Tag: Mental Health

Daily Motivator for June 1 – Encourage yourself

Encourage yourself

Many times, the situations and events in your life won’t offer you much encouragement. On top of that, even other people may not have much encouragement to give you.

But that doesn’t mean you have to go without any encouragement. After all, you are perfectly capable of encouraging yourself.

Remind yourself how truly fortunate you are to be able to experience life’s great wonders. Consider all the positive possibilities that are available to you, even on the most difficult days.

You are marvelously free to think what you wish, to feel the way you choose, and to act in the best interest of yourself and your world. On top of that, you’re surrounded by a magnificent abundance that you can transform into great meaningful value.

Perhaps at the moment life is not offering you much encouragement, but that’s not really a problem. Connect with the joys you’ve already experienced, the possibilities of the present, and your dreams for the future, and you’ll find plenty of encouragement within yourself.

Is your world in need of encouragement, and there’s none to be found? Be the encourager, and you’ll be powerfully encouraged.

— Ralph Marston

The Daily Motivator

Daily OM for June 1 – Recognizing Happiness

Recognizing Happiness
Analyzing the Path

by Madisyn Taylor

 

When we take the time to recognize when we are happy and what that feels like, it becomes easier to recreate. 

Those of us on the path of personal and spiritual growth have a tendency to analyze our unhappiness in order to find the causes and make improvements. But it is just as important, if not more so, to analyze our happiness. Since we have the ability to rise above and observe our emotions, we can recognize when we are feeling joyful and content. Then we can harness the power of the moment by savoring our feelings and taking time to be grateful for them.

Recognition is the first step in creating change, therefore recognizing what it feels like to be happy is the first step toward sustaining happiness in our lives. We can examine how joy feels in our bodies and what thoughts run through our minds in times of bliss. Without diminishing its power, we can retrace our steps to discover what may have put us in this frame of mind, and then we can take note of the choices we’ve made while there. We might realize that we are generally more giving and forgiving when there’s a smile on our face, or that we are more likely to laugh off small annoyances and the actions of others when they don’t resonate with our light mood.

Once we know what it feels like and can identify some of the triggers and are aware of our actions, we can recreate that happiness when we are feeling low. Knowing that like attracts like, we can pull ourselves out of a blue mood by focusing on joy. We might find that forcing ourselves to be giving and forgiving, even when it doesn’t seem to come naturally, helps us to reconnect with the joy that usually precedes it. If we can identify a song, a picture, or a pet as a happiness trigger, we can use them as tools to recapture joy if we are having trouble finding it. By focusing our energy on analyzing happiness and all that it encompasses, we feed, nurture, and attract more of it into our lives, eventually making a habit of happiness.

Daily OM for May 24th – Centering and Expressing

Centering and Expressing
Communication

by Madisyn Taylor

 

Expressing ourselves honestly in any relationship is essential to our well-being.

When we are in a relationship where we feel listened to and understood, we count ourselves lucky because we know how rare that experience is. We reserve our most intimate selves for the people who, along with us, cocreate an open space where we feel free to express ourselves and listen without judgment. These relationships, which thrive on open communication, can mean the difference between existential loneliness and a deep sense of belonging. We all long to feel heard, understood, and loved, and clear communication makes this possible.

Sometimes problems arise in the process of expressing how we feel, but it is always worth it to do the work. Even in our less intimate relationships, expressing ourselves honestly is essential to our sense of well-being. Whether at home with family or in the outside world, successful communication requires some forethought; otherwise we risk blundering through our relationships like the proverbial bull in a china shop. However, too much forethought can stifle us or cause us to pad our words so extremely that we end up saying nothing at all or confusing the matter further. The good news is that there are many methods that can come to our rescue, from meditation to visualization to journaling.

If the person we need to communicate with is open to sitting in meditation together for a set period of time before speaking, this can be invaluable. When we are calm and centered, we can count on ourselves to speak and respond truthfully. We can also meditate on our own time and then practice what we need to say. A visualization in which we sit with the person and lovingly exchange a few words can also be a great precedent to an actual conversation. If writing comes easily, we can write out what we need to say; it may take several drafts, but we will eventually find the words. The key is to find ways to center ourselves so that we communicate meaningfully, lovingly, and wisely. In this way, we honor our companions and create relationships in which there is a genuine sense of understanding and respect.

