don’t like. When you focus on your good qualities, you will feel more comfortable.

13. I am confident and know that others want to be around me.

If you tell yourself that you are confident, you will be confident. Silence the inner voice that tells you that other people don’t want to be around you because it isn’t true. Use this affirmation as a reminder before social situations to help you be more comfortable.

14. I am healthy, and my body is keeping me that way.

One thing that many people underestimate is their body’s ability to keep them healthy. If you are blessed with good health, use this positive affirmation in times of self-doubt.

15. I am the person I was meant to be, and I will not strive to be anything else.

Everyone is different, and this is how the world was intended to be. Don’t compare yourself to others. Instead, embrace who you are and strive to be true to yourself always.

16. I am proud of who I am.

There is nothing wrong with being proud of who you are and what you have accomplished. Being proud (but not boastful) will boost your confidence and make you more comfortable with who you are. Knowing how great you are and what you are capable of is the key to being truly confident.

17. I will only think positive thoughts about myself.

Push the negative self-talk away because it won’t do you any good. Fill your thoughts with positivity and boost yourself up as you would do for a friend or loved one. Positive self-thoughts are a direct path to being comfortable and boosting your confidence.

18. I appreciate my body for keeping me healthy and strong.

As explained before, your body is strong and powerful. It keeps you healthy and strong, along with protecting you and helping you. Embrace your body and accept the way you look because appreciating it will help you be more comfortable.

19. I am loved by myself and others, and I will show it every day.

Self-love is essential if you want to be comfortable in your skin. It also helps to remember that other people love you and think you are beautiful, too. Keeping that love in mind, be confident in who you are, and your beauty will shine through.

20. I am at peace with the way I look, and I will love myself unconditionally.

No one likes every part of their body, but they should still find peace with it. Obsessing over imperfections won’t help you, and it will decrease your self-esteem and confidence. Accept your imperfections, find peace with your body, and love yourself unconditionally.

Final Thoughts on Positive Affirmations to Make You More Comfortable in Your Skin

Positive affirmations can make all the difference in how comfortable you are with yourself. To be more comfortable in your skin, find the phrases that resonate with you. Repeat them each day and set aside time to reflect on the words.

Being comfortable in your skin can be hard with constant self-doubt and comparing yourself to others. These positive phrases will help you change your thought process and become more positive about your image. As you make daily affirmations a habit, you will naturally become more positive.

As you become positive, you will also become comfortable with yourself, and your self-esteem and confidence will rise. Choose the positive phrases that work best for you and memorize them to use in times of need. Once you get used to using positive affirmations, you can develop your own that are unique and personal.

10 Things Productive People Never Do in the Morning

February 22, 2021 by Lakeisha Ethans

Productivity drives efficiency, performance, and effectiveness. Productive people feel confident in their abilities! But it’s harder than it sounds to just manifest this kind of go-getter energy, especially if your days get off to a bad start.

A lot of productivity begins the moment you wake up. The goal is to set a good precedent for the rest of the day. If you start every brand new morning with sluggishness, that feeling will carry forward through the day, which isn’t great for you or all the things you have planned.

It’s not too difficult to learn to incorporate some productivity into your life, but what’s more of a challenge is learning to unlearn habits that are making you less productive. Ironically, it’s this “unlearning” that might be more useful for your progress in the long run! Here are ten things productive people don’t do in the morning.

1. They Don’t Drink Coffee Immediately

If you’re a coffee addict, you can probably share this sentiment – you’re not genuinely awake until you’ve had your first cup of joe. But have you noticed that coffee doesn’t have the same effect on you it once did?

If you do, it’s not your imagination. It’s well-known that the active ingredient that jolts you awake in the morning is a drug called caffeine – and as it turns out, research has shown that:

Cortisol levels are highest when you wake up, offsetting the benefits of caffeine.
Drinking coffee when you have a high cortisol level encourages the body to build resistance to caffeine.
Caffeine can interfere with the body’s natural waking process, making it harder to wake up.

