Monday, December 5, 2011

TAKING RESPONSIBILITY!

Good Monday mornin' my friend.  Did you have a lovely weekend?  I sho did ;)

Did you go to church?  I sho did!  Church was awesome yesterday.  Sho did lift my spirit.  The Christmas music was the best.  Are you in the mood for Christmas?  I sho am.


My friend's daughter asked me if I love Christmas or if I didn't love Christmas.  Cute huh?  I told her that I love Christmas.  She said, me too.  Then she asked me what I loved about Christmas, and I said everything except the gifts.  HA HA HA!


I really do love everything except the gifts.  If it were up to me I would just hang out with family and friends, and no gifts.  Could you imagine if Christmas was about Christ?  Just kidding, I know it is.  But what if we didn't give gifts and we just enjoyed good food and good company?  How destressed we would be!


Anywho, recently I talked about getting ready for 2012 and New Year's Resolutions.


Did you read about it?  Did you get your journal?  Did you start your journey with your journal by reading and writing about back to the basics post?  If you did, YOU ARE AWESOME!


If you did, YOU ARE TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR FUTURE.  So cool!


But, if you didn't, then I would like to persuade you to take responsibility for your future.


Recently, I have been helping more teens than I ever have.  A couple of years ago, I started to work with college-age students, lots of 18 and 19-year-olds.  Last month, I worked with more teenagers (under 18), than I have in my whole career of teaching permanent stress relief.


They have spoken of molestation, abuse, parental divorce, illness, and misery at home.  The number one issue I have dealt with is, "my beliefs of ugliness and why am I not good enough."  The latter is not so typical as the former never the less, it is all very stressful, wouldn't you agree?


When I talk to the youth about lack of self-confidence due to feeling ugly, or feeling not good enough I tell them stuff like, you are the boss of you, you are the only thinker of your thoughts, and so you gotta be the boss of your thoughts and you gotta think better thoughts.  I tell them to stop thinking that they are not good enough and I teach them affirmations, and how to use them.  An affirmation like, I am good enough!


We search for evidence that they are good enough, and we search for evidence that their beliefs are unreasonable.  For example, I tell them to notice everyone around them for a day or even a week and notice how unique everyone is.  Some people are fatter, some people are skinnier, some people are uglier, and some people are prettier.


This is amazing because the majority of them get it.  The majority of them get that they can take responsibility for their thoughts and that God has made everyone as unique as their thumbprint therefore, we can appreciate our uniqueness and focus on our assets and strengths.


Isn't that amazing?


What does this all have to do with destressing yourself?


Destressing yourself is all about awareness, and awareness has a lot to do with knowing that you can take responsibility for your thoughts, knowing that you can take responsibility for your life, and knowing that you can take responsibility for your future.


It amazed me how many teens got this.  It even seemed, to me, that teens were getting more than adults do.


What I am trying to say is, that you can learn to destress yourself by taking responsibility for your thoughts, feelings, and actions, as a result, you will take responsibility for your life and for your future.


So, get that journal, and start your journey to destress yourself in 2012.


That's all I got!


Speak soon...


Have fun this week...


Be playful!


Elizabeth Stanfill