Daily Motivator for May 23rd – What you give

What you give

It is by making a difference that you make a life. It is by giving of your authentic self that you gain access to life’s great richness.

When things are going well, you have many opportunities to make a difference. When difficult problems arise, you have even more opportunities to move the world positively forward.

Today will present you with plenty of meaningful opportunities to make a positive difference. Each of these opportunities is also an opportunity to greatly enrich your life.

If it is self-esteem you seek, here is a way to guarantee it. Observe yourself as you work through the challenges and act to create real value in your world.

All of life longs to hear your unique voice. Be yourself, and do it with passion, effectiveness, creativity and love.

Make the choices that will make a real difference. What you give is what determines how well you truly live.

— Ralph Marston

The Daily Motivator

Your Daily Chinese Zodiac Horoscopes for May 16th

Rabbit

If you and your significant other have needed to talk, this is the day you can make some major breakthroughs. All of a sudden the clam breaks open and no-one seems able to shut either of you up! Stop long enough to listen to each other, it will count.

Dragon

Your workplace is about to change due to changing needs in your family or at home. You will have an opportunity to improve your personal and financial security in the long run, though it may mean some risks, short-term changes, or sacrifices right now.

Snake

No matter what ails you, a little bit of brisk fresh air and exercise will help clear your head. Avoid high-impact and extreme sports, though. This will be one of those days if you have a parent who is urging you to add a new branch to the family tree.

Horse

Trust your intuition. You will have a insight into a relative’s behavior and attitudes, and that will help you connect with them in a more healthy and positive way going forward. Listen carefully, because you will learn something important.

Sheep

You may have interesting and unusual telephone calls and emails today. Someone could send you a hot invitation to a big party where there could be romantic opportunities, especially if you are single. If you are married, bring your significant other along, they need a break!

Monkey

Get ready for financial breakthroughs. If you have been looking for work, sharpen your pencil, dust off that resume, put on your best duds and hit the pavement. Today could be your lucky day. If you are employed look for a bonus, promotion or raise in the near future.

Rooster

Today is all about you, and you will be alternatively patting yourself on the back, then beating yourself up. Both extremes are not good for your self-esteem. Just remember that you are a human being, regardless of whether you are winning or losing the game from one moment to the next.

Dog

Your personal growth has reached a flat spot and you feel you need to find a leader or teacher. But are you sure that is really what you need? Maybe what you really need is to accept where you are at, and believe in who you are and what you know.

Pig

A friend or companion has decided that your unsolicited advice or feedback has merit after all, and they will be expressing their appreciation together with some sheepish apologies most likely. Do your best to be gracious and understanding, it’s not easy to admit you’re wrong.

Rat

Three solid days of positive energy have you full to nearly bursting with good will for your fellow man. You may find yourself invited to a number of social occasions, parties, or gatherings that feature large numbers of people and great opportunity for making new friends.

Ox

You may have an unusual opportunity to travel with or study with your significant other. Today is all about shared interests. If you want to stir your partner’s passions, bring home a good book or some tickets to that special seminar they wanted to attend.

Tiger

You will be thinking about redecorating, or tearing down part of your home to make way for some big changes today. You need to think big, but your loved ones could be threatened by any changes that you make, especially if you don’t include them in the planning stages.

Daily OM for Sunday, May 6th – Culling Out The Weeds

Culling Out The Weeds
Mind Over Matter

The power of the mind is a curious thing, because it is so powerful yet so difficult to control sometimes. We find ourselves thinking a certain way, knowing that this thought may be creating trouble for us yet we find it difficult to stop. For example, many people have the experience of getting sick at the same time every year or every time they go on a plane. They may even be aware that their beliefs impact their experiences, so continue to think they will get sick and then they do.

Sometimes we need to get sick in order to process something or move something through our bodies. But often we get sick, or feel exhausted, because we don’t make the effort to galvanize the power of our minds in the service of our physical health, which is one of its most important functions. We really can use it to communicate to our bodies, yet we often regard the two as separate entities that have little to do with one another.

Knowing this, we have the power to create physical health and mental health, simply by paying attention to the tapes running in our minds. Once we hear ourselves, we have the option to let that tape keep running or to make a new recording. We harness the power of the mind in our defense when we choose supportive, healing words that foster good health and high spirits. All we need to do is remember to tend the field of our mind with the attentive and loving hand of a master gardener tending her flower beds, culling out the weeds so that the blossoms may come to fruition.

