Encouraging Independence In A Disabled Person's Life

Independence Is A Big Part Of Everyone's Life

Independence is an important part of everyone's life. Think of children, their parents start off their life from the time they were a child into being a teenager teaching them how to do different tasks that they are going to need in life. And then what? Do you follow them into adulthood? No, you taught them and now it is time for them to be independent, but how do you encourage independence in a disabled person's life? 

Kids Need To Struggle

One of the hardest things for a parent is having to watch their child struggle, but let me tell you something. It's good for kids to struggle even if they do have disabilities. I can't even imagine what it would have felt like to be in my parent's shoes and watching my child struggle in the ways I have. I bet it was really hard, but out of everything they did for me by taking me from doctor to doctor, the countless hours they spent doing research, and spending god only knows how long in the hospital; the biggest thing I want to thank them for is never stepping in and doing a challenging task for me. I am thankful that even though I'm sure they wanted to about a million times I am glad that they gave me the opportunity to figure it out on my own. Without going through the struggles that I did with all my brain surgeries, pushing through the pain to learn how to do everything again after each surgery, and finding ways to do it on my own I don't think that I would have the mental toughness, willpower, or determination to do all the amazing things that I have learned how to do in my own way over the years.

Don't Be Afraid To Stand Up To a Doctor

I remember a while back when my mom told me about a time when the doctor told my parents that I couldn't do a certain activity. It was during one of my check-ups and I was climbing up on a wall with my little sister laughing and playing around. The doctor turns and looks at my mom and says " she can't be doing that activity." They both look at me and there is a moment of silence. My mom looks back at the doctor and I just love her response, she says " why not? She's doing it. Isn't she? 

Allow Your Child To Do Everything They Can Do

Life is too short to be worrying about what your child can or can't do. In my opinion, I think if your child whether they are a kid, teenager, or even an adult child wants to do something; I say let them even if it means standing up to their doctor as my mom did for me.

Take Away Question

What is worse? Doing everything for your child and them not struggle or letting them struggle their way to the best version of themself.

What Is Your Purpose in Life?

What Is Our Life's Purpose?

What do you want to be when you grow up? what interests you? How do you want to contribute to society? These are all the questions that we are asked at some point in our life. I have one simple answer to all these questions. Who in the world knows? Throughout life, we are constantly growing and changing, so how can we decide on one career right away without even knowing if we truly like it? It's not like we are born knowing exactly what we want to be when we grow up. although that would be nice. Don't you think? it would defiantly be easier to answer these questions. Instead of asking what we want to be when we grow up, I think we should start asking what is something in the world that you want to change?

The Worlds Not Perfect

over the years, we have gone from living off the land to building cities that has effected our earth in a big way. Yes, it allowed us to settle and expand, but in many ways, it has also hurt the earth that we call home. Think about how much our population has gone up over the years. It's insane. As our society continues to grow, not only is our population going up but also our crime rates and the number of homeless people on the streets because they can't afford the costs of living in a house. Imagine if we could make a change in our world. Imagine a world that we have more good than bad. Wouldnt that be amazing? What if I told you that by making the decision right now to live your true self and do what you love that it is actually making our earth a better place. How do I do that?  You may be asking. keep reading to find out.

How Do You Find Your Life Purpose?

For the longest time, I didn't know what I wanted to do in life. I was the type of person that would be interested in one career, but then be interested in something totally different the next. Any of the careers I thought was I would like to do as a career just never felt right. It didn't feel like me. For me, it took doing a homework assignment to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. At the time, what I didn't realize was that my purpose in life was right in front of me.

I can't talk enough about the show "Transcendence ". In another one of their episodes, they talked about how what happened in your childhood is a key to what our purpose is in life. I thought this was interesting because everything that I went through as a child I sort of overlooked the fact that each and every day I spent improving myself was giving me a hint into what I was supposed to do as a career.

