Power For Positive Living

Giving My Life A Good Name   Life is a gift that each of us is free to accept with healthy personal decisions or reject the burdens of "the shoulds", imposing "labels" on self and others or seeking to blame our circumstances on other people for the paths we choose.     We are also free to build the personal guidelines or foundations on which we wish to live this gift of life.   We have the individual power to re-decide our foundations if a change is needed to be healthy and happy.   One of the major challenges we each have is to decide the various locations we place ourselves on a continuum of life.   We can value ourselves for just being human at one end through assigning value only for what we do or do not accomplish during our life journey at the other end.   Answering the question of "Who am I?" tells us a great deal about how we personally choose to see this gift of life. 

Old and Still Helpful

There are many ways for us to learn. One of the early ways that most of us discover is through the varied information that books can provide. Even though we now frequently tend to use electronic methods to read, the knowledge presented in a book format can still be most helpful with the many opportunities to acquire information.

In our culture, we may be tempted to discount knowledge contained in books written many years ago. We may follow the belief pitched to us in the commercial world that newer is better. Since so much human behavior tends to remain consistent decade after decade, one can learn much referring to older books that are still insightful.

This podcast introduces five books that have had a significant impact on the Life Journey of the host. A brief introduction to each is offered for your consideration.

We all arrive in this world with a strong need to be touched by other human beings. The amount and type of human touch we receive as children can have a strong impact on our emotional and physical health as we grow into adulthood. Also, as we each age and prepare to depart from this world, this strong need and desire to have touch contact with other humans becomes very evident.

Forgiving Self and Others

The interpersonal difficulties in giving and receiving forgiveness can lead to challenges with our own self-esteem as well as offer win-win/lose-lose interactions with others.   In addition to being heard and understood by another human being, it seems many people are also seeking the behavior of forgiveness.   This forgiving behavior frequently focuses on giving and receiving between individuals.   Mental health professionals often find that the most difficult experience can be to forgive ourselves for some thought, feeling or behavior. 

Truth and lies tend to come in various shades and degrees.  Individuals tend to choose to interact with themselves as well as with others by following personal beliefs, values, beliefs, feelings and behaviors on how they see themselves and their world.

Distortions to Clear Thinking

It appears that almost everyone has some type and degree of distortion when it comes to thinking clearly about a life situation. This podcast has various possibilities to be evaluated. While the temptation may be to eliminate these handicaps, experience teaches us that we are usually more successful when we understand the distortions used in our own personal thinking and how we can learn ways to effectively manage that part of ourselves. None of us is perfect with our thinking or feeling; we generally do the best we can, one day at a time. The opportunity to learn change never seems to end.

 

Self Talk

The methods that we each choose to dialogue with ourselves can have a powerful effect on how we feel, think, and behave each day in our world.   The words that are chosen in our talks with self often frame our attitudes and abilities to view ourselves and others in a positive and healthy manner.    So many words can affect us on our self-image and the way we relate to others.  Examples of small words having a large effect are "if" and "but".   Introspection of our self-talk provides various ways we can understand and frame our choices for living our Life Journey.

Many persons use the terms loneliness and being alone as interchangeable.  The first is missing an emotional connection with the people in one's environment.  The second is not having other humans or living things around self. Being alone is easily changed: add people or pets.  Feelings of loneliness are more difficult to change and are less noticeable to people in our world.

Framing and Personal Secrets   One of the most powerful traits for humans is being able to frame and reframe our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors on a continual basis.   Using the power of choice we are able to determine how we wish to perceive our lives and make changes when circumstances change.   Accepting personal responsibility for our choices can be a continuing life challenge regardless of our age and history.   Even when we freely assist others with our various personal gifts, encouraging others to retain ownership of their life choices is usually a healthier way for both of us.     There are many viewpoints within our society on the type and degree of personal information that is best to share with others.   Usually, the type of relationship and individual values determine our choices ranging from telling another "everything" by saying nothing or very little.   As with other areas of personal growth, each person is free to choose, frame and be responsible for what they do. 

The methods that we each choose to dialogue with ourselves can have a powerful effect on how we feel, think and behave each day in our world.   The words that are chosen in our talks with self often frame our attitudes and abilities to view ourselves and others in a positive and healthy manner.