So what’s the solution? The answer: Water! Researchers have shown a positive correlation between drinking water and boosted cognitive performance – the exact thing you want first thing in the morning! The reason for this is:

Your body is dehydrated first thing in the morning (something that coffee doesn’t help with)
Water helps kickstart your metabolism for the day.
It has an immediate positive impact on your circulatory system, waking you up as blood starts pumping more smoothly through your body.

2. Productive People Don’t Immediately Check Their Phone

With just how fast events unfold, it seems only proper to check for updates and news first thing in the morning. It’s easy, however, to get wrapped up in the cyclone that is the news cycle – and the next thing you know, several hours have passed, and you’re still in bed!

Ideally, you should instead:

Only check your phone or the internet after you’re already up and running for the day.
Give yourself time and space to be in tune with yourself.
Replace this activity with something more pleasant and soothing

The world can be hard enough as it is – so why not look towards starting your day on a positive, productive note instead?

3. Use Tons Of Alarms To Wake Up

We all know someone who has at least five alarms on their phone. Maybe you’re guilty of having 20 alarms yourself!

You may argue this is the only way you can wake up because you:
Sleep through the first few alarms
Keep falling back asleep after five minutes.
Need these alarms to wake up gradually

This is all unnecessary work and delays the waking-up process. Just make sure to manage your sleep correctly, and then train yourself to wake up to your first alarm of the day. That way, you can ensure both your sleep and your time is spent effectively!

4. They Don’t Plan For The Day

Unless we’ve appointments to attend to or deadlines to meet that day, most of us don’t plan our day. This is actually to our detriment, as it means we usually end up starting our mornings with lots of rushing about!

As you can imagine, this often leaves you feeling drained and perpetually short on time. This is something that scheduling out our to-do list the evening before can counteract.

How can it do this? By:

Preventing us from being bogged down by decision-making in the morning
Helping us effectively utilize our time and energy for the day
Giving us a list of priorities to immediately focus on
Reducing potential stress and anxiety

After a few weeks of adjusting to this new habit, you’ll find yourself feeling more positive and productive as you tick off your tasks for the day!

That said, be careful to set a manageable number of goals – too many tasks, and you may find yourself exhausted and frustrated instead. 3 is a good number to start with!

5. They Don’t Get Stuck In Negative News

There’s a reason the term “doomscrolling” or “doomsurfing” now exists among internet users – and the experience it describes may be something you’re familiar with yourself. You hop onto Twitter or Facebook to check the news, and the next thing you know, you’ve been struck scrolling for hours.

It’s not that you’re looking for information to make you feel better, really. Most of us who admit to doomscrolling often deliberately look for information that depresses us further. It turns out there’s a scientific reason for that.

Research has shown that consumption of negative media:

Exacerbates a person’s mood and anxiety
Encourages one’s worries
Worsens your personal fears and concerns, even if they aren’t related to the subject at hand

Instead, focus on kickstarting your morning with positive thinking and meditation before starting your day. It’s far healthier for your mental health, which will undoubtedly translate into better productivity for you as well.

6. Productive People Don’t Stay Undressed

When you’re working remotely, it’s easy to stay in your pajamas all day. It’s comfy, convenient, and you can argue it saves on washing!

However, if you find yourself struggling to focus on work, then those cozy jammies may be the problem. It’s hard to get into the right frame of mind for work if your brain still thinks it’s time to chill, after all.

Other things you can do to really trick your brain into kickstarting your day include:

Carry out basic hygiene routines at scheduled times of the day
Get dressed up in work attire, even if you’re staying at home
Groom yourself as if you are expecting to meet people

The goal is to shift your brain into work mode so that you can jump straight into productivity as soon as possible!

7. They Don’t Make A Ton of Decisions

Many think that the mornings of a productive person is a busy one – and at a glance, it seems like it is! You’ll find them starting the day with a running leap, and by the time evening rolls around, their to-do list is done.

The secret is actually in the way they prepare their mornings – by making all the decisions for the next day the night before. Some of those decisions include:

Choosing their outfit for the day
Prioritizing and scheduling their tasks
Packing their bags and belongings in advance

As a result, mornings are literally a no-brainer! This makes life so much easier, as you don’t have to waste time and energy in the morning making decisions. Instead, you can focus immediately on what you want to do!