Daily Motivator for April 29th – Momentum of achievement

Momentum of achievement

Success comes most readily to those who are already successful. That’s why the small successes are so important.

When you set a goal, however small it may be, and then work to achieve it, you put in motion a powerful positive momentum. That momentum can help you to reach toward higher and higher levels of achievement.

The small successes do matter, for they set that momentum in motion. No step is trivial, however small it may be, when it is leading in a positive direction.

Too many people wait and hope for, beg, plead and even fight for that one big break that will bring about instant success. Sadly, in so doing they overlook the small opportunities for success that come in every moment of every day.

You can easily make a little bit of progress in the next fifteen minutes. And you can make a little more progress in the next few hours. Create for yourself the momentum of achievement. And you can take it wherever you wish to go.

— Ralph Marston

The Daily Motivator

April 26 – Daily Feast

April 26 – Daily Feast

Negative thinking is a habit that can be changed – if we really want to change it. It is too often like pressing on a sore spot just one more time to see if it still hurts. Most people’s problems are found in areas of need – the need to have difficulty, the need to have something to deal with so they can feel needed and important. After all, what do we do when no one is depending on us? It is an innate Cherokee belief that we have no need to borrow trouble, a to li s di, no proclivity toward trouble. Let it stay where it is – or dissolve. If difficulty engages our eye, it may come to us. We can know happy things to fill our time. It is fatal not to want happiness and well-being enough that we invite it into daily living.

~ Though we are powerful and strong, and we know how to fight, we do not wish to fight. ~

THE CHEROKEES

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

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Daily Motivator for April 26 – Practice creates mastery

Practice creates mastery

The more you do something, the better you do it. Tricks and gimmicks and shortcuts might help a little bit, yet practice is what creates mastery.

If you seek to do it well, then do it often. There is nothing that can take the place of practice.

Do you wish to be more confident in unfamiliar situations? Then transform them into familiar situations by rehearsing them in advance, with lots of practice.

There are some things your mind remembers, and then there are those things remembered by the entirety of your being. Practice instills that powerful holistic form of memory.

Sure, it can be immensely frustrating when you’re not as skilled as you’d like to be. Make use of that frustration by channeling its energy into determination, and with that determination, practice.

Practice winning, practice losing, practice making the effort, practice peacefully accepting disappointment and gracefully accepting success. Every time you practice, you make yourself that much better.

— Ralph Marston

The Daily Motivator

Train Your Brain to Be Happy

Train Your Brain to Be Happy

  • Care2 Healthy Living Guest Blogger

By Elisha Goldstein, PhD

If you were sitting in a room and on the left hand in a cage you saw a growling lion and on the right hand side in a cage was a scenes of a beautiful beach, which would your brain be drawn to?

If you guessed the lion, you’re right. That is because we’ve been trained over thousands of years to focus on the negative at the expense of the positive. If our ancestors spent their days being mindful of the beautiful scenery while enjoying their lunch, odds are not too much later, they were lunch. They needed to practice focusing on where the danger was to survive. Centuries later we inherited this very well crafted brain that is more attracted to the negative than the positive. Since we aren’t often in physical danger today, how does this automatic negativity bias show up in our minds?

Here are 3 examples of some common “Mind Traps” that we frequently fall into that move us further away from happiness:

Catastrophizing: If you’re prone to stress and anxiety, you may recognize this habitual mind trap. This is where the mind interprets an event as the worst case scenario. If your heart is beating fast, you may think you’re having a heart attack. If your boss didn’t look at you while walking down the hall, you think you’re going to get fired. You get the picture. This style of thinking will support increased stress, anxiety, and even panic.

Discounting the positive and exaggerating the negative: The news is wonderful at supporting us with this one. This is where we habitually reject or minimize any positive feedback and magnify the negative feedback. The glass is always half empty. If you catch yourself saying something positive and then saying “but” followed by a negative, you are practicing this. “I got a 95 percent on this test, but I didn’t get a 100 percent.” Without awareness, this style of thinking will likely land you in a depressed mood.

Blaming: Be careful of this one. We all do it, pointing the finger at someone else for our woes or point the finger at ourselves for others woes. “If my boss wasn’t so hard on me at work, I wouldn’t be so anxious” or “It’s my fault my parents got divorced.” Just check in with yourself after noticing this style of thinking. It doesn’t cultivate any solutions and just makes you feel stuck, anxious, or depressed.

