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March 2012 - Page 13 of 13 - Self-Help, Spirituality & Self-Esteem

Month: March 2012

Appreciation Quotations, Gratitude and Thankfulness Quotes,Words and Sayings

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Feel Good With Appreciation Quotations

Appreciation quotations to impress upon you the importance of letting go wishing things were different. In the bigger scheme, there will always be something to appreciate.

When reading these quotations remember that your attitude and perspective determines your experience. If you see the negative you will get the corresponding feelings. If you see the bigger picture and focus on the positives you will get those feelings.

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. Melody Beattie

Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive. Find a way to be thankful for your troubles and they can become your blessings. Unknown

Make it a habit to tell people thank you. To express your appreciation, sincerely and without the expectation of anything in return. Truly appreciate those around you, and you’ll soon find many others around you. Truly appreciate life, and you’ll find that you have more of it. Ralph Marston

He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has. Epictetus

Just a “thank you” is a mighty powerful prayer. Says it all. Rosie Cash

When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around. Willie Nelson

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others. Cicero

If you concentrate on finding whatever is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul. Rabbi Harold Kushner

The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest. William Blake

Who does not thank for little will not thank for much. Estonian Proverb

The grateful mind is constantly fixed upon the best. Therefore it tends to become the best. It takes the form or character of the best, and will receive the best. Wallace D. Wattles

What if you gave someone a gift, and they neglected to thank you for it, would you be likely to give them another? Life is the same way. In order to attract more of the blessings that life has to offer, you must truly appreciate what you already have. Ralph Marston

These appreciation quotations have been reproduced from various sources, for which I appreciate.

Appreciation Poetry, Poems

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Feel Good With Appreciation Poetry

Selected appreciation poetry including the powerful poem ‘The Old Man’ by Jonathan Robinson.

 

The Old Man – Jonathan Robinson

Once long ago, there lived an old man.

He had no money. He had no plan.

All that he had was a horse oh so grand

and he and his horse lived off the land.

The King offered riches for this horse oh so fine,

I’ll give you money if you’ll make your horse mine.

But the old man said, My horse will not be sold,

he lives with me. He lives free and bold.

Then one day the horse was plain gone.

The horse had been stolen, the townsfolk cried on.

The old man said, Friends, don’t look so sad,

Though the horse be gone that may not be so sad.

You foolish old man, look what you’ve done.

You had a fine horse and now you have none.

A curse it is and a curse it will be,

you shouldn’t have let your horse wander free!

The horse soon returned with others by its side.

There were twelve now of beauty and pride.

The townsfolk said, Old man, you were right.

You are blessed to have horses of unearthly delight!

I have 12 horses, yes that is true

but that does not mean I am blessed with them too.

It is too soon to judge, who knows what will be?

Try not to make stories from the little you see.

As it came to pass, the old man ‘s only son

tried riding a horse, just for fun.

Yet he broke both his legs while playing this game

and the townsfolk cried, Oh what a shame!

The old man said, Friends don’t speak so soon.

You hear just one note yet you sing an entire tune.

Who’s to say what the future may hold?

My son’s legs are broken but the future lies untold.

Soon there was war, and the young men of town

were all sent to fight and were shot down.

But the old man’s son was saved from this plight.

He had broken his legs, he was forced not to fight.

And the townfolk cried out, Again you were right!

But the old man replied, Have you no sight?

Only God knows what is and will be.

To live and let live is to live and live free.

Be Thankful – Author Unknown

Be thankful that you don ‘t already have everything you
desire,

If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don’t know something

For it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.

During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations

Because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge

Because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes

They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you’re tired and weary

Because it means you’ve made a difference.

It is easy to be thankful for the good things.

A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are

also thankful for the setbacks.

GRATITUDE can turn a negative into a positive.

Find a way to be thankful for your troubles

and they can become your blessings.

Apollo the Sun God, Archetypes And Myths, Unconscious Personality

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Apollo
The Sun God

Apollo the sun god is the archetype of the one who finds life quite easy and enjoyable. Goals are realistic and worked towards logically and persistently but lacks drive to make it to the top.

The word archetype describes what Carl Jung identified as patterns of behaving that arise from the collective unconscious of humankind. The pattern of being is not unique to an individual; it is available to manifest in each of us because we each reflect a part of the whole.

