Color Your Life

Few people reach adulthood without experiencing devastation. What happens in the aftermath of a negative life-changing event? Some have the resilience to recover over time while others are stuck in a victim mode and never find the path to happiness and peace. Life goes on after something terrible happens. It is up to each of us to find a way to cope and recover.

Rising from the ashes of a relationship, a death, ill health or other deep personal losses takes effort and time. Disintegration and suffering begins a process that may take years to resolve. Grief is an initial response, but prolonged grief becomes pathological and prevents recovery. Hopelessness may be oppressive in dark moments and, like grief, must be fought.

Resilience is the ability to adapt to adversity and stress, ultimately returning to a stable functioning life. During initial stages, counseling can be beneficial, but once identified, the skills must be employed with each day’s dawn. Your personal task is to make positive decisions leading to recovery.

We all have messages spinning in our minds limiting achievements. Negative self-talk can be overcome. A great example is my shy friend whose third-grade teacher told her she couldn’t read. Today, she is a brilliant writer with a Masters in linguistics, but she still hears that negative voice in her head. We must replace negative thoughts with a positive plan. If you have self-sabotaging thoughts telling you “you can’t do it,” replace them with a positive empowering theme.

Create and solidify positive thoughts. Practice them. Add a positive picture, an image to visualize coupled with the positive affirmation that you can succeed.

Silence, sleep and knowledge are key components to empowerment in the transformation from turmoil to personal confidence. If you are constantly connected to the internet and television, your thoughts are being sidetracked and replaced by voices that may be as destructive as the negative thoughts spinning in your brains.

Fighting self-defeat takes a conscious effort to avoid negative influences. Without silence allowing thought and development of personal plans, you are avoiding the work required to make a full recovery

Education is an essential component of empowerment. Find reliable resources to read. Take a class. Base your life on knowledge, not fear. Your attitude can set you free, or it can destroy you.  It is your choice.  Taking the first step in making a positive change is up to you.

Your attitude is like a box of crayons that color your world. Constantly color your picture gray, and your picture will always be bleak. Try adding some bright colors to the picture by including humor, and your picture begins to lighten up. Allen Klein

Betty & Bev