Count Your Blessings

Today I started a taking a water aerobic body flow class. The great thing about water aerobic exercise is that if you are overweight or recovering from an injury or illness that has left you very weak, it is very hard to hurt yourself doing them. The water is supporting your weight instead of your lower limbs so a workout is less painful. The aerobic water exercises are increase muscular stamina and improve cardiovascular fitness in general. It can also help build strength and increase your flexibility. It is the type of exercise where you can work at your own pace. It is also up to you how hard you will work out in the water making it difficult to overdo it. It is also difficult to get overheated as the water is always cooling you off.

After class, a lady started asking me questions about how she can rid herself of depression. After talking a while, I asked her if she knew it was her last day on earth could she count her blessings. This is what she came up with:

1. I would stress less about the little things.
2. I would categorize everything as little things.
3. I would do more to escape from the pain instead of complaining.
4. I would invest the time I lose in unproductive and dangerous thoughts into planning creative outings for myself and for the family.
5. I would worry less about what others think.
6. I would make more time for coffee or tea and phone calls with friends.
7. I would visit my mom and my sisters more.
8. I would eat more dessert and not care as much about my waist line.
9. I would laugh more - make a point to laugh every day.
10. I would publish my journal online every thought I have, no matter how stupid.
11. I would spend more time outdoors.
12. I would eat breakfast with my kids, lunch with husband, and dinner with my family.
13. I would keep a mood chart that would track how I feel from day to day.
14. I would identify some possible triggers for my bad days.
15. I would invest in some friends like a support group that won't tire of me talking.
16. I would say to myself, "There is a better way. Together we can make a difference."
17. I would learn to take baby steps one day at a time.
18. I would learn to live in an attitude of gratitude.
19. I would write a journal so that I could remember my good days and count my blessings more.
20. I would learn to distract myself more so I could turn myself around.
21. I would make a bucket list and do everything I wanted to do.
22. I would make sure I made a list of the reasons I want to live so when I get down, I can pick myself up again.
23. I would thank my Creator each day for another day to live.
24. I would dance to the music.

What would say to count your blessings?

Be Still And Accept The Quiet

Happiness is not a matter of events, it depends upon the tides of the mind. - Alice Meynell

Some people think that waiting is a waste of time. It's a total write-off if you have times of no activity, they feel. I know when I was young, my Mother said, "Idol hands are the devil's workshop." Did you hear that too? What I have learned, is that busying myself can be accepting the quietness. Quieting my mind so it can heal. I feel that quietness is the renewing of me that is needed or the quiet before the storm which enables me to strengthen and be prepared for what lies ahead. Learn to take time to quiet your mind for mind healing.

Whenever I find myself in the mist of peace and tranquility, which seems to be rare. I am thankful. Showing gratitude of small things comes back when I need it the most. There is a lesson to be learned up ahead. Are you willing to learn? What is it that must be learned?

We don't always have the answers. We learn that sometimes acting too fast is the wrong answer and can be worse than no answer. We learn to dance, sometimes following, sometimes leading but always in time with the music. When we wait for the right cue, it becomes beautiful. One, two, wait. One, two, wait. See the beauty of the dance. A storm can blow our way and because we listen and are patient, our quiet time has prepared us to build a sandcastle in the mist of the storm. We are surprised by the ease and grace which we emerge.

In the mist of the hustle and bustle of everyday life, you'll be glad that you opening accepted understanding, peace and tranquility. That the mind healing was begun in quietness and prepared for the storm. Be still and feel your Spirit. Drink in the renewing of your Spirit.

Have a good day! Empower yourself today!

Dancing To Your Heartbeat

Everyone has a little hero within them. How do you feel when a hero comes to town? Pick your favorite hero who was just crowned with their greatest achievement. What happens? Do they have a procession with people dancing and singing their praises. Can you imagine you having that triumph. Picture it in your mind. It is within you.

Don't just sit around acting pious. Don't let depression get you down. Fill your heart with joy and lead others to it. Everyone you meet is affected with what you have. Will you leave them with depression or inspiration. Don't fall into the trap of trying to act respectable. When you feel the strings of life playing your heartsong, I want you to dance to the music. I want you to have a parade and be at the front, with your head held high, dancing with all your might.

Hugs in an attitude of gratitude,

Let Your Heart Dance

Someone once defined joy as peace dancing. Can you relate to that? Imagin a joyful child. See how they dance for joy. Hear the sounds of laughter.

Unlike happiness, joy is not influenced by what 's happening around you. It's an inner assurance that you are the blessed controller of all things. It's a grateful realization that you were given by your Creator . . . an unbounded love that can never be taken away.

When you are dwelling in joy, there will be no room for fear or depression. Your face will wear a new expression. Your head and your heart will know a new serenity. Let go of anger, anxiety, panic and fear. Cultivate a new feeling of joy. Let your peace rise up in joyful dance. Dance to the music you hear in your heart. Let the abundance of joy flow through you.

Lessons for Truth, Justice and Creativity

Within every human being exists an infinite supply of creativity, strength, and fight for justice.
You are capable of more than you know.

Let me tell you about a real life person. Her name is Lynn Boudreaux.