Action Item

The greatest feeling in the world is when you live each and every day as your true self. I want you to look back at your childhood and see what happened during that time that might give you a clue into what your purpose is in life. Doing what you truly love is the key to living a happy life.

Have A Work/Life Balance Like A Dolphin

Dolphins Playful Spirit

Dolphins are so beautiful and have such playful spirits. Don't you think? They spend each day finding food and trying to survive but still manage to find time to have fun. When I read this quote, I can relate it back to our lives.

Dolphins playing ball

Play like A Dolphin 

Throughout life, we spend each and every day doing the exact same routine from the time we get up to the time we go to bed. Unlike the dolphin, who has a great work/life balance; we spend most of our time in the work-life and not enough time in the home -life of having fun. By doing this over and over again eventually leads to burn out; which is not a state of being we want to be in.

My Experience

I don't really have a job yet, but I consider writing this blog for you guys my job. Since starting this blog I have made sure that I a work/life balance. Each day I spend an hour or an hour and a half writing; some times depending on the day I may spend a little extra time working on my blog site. No matter how long I spend on my blog I always have the time for my life balance where I go exercise, spend time with my family, and read a good book.

Action Item 

Having a work/life balance is an important part of your overall health.whether you go to work or school; I want you to create a work/life balance where you work a certain number of hours then stop at a certain time and disconnect by spend time with your family or do something that you love. I promise you it will be worth it.

Whose Life Are You Living?

A Question To Ask Yourself

A mountain is like our goals in life and the valleys between those goals represent the time spent working on that goal. In life, we set goals for ourselves for every aspect of our life, but we never actually stop, and ask ourselves are we chasing our own goals or someone else's?

Want To Hear Something Interesting?

Recently, my family started watching a show on Gaia called " Transcendence"  which talks about different parts of your life and how you can change them in your life. It is a really interesting show and I think you guys would enjoy it. Anyways, during one of the episodes, they talked about chasing your own goals instead of someone else's goals and I found it quite interesting. 

  In the episode they talked about how when we are kids up until the age of seven our conscious mind is not fully developed, so we mainly live in a fantasy world, or in other words we live from our subconscious mind. During the years leading up to when a child turns seven is when their parent's shape them into what they will be like as adults. They do this through habits, beliefs, and actions that their children watch you do every day. Which is then transferred to them to deal with once their conscious mind is fully developed.

Whose Life Are You Living?

Whose life are we living? This is a question we should be asking ourselves on a regular basis. Throughout life, we set goals for different parts of our life; for example, we have goals for what we want to get done each day, our career, finances, family, and personal, but are the goals we set for ourselves truly what we want or are we trying to accomplish a certain goal because someone else wants you to accomplish it. Most of the time when people get asked why they are trying to reach a goal, they say something along the lines of "I want my dad to be proud of me" or "I want my mom to be proud of me." Very rarely does someone accomplish a goal and say" I did it for nobody but myself." 

There are two ways to accomplish a goal. The first way is doing it because others want you to and the second one is accomplishing a goal because you what it for yourself. 

I want you to imagine that you are the person that accomplishes goals because you want someone to be proud of you or because they want you to accomplish that goal. Imagine that you are hiking up a mountain, you have a backpack on and you are working your hardest to make it to the very top of that mountain. A few hours later you finally reach the top of the mountain, but you don't feel any different than you felt at the bottom of the mountain. You stand there wondering why you don't feel different. In the distance, you see another mountain that is even taller than the one you are on. You say " oh, I climbed the wrong mountain," you grab your things and climb down the mountain you are on and climb up the other mountain, but you still don't feel any different. What am I missing? you ask yourself. 

Now, I want you to imagine that you are a person that accomplishes goals for themself. I want you to imagine that you are hiking up the mountain again, you have your backpack on and you are trying your hardest to reach the top of that mountain. A few hours later, you reach the top of the mountain. This time you feel accomplished and so full of excitement.