The question is how can we rebalance this automatic nature of our brains toward greater happiness?

There are some basic practices we can use to begin retraining our brain to get some space from these mind traps and refocus on what truly matters. We can change our brain to handle stress better, be more empathic, happier, less fearful, and even enhance our learning and memory. Learning theory teaches us that what we practice and repeat in life becomes automatic and neuroscience is proving that we can change the architecture of our brains by intentionally paying attention with greater mindfulness.

“See, Touch, Go” is a technique I talk about in my new book The Now Effect and it simply means when your mind wanders onto a mind trap for example, “see” where it wandered to, “touch” or notice the thought, and “gently go” back to the task at hand. Practicing “See, Touch, Go” with our common mind traps, will strip away any of the wasted attention on self-judgment or any other distracting thoughts and get you back to the task with greater focus, making you more productive and less stressed.

See, Touch, Go

The 3-minute video below is the first of 14 instructional videos that are woven throughout The Now Effect. I wanted to share the first one with you to give you an experience of “See, Touch, Go.” Give yourself a chance to practice it right now, then go ahead and bring it to the tasks at work, even your email.

(Note: The introduction in the video says, “thank you for buying The Now Effect” because the reader experiences this as the first video in the book.)

****You can find this video at http://www.care2.com/greenliving/train-your-brain-to-be-happy.html?page=2****

Come back to this to practice throughout the day and bring it informally to the tasks at home and work whenever you notice your mind wandering onto a mind trap or from what’s most important to pay attention to. You may even want to schedule a pop up in your calendar asking yourself “Where is my attention now?” When it pops up, take a breath and then answer the question. You may discover you were caught in a mind trap.

You may do this dance over and over again. The purpose isn’t to judge yourself if you’re distracted, but just become aware of it and gently refocus your attention. This mindful focus has been proven to help us become more flexible in our decision making, less stressed and happier at home and at work.

Try it out!

Managing Your Persistent Fears, Anxieties, and Stresses

Managing Your Persistent Fears, Anxieties, and Stresses

  • Eden, selected from AllThingsHealing.com

by Stanley Popovich, Contributor to Psychotherapy on Allthingshealing.com

Everybody experiences anxiety and depression in some form, however some people have a difficult time managing it. Here is a brief list of techniques that a person can use to help manage their most persistent fears and everyday anxieties.

When facing a current or upcoming task that overwhelms you with a lot of anxiety, the first thing you can do is divide the task into a series of smaller steps. Completing these smaller tasks one at a time will make the stress more manageable and increase your chances of success.

Sometimes we get stressed out when everything happens all at once. When this happens, a person should take a deep breath and try to find something to do for a few minutes to get her mind off of the problem. A person could get some fresh air, listen to some music, or do an activity that will give him a fresh perspective on things.

People should visualize a red stop sign in their minds when they encounter a fear-provoking thought. When the negative thought comes, people should think of a red stop sign that serves as a reminder to stop focusing on that thought and to think of something else. A person can then try to think of something positive to replace the negative thought.

Another technique that is very helpful is to have a small notebook of positive statements that makes you feel good. Whenever you come across an affirmation that makes you feel good, write it down in a small notebook that you can carry around with you in your pocket. Whenever you feel depressed or frustrated, open up your small notebook and read those statements. This will help to manage your negative thinking.

Learn to take it one day at a time. Instead of worrying about how you will get through the rest of the week, try to focus on today. Each day can provide us with different opportunities to learn new things and that includes learning how to deal with your problems. You never know when the answers you are looking for will come to your doorstep. We may be ninety-nine percent correct in predicting the future, but all it takes is for that one percent to make a world of difference.

Take advantage of the help that is available around you. If possible, talk to a professional who can help you manage your depression and anxieties. They will be able to provide you with additional advice and insights on how to deal with your current problem. By talking to a professional, a person will be helping themselves in the long run because they will become better able to deal with their problems in the future. Remember that it never hurts to ask for help.

Dealing with our persistent fears is not easy. Remember that all you can do is to do your best each day, hope for the best, and take things in stride. Patience, persistence, education, and being committed in trying to solve your problem will go a long way in fixing your problems.

Daily OM for April 8th – Culling out the Weeds

Culling out the Weeds
Mind over Matter

We can improve our overall physical well-being by first starting to notice our thoughts and our reactions to our thoughts.