8. They Don’t Do Things They Dislike

What’s awaiting you first thing in the morning? Is it work? Drudgery? If there’s nothing positive awaiting you in the morning, then how can you expect to be motivated to wake up?

Contrary to popular belief, folks who do well in the morning often give themselves something to look forward to. For example, productive people may do these things:

Have a hobby to do first thing in the morning
Are looking forward to a good run in the cool morning air
Read a chapter of a book before work
Have an exciting and elaborate breakfast plan to put into action
Set up a video call date with a loved one

Reward yourself for waking up, and maybe you’ll find yourself looking forward to mornings too!

9. They Don’t Complain About Work

Positive thinking is a potent tool in your arsenal. Really, one that should be used more often! It makes you look for the good things in everything around you and keeps you motivated and excited in all you do – including starting and going your day!

But how can you accomplish this? Start with cultivating a grateful and joyful outlook so that you see everything in a positive light. One way to do this is to stop complaining about work! This is because while an understandable drudgery. It is an inherently negative thing.

Instead, replace that with things like:

Observing the world around you in close detail
Taking a moment to appreciate your loved ones and how they have been a blessing in your life
Consider what you can contribute to the world today.

The goal is to cultivate a zest for life inherently. Once you have a developed positive mindset, you’ll find yourself approaching your days with even more enthusiasm than ever before!

10. Productive People Don’t Spend Excess Time On Laziness

Rest is essential, but at some point, you have to remind yourself that exercise is vital for your health. And if you’re someone who struggles to stay on track (especially first thing in the morning), then training may be just what you need!

Why’s that, you ask? According to research, just a single round of moderate exercise helps provide an instant boost to:

Working memory
Cognitive performance
Your mood

And that’s just after one bout of exercise! In the long run, exercise helps with:

Bettering your physical health
Increasing your mental stamina and focus
Promoting creative thinking
Improving your concentration
Sharpening your memory
Strengthening short-term memory loss
Encouraging your brain to learn faster

The best part? Studies have shown that these benefits will come into play for you no matter how old you are. So it’s never too late to start exercising more, and your morning productivity might thank you for it!

Final Thoughts On Some Things Productive People Don’t Do In The Morning.

The tone of your day is often set by the way you start it. So don’t get caught up in things that make you slow or sluggish. Begin with positive, proactive habits and avoid those roadblocks that can slow you down throughout the day!

Duke Psychologist Explains Four Useful Hacks for Reaching Your Goals

February 22, 2021 by Power of Positivity

Are you excited to start 2021 and to make some changes to become a new and better you? Why is it that when the new year rolls around, people feel motivated to make major changes? It’s invigorating to envision yourself reaching your goals and putting the previous year’s baggage behind you.

It would help if you took time to reflect on the past year, the milestones you accomplished, and the things you could have done differently. If you’re like most, then you made resolutions and set new goals for the year. The shocking thing is that many have already lost steam so early in the race.

It’s easy to start the new year with a bang, but you suddenly slip back into your old habits with ease. Why is it so easy to lose your gusto? Well, motivation is not an easy thing, especially when it requires you to boost your esteem rather than someone else.

Thankfully, the past doesn’t need to dictate the future. You can be successful this year and perform better than before. The key is that you will need to make a few adjustments to your mindset.

Four Actionable Hacks Help You to Reach Your Goals

Jade Wu Ph.D. is a behavioral psychologist who is affiliated with Duke University. A recent article she wrote on Psychology Today was eye-opening about reaching your goals by simply changing your mindset. Could your methods to reach your objectives in life be incorrect? By following a few simple hacks, you can reach your goals for this year and your life.

1. Focus on Learning Rather Than Performance

Are you one of the people that gets caught up in performance rather than learning a lesson? So many set goals because they want to achieve something tangible to boost their ego. For instance, you may say that you want to lose 15 pounds or enter the marathon in your local city.

