I sincerely apologize for my absence of late - I have been experiencing some major family emergencies and have had my plate rather full between those occurrences and homework/classes, and so anything related to my being on the computer has suffered drawbacks.

Thank you for your patience, your time, and your attention. I hope to write an actual blog again by this weekend.

Many blessings wished on your behalf,
~Laura

Be childish! This one is definitely amongst my top three for those which I constantly employ and which I enjoy using most (along with smiling and laughing ^_^).  Now, when I say childish... I don't mean immature; many, many negative results can come from immaturity. Retain the tact and knowledge which comes with age, but regress in certain aspects back to how you were when you were younger, or how children are; really, if you dont' want to be childish, then be like a youthful 100 year old. Did you ever notice that, once people get to their fullest degrees of life - that is, 80s, 90s, 100s - they start to act again as children? Not just the people who struggle with Alzheimer's or senility, but in general as people hit that age and conquer their final life crisis (according to the views of Erik Erikson) and branch toward Integrity. They become AWEful - everything is a simple pleasure, and they see all the beauty that most of us in the teens to our early senior years ignore. Have you ever noticed how optimistic children are? We like to discredit it as merely lack of knowledge about things going on in the world, but I guarantee you that children know quite a lot of these events - most are aware of the economic issues, of war, of death, of murder, et cetera. So, then, why do they despair so much less than we who have breached the gap into adulthood? The most simple answer that can be given is that "They love and live." Four words. Why can't we love and live as children do? We look past every little thing  we see that does not help us in some way, serve our current purposes, seem openly amazing... yet how many of these things are, in fact, utterly beautiful and inspiring? How many of us have looked past the flower growing in the crack of the sidewalk, or even purposely stepped on or removed it? That flower is a show of how we can conquer even the most difficult barriers and obstacles to achieve our goals, if we just keep reaching toward the sun. Children can look at a cloud and see rabbits and boats and all sorts of marvelous things - but their sight is no different, what they are looking at is no different; the WAY that they see is different.

I'm leaving this part at just this main idea, actually, and I will likely expand further upon it in days to come - because I feel it is one of the best ways to brighten each and every day of your life, and furthermore to lead others to see things in a brighter light, as well.

I would like to close with an anecdote ( I don't remember the author, I just heard it once and memorized it ):

A little girl stood by the side of a street, pointing toward the clouds. "Look," she shouted happily, "an angel!" Passersby laughed at her, and said, "What a foolish child - that is merely a cloud." How marvelous it would be to see angels where only clouds float, how terrible to see only clouds where angels fly.

I think I'll stick with the two techniques per "Part" - sound good?

In my previous blog, I covered both considering looking beyond one's self and considering sources of comments. I would like to begin this blog by addressing one of my favourite techniques: Smiling.
Smiling has long been recognized in psychology as a good way to manipulate one aspect of feeling to elicit a desired response - that is, for example, controlling an emotion to affect some stress-related pain, or manipulating some physical aspect to affect emotion; of course, in the case of smiling, we are experiencing the latter. We have found, in recent times, that the old adage "Laughter is the best medicine" isn't so far off base; laughter and smiling actually produce various chemicals within the brain, which can significantly alter our moods - for the better! Plus, everyone looks more beautiful wearing a smile. :3

Furthermore, I would like to cover another of my favourite techniques: Acceptance.
Now, I don't mean that you can't strive for more, or that you must entertain harmful or unfulfilling circumstances - but acceptance is a large part of being happy.

Accepting others. Accepting others is not only something which helps others to know that they are loved, and helps yourself to practice living outside fo your own concerns, but actually helps others to learn to do the same in return - and then you realize you're loved, too! Such a simple, circular motion - and beginning said motion is simple, as well: just know that we're human. If you have flaws (and we all do, don't pretend you're exempt :P), don't you want to know that you can approach someone as you are, without having to pretend you are some elite, perfect being? In accepting others - flaws included - you grant yourself that freedom; by allowing someone to be open to you, both with their strengths and their weaknesses, you show them that you acknowledge that they are human but do not judge them negatively for it - and here the circular nature reveals itself, because then that person can recognize others as humans as well, and can relate to the person's shortcomings, regardless of how different the fields of said shortcomings are.