What do you think the difference was between the two scenarios? Nothing really changed between them. In life, the key to feeling that accomplishment when you complete a goal is to do it for you, not anyone else.

Story Time

I want to tell you a little story.  A few years back I was climbing my mountain, only it was an actual mountain instead of a metaphor. It was a warm spring day and my family and I decided it would be fun to hike the Manitou Incline. We got around and after my therapy appointment that morning we drove up and started hiking up the incline. For those of you who haven't heard of the manitou incline; it is a steep hike that has 2,744 steps from the bottom to the top and gains over 2,000 ft in less than a mile. Before I even started the hike, I set my goal that I would make it to the top of the incline and that I wanted to accomplish this goal for myself. As we hiked up the incline I worked hard and told myself multiple times that I could do it. At the halfway mark, about 1,372 steps up we stopped for a break. At that point, the sun was starting to go down and we made the decision to head back to the car using a bar trail that went in a zigzag pattern alongside the incline. About two or three hours later we made it down back to the car. Even though we didn't make it to the top, I still felt extremely excited and accomplished that I made it that far. I am getting back in shape and my goal is still to reach the top of the incline. I know with my dedication and with practice that I will accomplish this goal.

Bottom of the Incline

Mom on the Incline

Action Item

I want you to plan out your day from start to finish with goals or items you want to complete for you. Once you have what goals you want to complete for yourself, you then can add-in other things. Do what you love and want to accomplish. What other people think you should do or be doesn't matter. Just follow your passion.

Activities To Do In The Summer With One Hand

SUMMERTIME!

Ahh Summer, what a wonderful time of year. The sun is shining, the whole family is together, and there are tons of fun summer activities to enjoy, but what types of activities can you do with one hand? Let's find out

What Activities Do I Do In The Summer?

For me, summer has always been my favorite season. Not only do you have tons of extra free time to go do fun activities, but we also escape the eight months of winter we get in Colorado. I'm just kidding, it's not that long, but it feels like it sometimes.  With it being dry here in Colorado the weather feels extremely nice and we spend our time outside hiking, tubing, riding our bikes, playing mini-golf, boating, and camping. The nice thing is just about every activity  I can do with one hand or I can do it with modifications.

Tips And Tricks I've Done With Different Activities

Over the years my family and I have found many different ways that I could do the activities I love with one hand. Some of these include...

Using Ski Poles As Hiking Sticks

Believe it or not, using ski poles as hiking sticks is a really good way to help you with or balance and helps with providing extra help on the steep area of a hike. The other thing that is nice is that they adjust to your height for comfort while out on a hike.

Manitou Incline, Colorado

Garden of The Gods

Tubing

One of the best activities to do when it is really hot outside is to go tubing. The way I would recommend doing it is to have at least two other people with you during this activity. The easiest way my parents found was having one of them hold my tube for me while the other helped me get on the tube. Another thing I recommend is choosing a place where the water is calmer, so it is easier for you to get in and out.

Riding A Bike

I have never had very good balance, so instead of riding a two-wheeler I ride on an adult trike. This allows me to still be able to go on bike rides with my family. I do recommend choosing trails that are for the most part flat because it can get challenging to try to go up a hill on this bike if you don't have strong leg muscles.

Playing Mini Golf

Another thing we like to go do is play

 mini-golf. This is a fun activity because I only hold the golf club with one hand and try to get the ball in the whole. Some times I get the ball in and other times we laugh because I hit it across the course and have to go find it. Just like in this picture.

Other fun activities

Boating with the family

Jamaica, 2016: holding a baby alligator

Fun in Jamaica

Fun in Jamaica

Well, there you have it. There are many activities that you can do with a disability. So, don't let your disability stop you from living your life.

Meditate To A Better You

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Meditation Is The Next Best Thing

Meditation is the next best thing I have learned besides Reiki. There are so many types of meditations and so many different styles of meditation. One of the biggest reasons I love meditation is because you can do it from anywhere. Follow me, Let's learn how to meditate.

What Is Meditation?