Lynn was born a few minutes after her twin sister Donna on February 4, 1961. Shortly after birth, Lynn was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Doctors told her parents that she would not be able to talk, and she would never be a student in a regular classroom. Her parents were great believers in possibilities. They worked with their daughters. Their Mom was a music teacher. By the time Donna was 3, she was not only talking up a storm but had a thirst for vocabulary. Lynn had a language that only she and Donna could understand. One day, while their Mom was getting breakfast ready, the most beautiful music came out of the piano room.

Their Mom told Donna to get off the piano and come to breakfast. Donna came. The music continued. The Mother looked puzzled at Donna because she knew it was too early for her students, and said, "Who's that playing on the piano?"

Donna went into the piano and said, "Mother get in here, because you're not gonna believe me!"

When the Mom arrived, she dropped her jaw. There sat, Lynn, playing the piano; looked up and smiled. The subconscious mind had listened to the Mother giving the other students lessons and though she had never had one lesson, was able to play the piano. In fact, I believe it was one of Mozart's pieces that one of the students had been practicing for an upcoming recital.

Lynn continued to amaze her family and friends.

When I met Donna, she was a little embarrassed about introducing me to Lynn. Because Donna was so beautiful, every boy wanted her and because of her twin sister, many didn't. Even back them I was trying to be supportive and give her possibilities and empowerment.

I don't know what happened to them. Some people come into to our lives and leave footprints on our hearts. We are touched by everyone we meet. Anyway, I thought of them today and decided to write about it. In loving memory!

Are you a success if you play it safe your whole life and never dare anything unless you are guaranteed victory?

When you set milestones, it is important to set many smaller milestones that coincide with it. Even if you fail to reach your deadline for one milestone, you will still succeed at many, and you will build your confidence to a much higher level. Give yourself empowering reasons for getting up when you feel down.

There is a champion inside YOU.

What can you do that will inspire you to unleash it?

Keep On Keeping On.

Live Your Dreams.

Hugs in an Attitude of Gratitude,

A Strum of the Heartstrings

Bam! The door slammed as Janice stormed out of Darrell's office. Darrell had shot down the proposal, just as Janice had feared. Just like every time before. "Why is he so obsessed with control?" Janice seethed in resentment. "How many times am I going to have to fight this battle?"

Feelings can be powerful disablers when our wishes aren't being realized. Like in this story there was a history that poisoned Janice's unconscious beliefs about her chance to bring about her desires. Until she could become aware that she unintentionally self-sabotaged, she was confused and disappointed by her results and left feeling powerless and angry. Feelings are influenced by our expectations, which are based on our beliefs. If we are experiencing what we want, then we feel happy and life is good. If we are experiencing something that we do NOT want, then we feel that life is dealing us lemons.

What if feelings are directives - self-generated decisions, based upon beliefs that cause what we experience? Like many fundamental truths of life, we often have the cause-effect relationship backwards. We sometimes feel that if we work harder, we'll get a raise; if I love you, you will love me; I would be happy if I had a new ... Sound familiar.

It's easy to understand the fallacy of the first example. To get a raise, you generally need to work harder FIRST. Working is the cause - a raise is the effect. Raises don't cause work. When did you last see someone work harder after getting a raise - beyond a day or two? You may not always get a raise by working harder, but it's highly unlikely you'll get one any other way.

The second example: I'll love you back if you love me first, turns love into a bartering tool. We're afraid of being vulnerable, so we insist that the other person step out on the limb first. Is that really love? Love isn't something we get from another, it's a personal choice to become loving. It's a way of being first, then it's a gift you share. The one who insists that their partner love first is dealing in fear, not love. And even if the partner does express love first, it's unlikely that that love will be felt by the other. Love is born internally (cause) or it's never experienced (effect).

The last example may be the hardest to challenge. I'll be happy when I get what I want. We are surrounded every day by the message that our happiness depends on external circumstances. If we don't have the car we want, the house we want, the clothes we want, the job we want, etc. - if we feel we are lacking whatever we believe causes happiness, we feel unhappy.

Because our life did not meet our wants or expectations, we chose to feel badly. Our feelings are a result of what we tell ourselves it means. Some hide or run away from those feelings, while others take action and change things. In both cases the is reactionary - giving power to the circumstance without understanding that the circumstance is an effect, not a cause. The cause was the combination of expectations, personally-determined meanings, and erroneous beliefs that our quality of life is determined by our circumstances.

If you take power over those feelings and direct your result it is like an artist or writer. You are the artist, life is the canvas. You have the power of the pen to transform your life. Life is your agent fulfilling your commands. Through the thoughts and feelings you choose, you direct life to become. To be what you want. No longer a puppet controlled by someone or at the hands of thoses who would defeat you. You will often feel amazed and manipulated by what you learn. Believe me when I say, you ignited the effect by changing. You have the power to change.

Dream the live you were meant to dream!

The Courage to Find Happiness

Some days are good days, some days are bad days. Have you ever awaken with the dread of getting out of bed? You know it's going to be a bad day. Every nerve in your body is screaming "Bad day! Bad day!" Well, I have.

After my car accident, there were times when I had tossed and turned all night with nightmares, my body ached, I felt the black hole was swallowing me and if I got out of bed I was walking into a dark cloud of fog.

It took courage just to get out of bed, to attempt one more day to find a little something to be happy about. Courage is what you didn't know you had when everything else was saying run.

The Internet was a lifesaver for me. I found lost friends. I got in touch with them on the Internet and made new friends on the Internet. Maybe I couldn't move around much but I could connect a little on the Internet. My friends and my new friends sent me notes, chat, prayers and jokes. It got me to smile and then to laugh. A little here and a little there. Suddenly I felt connected.

