My favorite parts are:
- the kid encouraging people to believe in themselves.
- just how excited and proud he was of himself for accomplishing his goals. Growth and learning are keys to happiness!
- the dad saying, "I feel happy of myself too." What a great way to connect with his son and to reward his positive thinking. Plus I'm happy for the dad that he's happy too. Haha!
- the fact that the kid almost sounds German in all of his excitement.
I've been giving a lot of thought recently to methods and ways with which to best encourage people. I'm constantly evaluating the balance between being too sweet (possibly being a doormat or not encouraging enough) and being too hard (pushing people away because I'm too insistent). I feel that what people need is different with each person. You just have to be sensitive and hope that they give you enough time to figure it out.
The irony of the whole thing is that recently, while trying to encourage a specific friend, I realized that I was the one who actually needed the encouragement. Lately, I have been struggling with feeling a little blue myself. So I took a time out this weekend and tried to do some things for me. I've been giving away so much of my time over the past few months and I've been happy to do it because I've believed in everything that I've done, but sometimes you just have to stop and take care of yourself. I suspect that the best thing you can do is take care of yourself all along the way, so you have more to give.
So I spent a lot of time on the couch, catching up on movies and documentaries that I had wanted to watch and then James came over last night and we watched a show called, "What the Bleep Do We Know." Some of the concepts presented in that video were a little out there and I don't really want to go too deeply into the science of it all or the spiritual ramifications, but I will say that if what the film presented is true, regarding peptides and cellular structure and the ways in which we can become addicted to our emotions and the chemicals our bodies produce because of that addiction, then I find hope in it. It means that we can control the chemicals produced in our bodies just through controlling our thoughts.
Believing that you can do something...fully believing that you can, makes a huge difference. When you get stressed or feel like you are hearing the same voice in your head that you've heard for years, telling you that you can't do something......that you're not worthy of love...that there is something wrong with you...you have to replace that voice with more positive messages. You have to stop, break the usual cycle and tell yourself that you can accomplish your goals, you are worthy of love and that actually has to start with loving yourself. The true test of that is going to be when you are sending those messages to yourself under stressful circumstances.
And here's the best part. You can retrain your mind to think in certain ways. You can take control of your emotions. You really can. It just takes a LOT OF PRACTICE. You've had years and years to establish these patterns of thought so it's going to take a while to learn how to change them. "What the Bleep Do We Know?" even says that when you do this, you change the way your neuroreceptors connect and after a while, you've conditioned your cells to receive different messages from your brain. And if that kid in the video doesn't inspire you to "believe of yourself,"...well, then just be a little more patient and loving with yourself. "Keep practicing! I know you'll get the hang of it!" The key is to keep trying and believing that you can.
Here are some ways in which I am working on changing my own thinking...
So you didn't pass that French test? Keep taking it. You haven't had a French class in over 5 years. Practice a little more and then you can do this!
So guys that you cared so much about chose other girls? Move on! Make room in your heart for one that treats you better and actually wants you because you deserve that. Quit trying so hard to prove that you are worthy of love. You already are. You're awesome! Look at you! You're beautiful and you don't need anyone in your life that doesn't want to be there.
So you don't know exactly what you're doing with starting this business? You're feeling your way through it and you have all the guidance that you need. If you don't, you'll find it and it's all going to work out because people believe in what you are doing and they want to help. Do as much as you can and put as much goodness into the world as you can with the time you have on this earth. When it's done, you'll have taken things as far as you can and then someone else can take over.
So you feel like there are people out there trying to take advantage of you? Be strong and don't let them. They'll either respect you for it or go away. Both are ok.
So you're not the best singer in the world? Get out there and make some music anyway. It's more about challenging yourself and growing from the experience than the final product, but the final product will improve the more you do it!
This may be more info than anyone ever needed about me, but I have a feeling that a lot of people struggle with stress and feelings of insecurity and this gave me hope. So I thought I would share. "Thumbs Up Everybody for Rock and Roll!"
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