Challenge Of This Week

Are you ready for this weeks challenge? Of course you are. You have been ready for quiet some time now haven't you. This weeks challenge is to...

SMILE!


Now you are looking at this and thinking, well that is not much of a challenge but believe me it is. I want you to smile at EVERYTHING. I am not just talking your smiling at a person as they walk by but also at your daily routines that could have mishaps.

The other day I was in the store. Now I do not believe I have told this but I had an injury a while back that has hurt my back. So I am very cautious when it comes to doing certain activities. However I was not cautious enough or in time for what was about to happen. There I was standing in line waiting patiently. I notice I seem to find the lines that make me wait. Oh well. I am standing there and then it turns to my turn. So I am putting up my items, now I do not know about you but I like to watch the items get rang up so I know I am getting the same price I saw on the shelf. So I am trying to quickly load onto the conveyer belt as the cashier is checking my stuff. I figure I will count it in my head. I finish up and push the cart in front of me and go to pay. When a shooting pain goes down my back. The person behind me was not paying no attention and hit me with their cart. I was about to turn and say something along the lines of "Excuse me, am I invisible." I was only going to say that due to the person not apologizing. Yet my thoughts hit me all at once. As I am thinking away I am slowly finishing up paying and walking to the car. It takes more effort to be kind then it does not to be.

I thought what if the person behind me didn't realize it? Was that person to busy talking to notice? Should I start a fight just because I felt upset? If I did that would make me look just as bad as the person. So instead I walked away and as I walked away I found a penny and then smiled. This may not seem like much but there is a poem I loved growing up about how when you are down a angel will toss down a penny to cheer you up. For the rest of the day I smiled and I had a really nice day. I even got smiles back from other people.

So your challenge is smile. Even if you spill coffee, trip, make a mistake I want you to smile and look out because there may be a pe nny from an angel coming your way in the days to come.

~Keyria Lockheart~

Today is the day that the Lord has made. Let us be glad and rejoice in it!!

Random Challenge: 15

Today all I want you to do is focus on ONE goal. You can choose your own goal. Be realistic with it. After you choose your ONE goal I want you to spend 15MIN. Working on that goal. That's it! Seems simple right?



Lets say your goal is cleaning your room. Take 15 min and pick up all the pieces of garbage you see laying around, or sort through clothes throwing dirty into the hamper and clean onto hangers. Or if your goal is to clean any other room take 15 minutes and work on one area.



Maybe your goal is to save money. Take the next pay check you have and take 15 dollars out of it and put it into a separate account. Do not use that account. But each pay check put 15 dollars into it.



Maybe your goal is to do a vacation trip. You have the money and the time you just haven't sat down and done the budget up. Well today's that day. Take that 15min and start typing or writing. Look up discounts, put money aside for food, hotel, souvenirs. (We like to look for hotels that include free food like breakfast. It helps save that extra bit) Maybe look up package deals.



Maybe your goal is to have 15 min to yourself. Take that time. Go do something for you, or to a secluded area so you can have your alone time



Whatever it may be take 15



~Hugs Keyria~



Today is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalms118:24

Tommy's Story

So what do you do when not everyone can use the same advice you did for overcoming stress to get a goal done? Each person is different in how they stress, why they stress, and what solutions should be taken to cure stress.

Tommy came up to Phillip to ask him a question. Phillip had learned to cope with stress and he wanted to know how he did it. They talked for a bit before Tommy asked “Phillip you have parents that helped you out. What if your parents don’t help you. I mean what if all they do is fight and bicker all day long. They would rather do that then deal with your problems?” Tommy could tell Phillip was taken aback by this. His parents did love him and didn’t fight. Tommy wondered what that must have been like.

You See, Tommy was failing his classes just like Phillip was doing. Only, Tommy had other problems to follow, different ones then Phillip. Tommy came from a broken family. He had an older sister and a younger brother. He was always protecting his younger brother and his older sister was always picking on him.

His parents were always fighting and screaming. It was hard for him to concentrate and his younger brother always wanted to be near him. He knew it was for safety but he hardly had a time to be alone, let alone a time to be quiet. His parents always made him do the chores in the house. His sister would go off do whatever she wanted as she yelled back at her parents. His mother blamed their daughters attitude on the father and the Father would just get up and leave. Tommy learned that he was the one that everyone took things out on. Whenever there was a fight and Tommy was near be got the brunt of things. He had to take care of it, as well as whatever else that was needed.

