This is a picture of the dry erase board in my kitchen. Each day I write something inspirational or motivational for the kids to start their day with. The kids love it, but it also gives me an opportunity to come up with something really positive too. It really creates a nice positive way to start my day and it sets a nice tone for the rest of the family as well. It’s hard to feel down in the dumps, or gloomy when you start your day looking for something positive to share with the people you love!
So consider mounting a dry erase board in your kitchen and start your days off in a positive way! Incidentally, today’s message about boredom is absolutely true! And with a dry erase board, if your kids get “bored,” then allow them to go find inspirational quotes for you to post in the future! My favorite website for quotes is: www.quotegarden.com. I like to write my own quotes like today’s about boredom, but if I am in a hurry, Quote Garden is an awesome resource!
Start your day off on a positive note, see how it changes your morning moods and Live Inspired Now!
Heather Paris inspires people all over the world to create happier lives through talks, workshops, blog posts, and her book, Live Inspired Now; A Field Guide For Happiness. For more information about transforming your relationship, family, or your life, contact Heather today!
Have you ever felt really angry, frustrated, or irritated and then you ended up lashing out at people because of it? There is a way to have those feelings without causing so much damage and it is really simple. Learn to explain your non-positive feelings instead of expressing them!
Explaining how you feel (in a calm tone) rather than expressing yourself (using elevated tones and body language) makes it more likely that other people will listen and actually hear what you say. How many times have you said something in anger and the other person heard it in a way that was much worse than you intended? Your voice tone and body language are far more influential than the actual words you are saying.
You might yell “I am so irritated by you, why don’t you ever put the lid back on the toothpaste when you’re done?” But what the other person hears is “I hate you, you never do anything right!” It sounds crazy now as you read it, but this is so common! I hear from couples all the time about this. They hear the intention in the voice tone rather than the actual words and it causes bigger problems.
If you choose to explain your non-positive feelings, in a more calm manner, you can get your point across with a better chance of avoiding miscommunications. Try talking about your feelings instead of yelling, screaming, or judging and see how your communication changes! Feel free to express joy, elation, curiosity, and other happy emotions but explain the rest! See how your life, your relationships, and your stress levels change with this easy tip and Live Inspired Now!
Buy “Live Inspired Now; A Field Guide For Happiness” today and get practical inspiration for your happy life!!!
Heather Paris inspires people all over the world to create happier lives through talks, workshops, blog posts, and her book, Live Inspired Now; A Field Guide For Happiness. For more information about transforming your relationship, family, or your life, contact Heather today!
Next time you have a big decision to make, ask yourself something: Will this bring temporary pleasure or long lasting joy?
Sometimes, temporary pleasure is OK. But, often we make large, life changing decisions based on the pleasure we receive in a moment. The comfort or pleasure of having an intimate encounter, or hitting the gas to blow past your friend on the highway, or even the insult you offered that “taught them a lesson.” They may seem insignificant in the moment, but can have a much larger impact after the initial pleasure has worn off.
Think about the decisions you make, opt for the choices that offer long lasting joy. Please have some fun and do things that are pleasurable in the moment, but make sure they don’t come at the expense of your long term dreams or desires. The restraint you show now may yield much greater success and joy in your future!
Consider temporary pleasure vs long lasting joy in your decision making and Live Inspired Now!
Buy “Live Inspired Now; A Field Guide For Happiness” today and get practical inspiration for your happy life!!!
Heather Paris inspires people all over the world to create happier lives through talks, workshops, blog posts, and her book, Live Inspired Now; A Field Guide For Happiness. For more information about transforming your relationship, family, or your life, contact Heather today!
Storms are a natural and normal part of life no matter what climate you live in! The same is true in relationships…. storms are part of life. You can survive the storm if you are properly prepared. Just like making sure you have water, food, and other necessities during a weather storm, you need to know what to do for relationship storms too.
Follow these 4 vital steps to weather your relationship storms:
Awareness: Talk to one another about situations that may cause stress. You may not even realize when you are getting stressed out, so spend some time thinking about it. Maybe the morning rush is the catalyst that causes so many arguments? Or perhaps disagreements about parenting and what type of consequences the children should get? Become fully aware of where and when the storm begins to brew so you can address it.