The power of the mind is a curious thing, because it is so powerful yet so difficult to control sometimes. We find ourselves thinking a certain way, knowing that this thought may be creating trouble for us yet we find it difficult to stop. For example, many people have the experience of getting sick at the same time every year or every time they go on a plane. They may even be aware that their beliefs impact their experiences, so continue to think they will get sick and then they do.

Sometimes we need to get sick in order to process something or move something through our bodies. But often we get sick, or feel exhausted, because we don’t make the effort to galvanize the power of our minds in the service of our physical health, which is one of its most important functions. We really can use it to communicate to our bodies, yet we often regard the two as separate entities that have little to do with one another.

Knowing this, we have the power to create physical health and mental health, simply by paying attention to the tapes running in our minds. Once we hear ourselves, we have the option to let that tape keep running or to make a new recording. We harness the power of the mind in our defense when we choose supportive, healing words that foster good health and high spirits. All we need to do is remember to tend the field of our mind with the attentive and loving hand of a master gardener tending her flower beds, culling out the weeds so that the blossoms may come to fruition.

March 20 – Daily Feast

March 20 – Daily Feast

Someone said the test of courage is not to give up but to rise up and take dominion over melancholy moods. To give in to mood swings from sadness to anger makes finding stable ground even more difficult. In fact, it probably cause more, nu ne lv na, which in Cherokee means mischief or harm, than any other thing. When talking to someone trustworthy does not ease the stress, then writing it can make a world of difference. Writing it to ourselves can bring out many causes for sadness or anger that we didn’t know we were harboring. A daily journal has been the source of help in learning what we store away unconsciously, only to come out and whip us at the most unlikely times. It is a way of cleaning house and making corrections in the privacy of our own minds without having to tell the world.

~ Do not hurt your neighbor, for it is not him you wrong but yourself. ~

THE SHAWNEE

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

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Daily OM for March 20th – Taking a Break from What You Are Doing

Taking a Break from What You Are Doing
A New Approach

 

 

Sometimes finding the answer is as easy as taking a break and stepping back from the situation. 

Sometimes we can get so wrapped up in our thoughts that we wind up going round in round in circles, finding it difficult to concentrate on things and, because we are so distracted, not really accomplishing much. There may be signals—mental, emotional, and physical—that tell us we need to slow down and relax. Since we are so involved in things that are external to us, however, we may easily overlook what is really going on inside of us. It is during these times that we need to step back from the things that occupy our minds and take time out to connect with our inner self, giving our minds, bodies, and spirits the time they need to reenergize and heal.

At first it may seem that by taking a break we may not be as productive as we would initially like. In reality, a healthy period of rest is something that gives us a real sense of the unlimited nature of our true potential. Spending a couple of minutes walking outside, doing a few yoga poses, meditating, or simply becoming attuned to the rising and falling of our breath enables us to let go of our worries. This act brings our focus back to the things that are truly essential for us, such as our sense of oneness with the universe and our inner peace and well-being. As we begin to get in touch with this part of ourselves, we will find that our usual everyday troubles and worries become less critical and that we not only have much more room in our lives to really reflect on the issues that mean the most to us, but we are also able bring to all the situations we encounter a much more positive and healthy outlook.

Giving ourselves respite from our daily concerns is like giving a gift to ourselves. By stepping away from the problems that seem to saturate our thoughts, we lessen the weight of our troubles and instead become more receptive to the wisdom and answers the universe has to offer us.

Daily Motivator for March 18th – Successfully being you

Successfully being you

Remind yourself how strong you have been. Consider how strong you can be.

The challenges that face you are real, and not to be taken lightly. Yet you have already worked your way through countless challenges, and you have what it takes to keep moving forward.

Let yourself feel sincere, all-encompassing gratitude for where you are and for what you have. Make the commitment to make positive, purposeful use of the goodness with which you are blessed.

There is much to be done and there is even more that you’re capable of doing. In every moment is the opportunity to create new, fulfilling value.

Look forward, and envision the best possibilities. Step confidently ahead, and feel how good and right it feels to make them come to life.

You are, right now, the most experienced and effective you’ve ever been at successfully being you. Use this day to raise your success to ever higher, more fulfilling levels.