Being connected to at least one person during a time of depression is extremely important. Depression hurts because you feel isolated, you want to run and hide, you want to throw the covers over your head and never come out. I know, I've been there.

Other things you can do is to change your routine. Drive a different route to work, switch your right and left hands for everyday activities, eat dessert first, and wear your pajamas to work. Wait, no, that last one will get your family giving you worried looks for sure? So wear a hat to work or out shopping. Probably it will be different and people are nice to you when you wear a hat. I opted for a bright colored one or a big floppy one.

Drink water. If your body is a little dehydrated, it can contribute to your depression. Sodas depeat the body of water. I had to learn to like water too. Now I love it.

Whenever negative thoughts come to mind, try to turn them into to positive thoughts. I'm not saying your problems are over, but simply looking at the world through rose-colored specs means that half your problems will look like exciting challenges, and the other half you'll probably realize aren't problems at all, just the strings of life.

The thing you must do the most is fight to have courage to connect with someone, to try again. Who knows when the next blow could be the blow that vanishes the dragon.

Now get out there and dance like I've said before to be fluid with your body exercises every nerve in your body as all nerves pass through the neck. Connect with the music. Music is to the soul like a bandaid is to a cut. Life's too short not to dance and have fun.

Hugs in an attitude of gratitude.

Am I Blue?

I was reading an article this morning about the Blue Zone. People who live in these areas tend to live longer. Although the Blue Zone is not a physical zone like eastern time zone, it characterized the zone in terms of the people who lived in those areas. They found they tended to huddle together. Makes sense, birds of a feather flock together. One of the most important asset you will every own is your health!

These people tend to eat a healthier life-style by adding more fruits, vegetables and nut (almonds, cashews, walnuts and macadamia nuts). They enjoy the aging process no matter what age they are and interact with others in a relaxed or less stressful way. They find little activities to do all day to keep them busy. They take time to enjoy their sanctuary. Not eating right can contribute to your blues.

Some may think the secret to longevity lies in strenuous physical activity, such as running marathons or triathlons or pumping iron. Four things people can do that can potentially increase life expectancy: Create an environment that encourages physical activity, set up your kitchen in such a way that you're not overeating, cultivate a sense of purpose and surround yourself with the right people.

These are long-term fixes that have been shown over and over to add more years of life to you not life to your years.

Makes sense to me to enjoy life! Have a good day!

Dance To the Music

Some days are good days, some days are bad... sometimes we can be so busy that we forget moving our body is even an option. Some of us remain seated at our computer for hours every day, sit in a chair for hours in pain or rush from task to task with robotic precision. When we are caught up in crossing items off our to-do lists, we tend to neglect all the opportunities there are to enjoy our lives in the process of living. If this is true for you, begin looking for opportunities to move.

Bad days. . . just go for a walk even if it is just indoors and turn yourself around. Put on some music that your heart can't help but jump for joy. It is healing the heart. You might try dancing or moving about freely as you clean your home or in the garden or with your children. Children love to play this! Sorry no country music for this. In dancing, even slow dancing, our bodies adjust, realign and start to become fluid with the rhythm of life. Our mood lifts and we feel more connected with the world around us. Every nerve in our body flows through our neck. So if, we're rigid our bodies become rigid. If we are fluid, we are in a tune with life.

So come on and dance like no one is watching!

The Power of Now

Thoughtful retrospection—either oral or written—can help you focus on life's meaning and prepare for upcoming transitions, while leaving a history for future generations.

Upon reaching their middle and older years, men and women often look back on rewarding and warm moments, touching times, and challenging experiences. By making a conscious decision to contemplate the past, adults can reshape their perceptions and expectations and leave a legacy for other family members.

Looking at accomplishments and unresolved issues, the things that make a person what they are today, comes with the decision to harvest the wisdom of a lifetime and appreciate the lessons learned.

You can relive your happy moments. Have you ever noticed a child as they discover something for the first time? It is completely spellbinding.

Do you have any of those memories? If you do it every day for at least 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes before retiring to bed for 30 days, you will find you will feel better. Your mood will have lifted. Then your mind will start attracting you to similar experiences to make new happy moments.

Why am I telling you this you ask? Because, everything was a great "joy to discover," and there was so much of it to do. Each time, it was so incredible that you were constantly looking to find these discoveries. The power of living in the now is so incredible. Spend some time with a small child, and relive your earliest memories with them and through them. This is the reason I am telling you this.

Recapture the wondrousness of discovery. It is so cool to have the great memories, and to remember the happiness that you felt, and that is the reason to continue to create your future memories, but live in the present. Life is still an awesome thing to discover at any age. Spend some time with a small child so that you can remember how to do it.

Enjoy living in the present. Life is a beautiful thing, don't waste it by living in the past. Your mind will take you to unbelievable moments if you let it.

Have a good day!

Breathe life

For the most, we tend to live in either the past or the future and rarely in the now. We scorn our failures of past and look with anxiety and fear that the future will bring the same, yet we totally forget about right now.

Forget about what happened or what's going to happen. Today, right now, just do your best, be the best you can be. Breathe life into the today. Live it, love it, and enjoy ever second of it.

Don't worry about the past or the future. If you pay attention and live fully in the now both of those will resolve themselves.