Action Plan: During stress free times, create an action plan to follow during the storm. Come to an agreement on who has the final say in different scenarios should you come to a stale mate. Perhaps “you” have the final say on parenting consequences, but “I” have the final say on financial decisions. That is not to say that you both don’t have valuable input, it’s just a plan in case you can’t agree. And you will eventually find a situation where you simply cannot agree on what should be done, but you can still agree on a plan that you both created for these types of situations.
Stay The Course: Don’t give up on your plan, you created it for a reason and it will work if you stick to it. After the storm, you can re-visit your action plans and tweak them as needed but during the storm stay on track. Hold on to one another when the boat is rocking especially when the storm is rough! A united crew will save the ship.
Thank Your Crew: You are both “co-captains” of the ship, appreciate and thank one another. Gratitude is the antidote for anger! Celebrate the storm passing by spending time together, loving one another, and deeply appreciating that your relationship is strong enough to weather the storm!
Follow these simply steps to create a relationship that is stronger than any storm and Live Inspired Now!
Buy “Live Inspired Now; A Field Guide For Happiness” today and get practical inspiration for your happy life!!!
Heather Paris inspires people all over the world to create happier lives through talks, workshops, blog posts, and her book, Live Inspired Now; A Field Guide For Happiness. For more information about transforming your relationship, family, or your life, contact Heather today!
It can be challenging when someone you love has anxiety. You might not know what to do, or how to react during their anxiety or panic attack. Everyone is different but here are a few tips to help you cope when someone you care about is dealing with anxiety.
1 Be compassionate: Make an effort to understand where the anxiety is coming from. First of all, know that is not about you, but rather, how they are feeling about a situation. For example, they may have parenting anxiety and get upset when they don’t know what to do about a child that won’t stop crying. Understand that they might be concerned for the child’s safety, it may be rational or irrational, but to them it is very real. Because they can’t stop the child’s crying, they feel overwhelmed and out of control. Trying to understand where the anxiety stems from and realizing it is not about you will help you feel more compassionate toward the person suffering.
2 Resist the urge to engage: Make an effort to avoid getting sucked in. No matter how much someone is stressing out, you have the choice to remain calm. Imagine if the EMT (Emergency Medical Technicians) workers arrived at a car accident and they all started screaming and freaking out; nobody would ever be rescued. Picture yourself as an EMT worker, and you are there to help and remain calm during the crisis. You might not be able to “help” but by remaining calm, you can prevent the situation from becoming worse.
3 Take a deep breath: Simple, I know, but most people forget this in the moment. Find peace in taking nice deep breaths, it will help to keep you grounded and focused.Make sure to breathe deeply enough to make you consciously acknowledge your diaphragm moving.
4 Validate their feelings and offer to help if you can: Say something like “I see that you are upset, how can I help?” or “I see you are struggling, would you like to talk about it?” They may not want your help (and that is OK), but at least you are making an effort to understand and help.
5 Walk away if you need to: If you find that you are unable to avoid reacting, or over-reacting, then simply walk away. Explain later that you had to get away, but it’s better to walk away than to pour gasoline on the fire. Create healthy boundaries, even with people who are very close.
6 Communicate: Give everyone enough time to cool down, then talk about the situation. Talk about how the situation might have been handled differently, and express how you were feeling. You can even talk about creating an action plan for future anxiety attacks. Your loved one might appreciate you just taking a step back and not doing anything when they are anxious. Or they might have a specific phrase that you can say that will let them know you are there for them. Communicate honestly and openly with one another and you will get through anything!
7 Lay your weapons down: Pointing out your loved ones weaknesses will not help them. It can be scary and frustrating when your loved one is having an anxiety or panic attack. However, yelling at them, or judging them will never help them get better. If you want to express your love for them, create a safe place for them to be honest and open with you about what is going on. Encourage them to seek professional help. Offer to be supportive and continue to encourage while they are learning to overcome anxiety. Anxiety is not something you can just “stop doing” or “just focus on something else.” It takes professional help to overcome so encourage your loved one to reach out for help. Note: many people are far more receptive to seeking help from a “life coach” rather than from a “therapist”.
Most of all, do your best. We are not perfect, nor will we always react perfectly when someone we love is in crisis. Don’t beat yourself up about it. Do your best, ask for help if you need it, learn as much as you can, be supportive and kind without compromising yourself, and Live Inspired Now!
Heather Paris inspires people all over the world to create happier lives through talks, workshops, blog posts, and her book, Live Inspired Now; A Field Guide For Happiness. For more information about transforming your relationship, family, or your life, contact Heather today!
