Christmas is time to look forward with excitement for the vast majority of the population no matter whether you are religious or not. The New Year is often used to consider what new successes and goals a person wants to aim for. All in all, Christmas and New Year can be a very positive and uplifting time.
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With the stress that has become the part and parcel of our life today, it has become imperative for us to know how to be happy. It can be easily achieved by a simple smile. The old adage, Smile and the world smiles with you holds true even today. Or it may touch us through our relationships and love of work. Anything that gives us comfort or pleasure will teach us how to be happy.
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As the nature of our lives evolves and changes we are constantly looking for ways to improve our creativity and production. This is not a new challenge but one that has taken a sudden sense of urgency, especially in the modern business world. One of the strategies for doing this is to step out of our daily routines, block out the world and focus on our 'inner selves'. 'Getting away from it all' has taken on new meaning and relevance in our stress-filled hurried lives.
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I first heard this elegant phrase - "move off your point of view and establish a viewing point - from friend and colleague Thomas Crum. He uses it to describe what happens when I move from a positional stance in a conflict and begin to look at what my partner sees, feels, and believes - a visual and kinesthetic metaphor so easily understood in theory yet so hard to do when we know we're right.
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I've been happily reading Margaret Wheatley again recently. Her writing settles me. Her style is poetic and her content is, in my view, sublime. For example, from her book Finding Our Way.
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We are into the New Year! And I received my first text message before 7:00am this morning! The sender tells me that she is unhappy with her current job and wants to resign. I am reminded that the beginning of a New Year is just a very common time for people to feel the New Year blues. Doctors have warned of depression or anxiety brought on by the New Year.
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What would you have done in the following circumstance? Here's a scenario a client of mine told me about. She wasn't happy with the way she'd handled it and wanted my input.
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Isn't pot supposed to make you mellow, chill, laid back? Well, it does. That's right it does. The only problem is that it only does that for some of the people, some of the time. Other times and for other people it does just the opposite!
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At many classes I teach I am asked this question: "How can I stop my mind?" Instead of focusing on stopping the activity of the mind, I encourage people to redirect the energy of their mind to help them gain rather than deplete energy.
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All of us face challenges and problems in our day to day lives, whether work related, family issues, or simply the noisy neighbors. We each react differently to these challenges, but for some of us the pressure can mount and eventually lead to stress. For those of us who struggle with stress, the effect that it can have on our minds and bodies is very serious and it's vital to find a solution.
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