— Ralph Marston

The Daily Motivator

Daily OM for March 18th – A Matter of Priorities

A Matter of Priorities
Letting Go of the Little Stuff

 

When we stop worrying about unimportant matters, we can devote so much more of ourselves to what is truly important.
We experience numerous disappointments each and every day. Our expectations go unmet, our plans are blocked by circumstance, our wishes go unfulfilled, and we discover that our lives are subject to a myriad of forces beyond our conscious control. In some cases, our response is powerful because we must invest ourselves and our resources to overcome genuine hardship. In others, our reactions are far more passionate than our circumstances likely warrant. The tension that permeates our bodies and minds when we are late for an event, interrupted at work, or sitting in traffic is not inappropriate, but it can interfere with our well-being in profound ways. When we stop worrying about relatively unimportant matters, we can be at peace and devote so much more of ourselves to what is truly important.

The small frustrations and irritations wield such power over us because they rob us of the illusion of control. But every problem is a potential teacher—a confusing situation is an opportunity to practice mindfulness, and difficult people provide us with opportunities to display compassion. There is a natural human tendency to invest copious amounts of emotional energy in minor dilemmas and frustrations in order to avoid confronting those more complex issues that are largely outside the realm of our control. The intensity of our response provides us with a temporary sense of personal power that helps us cope with challenges that might otherwise overwhelm us. But it is only when we let the little stuff go that we discover that the big stuff is not really so devastating after all.

In the stress of a singularly tense incident, differentiating between an inconsequential annoyance and a legitimate challenge can seem a monumental task. Ask yourself whether the emotions you are feeling will be as vivid in a year, a day, or even an hour. As focused as you are on this moment in time, your reward for letting go of your emotional investment may be the very happiness and harmony of being whose loss you are lamenting. Needless aggravation is seldom worth the cost it exacts. You cannot distance yourself from life’s inconsistencies, irritations, and upheavals, but you can relinquish your desire for perfect order and gain peace of mind in the process.

Daily OM for March 15 – Acknowledging Our Pain

Acknowledging Our Pain
Rescuing the Rescuer

 

 

Sometimes the motivation to help others may be an extension of a deep desire to heal a wounded part of ourself. 

Some people seem called to help others, often from very early on in their childhoods, responding to the needs of family members, strangers, or animals with a selflessness that is impressive. Often, these people appear to have very few needs of their own, and the focus of their lives is on rescuing, helping, and healing others. While there are a few people who are truly able to sustain this completely giving lifestyle, the vast majority has needs that lie beneath the surface, unmet and often unseen. In these cases, their motivation to help others may be an extension of a deep desire to heal a wounded part of themselves that is starving for the kind of love and attention they dole out to those around them on a daily basis. For any number of reasons, they are unable to give themselves the love they need and so they give it to others. This does not mean that they are not meant to be helping others, but it does mean that they would do well to turn some of that helping energy within.

One problem with the rescuer model is that the individual can get stuck in the role, always living in crisis mode at the expense of inner peace and personal growth. Until the person resolves their own inner dramas, they play them out in their relationships with others, drawn to those who need them and often unable to acknowledge their own needs or get them met. In the worst-case scenario, they enable the other person’s dilemma by not knowing when to stop playing the rescuer and allow the person to figure it out on their own. However, if the rescuer finds the strength to turn within and face the needy aspects of their own psyche, he or she can become a model of empowerment and a true source of healing in the world.

Some signs that you or someone you love may need to rescue the rescuer within are inner burnout from overgiving; underlying resentment; an inability to admit to having needs of one’s own; and an unwillingness to be vulnerable. Help comes when we allow ourselves to admit we need it, acknowledging our humanity and our wholeness by acknowledging our pain. The understanding we gain in the process will naturally inform and inspire our ability to help those in need to do the same.

March 5 – Daily Feast

March 5 – Daily Feast
It is sad when our children have not been able to reply on us to build their self-esteem. The Cherokees call it qa lv quo di. Even those of us that have come a long way have memories that need a loving touch. Parents teach only what they know to teach. But we are not set forever in one direction. We reach an age when we must teach ourselves. We learn to forgive and to understand that when we get to the fork in the road we will know the right way. Why go the wrong way because someone before us did? If our self-esteem has been damaged, feeding it more pity and more ill-treatment is not healing it. Criticism is passed to us the same way blue eyes and dark hair are inherited. But criticism can be changed and replaced with love. This is a decision that changes our lives – and those who follow as well.

~ Civilized people depend too much on man-made printed pages. I turn to the Great Spirit’s book which is the whole of his creation. ~

TATNGA MANI

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

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