Accepting yourself. Tied into the aforementioned nature of Accepting Others, we must acknowledge that, as humans, we are imperfect. In fact, we would be inhuman if we were perfect, so we would actually be imperfect in our perfection. Regardless, the real point here is that we cannot hold ourselves to unrealistic ideals; I, personally, had a lot of trouble with this task. Something I discovered, though, is that I needed to heed the word of the person who was most directly involved in the situation; for example, if my boyfriend was unconcerned with something I thought I NEEDED to be a "good girlfriend," and he thought that I was already a good girlfriend, why would I heed whatever ideal I was entertaining and stress myself over reaching said ideal if the person whose opinion is most related to the situation sees it as unnecessary? We are, in our nature, our own worst critics - we feel that, since we are more aware of our thoughts, our mistakes, etc, that we know best how we "stack up" against others - but what about the fact that we don't know the "thoughts, mistakes, etc" of those others? Compare yourself solely to your ideals - and make sure that your ideals are fair and attainable. If you are under a significant amount of stress, do not expect to perform at the same level as you would if you were doing something completely free of stress. Accept yourself as you are, and strive to be the best that YOU can be - not what you think is "perfect" as an ideal.

Accepting change. Another matter of acceptance is accepting that there are some things that we cannot change - be it a matter of never being able to change them (i.e., our lives at this stage will eventually end), or simply a matter of not being able to change them at this point in time (i.e., wanting to be able to buy something but still working on saving money for it). The fact of the matter is, some things are simply beyond our control; my father's health is extremely poor - he has battled cancer four times, and this, his fourth time, is proving to be his last. I am, of course, immensely concerned for him - but I do not worry. Worry causes no good and plenty of ill; many physical effects can actually result from extensive worry. You may wonder why I speak of concern positively and worry negatively - it is most simply described as follows: worry is a reactive emotion - you are taking no initiative, and you are causing yourself ill whilst you take this ineffective stance; on the other hand, concern is proactive - it is generally associated with action in an attempt to remedy or allay a situation or issue, rather than simply mourning the problem's existence. We must learn to accept things as they come; the best thing I could say is to trust that things happen for a reason, and that what's meant to be will find it's way.


Thank you again for your time! Remember, you are loved.

Hi! ^_^ I'd like to share some techniques I've gleaned (and practiced, too ^_^) over several years - techniques for that which is most crucial to our success in all realms: internal, self-created happiness.

By self created, I don't mean "with focus on the self" - I mean, rather, the ability to maintain your own happiness regardless of whatever life may toss our way.

With that said, we come to our first technique:
Look past yourself. When we become too caught up in ourselves as individuals, we can actually create a negative effect upon ourselves. If we are primarily focused with solely our own happiness and interests, we can begin to be so wrapped up in recognition or in material possessions that we might lose sight of that which truly satisfies us. It has been supported by numerous psychological studies that the most common underlying theme in those persons whose Life Satisfaction scores are highest is actually strong relationships with others; now, perhaps I have simply had an odd series of experiences regarding this, but I've never as of yet seen someone who is egoistic actually forming lasting or even true relationships with others.

Of course we have to trust ourselves sometimes - and this is when another technique comes into play:
Be cautious of whose opinions you choose to value most highly. In quite a few cases, it is very important to listen to the word of an external source of appraisal - for example, if you were trying to determine if a description of yourself was accurate, you may seek to have a trusted person who knows you well review and comment upon said description; this is because, in some cases, we simply cannot form a clear image all on our own. We are all human - mistakes can be made, even with the best of intentions. Regardless, I am not focusing this technique on when you should request the council of others - rather, I would like to address the matter of from whom you should request such council, and why.
When we ask the opinions of others, we are presenting ourselves in a highly vulnerable state; for this reason, we should always be considerate of the person to whom we are speaking. Ask yourself: does this person know me well? does this person know about whatever I am inquiring of? do I respect this person? and other such questions, as I'm sure you can further develop on your own.
What, however, of those cases in which unsolicited advice or opinions are presented? We should ask ourselves the same questions! We needn't follow this current trend of attempting to fit into a mold created by another being - whether it is society as a whole or an individual person; if an individual is attempting to change us, we must be cautious as to what the motive for the comment is. If the person is someone we trust, in whom we feel we could confide - someone whose values we respect and admire - then, by all means, we should at least acknowledge their view and consider it with an open mind. On the other hand, if the comment seems to be arising without grounds, or from jealousy or spite, then we must consider if possibly the person is simply misdirecting anger; we should never change unless it is something we feel is a benefit both for ourselves and for those whom we love. Know that you are beautiful, just as you are - regardless of what media tells you, or what other people tell you; as a person, as a creature, as an entity, you are beautiful.

I have plenty more to share - but I think I'll put these as "installments," so to speak - thank you for your time, and, as always, know that you are loved. :3