Many of you may be asking yourselves what meditation is, am I correct?  There are many different ways to explain what meditation is, but basically, all of them go back to the same answer; meditation is a practice in which individuals use different techniques to train their mind to attention and awareness to overall calm our emotions, gain clarity, and get into a relaxed state.

How To Meditate

Although meditation is a practice that is quite simple; many people especially if you are a beginner ask this question the most. Unfortunately, there aren't any set instructions or rules on how you are supposed to meditate. It mainly depends on your preference and what feels right to you.

Here are some steps to help you get started

1. Set aside time to meditate 
2. Find a meditation on youtube or install a meditation app on your phone and find one that  you want to listen to during this time
3. Find a comfortable spot to either sit or lay down where you won't be bothered
4. Play the meditation and take three deep breathes to help you start relaxing 
5. Let your body relax as you listen to the meditation
6. At first, your mind will wander. Don't get frustrated or overwhelmed
7. Keep practicing. You will get better
8. Allow whatever you experience happen

Types Of Meditations

There are so many different types of meditations that make up the meditation community. When I first started meditating I did a lot of different themed guided meditations that I found on Youtube to help me get relaxed at the beginning of the meditation and helped my mind stay a little more on track by hearing the voice of someone talking; rather than it wondering. One thing that might help you is having a mantra that you can say to yourself when your mind starts to wander to help it refocused.
As I got better at keeping my mind focus I then moved to music meditations. Youtube also has a lot of these where they are different time lengths like the guided meditations, but instead of listening to someone guiding you through the meditation you set a timer for however long you want to meditate and listen to calming meditation music. This type of meditation is a little tricky at first, but after practicing it for a few days it becomes easier. The thing I found challenging when I first started this type of meditation was that you sit or lay down with your eyes closed, but no one is guiding you on what to do during the meditation, so it makes it seem like you have been doing it for longer than you really have. The thing I like about this meditation is that you can truly allow what you are experiencing to happen. During a guided meditation you may feel overwhelmed if you can't see or imagine what the person is talking about in the meditation. Luckily with this meditation, you don't have anyone telling you what to see or feel. Now that I am pretty far in the meditation journey that I am moving towards what I call silent meditation. With this type of meditation, you just relax and listen to your surrounding. If you do this type of meditation I recommend doing it outside. This meditation is one that you would want to use your mantra because you don't have any music or talking at all.

Action Item

Meditation is a good way to calm your mind, emotions, and helps you get in a state of peace. I want you to go on youtube or download a meditation app on your phone. I want you to choose meditation and try it for 21 days and see what changes you notice in your life.

You may not always have cell service, but meditation goes wherever you go

Grow Your Mind Like A Muscle

The Power Of The Mind

The mind is a powerful place. Whether we realize it or not we can control our situations, feelings, health, and overall our lives by making the choice of changing our mindsets. Just like anything though, it takes time, dedication, and practice, but how do we change our mindset? Let's find out.

Ways To Change Your Mindset

Changing our mindset is one of the biggest parts of creating the life that you want to live.  That and having the willpower to want to change your life. Before I started my personal development journey I didn't realize how powerful our minds really are. As I started reading different articles and watching different shows on tv, I started learning different ways to change my mindset and build the muscle which is my mind. A few things I learned to do include; speaking as if I already have what I want in my life, saying things in a way that shows a positive growth mindset, creating a vision board to help keep you focused on what you want in life, and meditating.

My Experience

As I said earlier, changing your mindset takes time, dedication, and practice, but it is worth it in the long hall. In my opinion, my favorite strategy that I shared with you would have to be meditation. We will go more in-depth about this tomorrow, but for today meditation is the best way to build-up the power of the mind. When I started meditating, it was tricky to try to calm my mind during the length of different guided meditation that I found on youtube. My mind would constantly be thinking of other things I needed to do or wanted to do that day. I didn't give up though; I just kept practicing and was dedicated enough to spend the time to build this muscle that it became easier and easier to calm my mind and in a way control it as well.