I am a Cinderella …er Cinderfella he wrote in his journal. I am tired of all this mess. I am tired of the fights, sleepless nights, the attitudes, the tears, the throwing things, the cleaning things. One of these days I am going to go far away from here and never come back. His younger brother walked into the room with a tear down his face. “Come on over” he said. His younger brother sat down next to him saying “My ears are hurting” Tommy reached over and hugged his little brother as he listened to his parents bicker about money. One of these days he thought.

At school things were only worse. His parents had so many teacher parent conferences about their kids grades that they would call them stupid, dumb. The teachers were getting upset that they were not getting passing grades and some of the kids would avoid going near well him. Why does my life have to be like this? He thought as he walked to school one day. He had his little brother hanging on to his every move. He feared of becoming angry like his parents, he feared of hurting his children like they did with him and his siblings. He feared of not being able to get money to leave.

I have to find a way to get money, so that I and my brother can leave here. I need to find away to get out of this mess. I can’t keep having headaches all the time. And Joshy (little brother) needs to see the doctor. Why can’t they become parents? Why can’t they take responsibility? Tommy felt his chest tighten and a hard pain ran through it. He stopped breathing for a second as he grabbed his chest. A few moments later the pain and left. His little brother watched with a scared look on his face “Tommy are you ok?” all Tommy could do was just nod.

What a scary moment!!! Can you imagine having pain going through you? Or having to protect your little brother all the time? Can you imagine having to hear your parents fight all the time or the thought of running away? For some this is all too familiar. There are many things going on in Tommy’s life. I wonder how he is going to handle the stress he has.

Well to find out lets come back tomorrow and see

~Hugs Keyria~

So do not fear for I am with you, Do not tremble for I am the Lord. I will strengthen you and keep you safe and protected. Isaiah 41:10

Phillip's Story conclusion

“Wow These look like the stressors!” Phillip said as he sat down next to his parents. Phillip felt overwhelmed after seeing all his stressors and decided to go ask for help to overcome the stressors and achieve his goals. He figured who best to ask other then his parents. He was sure they would have some great ideas and could help him not to feel so burdened with all his stress and he was right!

Look at what they came up with:

“I am sure there are more I need to write down but these are the main ones I can think of. Me and my parents sat down and found solutions to go along with my goals. This was to cut the stress out of the picture.”

Goals And Solutions

Catch- up work- I have three breaks at school, two breaks and a lunch. The two breaks I will be in the school library playing catch up. (lunch is with Dawn sigh) I will do catch up also 1 hour before bed time. (bed time no later than 11pm)

Balancing foot ball and games- This is going to be the same time as always from 3:30 to 5:30 during down play I will catch up on work

Hang time with friends- Parents and I discussed it supper is now going to be with friends unless I want to come home for supper. This is only allowed until I am fully caught up that this way I don’t have to worry about catching supper at home. How cool is that?

Hang time with Dawn -So from 5:30 to 7:00 it is hanging out with friends and Dawn. I am also having lunch with her at school. Once caught up I will be allowed to be out later and can take her on more dates.

Study – Starts at 7pm sharp and I must study the subject that I will be testing on the next day. To make sure I am paying attention to studing my father is going to study it with me asking questions. This will make my studing not so boring lol.

Unpacking- Father is moving all my boxes into my room closet so all I have to do is unpack. Mother has decided that they are all going into the closet until school is over. Once school is over then I will be allowed to unpack. yay! No nagging to unpack (oh sorry mom) lol.

Phone calls and house warming: If it is a phone call I am allowed only 30 minutes to talk this is so I don’t get stressed from loosing time on catch-up. Later that time will go back to be unlimited (during the summer when there is no school more likely). As far as people coming over to the house I am allowed to talk for 15-30 minutes then I must excuse myself and go start on my school work. Mother said she is going to try and have less people over so I wont be distracted. She said she may even have them come over earlier before I get there.

Fatigue: Father has postpone my working at the factory until I am all caught up. I did like working at the factory but I am glad I am getting more sleep.