These goals, while challenging, will give you a visible checkmark on your proverbial list of accomplishments. While it’s always good to cross things off your list, you need to remember that when you set long-term goals based solely on your achievements, they aren’t as effective as setting goals to develop new skills.

When your goals are too specific or concrete, then there’s nowhere to go from there once you achieve them. Take, for example, a college student that is trying to gain knowledge. They may set a goal to complete so many credit hours this year.

Their goal has some performance in it, but their milestone focuses on gaining both knowledge and skills. Thus, they will feel more satisfied when they complete their goal. Reaching your dreams can be achievement-based, such as earning honor roll grades.

Now, what would be an alternative to losing 15 pounds? Rather than saying you want to lose weight, you could set a goal to have a better relationship with food by gaining knowledge of eating right. You can be more specific and say you want to add three new recipes to your collection for healthy dinners.

Setting this type of goal for your health gives you a more detailed target, which in return will feel more achievable to you.

2. Attach a Value to Your Goals

What is your method to decide what goals you want to work on this year? Do you look at what your friends and family are setting as their goals? How do those people form their aspirations?

Many look to an authoritative figure and strive to be like that person. The origin of your aspiration can have a significant impact on whether you will accomplish this task. The best place to set these targets is based on your life values.

Here’s where things get tricky. Many folks confuse goals and values, but they’re not the same. Take, for example, you go with your family to Lake Erie for a boating trip. Your goal is to reach one of the barrier islands, such as Kelly’s or Put-In-Bay.

Once there, you want to soak up some golden rays and have a picnic on the beach. When you put your boat in the water, you have an objective to reach the islands. You can see them in the distance, and you know that you’re going in the right direction. So, the islands would be your goal or what you’re working towards.

Now, your values are like the GPS that’s pointing you in the right direction. Oddly, not everyone will have the same GPS, so there may be slight variations in the journey. The key is to stay focused on the big-picture and the things that matter most as you sail across uncharted waters.

Many may have values based on social connection because they don’t want to do anything new unless they have their friends and family by their side. What if you set a goal to help at a local food pantry?

Reaching your goals to help those less fortunate gives you a chance to share your experience with the community. Others may set aspirations to gain power and influence, which means they want to impact political policy.

The naturalist may want to become more engaged with nature. So, they set a goal to start growing their herbs and vegetables. You must determine if your aspirations are placed on your life values or make some adjustments.

You want to ensure your aim is not just another thing to check off on your completed list, so it must value it.

3. Stop Using Fear Tactics

Don’t use coercion to boost your efforts in reaching your goals. You may tell yourself that if you don’t get your blood sugar levels under control, you could have a stroke. While this is a true statement and something that you should be concerned about, it should have a positive spin more than a negative one.

Rather than fearing the stroke, you can tell yourself that you will improve your life quality if you get your glucose levels under control. Another example of threatening yourself would be to say that if you don’t find a new job, you will have financial woes.

Why not present it as a challenge to yourself instead of a threat? Tell yourself that your financial situation will improve when you get a new job, and you can relieve some of your stress. Do you see how different you can word things so that it doesn’t sound so scary?

If you motivate yourself for the wrong reasons, you won’t stick with it as threat-based goals don’t work. However, if you switch your thinking to looking at them as challenge-based, you’re going to be more optimistic about making changes. You will notice a big difference in your attitude and motivation when you use optimism.

4. Enlist an Accountability Partner

You’re a social creature, so it’s only natural that you share your goals for the new year with your friends and family. You need an accountability partner to help you stay on track. Peer pressure can be a good or bad thing, but the motivating factors behind this pressure are beneficial.

When you commit to your aspirations, and someone else is helping to push you along, it makes things easier. If you’re like most people, you’ve already made your declarations on social media and announced them to your friends at dinner. Now, you need to find that one person who will hold you accountable in reaching your goals.

Experts like Jade Wu, Ph.D., encourage people to sign a social contract. While it might sound odd, you’re putting your goals on paper and having someone else sign with you that they will help motivate you to complete these tasks. Make sure you clarify on the document what will happen when you achieve these goals, as you can use this as inspiration.

