Poor Walter's Almanac

The reason why there are so many people who are unhappy, angry, anxious, depressed, frustrated, and unfulfilled is because they have failed to apply THREE KEY PRINCIPLES in all aspects of their lives. Truth. Compassion. Calm.

The answer should be "No." We forgive others for our own peace of mind, regardless of whether people are sorry or not, apologize or not, etc. We forgive others to release our anger, our resentments, our judgments, our sense of victimhood. Our forgiveness is unconditional. It does not depend on the offender doing anything. We forgive because it is in OUR best interests to do so.

I saw a photo of a woman hunter with a big smile on her face standing in front of a giraffe she had just murdered. It made me literally cry to see the pride and joy on her face. It is a sickness of the soul that one would get pleasure out of snuffing out the life of another animal who is innocent and unable to protect itself from such heartless savagery. The giraffe is now on the endangered species list because of soulless idiots like that woman. We need to defend those who are weaker than us, rather than dominate and destroy them.

Do you wait till you're about to go to sleep to start worrying and scaring yourself over the difficult, anxiety-provoking issues in your life? If so, STOP IT! I don't mean you should stop worrying, that's okay, worrying can be helpful, but not before bedtime. Put aside a time earlier in the evening to worry about stuff and then when it's time to go to bed you won't have to keep yourself up worrying because you already did it! It works. Takes practice. It can be done. Personal growth is a matter of developing good habits. And so is mental health.

Social Anxiety Disorder is a condition of extreme anxiety related to meeting new people and being around people, the fear being that you will say or do something that will appear incredibly foolish and embarrassing. Rather than get proper treatment, you tend to avoid people and co-exist with your discomfort and happiness. But it doesn't have to be that way. There are techniques for decreasing the anxiety, de-sensitizing yourself, and increasing your self-esteem and confidence.

There are times when we need to take action, to be aggressive, to make our case, to stake our claim. And then there are times when it is best to not take action, to hold our tongue, to wait and see, to not expose our hand, to not act impulsively. There is great wisdom in knowing when to do which.

To hate anything Is a mistake. Hate reduces clarity, increases impulsivity, and blocks the flow of wisdom from your Higher Self

Set boundaries. Validate, then counterpoint. Choose your battles. Everything is love or a call for love. Do you want to be right or happy? Anger hurts, forgiveness heals. Treat others as you wish to be treated.

Many of us stay in relationships way too long, way past the point where there is any real hope that things will change for the better and provide us with the satisfying, sustainable relationship that we desire. It is often the fear of loneliness that keeps us in the relationship. Perhaps the dread of having to start the process over again of searching for and finding a loving partner. As the red flags in the relationship pile up, we sweep them under the rug. Perhaps we have outbursts of anger on a regular basis. Perhaps we have resentments simmering below the surface. Either way, we're not happy. And perhaps we could be if we chose to cut our losses and move on. Not an easy decision to make but perhaps a worthwhile one in the long run.

We can get depressed because it runs in our family. We can get depressed because our family was dysfunctional and we developed insecurity and low self-esteem. We can get depressed because of our job, our health, our relationships. Medications may help. Talk Therapy may help. Taking action may help. Despite the tremendous fatigue, lack of interest, lack of motivation and drive, and feelings of hopelessness and helplessness that can come with depression, if we take action, if we force ourselves to do one thing each day to move our lives to a better place, it can have a significant impact on our depression and speed up our recovery.