If right now is the best time for you to learn, then seize the day, don't put it off.

Activity is Therapy

Research shows us that positive mental exercises can lift depression, even major depression. Some ways to put us in a happier mood: Will Rogers once said, “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”

I know sometimes it feels like ‘I don’t want to do anything.’ A few minutes can turn in to hours, hours turn in to days, weeks, months and even years. So when you feel the darkness coming on, that’s the time to do something.

If we were never depressed, we would not be alive - only physical non-living things don't get depressed. If humans were not capable of depression, we would not be capable of happiness or excitement. Some things were meant to depress us such as death and things related to death. It's a matter of how long and how deep we're depressed. When you examine yourself, take in to account your capacity for depression.

Depression tends to turn us away from doing the ordinary things of life. In doing little things we find inspiration and that is taking control against depression. We must take these baby steps to find inspiration. If, however, we do little things just to fight depression we will only deepen our despair. When our spirit leads us to do something, the moment that we do it, depression vanishes. As soon as we arise, we enter a higher pleateau in life. Try it! Listen and do the little things again.

Little things make a difference. Activity for as little as 10-15 minutes can make a difference.
1.) Try going to a different room to get a drink of water. Take a sip or two of water in each room for 10 minutes. Make a game out of it. Our bodies are made of water and need to be replenished. Movement makes a difference.
2) Go for a 10 minutes walk.
3.) Try 15 minutes of stretching.
4.) Do 10-15 of gardening or painting.
5.) Clean a room or corner for 10 minutes.
6.) Go for a 10 minutes swim.
7.) Find a hobby or group you can join and go do it for at least 10 minutes. There are usually groups that play 42, dominoes, checkers, bingo, etc. or volunteer your time at a retirement home – there are many people there that want someone to play a game with, play the piano, sing, put a puzzle together or just talk to. They are happy to have someone.

Other things you can do to improve your mental state are to eat a good breakfast, avoid negative people and don’t snooze when your alarm goes off in the morning. Get on up! You mentally start your mind on the right track when you do. Positive thoughts increase your immune system as proven by recent research. So whenever you see yourself having a negative thought, try to rephrase it to a positive thought. Make a plan for the next day so you have a reason to get on up.
Reward yourself in the morning for getting up with a special tea, coffee or breakfast treat for getting up. Chart your activities at the end of the day. Count your activities – one point for each activity. See how many points you can get each day. Chart to see your improvement. The only one you are competing with is yourself.

Activity is therapy!

Something To Think About

Some people come into your life and you know right away that they were meant to be there, to serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson, or to help you figure out who you are or who you want to become. You never know who these people may be possibly your roommate, neighbor, professor, long lost friend, lover, or even a complete stranger, but when you lock eyes with them, you know at that very moment they will affect your life in some profound way.

And sometimes things happen to you that may seem horrible, painful, and unfair at first, but in reflection you find that without overcoming those obstacles you would have never realized your potential, strength, willpower, or heart.

Everything happens for a reason. Nothing happens by chance or by means of good luck. Illness, injury, love, lost moments of true greatness, and sheer stupidity all occur to test the limits of your soul. Without these small tests, whatever they may be, life would be like a smoothly paved, straight, flat road to nowhere. It would be safe and comfortable, but dull and utterly pointless.

The people you meet who affect your life, and the success and downfalls you experience, help to create who you are and who you become. Even the bad experiences can be learned from. In fact, they are probably the most poignant and important ones.

If someone hurts you, betrays you, or breaks your heart forgive them, for they have helped you learn about trust and the importance of being cautious to when you open your heart.

If someone loves you, love them back unconditionally, not only because they love you, but because in a way, they are teaching you to love and how to open your heart and eyes to things. Make every day count... Appreciate every moment and take from those moments everything that you possibly can for you may never be able to experience it again.

Talk to people that you have never talked to before, and actually listen. Let yourself fall in love, break free, and set your sights high. Hold your head up because you have every right to. Tell yourself you are a great individual and believe in yourself, for if you don't believe in yourself, it will be hard for others to believe in you.

You can make of your life anything you wish. Create your own life and then go out and live it with absolutely no regrets. Most importantly, if you love someone tell them, for you never know what tomorrow may have in store. And learn a lesson in life each day you live.

Change of Habits

Whenever you have a negative thought see if you can think of solutions. Focusing on the seemingly impossible problems you have in your life will not help you solve them any quicker. It brings you down faster. Watch how quickly a child will try to find a possitive solution. Try to do the same.

Watch some cartoons or read a funny story. Always try to make time in your day to find a way to laugh. Make sure you get your belly to laugh every day.

Listen to music that relaxes you or uplifts you. Giving yourself energy through listening to music you like is an important part of developing your “happy habit”. Music is to the soul like a bandaid is to a cut.

Read or listen tobooks, anything else that inspires you. This will keep your thoughts positive and will help you stray into negativity.

Try to make other people happy. Volunteer to do something for someone else and see how you feel better. In doing something for someone else, you take you mind off your own problems. Doing at least one task each day for the express purpose of making someone else happy will help create and spread your “happy habit”.

Be happy for others in their happiness and don't envy their happiness. It's hard, sometimes to see other people feeling happy if you are not. Instead of feeling envious of them, just feel happy for them. It is great to surround yourself with lucky, fortunate people. Keep positive company around you. If you surround yourself with genuine people with positive attitudes and laughter, you will find that you will catch some of that energy. Joy is contagious, as is laughter.