If you think that it sounds a bit excessive, then you should know that it works. According to Oxford Academic, health care providers implemented contracts to get a group of high-risk individuals to improve their health. Each deal was different and specific to the person’s needs.

They found that these contracts were a success because they acted as a reminder of their goal, plus it gave them the necessary support they needed and resources to help them with problem-solving. So, this little piece of paper had a significant impact.

Final Thoughts on Reaching Your Goals

Everyone should have goals, dreams, and plans for the new year. Even though you may not reach all of them, you should attain the most important ones. You might use a vision board to help you visualize where you are not and where you want to be in the future.

Where would society be if there was no drive to be better than before? Think of all the technological advances over the past two decades, as they’ve helped to mold and change the world as you know it. In the early 1990s, very few people had cell phones, and most individuals relied on home phones.

Fast forward 31 years later, and landlines are becoming obsolete for consumers. How and where do you see yourself next year? Will you be in a new career, making better money, and having more time for your family, or will you be 15 pounds lighter and have a better relationship with food?

The choice is up to you, and you should enlist friends and family to help motivate you in reaching your goals.

15 Wise Quotes About Life and Love from Buddha

February 22, 2021 by Sarah Barkley

As you go through life, you will need inspiration and positivity to help you along sometimes. Even if your life seems perfect, these wise quotes about life and love from Buddha will guide you.

Buddha’s teachings are the foundation of the Buddhist religion, but his wise quotes can help anyone. He focused positively on love, peace, life, happiness, and death. Along with his wise quotes, you could use meditation and self-reflection to reach the life intended for you.

From Buddha’s wise quotes about life and love, you can find peace and inspiration. You will remember the essential things in life, and you can focus on what truly matters. If you can do that, then you can live a life full of love and happiness.

Fifteen Wise Quotes from Buddha

1. “You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.” – Buddha

No one deserves your love as much as you deserve it. When you love yourself, everything else seems to fall into place and work out for the best. Don’t give your love and affection to anyone, but instead save it for yourself, and then the right person will come along.

2. “Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good.” – Buddha

Good things don’t come to you all at once. Instead, wait for them to happen slowly, one after another. As you watch your pot fill, it will seem that it begins filling quicker, too.

When you know the good things filtering into your life, you are more likely to receive more. Recognizing the positive things is the first step to living a life of love and happiness.

3. “A man is not called wise because he talks and talks again; but if he is peaceful, loving, and fearless then he is in truth called wise.” Buddha

This wise quote about life is so accurate because talking excessively won’t improve your life. If you want to live the best life possible, focus on being peaceful, loving, and fearless. These characteristics are the ones that will make you wise, and no words can replace them.

4. “Let none find fault with others; let none see the omissions and commissions of others. But let one see one’s own acts, done and undone.” – Buddha

If you find yourself looking for the faults in others, focus on changing your thought process. Instead, focus on yourself and the things you have done and plan to do. Everyone has issues, so it is best to think about (and fix) your problems instead of focusing on other people’s.

5. “Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” – Buddha

Always focus on what is happening now, not what happened before or will occur in the future. If you live in the moment and embrace each second, you will live a happy life.

Dwelling on the past or dreaming of the future will make you disconnected from the present. This disconnect could cause you to miss opportunities, hinder relationships, and cause dissatisfaction. Avoid all of these potential problems by concentrating on the present.

6. “If with a pure mind a person speaks or acts, happiness follows them like a never-departing shadow.” – Buddha

When you keep your thoughts, words, and actions pure, you won’t have many worries in life. You will be happier, and good things will come to you. Keep this in mind as you go through your day because it can make all the difference in your well-being.

7. “Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” – Buddha

When you are happy, share your happiness with others. Sharing your feelings won’t diminish them, but it will help others be happy, too. If you are comfortable and those around you are happy, imagine how great like would be.