To recognize Apollo active within your life look for…

  • Curious and inquisitive about the world
  • successful at anything the mind is put towards
  • wants to master skills
  • lives more in the mind and thoughts rather than body
    and emotions

Possible drawbacks to living the Apollo archetype…

  • Inability and unwillingness to connect emotionally and
    intimately
  • More concerned with own thoughts and judgments than
    emotions and communicating with others
  • In later years may find all that was important up until
    then is now meaningless.

This information has been summarized from the book Gods in Everyman by Jean Shinoda Bolen.

If you recognize your patterns of acting and being in the world from the above list and are curious about what you can do to change, then first and foremost use this information as proof that you are not different, defective or a victim of your past programming.

The above shows the commonality in the human experience when certain innate energies are active. As such begin by accepting that you do indeed own these particular traits and let it be OK that you do.

This will slightly raise your self-esteem and self-acceptance for each trait you own.

If you would like some guidance or clarification, please contact
me, I would love to help.

Andrew Johnston, Britain’s Got Talent, Pie Jesu

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Andrew Johnston, Singer One Voice

Andrew Johnston took the stage at Britain’s Got Talent one year after Paul Potts’ audition. Just like Potts before him and Susan Boyle after him he produced something unexpected.

As the contestants always say, following what you love is one way of overcoming low self-esteem.

If you feel you don’t have a passion or a talent then my advice is to be curious what yours is and keep being curious until it shows up. You will be doing yourself and the world a service.

I like this clip as I believe we all have some extraordinary talent or aptitude that lies latent within. This video is also quite moving.

Acts Of Random Kindness, Random Acts Of Kindness To Help Low Self-Esteem

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You Do Acts
Of Random Kindness

You Feel Good

Acts of random kindness by you have an amazing power to transform how you feel and to help low self-esteem.

You might wonder, ‘how does an action so self-less have the power to make YOU, the one doing the kindness, feel good’?  It seems counter-intuitive doesn’t it?  After all you are not receiving the kindness from others but rather you are doing something for nothing!

What Are The Benefits?

The benefits to you of being kind are;

  • increase feel-good chemicals in your brain
  • a sense of being worthwhile
  • a feeling of belonging
  • adding meaning to your life
  • knowing you made a difference
  • help low self-esteem

Why Does It Feel Good?

kindness-two-women

Have you ever noticed that in a tragedy or natural disaster such as an earthquake or tsunami, people join together and a sense of community and togetherness transpires?  A sense of coming together to look after each other transcends even your most basic needs.  It is because in those moments you are conscious of belonging to something bigger than yourself and you put others and the whole before yourself.  That is when we naturally perform acts of random kindness without selfish thought.

Have you ever had the unfortunate experience of attending a funeral of someone who died seemingly tragically or too young? Yet for a time, maybe a day or two before the funeral until a day or two after, you experience a resolve and togetherness with everyone effected.  It is a somewhat empowering and strong deep-down feeling that is a glimmer of ‘we will be OK, together’.

Examples

Here is a story from a book The Power of Intention by Dr W. Dyer.  It is a story from his daughter Sommer and appears on pages 69-70.

I had an opportunity to extend kindness at the supermarket one day when I had my cart filled to the top with food that my roommate and I would share over the next two weeks.  The woman behind me had an antsy toddler and not nearly as much in her cart as I had.  I said to her, “Why don’t you go first?  You don’t have as much as I do.”  The woman looked at me as if I’d just sprouted extra limbs or something.  She replied, “Thank you so much.  I haven’t seen many people around here be thoughtful of another person. We’ve moved here from Virginia and are considering moving back because we’re questioning whether this is the right place to raise our three children.”  Then she told me that she was about ready to give up and move back home, even thought it would create huge financial strain on her family.  She said, “I’d promised myself if I didn’t see a sign by the end of today, I was going to demand that we move back to Virginia. You are my sign.”

Why Do It?

Acts of random kindness by you, and to a lesser extent received by you, foster and heighten a sense of togetherness.

One of our most basic feelings that drive our actions and thoughts is to belong.  We want to belong to something, anything, it doesn’t matter what we just want to be accepted and together.  When we are at school we want to be part of a group of friends.  We want to be invited to join in.

When you perform random acts of kindness, with absolutely no thought of what is in it for you – that part is crucial – you yourself experience a similar feeling to the belonging, togetherness and resolve that we normally only experience in moments of tragedy.

What Are The Pitfalls?

One warning though; if you go out and practice random acts of kindness, or any kindness, and you know deep down you are doing this to get something in return, this is not kindness by you but rather it is an exchange.  It is a trade between you and them or you and the universe.  You are intending to swap your kindness for some personal selfish benefit.