Focus on your accomplishments and not the things you didn't accomplish, within reason. Focusing on goals you have met will help you develop plans to meet new goals.

Focusing on your goals can be complicated, but with a plan in place to visualize your goals and accomplish them properly, you might find that achieving goals can actually be fun. Of course, many people don't know how to make a plan to meet their goals and, instead, struggle with all of the negative feelings. Don't let negativity break you down. Instead, use your energy to find ways to step towards what you wish to have in life and make it happen.

Have a good day!

Look for the light!

Look for the light! When darkness sets in and you can't seem to find your way look for the light and keep your eye on it! The light will guide you safely thru as long as you keep focus.

There is nothing to gain about what we do not have. If we would have peace, then let us accept ourselves as we are with our own limitations and start from there. History shines with names of people who did this.

We cannot remake ourselves, but do the best we can with what we have. Accept ourselves.
Robert Louis Stevenson never had a well day in his life but he refused to bow down to low spirits and left a rich legacy of literature for future generations.

Helen Keller who was blind refused to face the shadows but instead chose to face the light so the shadows would fall behind her.

Sir Walter Scott was lame but it did not deter him. He accepted it gracefully and his biography reveals an enthusiastic, well-intergrated, radiant being.

There are as many nights as days, and the one is just as long as the other in the year's course. Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word 'happy' would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. - Carl Jung

Life is just one damned thing after another. - Elbert Hubbard

Life is something that happens when you can't get to sleep. - Fran Lebowitz

Life is something that everyone should try at least once. - Henry Tillman

Life is like playing a violin in public and learning the instrument as one goes on. - Sammel Butler

Life isn't fair. It's just fairer than death, that's all. - William Goldman

Life is full of misery, loneliness, and suffering - and it's all over much too soon. - Woody Allen

Life is a zoo in a jungle. - Peter De Vries

Never - never - never give up! Never reduce yourself to a robot. Accept yourself and be on your way!

The fortunes of life are ever-changing so we are called upon to constantly change. Accept and adjust yourself to have peace in your life. Happy people are like that.

Life is still what you make it.

Be good to yourself and keep your eye on the light

You Are Not Alone

Brooke Shields, actress” It seemed to me that I already would never be again happy, as though I am failed in a large black hole”.

Gail Porter“It awfully, awfully, awfully. One and a half years passed, I knew before, that I had depression after births of child “.

Goddard Trish,” A danger threatened me, that I will be deprived children, when I may need conduct five weeks in a psychiatric clinic. There is such variety of depression - depression of smiling man. It is simple something frightful - this was just my case”.

Linda Hamilton, actress“Periods of depression were simply terrible. As though fall in a hatch and can not heave up a lid and get out”.

Melinda Messenger, model” I wanted itself to put to death. I cried constantly. I thought: “As would be healthy, if a motor-car failure happened and I was broken up to death”.

Melanie C, former soloist Spice Girls“I test fear constantly, that depression can return, but I try all doing is correct. I try to sleep enough, because I know that sleep is needed, that it is normal to function, and I must correctly feed and engaged in physical exercises”.

Sarah Lancashire, actress“From 20 to 30 I had the lost years. It is cruel illness, because you can not hide it in any way “.

Ruby Yоrкs,“Depressions are very cyclic, they are one time in five years. When I appeared on television, I was self merriment, it can not be imitated. Depression comes as a plague”.

Richard Dreyfuss, actor“I said a doctor: you will examine me, I not all right, I behave wrong”.

Sinead Okonnor, singerI have a manic-depressive psychosis. A basic symptom was constantly sounding in a head voice which talked, that I put to death itself”.

Jack Di, comic actor “Depression - it that always appeared in my life, but now I learned with it to be celebrated. It is sorry that it did not happen many years ago, because it indeed facilitated my existence”.

Kylie Minougue, singer“At first all be well, and then all of it is suddenly closed. It is sufficient reason for uncertainty and depression. I usually began to cry”.

Cathie Prays (Dzhordan), model“I was complete psychopath. I felt that there is something in me, that I am unable to control”.

Rassel Grant,“It is a labyrinth from chaos. Sometimes gets to the point where already however you, you living or died”.

Nil Lennon, footballer“Feel, as though go on a long dark corridor, and does not know when light will appear”.

Keysha Byukanan, singer“At depression it is possible to enter and go out from depression state, so that is incomprehensible, it passed already or not. Sometimes I began without cause to cry”.

Ben Mudi, musician“I was in terrible depression, I felt a complete unlucky person - as a leader of group, as professional, as man”.

Jim Kerri, actor“I long time sat on prozake. It, maybe, in certain moment showed me out of cork-screw, but some people accept it right through life”.

James Dynes of Bredfild, Manic Street Peachers“I grew into a quite despairing and aggressive man, I could not communicate with people. ”

You are not alone. Thousands of people share your feelings. We can unite to bring about a better tomorrow.

I have a dream that one day I won't hold my breath every time I tell a person that I suffer from depression, that I won't feel shameful in confessing my mental illness.

I have a dream that people won't feel the need to applaud me for my courage on writing and speaking publicly about my disease, because the diagnosis of depression would be understood no differently than that of diabetes, arthritis, or dementia.

I have a dream that the research into genetics of mood disorders will continue to pinpoint specific genes that may predispose individuals and families to depression (like the gene G72/G30, located on chromosome13q), just as specific genes associated with schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder have been located and identified.