Regular homework from the day before- this is to be done right after study time with father and right before catch-up time.

Phillip started his new goals. At first he struggled cause he wanted to hang out more with friends and trying to get his mind to switch from goofing off to studing was a bit harder. But then things started to change. Dawn at lunch time would help him study for tests. His friends would quiz him on tests or they would all work on thier homework together during supper. His grades improved so much that his parents told him they would throw a pizza party for him and his friends. His energy came back and he was less fatigued. In fact he had a better attitude and didnt look at stress as something that could over come him. Instead he looked at it like it was a piece of dirt that could quickly be dusted away with one swipe. Before the school year was over he had time to start up the factory again and to unpack a small bit. He was not sick or sore anymore and was excited to find out he would NOT be going to homeschool.

Amazing enough is that when we look at our goals we notice that we try and get it done ourselves. We focus on the wrong things and never get it done. Phillip did something that I think we all should do. Not only did he make the list but he went to others for help. He got advice.

Phillip was talking to his friend Tommy one day when Tommy said something that made Phillip think. "Phillip you have parents that helped you out. What if your parents only biker and fight and they dont even want to deal with you and your problems?' Phillip was taken back by this. He did have parents that didn't fight and they loved him very much.

So what do you do when not everyone can use the same advice you did for overcoming stress to get a goal done? Each person is different in how they stress, why they stress, and what solutions should be taken to cure stress.

Tommy, was failing his classes just like Phillip. Only Tommy had other problems to follow. Tommy came from a broken family. He had a older sister and a yonger brother. He was always protecting his younger brother and his older sister was always picking on him. He would often hage himself and.......

Guess what my ink ran out lol so I have to finish this story tomorrow :) Come back then to see Tommys story.

(If you like what you are reading or maybe you have something you want me to add or write about send me an email. let me know what your thinking. I look forward to hearing from you)

~Hugs Keyria~


I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. (Psalm 34:4)

Phillps story continued

"For sure I will study today." Phillip went to the library to start and see if he could study but his mind kept wondering off. “Phillip right?” asked brown eyed brunette hair girl. He nodded “Hi I am dawn.” She sat down and they talked through his study time. That was all it took. He really liked her and each time he had free time instead of working on his catch-up he would hang out with her.

For the next few weeks thing kept preventing him from getting his school work done, and the teachers kept adding more work. It kept adding up. There was extra football practices, and the start of games, there was outings with the guys, outings with Dawn (his now girlfriend), There was chores around the house and still had to finish unpacking. Plus his old friends kept calling, and people kept visiting to check out the new home. It was like a house warming every day.
Phillip was getting sick a lot and his body was sore. He was getting lack of sleep due to trying to play catch-up at night which caused him to feel fatigued. Yet he kept pushing himself to keep going. On the day of his first test he was not prepared. He had stayed up all night trying to study but his thoughts were on everything other then what they should have been. Needless to say he failed the first of three tests miserably. The first football game he was so tired he lacked the energy he needed and was not helping the team much. “Where is our team member from practice!!!” the coach yelled at him. He could feel the other players upset with him. Some were trying to figure him out. “This is not you. What is going on?” a few of his members asked him. He just shrugged and went home.

When the principle called his parents and him in the office the next day, he knew he was in trouble. The principle asked if there were problems going on and what the school could do to help. Phillip embarrassed just sat in quiet as the principle and his parents continued to talk back in forth. “Look we just want to make sure that he is going to be able to finish this school year. Right now we are afraid he is not going to pass and may be held back a grade.” Phillip perked up “No!” he said loudly. “Maybe we should have him just finish this year at home and if he isn’t doing better keep him in home school until he is.” His mother said to his dad. “Please No, Mom. Come on Dad you know I can do this. No, I want to be here.” “Well then son, we need to see a big change. You need to be able to finish the goals on your list before goofing off. You said you have been feeling stressed lately right?” His dad asked. Phillip nodded. “Well that comes from you. Had you actually studied, and did the work during the times you were supposed to you would not have to feel so overwhelmed.” After phllip begged saying he would not mess up this time and they would see that big change they talked it out and decided he could finish out this year.” You are getting two days suspension to play catch-up on your work, The principle is being ever kind. That means, no hanging out with friends when they call, No television, no nothing but work.” His dad said as they went to the car. “If your grades are still slipping after you are back in school you will be pulled and put into home studies” his mother pitched in. Phillip nodded.