Challenge To You

There are so many ways to change your mindset and to build this muscle to work with you not against you. I challenge you to try one or all of the strategies that I mentioned up above and I promise you that if you stick with it that you will see changes in your life. 

If you found this helpful, please share this with someone who might benefit from it. 

Nature Is The Key To Your Soul

Nature Is The Greatest Part Of Life

Being out in nature is the greatest part of life and adding family to it makes it even more incredible. Whether it be hiking, riding on the utv, going for a long drive, or playing in a river; my family is always outside.

 I Don't want to go inside!

 A few months back my mom told me a story about a time when I refused to go inside. It was a really nice day outside, my mom and I decided that we would spend the entire day outside playing while my dad was at work. Around lunchtime, my mom said, " we had to go inside to make lunch." I looked at her and said, "I don't want to go inside, I want to play out here." There was a moment of silence. Then my mom replied "we have to go inside, we don't have any food out here. We can eat out here and play again when we are finished." I looked at her with total trust and said " ok.

Our Souls Need Nature

For me, nature is like the blood that flows through my body. I live for every chance that I can be out in nature and get active. Looking back over the years there were very few times that we actually spent time at home. After a while, I think nature became our home and our actual home became a place we eat and sleep.  We use nature for just about everything part of our life; to raise our moods, to clear our mind, to find solutions to a problem, to get out of the house when we don't want to be there, and to go have fun.

The Importance Of Nature

Although nature is mainly used as a way to have fun there are actually many different mental and physical benefits to spending time outdoors.  To name a few; nature helps with increasing your mood, reduces depression, clears the mind, disconnects you, and helps with weight loss.

Have you ever heard the saying " more people become depressed during winter?" I totally believe that with all my heart. During wintertime when it's snowy and cold it is hard to enjoy being outside. I know my family definitely feels it when we can't go outside.

Challenge To You

Nature is a big part of our physical and emotional well being. As summertime comes closer and closer the weather is getting warmer. Why spend it inside? I challenge you to spend some time outside each day. It does matter how long you stay out there or what you do. Just as long as you spend time outside.

You Matter Too!

By Alyssa Dickens

I just love sitting down and reading a good book. Don't you? Just about everywhere you look whether it be online or in a store, you can find books on any topic or genre. There is such a vast selection that you can choose from. For me, each book I read is the start of a new adventure.

When My Love For Books Began 

I'll be honest. I have never really been a really big reader until now. When I was a little girl I remember my mom reading to me each night and that I use to love it a lot, but as far as me picking up a book and reading it myself; I didn't do it very often. Now I look back and have no clue why I didn't read.  Maybe I thought it was boring or something. I have no clue, but that was back then. I think my true love for books started after I had a fight with technology.

Something I've Notice

Personal Development is an important aspect of everyone's life. Whether it be learning something new, taking a walk, or even reading a book. All these activities and more fall under the category of personal development. Recently, when I started reading "See Me" by Nicolas Sparks I realized two things. The first thing is that reading is fun and secondly that each book takes you on an adventure without actually moving. Within the last week, since I starting my love for reading I have made the time each day for myself to read the book that I have almost finished reading a 31 chapter book. Now I totally get why my mom said she can't read a book during the school year.

Action Item

Everyone has time for working on their personal development. Its weather you make the time that matters. Each day, I want you to set aside some time; whether it be half an hour or 2 hours to do something for yourself.

You Matter Too!

Words Unfold Into Life

By Alyssa Dickens

What Does Living Life To The Fullest Mean To You?

What does living life to the fullest mean to you? It can look different for everyone. Living a fulfilled life may be having as many experiences as possible, getting the most money, or even becoming really successful in a career. For me, living life to the fullest means to have certain guidelines that I write for myself that I follow every day.