I have a dream that brain-imaging technology will continue to advance in discovering what, exactly, is going on inside the brain, that a neurological perspective coupled with a biochemical approach to mental illness will develop targeted treatments: new medication and better response to particular medications--that we can cut out that painful trial-and-error process.

I have a dream depressives won't have to risk their jobs in divulging their condition, that employers will respond more empathetically to the country's more than 8.9 million working depressives, that the general public willbe more educated on mental illness so that it doesn't cost this country more than $44 billion each year (like it does now).

I have a dream that families, friends, and co-workers will show kindness to depressives, not reproach them for not being stronger, for not having enough will power and discipline and incentive to get well, for notsnapping out of it, for not being grateful enough, for not seeing the cup half full, for not controlling their emotions.I have a dream that tabloids and celebrities like Tom Cruise won't lump allegations of Britney Spears' taking antidepressants into the same category as her 24-hour marriage, all-night clubbing, and pantylessphotos--that our world might be more sophisticated and informed than that.

I have a dream that people will no longer use the following terms to describe persons with mental illness: fruity, loony, wacky, nutty, cuckoo, loopy, crazy, wacko, gonzo, nutso, batty, bonkers, ditzy,bananas, and crazy.

I have a dream that spiritual leaders might preach compassion to persons with mental illness, not indict them for not praying hard enough, or in the right way, or often enough, and that judgmental new-age thinkers who blame all illness on blocked energy (in chakras one through seven) might be enlightened to understand that although alternatives may help they do not cure.

I have a dream that health insurance companies will stop serving Satan, and read a medical report every now and then, where they would learn that depression is a legitimate, organic brain disease, and that thosewho suffer from it aren't a bunch of weak, pathetic people who can't cope with life's hard knocks.

I dream that one day depression won't destroy so many marriages and families, that better and faster treatment will work in favor of every form of intimacy.

I have a dream that suicide won't take more lives than traffic accidents, lung disease, or AIDS, that together we can do better to reduce the more than 30,000 suicides that happen annually in the United States, and that communities will lovingly embrace those friends and families of persons who ran out of hope, instead of simply ignoring the tragedy or attaching fault where none should be. That people will protest to stop suicide as more people die from suicide than any war.

I have a dream that one day depression, bipolar disorder, and all kinds of mental illness will lose their stigma, that I won't have to whisper the word "Zoloft" to the pharmacist, that people will be able to have loud conversations in coffee shops about how they treat their depression (in addition to the excellent dialogue we have here on Lighthouse of Halo).

Mostly, I dream about a day when I can wake up and think about coffee first thing in the morning, rather than my mood--is it a serene one, a panicked one, or somewhere in between?--and fretting about whether ornot I'm heading toward the black hole of despair or the shadow of death. I dream that I'll never ever have to go back to that harrowing and lonely place of years ago. That no one else should have to either. But if they do (or if I do), that they not give up hope. Because eventually their tomorrow will be better than their today. And they will be able to dream again too.

I dream of having a glowing vision of the future that helps you tackle the core beliefs about yourself -- such as doubts about your own worthiness for success -- that have held you back until now. So as you peel back the curtains around your core self, you become ready to tap the source of all change and success-self-love, and forgiveness for past failures. Together we can make that dream come true. I'm here for you and you are there for me. Together we help each other. Self-love doesn't happen by luck or the grace of God. You have to create it. These are among the most important elements of it.

* Honoring yourself and who you really are. Love is your birthright. As Teilhard de Chardin said, "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience."

* Telling the highest truth, which is that we are powerful beings capable of creating joy and success or pain and suffering in our lives. We are not destined to be victims. We have the power to choose, and thispower is both the greatest responsibility we have and the greatest opportunity.

* Honoring who you are becoming. Self-love involves recognizing that you are constantly evolving and growing to become a more powerful and more loving being.

* Honoring your feelings and responding to those feelings. Remember, feelings are important signals, and even the so-called negative feelings of anger and fear serve the important purpose of alerting us to theobstacles in our life.

* Recognizing that the universe is literally made of love. "If we will just open ourselves to receive, like flowers opening to the sun, then everything is possible," says Glenda Rice, hypnotherapist and life coach based in Houston, Texas.

When things go wrong or goals don't materialize, most people blame their past, their parents, life in general or God. We are even encouraged to do this by friends and family who are well-meaning. We also devote agreat deal of energy to settling for what is, without recognizing what we can become.

All the great wisdom traditions speak of the unlimited power we have within us. Both quantum physics and psychology offer proof that our thoughts create our reality. Yet, many people strenuously object to the truth that we create our own reality.

Some argue that it's not loving to tell a sick person they had anything to do with creating their illness. Yet, by not owning their power when they are sick, they are consigning themselves to a life of being a victim of any virus or circumstance that comes their way. This powerlessness is the source of most depression, and it leads to more illness and problems such as overeating. However by owning their power, they have the ability to overcome it. I have seen the black hole and I have come back to the light.

It is more honest and even more loving to gently help people recognize the power they have to create their reality, including failures. I have seen one that was in the fog for over 13 years accept the day she decided to be depressed and came back to the light. Once we do that, then we must forgive ourselves for the painful experiences we have previously chosen in our lives. "I don't know all the parts of me that are creating the failed relationships, but I am willing to learn about them."