This was going to be a challenge for him.

How do you think he did? How do you think he coped with stress? What do you suppose he could do to change the situation? What would be your first move?

As soon as Phillip got home he took out a piece of paper and started to write all the problems he was having and the stress he had felt from day one and all his goals he needed to do.

Let’s review he thought


Stresses and how I felt

Starting a new school – Stressful. Because you never know how it will be. Good experiences or bad.
Meeting new friends– Stressful at first. I was nervous but luckily this was changed quickly. I think joining the team helped that
Introducing myself- why do all schools have to do this? Why not the other way around. Where they introduce to the new person. Oh well once it was over with I was fine.
Catch-up work- This is the most stressful. There is so much I had to catch-up. Course had I actually worked on it like I was supposed to I would have been done with it. Well now this is one that I still need to do so this can now be placed under my goals list
Time to balance football practices, and games in – I want to play football but How can I do my work and do football at the same time? I feel torn and stressed. Well I need to move this to goals side that way I can figure out how to fix this
Hang time with friends- I like my friends and I don’t want them to think I am ignoring them when they ask to hang out. When can I have time to go hang out with friends that wont interfere with catch-up work.
Time to spend with Dawn- Favorite time. She makes me laugh. I can’t believe she is in my life. I don’t want to lose her or my time with her. Determined is how I feel with her.
Study time- I usually feel bored with this one. I try to push it off. I cant figure out the point of sitting and rereading the chapters to memorize what is going on. This is slightly different then catch-up cause I am more focused one one subject at hand.
Unpacking- tired of being nagged to have everything in its spot when I have other things that I am to worry about. Enough said.
Phone calls from friends and house warming- excited, Tired, unsure. I feel like I have to entertain when others are over. And I want to tell my friends on the phone everything but it is hard to set a time limit to it.
Fatigue- Lack of sleep. I am always trying to get homework done, catch-up work and then on top of it my mind wonders to other things such as football games, hanging with friends and of course Dawn.

Ok so now I have the review of what my stressors are. Phillip thought. But what should I do next?

To find out come back tomorrow :)

~Hugs Keyria~


You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. (Psalm 32:7-8)

Phillip's Goals and Stress Story

Phillip went to school prepared to face the day. "I can do this." he thought. As he entered the school building, he saw students running around everywhere. He got out his paper that showed him which class to go to first. His hands were a bit shaky but he took a deep breath and let it out slowly telling himself he was going to be ok. He had worried about meeting friends since it was the middle of a school year and most students would have already been settled in with their friends. You see, Phillip was new to the school. His family had just moved into town and was not to sure what to expect. Down the hallway was his first class. He straightened his backpack on his shoulder and headed for it. As he walked in he could feel some of the students staring. Others didn’t care and kept talking. “Class, Settle down. Take your seats” The teacher called. It was good to have familiar rules at each school. Everyone sat and he headed for the seat that didn’t have anyone in it. The teacher saw him and called him back to the front. This was a familiar thing too but not one he enjoyed.

“Introduce yourself and tell us a bit about you.” the teacher said. phillip placed his backpack down and went to the front and told the class a little about himself and where he was before. This continued in each of his classes always the same thing going to the front reintroducing himself to some of the students and others introducing himself. He was not one for giving speeches and used he would shake but he was getting familiar with the patterns of each school.
"Ha, well if I didnt know who I was before I am sure I do now. Having to repeat my life how many times?" he wondered iin his head.

During a break he wondered what it would be like if the class was the one that introduced instead of him. A few guys came over and talked to him that were from the football team. He tossed a ball around with them for a bit before break was over and decided to try out later for the team. However he started to realize his catch-up work was adding up. Even though he had a couple of weeks to play catch-up , he had a lot to do. He was not sure he could handle doing football on top of catching up but he didn’t want to miss out on making friends. So after school he headed into the field putting aside his work.