8. “We will develop love, we will practice it, we will make it both a way and a basis, take a stand upon it, store it up, and thoroughly set it going.” – Buddha

Love is never perfect, and everyone is learning as they go along. As long as you work hard to practice love, you will experience both giving and receiving. Love is worth the hard work it requires, and it gets easier as you practice more.

9. “We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.” – Buddha

Your thoughts shape who you are, as this wise quote from Buddha, explains. If your thoughts aren’t optimistic, you will find yourself struggling with life and love. On the other hand, if your ideas are pure and positive, happiness will follow.

If you can remember to check your thoughts in times of negativity, you can replace the negative thoughts. The more you do this, the more comfortable and more natural it will become for you.

10. “Silence the angry man with love. Silence the ill-natured man with kindness. Silence the miser with generosity. Silence the liar with truth.” – Buddha

Refrain from returning anger, ill-nature, lies, and negativity to those who express it toward you. Instead, do as Buddha describes in this quote about life, and show positivity, instead. Showing love, kindness, generosity, and honesty is a positive way to silence the negative people in your life.

11. “In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.” – Buddha

As many of these wise quotes explain, love is one of the only things that matter in the end. The way you live, your ability to let go, and the amount of love you gave are what will make a difference. Focus on giving love, living gently, and letting go, and you will live the life that is meant for you.

This doesn’t mean you can’t get angry sometimes, or that you have to be happy with everything. Instead, it means that you accept things that you can’t change, and you give love along the way. Living this way can only make your life better and full of positivity.

12. “The way to happiness is: keep your heart free from hate, your mind from worry. Live simply, give much. Fill your life with love. Do as you would be done by.” – Buddha

There isn’t enough space in your heart for both hate and love. Let go of the hatred and let love overfill your heart and your life. Do the same with worry in your mind because it occupies too much space if you let it linger.

As you let go of hate and worry, remember to live simply and give often. Do things for others that you would want for yourself, and treat others with respect.

13. “If anything is worth doing, do it with all your heart.” – Buddha

Give your all to anything that you decide to do. If it is worth the time and energy, you can do it with all your heart. On the other hand, if you find that your heart isn’t in it, then it might be time to consider whether what you are doing is worth it.

Thinking about the things you do in this way can help you live a happier life. If you follow the path intended for you, then you will be willing to give it everything you have. Otherwise, you must reconsider your approach and find the thing that you can put your heart into.

14. “You must love yourself before you love another. By accepting yourself and fully being what you are, your simple presence can make others happy.” – Buddha

You can’t fully love someone else unless you love yourself first. Self-acceptance and being yourself won’t only make you happy, but it will make those around you more satisfied, too.

15. “Love the whole world as a mother loves her only child.” – Buddha

A mother’s love is pure and unconditional. If you give pure and unconditional love to everyone in the world, you will receive love in return.

Final Thought on Wise Quotes About Life and Love from Buddha

These wise quotes about life and love from Buddha can help you navigate life positively. You will find happiness and love if you follow the advice and wisdom given by Buddha. Plus, you can reflect on what truly matters in your life.

Even if your life is already full of happiness, these quotes can help you. They will provide further wisdom on life and love and secure the feelings you already have. If you feel that your life could use some improvement, these wise quotes will help with that, too.

No matter what stage of life you are in, these quotes can help and guide you. Find your favorite ones, memorize or write them down, then share them with those close to you.

Historic Winter Storm Brings Texans Together in a Time of Crisis

February 21, 2021 by Kristen Lawrence

The winter storm that moved across the country in February of 2021 left many Texans in a dire situation. Knocking out power and water for millions, the storm left destruction and chaos in its wake. Trapped in their frozen homes, Texans found themselves in a life or death struggle for survival. Many burned whatever they could find in their homes to stay warm, even furniture and backyard fences.

In the deadly storm, Texans realized they had to lean on each other for support and supplies. People opened their doors and hearts to strangers, letting people in who needed shelter from the storm. Grocery stores that lost power while customers were shopping let them leave without paying. One woman who’s a nurse stayed behind in her neighborhood without power to help her elderly neighbors.