Only by seeing how in the past we have allowed problems to control us, and forgiving ourselves, can we really change and be free to go forward in life feeling more powerful, able to create the success and happiness we want. We have the right to make the most of what we have. We can't always control what happens but we can control how we react to it.

Forgiveness is not only a form of self-love, it is completely an inside job. First you have to own your mistakes. Here is how.* Imagine a future where you totally love yourself and have totally owned your power.

* Reach for an understanding of why you would choose limitations in your life. We are often taught by family and life experiences that being weak, sick or helpless is the way to get attention or help. Look at your own and other peoples attempts to get acceptance, attention and love. Ask yourself, what was I taught about being lovable? About being powerful and responsible for my life?

* Then forgive yourself for having made mistakes. Imagine how your future self would forgive you for a mistake.

* Then you can consciously create better methods for getting the acceptance, attention, love and success that you want.

Together we can make a difference for guiding the process of forgiveness and empowerment to make our dreams come true.

Hugs in an attitude of gratitude,

Attitude of Gratitude

Gratitude does not need explanation, you know how to be grateful. But did you know that gratitude brings you more of what you appreciate? Gratitude speeds along the manifestation of your desires. Gratitude attracts what we desire.

The universal law of attraction says that we will attract into our life the things we think about and focus on. When you are consciously aware of your blessings, and are grateful for them, you are focusing more clearly on what you do want in your life and are attracting more of those things into your life. Gratitude is a very powerful emotional energy that you must project in the course of manifesting your desires.

When you find things that you appreciate and you use them as your point of focus, your world has to get better in every area of your life. Every time you flood your mind with appreciation or gratitude you attract more of what you desire. Look around you right now.

What can you be grateful for?

Get into the authentic feeling of true gratitude. Find something, anything, to be grateful for right now. Not tomorrow, not next week but now!

When you are grateful, you’re in a high energy vibration that will attract more things to be grateful for and more good things will come to you magically, drawn in by your feelings of gratitude. The emotion of joy attracts conditions of joy. Gratitude sends out the message that you already have what you desire.

You must always at all times think in terms of already having the object of your desire in your physical reality. Along with those thoughts should be the feeling of the most intense gratitude for what you have already received from the universe. Gratitude makes the object of your desires a real, tangible aspect of your own reality, and the more real it is to you the sooner it will manifest into your personal experiential reality.

What Makes You Happy?

Can you name 100 things to make you happy that you can do without money?

OK we're doing this in my group. To learn more about the group go to http://www.lighthouseofhalo.com/

I'll make a list and you can make a list see how many you can think:

1. watch a beautiful sunset.

2. enjoy a chirping bird.

3. talk to a friend

4. write a letter

5. visit a friend

6. see a child smile at you

7. make someone smile

8. wear a hat.

9. take a walk

10. take a walk in the park

11. enjoy sipping your coffee or tea in the early morning sun.

12 write a poem

13 write a song

14 play checkers, dominoes, bingo or some other board game with a friend

15 walk along the beach

16 take a 2 minute time out for yourself (pausing for just a couple of moment to take a deep breath)

17 playing with my dog/cat

18 painting a picture

19 writing a story

20 laughing - each day I try to find something that makes me really laugh

21. spending time doing nothing.

22. volunteering time with a support group

23. Playing dress up and walking around the mall.

24. hearing positive people even if all it is on the Internet

25. Giving good reports about other people.

26. Hearing good reports about me.

27. Reading a good book.

28. watching a good movie

29. Having friends over just for tea.

30. Cleaning a room

31. gardening

32. picking flowers from the garden.

33. picking vegetables from my garden

34. talking to friends on the internet - my best friends are on the internet.

35. fishing

36 just watching the fish swim

37 browsing through a bookstore.

38 Sometimes one of my girlfriends and I will go to the mall and go to the cosmetic area and one of the poor cosmetic salespeople will be dying to give a cosmetic makeover so we oblige the lady. It makes her feel good that she has done something and generally we feel better too.

39. Make a craft item

40. make a card for someone

41. find three things each day that I did well - that I can pat myself on the back. Sometimes it's something I did a long time ago that I am thankful that I did such as having a child or paying off my mortgage.

42 chart my activities and progress.

43. take a bubble bath or hot soak.

44. light scented candles

45. give a friend a back massage.

46. recieve a back massage.

47. listen to music that I enjoy

48. just enjoy what I'm doing

49. dancing to the music

50 singing with the music

51. a feeling of accomplishment

52. stopping to smell the flowers along the walk.

53. walking in the rain

54. swimming

55. riding my horse

56. watching the horses.

57. being appreciated

58. seeing the sunrise

59. watching the clouds

60. watching the stars.

61. That spark of inspiration that comes when you are creating something.

62. just get on up and do something

63. giving and receiving a hug

64. finding inspirational sayings

65. Starting a new project

66. Completion of a project

67. setting goals.

68. accomplishing goals.

69. raking the leaves

70. playing in the snow

71 exercising - any kind of movement! If all you can do is move your little finger, then move it

72. Getting someone's attention

73. practice breathing and posture

74. counting my blessings each night before I go to sleep

75. Being thankful for what I have

76. visiting someone at a resthome or retirement home. Most of the time they are happy to see any one that will spend a little time with them.