Umbrella Statements

What is an umbrella statement? You may be asking. I asked that same question when I first heard this term too. When my family and I did this activity a while back it was part of one of my mom's classes she was taking at the time. Before starting the activity she explained that an umbrella statement was creating a vision for how you want to live your life. At first, this activity was quite hard for me because I was one of those people that let life happen to them. I never really thought about how I wanted to live my life, so it was hard to complete an activity that was based on just that. I sat there for a while thinking but after a while, it came rushing into my mind; almost as fast as I could write it down.

My Umbrella Statement

 I will live my life to speak my truth always with love, joy, and happiness. I will look at all situations from the light and live for my highest self. When I imagine living my life to the fullest I think about these words and how they would look in my life. Each day I choose to live by these guidelines because it allows me to live my authentic self.

A Challenge for you

How do you want to live your life?   I challenge you to sit down and write your own umbrella statement. It doesn't have to be long. Just something that reminds you of how you choose to live your life. Then decorate it with a background and put it someplace you can read it each day.

One-handed Shoe Tying

Shoes Tell Us A Lot About Our Culture

Why do we need shoes? What's the point, besides to protect our feet? Much like the reason we do our hair in different styles as part of our personality, we wear shoes to represent our different cultures. For example, a place where people wear mostly sneakers and hiking boots will indicate that they live an active culture whereas an area where people wear flip flops and sandals may indicate that they live in a warm and relaxed culture. With this in mind, how do people with one hand tie their shoes? Keep reading to find out.

My Background

Ever since I was a little girl, my left foot was two sizes smaller than my right. This made it hard trying to find shoes that were in my size for my right foot but worked with my left foot. This left me limited to only being able to wear certain types of shoes.

There's No Need For Laces

Whoever said that we need laces to do our shoes? Over the years, as you know technology and creativity have gone up drastically in our economy since the time I was born. When I looked online, I couldn't believe how many different ways you could do your shoes without even tying them. People are so creative. Why don't we take a closer look at one of my favorite creations, shall we?

Hickies Lacing System

I absolutely love this product. I didn't even know that this even existed. When our family friend first gave these to me I put them on my hiking boots to try them out. At first, when you look at them, they look really simple, but when you put them on your shoe it is snug like it would if you tyed your shoes with laces. The thing I like about these is that they come in colors to match your shoes and the fact that you can slip on your shoes and go.

Types of Shoes I wore As A Kid

As a little girl, from what I can remember was that my shoe wardrobe consisted of sneakers and ballet slippers. As you can imagine, this had to of been hard for a little kid only being able to wear really two types of shoes. That takes away so many different shoe categories like boots, sandals, and any other slip-on shoes, but my mom and dad always found cute shoes that I could wear with every outfit.

Velcro Shoes

I don't really remember wearing these as a kid, but  I'm sure without a doubt that my mom dressed me up in these types of shoes when I was younger. Aren't they so cute? What I love about these shoes is that they have velcro and come in many different colors for both boys and girls. If your child or a child you know has a disability like me, then it will probably take them a little while to figure out how to tie their shoes. This type of shoe will be fast and easy for them to slip on and velcro.


Ballet Slippers

These types of shoes are a lifesaver. I use to wear these for every school dance and daddy: daughter dance I went to when I was a kid. Not only are they comfy, but with the strap that goes over the top of the foot, it worked for my feet; even though my parents had to buy two different sizes.

 One Loop Method

As I got a little bit older I started doing Occupational Therapy; which helped me become more independent and helped me learn how to do daily tasks with one hand. During the time I was in Occupational Therapy one of the tasks I learned to do was tie my shoe with one hand. I want to thank the Children's Therapy Team for letting me use their video.

                          One-loop Method

Shoes I Wear As An Adult

As I got older, my parents and I started playing around with different types of shoes and found a few options that worked for both my feet and allowed me to have more of a variety with my shoe wardrobe.