On the field he had a blast and met a few more good guys. They invited him out to get a bite to eat. Surely that couldn’t hurt he thought. By the time he got home it was 7:30pm his parents were upset because he hadn’t called and he got a talking to for that. He went upstairs to start on his work when he mother yelled for him to come down and get some boxes out of the car and take them to his room. They were still moving stuff in. He ran down and took each box (there was five of them in total) into his room. “Don’t forget to unpack and hang your clothes up tonight.” His mother yelled up to him. “I don’t want to go in there and see it not done. “ He sighed and quickly unpacked his clothes. “Are you hungry? Supper is a bit cold you can reheat it. We didn’t know you were not going to come home until later so we made an early supper. It is in the microwave if you want it.” His mother called up again. “K, Thanks mom” Phillip sighed and pulled his history assignments. He had over five report papers to do, end of the chapter reviews and he would be doing test catch-ups in the next few weeks. So he needed to study. “Son, don’t stay up late. We have to get up early and drive by the store to help Dan.” His father said.
Phillip had forgotten about that. He was supposed to go to a warehouse at five am and help unload truck before school. He looked at the clock it was now 9:30. "Where did the time go? he questioned already knowing the answer. " "In fact if you are not going to eat you should go to bed now.” His dad yelled up at him. “How was your day?”

Phillip sighed again. I can’t study and think while answering all these questions and sleep all at the same time. “It was fine. I am really tired I think I am going to study for a small bit then go to bed” He called down to his parents. “You didn’t study earlier???” his mother questioned. “No, mom I joined the football team” he could hear his father say to his mother “That is my boy” then his father yelled up. “I am proud of you son. You know what you want and you go for it.” He knew the speech that would come next about how when he was younger and in the football teams. So he stopped his father by yelling back. “Night Dad! Night Mom! I will see you bright and early in the morning."

He started to write one of the history papers. He wrote and wrote not paying attention to the time. By the time he was finished with his first draft he looked at the time. 11:30pm. I should go to bed he thought but I think I will just go ahead and do one chapter review in the history book. That one chapter turned into three chapters. He still had quite a few to go but at least those were finished. He was going to lie down and sleep when he looked at the time. 2:00 am. I won’t be able to get up if I sleep now so instead he started another history report. At 4:00 he took a shower to try and help him stay up and 4:15 he was dressed and ready to go. I will take a nap later today he thought. He was a bit proud that he accomplished what he had done in his history work yet he was very tired. He worked at the warehosuse until it was time for school. Then he started another day in school. Almost every teacher assigned another report paper which just added to all the other ones he needed to do. He was having a hard time focusing because of being so tired. He kept yawning and he felt slightly embarrassed when he seen a girl was watching him. During break he leaned against a tree to close his eyes a bit but that was soon interrupted by his new friends telling him to go with them to toss the ball around. At first he said no but they talked him into it. So off he went to play ball. He couldn’t wait for school to be over so he could go home and nap. As he was dreaming of how lovely that nap would feel, he closed his eyes and sat in his last class dreaming and litterly jumped when the bell sounded. He grabbed his stuff and bolted for the door. As Phillip was about to leave his friends called him. “Where are you going?” “Home” He replied as he was almost to the pavement outside. “Football practice!” They reminded him. He debated on saying he could not make it but he knew that you really cant miss any practices or the coach would be upset and think you are not in it to win. Off he trudged to the field with his new friends.

“You ok?” His dad asked as he got home later that afternoon.” Yeah I am just a bit tired. Hey I think I am going to take a nap can you wake me in a hour and a half?” His father smiled and nodded. He went up stairs to his room. And laid down. Two minutes later his mother knockson his door and walks in with a pile of clothes that just went through the washer.” I need you to go take out the trash. How was your day. You look ill are you ok?” “Yes I am ok, I am just tired. Can I take the trash out a bit later?” At first his mother was going to protest but then she looked at him and felt his forehead as if he was sick. “Sure” she walked out of the room. At last peace and quiet he thought. But that was cut short for not more then a second after he laid down and closed his eyes when he heard his mother yelling “Phillip the phone it is for you.” He went out and answered the phone. "Hello?.....Oh Hey!!! It is so good to hear from you..." It was his friend from the town before this one. He talked to him telling him about the new school, all the work he still had to do and about the team and people he met. He got off the phone and it was supper time. After supper he went up stairs and said I am only going to take a thirty minute nap he thought setting his alarm clock. As he fell asleep he started dreaming about being late, to work, late turn in home work, late to getting to football practice, late to getting home.” He woke in a panic and looked at the time. 6:07 am. He had slept the night away.