77. doing yoga or tia chi - yes you can learn on the Internet

78. being needed

79. hearing the words "I love you"

80 saying the words " I love you"

81. Seeing my Grandparents and/or parents

82. sitting around a warm fire

83. Acting like Alvin and the Chipmunks

84. Singing a song. I don't care if you can carry a tune if your heart wants to sing, then release it. Just get somewhere and let the song burst forth.

85. Talking to one of the people at a retail counter. Most of the time they are happy to have someone to talk to because they are stuck in one spot all day so if they are not busy and someone stops to talk for a while it brightens their day.

86. Crossword puzzles. There is one everyday in the newspaper or there are some online.

87. Learning a new word every day. You can find the word of the day on Google or for added fun try learning a new word a day in another language like Spanish on Google also.

88. Playing bridge or other card games. There are places online and there are activity centers that get together to play to keep you busy. If you can't find one, start one. You are not alone. There are others just like you waiting for someone to help them.

89. Can you finish this now. Let me see how many ideas we can come up.

Today is tomorrow's opportunity

The dreams of yesterday are the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow. With each step we take we move forward to our dream of yesterday. Without that movement we cannot have hope and the reality of our dream will not come to pass. The movement however small the progress is most important for it is the key that we are alive and are progressing. As long as we keep moving we will reach our destiny. It's not how fast we accomplish our task but that we keep moving toward our goal as long as it takes. Do whatever it takes and our dreams become our reality.

Are you one of those people who spend your present dwelling on the past? The past is becoming too important to you. You're avoiding the present, emphasizing past failures, indulge in guilt. None of this living with past hurts or what you perceive to be an insult is helpful. Evening the score isn't helpful either, because it is permitting the past to dictate the future.

The present, the now, the in-the-moment, gets lost. The present is mostly used as a reminder of past injuries or failures. You then react to things that occur to you in the present as if you were in the past. If you're thinking about things "past" in your mind, that past can then dictate your reactions here in the present.

When your thinking is about the past, that is your point of reference, and whoever you're dealing with has a big problem because you're not seeing or hearing him accurately. Instead, you're hearing echoes from the past. Those echoes carry pain in your mind and justify your attacks in the present in return for a past no one else sees and for whom it doesn't exist. Do you see how the past can dictate your future? Think of all the opportunities you could be missing out on.

Here's an example of something that happened to me just a few months ago. My family decided to meet at a small, local Chinese restaurant to eat dinner. We went in separate cars and my younger daughter was in my car with me.

Just as each of you has done hundreds of times, we were making small talk, and were pretty much oblivious to everything around us. As we parked the car, a minivan zoomed into the parking space next to mine, slammed on his brakes, got out and started walking toward the restaurant. He parked so close to my car I literally could not get out of the car. I quickly asked him to move the car before he went into the restaurant since I couldn't get out the driver's door. I said it nice, honest. (I remember I wanted to be a smart aleck about it, but I held back).

He walked back to his car, yelled something to me about it wouldn't have been so tight if I had parked in the space correctly then, as he pulled away his side view mirror hit my mirror and he zoomed back into the parking spot. Now I wanted to knock him out. My daughter, sweet little thing that she is, was encouraging me to knock him out. But I'm too old to be fighting. I'm a lover, not a fighter, or at least I hope so. We walked into the restaurant and, of course, we told the rest of the family what happened. Ironically, they knew who we were talking about because they saw him storm into the restaurant and, in their words "He was nasty to his wife."

It's a harmless example, but the point is that he was obviously living in the past. I'm not sure what had caused him to become angry. His past almost dictated an ass whipping. (I am smaller than he was. Dynamite comes in small packages! )

That's just an example to get you to look at your own situation so you don't make mistakes like that. Think of the times when you overreacted because your son left dirty underwear on the floor or your daughter left wet towels on the bathroom floor. You are reacting to something he's done in the past perhaps dozens of times and that something was upsetting to you.

If he had left his underwear on the floor dozens of times before, then you have to improve your parenting skills. You might be yelling at him about it, but there have obviously not been any consequences for it. Kids respond marvelously to consequences.

Let me give you another perspective. There's a company called Centerpointe Research which does a wonderful job of teaching people different techniques for avoiding problems like this. They will tell you that when you have a conversation with someone, you should come from nothing.

When I first heard them talking about communicating from nothing I thought, "Whoa, I'm paying for this?" Then I started to get it and I hope, in light of the above discussion, it makes sense to you. Come from nothing. In other words, don't assume anything and don't bring past history into this current episode. This is not easy to do, but once you get the hang of it, you'd be amazed at how much you were missing. We usually go into conversations with an agenda or a prejudice - some point we want to make, or information we want to get.

Try having a conversation with someone without trying to be right, without an agenda, without assuming you know what they want. In the beginning, you won't be able to do this easily, but if you'll just try it in one conversation, you'll sense the difference immediately as something very positive. And then you can do it more and more often. Once you get it, it's the beginning of listening. It's also a big step toward giving up living in the past and living in the present. Once you can let go of perceived insults, when you live in the present, you get to create your future. The past no longer dictating your future.

Being happy is a choice. Today is yesterday's problem. We can't dwell on yesterday. There is nothing we can do to change it. So I do not need to worry about it. The only choice I have is to live one day at a time and that gives me my future. Today is tomorrow's opportunity. If I choose to be happy now, then I must do the thing that makes me happy. Choose to be happy, find inner peace and happiness and you will have a better tomorrow.

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