Women's Yoga Sling 2 Sandals

This is probably one of my top favorite pairs of shoes in my closet; besides my hiking boots. When my mom first got these sandals for me I couldn't wait for our upcoming beach trip so I could wear them. They really do feel like you are walking on yoga mats. I can't tell you how much I love these shoes. Some other nice parts about this type of shoe are that it is easy to put on with one hand and that they come in many different colors to match any outfit you wear whether it is on vacation or in your everyday life.

Converses 

Are you one of those people that love a casual, but kind of dressy look?  If so, you're not alone. My favorite type of style is casual, but sometimes I like to dress up just a little bit. These shoes are super comfy, have many different colors, and goes with all my outfits.

Alyssa-bilities Method

       

After many years, I started getting tired of having to wait until my mom or dad relaced my shoes for me before I could wear them, so I created my own way of doing it. It is pretty much the same concept that I learned when I was younger, but instead of relacing the whole shoe with just one lace; I keep it laced with two laces and make a loop on both sides.

Steps To Tying Your Shoes With One Hand

1. Put on your shoes and tighten them the best you can 
2. With one of the shoelaces make a small loop and pinch it with your thumb and pointer finger
3. While holding the loop at the same time you will need to tuck it under the first cross lace of your shoe
4. Make a second loop with the remaining part of the lace that you used to make the first loop
5. Pull the second loop through the first loop and pull gently to keep it in place
   
6. Repeat process with the other shoe.

Tada, that's how you tie your shoes with one hand.

The Mystery Of The Mind

The Mysterious Mind

The mind is a mysterious place. Sometimes our mind is wide open and thoughts flow like a waterfall and other times it is stagnant like a pond that has nowhere else to go. I don't get it. How does the mind decide when it is going to be open and when it is going to be closed? Let's find out.

  Is It Open Or Is It Closed?

I want to imagine two different situations; one will be a time when ideas were flowing to you like a waterfall and the other situation will be the stagnant pond. I will you a minute. Ok, do you have your two situations in mind? I want you to think of the situation you chose for the waterfall. How did it make you feel?  Maybe happy, excited, rushed to write down all your thoughts as fast as they are were coming to you, or maybe a combination of all three. I know that I have had many situations where all three occurred at the same time. Now I want you to think of the situation you chose for the stagnant water.  How did that make you feel? Upset, angry, annoyed, maybe even furious at the situation. See how these two different situations make you feel a number of different emotions.   If we feel happy and excited when our thoughts are flowing, then what can we do to not get furious when they aren't flowing?

Ways To Calm The Mind

A few days ago I had a situation that would have fallen under the category of the stagnant water. I was actually writing The Greatest Thing You Will Ever Learn post when for some weird reason what I wrote wouldn't show up in the preview area where I see it how you guys would. Anyways, I tried just about everything I could think of at the time. Rewriting it,  putting it in a different window and putting back into my blogger post, and checking the settings. None of it worked.  I tried for a good half an hour, but my mind was stagnant. I started getting upset with technology for not doing what I wanted. Let's just say that technology wasn't my friend that day, but instead of getting caught up in the situation which was starting to make me upset, I decided to do one of my pattern interrupts. I put my phone down and leaned back in my chair to do a meditation. This helped me disconnect from the situation and calm my mind. As I was doing this, my mom came outside and I told her that I wanted technology to go away and told her what happened. For the next 20 minutes, we sat there trying to figure out what was going on. We tried a bunch of different things and then figured out it was a formatting problem; which allowed the words to show up after we fixed it. Thanks, mom for the help. From this situation, I realized how important having different pattern interrupt activities are to calm your mind. Some other things you can do is go for a walk, go for a drive, take three deep breathes, count backwards

from 10, or anything that disconnects you from the situation that is stressing you out.

Three deep breaths

                                 

Reading

Walking

Driving

Action Item

Situations come up whether they are good or bad. I challenge you to think of some activities you can use as a pattern interrupt. Next time a situation comes up that stresses you out, I want you to do one of your pattern interrupt activities instead of getting caught up in the situation.