Can you see what his goals were? Can you see if he was stressing? How can you tell?

His Goals:

Meet new friends - He did this and proceeded to keep up with it by joining the football team
Catch-up homework- We can see him start to try this. He pulled a all nighter to try and get as much don as possible
Unpack- maybe not his highest priority but his mother is not going to let him slack on this goal
Study- of course he hasnt had much time to study other then doing catch-up. Even at that he hast tests coming up in the next few weeks.

Stresses:

Starting a new school
Meeting new friends
Introducing himself in front of others
Catch-up work and new work added
Time to balance football and catchup work together.

How would you feel in this situation? Would you change something differently?

Well this is not the end of phillips story. Nope this is only the beginning so come back tomorrow to see if he finishes his goals or if he lets stress take over and if that is the case what he may do to cope with it.

See you then

~Hugs Keyria~


For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29: 11-

Stress, Goals & Dust Bunnies....What a Combination

Phew!
All the dust bunnies are washed and clean. That was a task. All that havoc they made.

I wont lie at first I became stressed out! I didn’t know if I could handle it. But luckily I was able to round them all up and wash them from dust to dust and make the rust turn into shine. Of course I had some help from friends. How did I cope with the stress doing the job? Well....It wasn't easy that is for sure.

From right to left and left to right,
I raced and caught with all my might.
Sweat poured down my face and I bit my lip
As some of the bunnies gave me a slip.
I twisted and lifted and pulled and yank
The soda bottle I was prying open made me sit with a sank.
Oh the bunnies that is right that is what I was to do.
Catch each one saying "stop that!” and “You are through!"
Of course the laughed and I was stressed out.
My clothes were all dusty, laundry time where is the "Shout"
Back to the bunnies who were here and there
"Dust be gone" I say to all everywhere
Of course they don’t listen but wiggle in glee
A knock at the door... “Now who can that be?”
I look horrid but didn’t care
For I seen a mop and bucket just standing there.
I let them in, with water to drink.
I poured into bucket it came from the sink.
Off they went to my surprise
Catching bunnies and a few house flies.
Relax they said as I calmed down
For soon all the dust bunnies, now washed, headed out of town

How did you do with the challenge I gave you? Did you write down when you found a stress? How it felt? What you were doing?

This is the start of how we cope with stress when doing a job. For when you know the basis of when and how and where the stress may come then you can start to find solutions on how to over come stress. This helps getting stress to be broken down so we can do the job, task and goal at hand.

Stress! The common illness that affect s millions of people, animals and rocks…yes rocks …..ok well maybe not rocks but it affects living life. So how can we cure it?

Each person is different in how they stress, why they stress and what solutions should be taken to cure the stress.

Let’s break stress down a little deeper. We learned that stress is a negative strain on a person. Stress can happen by being mental, emotional, or physical and that it is caused by many reasons. Stress is everywhere. Its over there, over here, up there and around there. Most say you can’t avoid running into it. Well you may not avoid running into it but you can cope with it.

Hmm maybe it would be better to break it down and to understand by viewing a life of someone and that someone is Phillip! Phillip is a student at a new school....well you all know new schools, let alone any school, can be very stressful.

So be prepared to hear Phillips story tomorrow!

Until then have a wonderful day!!

~Hugs Keyria~

I can do anything through Christ Whom gives me strength~ Phillipians 4:13

The Stress Challenge: Instructions (Day 4)

Can you remember the four questions so far? If you said:
Do you sing in the shower? Do you like banna pudding sandwhiches? Is the sky really a dinosaur? and Can you sing while doing a headsand?
Then you may want to go read or reread the past blogs.

However if you said:
Can a carrot dance and sing at the same time.
Then you still need to go reread lol.

The four questions are:

What Symptom did you encountered?
What you were doing before it happened?
What time it was when it occurred?
How long did it last?

Did you get to notice how long a symptom lasted? If so did you realize if it was an actue or a chronic stress?

The next question Has to do with the feelings between you and your stress.

How did you feel before, during and after the encounter?
This is a question to get you aware of your body, emotions and your surroundings.