You might think, ‘if I do this they will be obliged to do something for me.’  Or you might think you are banking karma believing the universe will bring great stuff your way soon in exchange for your kindness.

Acts of random kindness are unique in that they are devoid of any thought of ‘what is in it for me?’  Either you are kind or you are trading, there is nothing in between.  Like everything it is your intention and attitude that provides the benefit to your experience.

Acts Of Random Kindness Family Birthday Celebration

During the cleanup of a natural disaster or tragedy your intention and attitude will not be I am doing this because I will get…

You are doing it to help another ‘just because you can’.  This is the recommended attitude you hold as you perform acts of random kindness for your fellow human beings.  It feels good and your life automatically, straight away, suddenly has meaning, just from that one act of kindness.

If ever there was a quick way to help low self-esteem, this is it.  Even if you feel that you have good self-esteem you jump to the next level if you adopt this attitude of being kind to others for no other reason than just because you can.

7 Human Emotions, List Of Emotions, Primary Emotions

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What To Do With The 7 Human Emotions

Below I list 7 human emotions, describe how and why the arise within
you and what you can do about these primary emotions.

You can become an expert at understanding emotions and how to control
emotions so you stay conscious, still experience whatever you do, but
have it affect your life so much less.

1. Anger

Why do you get angry?  You don’t choose to get angry but something
gets triggered within and boom, there it is…Photo: Woman Angry

  • energizing you
  • tensing your arms and fists
  • arising up your centre and gushing out your mouth if
    you let it go

Anger is the energy that says ‘that is not OK with me, my boundary has
been crossed, I feel I have lost control of my freedom.’

2. Sadness

Sadness is the response to having lost something or empathizing with
someone elseGirl Sad who has lost something.  This ‘thing’ that you have
lost could be an object, hope, a vision or a birthright (nurturing,
love).  It can also arise from noticing something you don’t have
that others do have.  For example envy is a positive experience
but when accompanied by thoughts of jealousy or ‘poor me’ it turns
negative.

3. Grief

Grief is similar to sadness in that it arises in reaction to a
perceived loss.  However, I Woman Grief Sad Alone
will distinguish it from sadness by
saying that grief is a whole different scale of loss.  This is
more about losing something that you identified as part of you, rather
than losing something you have.

We all have a self-image and that self-image includes relationships you
are involved in.  So grief in my opinion is what is felt when the
energy connection to another being is broken.  This could be an
animal also of course.

4. Fear

Fear is having a vested interest in something not happening, presumably
because it threatens you in some way, not only physically but threatens
your image or possessions.  When you care about something not
happening you will feel afraid.  For example if you were prepared
to experience anything, even death, you would not feel fear.

Fear is so prevalent in our lives because we live from our sense of
being separate, isolated and an object.  If we experienced ourself
as part of the one whole union of souls and saw how life really worked,
we would not be so attached to events happening or not happening and
fear would not be an experience I propose.

5. Shame

I don’t think shame is considered to be a primary emotion in that it is
not something that all humans feel for the same reasons.  By that
I mean what might make someone feel shame might not make someone else
feel shame.

Shame is based on an individual’s conditioning.  Someone might
feel ashamed about their sexual desires while another might love their
desires and explore them with great openness and wonder.

Shame is a negative feeling in reaction to something you are or think
you are.

6. Worry

Probably not a genuine primary emotion but rather an activity. 
Nevertheless it does not feel good.

Worry is a mental activity of persistently thinking about something
that might go wrong.

The only good thing about worry is that once the incident has passed
without coming to fruition you will feel like the weight of the world
has been lifted from your shoulders.

7. Guilt

Similarly to shame I would not call this a primary emotion but rather a
reaction to conditioning.  Different to shame in that rather than
being a reaction to being who you are guilt is a reaction to something
you have done.

If you do something which goes against your morals and ethics you will
feel guilty.  This unpleasant feeling is designed to prevent you
from doing that thing again.

What You Can Do

One of the most empowering discoveries people make is to learn why
emotions arise and that by changing your thoughts, attitudes and what
the events in your life mean to you, you can change how you feel.

For example living in the ‘now’ as they say will reduce fear and
worry.  Doing shadow-work
and discovering who you are with acceptance will reduce shame and guilt.

These
are the 7 human emotions that you might find to be most prevalent
in your life.  You are not helpless and at the mercy of emotions,
there are many more than these 7 human emotions.  You can do
plenty towards understanding emotions and how to control
emotions by looking at how and when they arise.