These selfless people did whatever they could to help others make it through this unprecedented storm. They are not just generous citizens – they are heroes, and we want to share these heartwarming stories with you. There have been thousands of acts of kindness during this crisis, and we wish we could share them all. The storm may have left people in the dark, but it could never dim the light in Texans’ hearts.

Here Are Three Inspiring Stories of Texans Helping Each Other During the Storm

One couple in Austin let a delivery driver take shelter with them

Chelsea Timmons had planned on driving home after accepting her last delivery before the storm last Sunday. She lives in Houston, but was in Austin for the weekend taking deliveries to make extra money. Chelsea took some orders in the morning and planned to head home around noon before the snow hit that night. However, things didn’t go quite as planned, and she found herself stranded.

Weather conditions had already become treacherous, so it took over an hour to complete her last delivery. When she finally made it to Nina Richardson and Doug Condon’s home, she noticed their driveway had a steep incline. Even though she drove down the hill slowly, her car started sliding down the ice. Chelsea ended up losing control of the car, rolling through their flowerbed and hitting a tree.

Luckily, she wasn’t hurt and there was no damage to their property. When she told the couple what happened, they were completely understanding. However, she was unable to get her car back up the slippery driveway. She called a tow truck and taxi services, but none of them could make it to the house.

With no options left, the couple offered to let her stay the night in their guest bedroom. Chelsea was floored by their generosity and made a Facebook post about the whole situation.

In her post, she said: “These people let a complete STRANGER stay the night! Not only that but cooked me a STEAK DINNER! definitely not how I imagined my Valentine’s Day!”

The storm only got worse, so Chelsea ended up staying with the couple for five nights! She felt blessed to have weathered the storm with such generous people, calling them “guardian angels.” When Chelsea left Friday, they had become like family, and she will never forget their kindness.

Photo credit: Facebook

When a Texas grocery store lost power, they let customers leave without paying

Texans know that HEB, a major grocery chain in the state, always has their back. They have come to the rescue in many natural disasters, supplying Texas with food and water. This situation was no different.

Some customers had gone days without food, so when the local store opened, they scrambled to get there. They filled their carts with whatever essentials the store had in stock, grateful for anything they could find. However, when the store lost power, everyone panicked. Many customers only had credit cards, so they had no way to pay for the groceries.

When they got to the checkout, the cashiers just waved them on, telling them to drive safely. Some shoppers had full carts of essentials like diapers, formula, food, and water. One customer, Tim Hennessy, teared up when he realized the store was letting them leave without paying.

Shelby Lasker, another customer, was also grateful. She was in the checkout line when the power went out and thought she’d have to put everything back. However, the store let her leave with all her staples and Lunchables for her four-year-old son. She couldn’t believe it.

Once again, HEB saved the day for hundreds of Texans, at a time when they needed it most. The store was truly a beacon of light during a very dark week for its customers.

Tim later called HEB to find out what charities the store preferred donating to. He wanted to pay the act of kindness forward for someone else in need.

Photo credit: Facebook

A Texas nurse helped elderly neighbors when they lost power

Winter Storm Uri left millions across the state in darkness for days, and for some, it became life-threatening. After power had been out in Emily Grigsby’s neighborhood for 24 hours, she realized the severity of the situation. The 39-year-old nurse started checking in with her elderly neighbors, deciding to stay behind to help. She had opportunities to find another shelter such as a hotel but knew her neighbors needed her.

Emily weathered the storm with her husband and two boys, ages nine and twelve. She melted snow for neighbors to refill toilets and brought three meals a day to a woman who uses a wheelchair. Emily’s neighbors became her patients; she checked their pulse each morning, cooked for them, and kept them warm. Until the storm passed, she cared for them before going back to work at the hospital.

Emily said most of her neighbors evacuated, so she’s glad she stayed to serve the most vulnerable in her community.

Final thoughts: Texans stick together to make it through the devastating winter storm

Nothing gets Texans down for long, not even a once-in-a-century snowstorm. While it may have caused power outages and food and water shortages, it couldn’t take away Texans’ spirit. The dire situation reminds us that love and compassion can conquer even the most brutal forces of nature.

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