Take Josh for instant. Josh is a college student in his dorm studying for a final. It is quiet and he is learning a lot. In walks his roommate Jordan. Jordan goes grabs his guitar and starts to play it. At first Josh is a little frustrated because he wants to study and his friend is making noise but then after a while the music drowns away, until that moment when Jordan begins to sing. Josh turns gives Jordan a look to say stop, then goes back to studying. Jordan at this moment smiles and goes to the radio turns it on really loud to be a pain.

Josh turns around now with a higher stress level and more agitated then before. His mind is racing thinking how is he going to study with all this noise and his heart is pounding from his emotions rising. “Will you PLEASE be quieter?” He asks then turns back to his studying. Jordan turns off the radio and sighs heavily waiting for Josh to respond. Josh instead keeps focusing on his studying. So Jordan again sighs heavily. This time he sighs adding a ‘Ho Ho HUM” to the end of it. Josh still ignores his friend as much as he can. By this point josh is not only annoyed but overwhelmed with all the negative thoughts in his head. He is feeling rushed, angry, annoyed, and stressed.

“Hey, you want to hear a joke?” Jordan said “No.:” Josh replies firmly. “Ok, what has three legs, is green, sings with a lisp and eats only pickles?” No response. “do you know?” Jordan persists. Josh says nothing. “Yoo hoo you alive over there?” Still no response. Suddenly the door opens and there is Tristen his other roommate. “You guys will not believe what happened to me today” Josh gets up slams his book shut. Grabs his pencil and notebook, pushes past his roommates and leaves the room. Now with the highest anger he could have. “what’s gotten into him?” Tristen asked? Jordan shrugged.

“Ugggggh. How dare they, cant they see I am studing?” Says Josh to himself as he is walking down the hall towards the library. All the sudden a sharp pain comes upon Josh. He stops. He starts to not be able to breathe. “This is not good” He thinks. “Slow breathing , In and out, in and out” He tells himself. He slowly moves out of the isle to the wall where he leans gently against it. The pain slowly releases. He starts to think about how embarrassed he was. Why did I get so mad? They weren’t trying to be mean to me they were just being their normal selves. As the pain releases he starts to feel relief, a calmness. He then realizes it was his chest that was hurting.

It is a good thing to notice how you are doing throughout each situations. Without knowing you can actually hurt yourself. If you notice you are aware of how you are feeling mentally and phsyically. Well lets break down Josh's feelings

Before:
Josh was studing quietly. So he was on low stress. He may had a small bit of stress since he was studying but it was very low.
This is where things get interesting
Josh’s temper started to rise and caused his heart to pump faster. He became annoyed, upset and angry. He was letting stress take over him.

During:
Soon he was at the peak of anger. Josh's heart was beating so very fast that it caused him to have chest pains and not be able to breathe. The pain was so strong that it made him not be able to focus on where it was on him but instead on the fact that it was there. So he focused on his breathing.

After:
Josh started to calm himself down focusing on breathing he realized the feeling of pain was coming from the chest. He felt relieve as the pain disapeared. He felt embarressed.

Overall: He realized that all this was caused by his actions. Over all he felt anger to calm: a range of opposite emotions. All because of one word: STRESS

Only one question left and that is for tommorow: So make sure you keep your notebooks and pencils ready.

Hugs and Smiles

~Keyria~

Seek God’s will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take~ Proverbs 3:6
You can do anything through Christ who gives you strength ~ Philippians 4:13

The Stress Challenge: Instructions (Day 2)

Yesterday you got the first two questions:
What Symptoms did you encountered? and What were you were doing before it happened?

Are you Ready for the next question?

What time it was when it occurred:
Why would we need to know the time? This seems like an odd question right? Well actually the time that it happens could be a reason for the symptom. The best way to describe this is by looking at allergies. Some have them in the morning others at night. They are consistent to happen during the same time. This is the same as some symptoms.

Sonya was always a very perky person. But during 2pm each day during her History class she would get terrible headaches. These would make it hard to concentrate to the class. She begin to stress major and soon she was failing the class. She didn’t understand. History was her favorite subject yet here she was unable to do the in class assignments and more importantly the tests. However, her homework was always A’s. How can this happen she wondered?

One day the teacher called Sonya to class early to discuss what was going on. She explained that each time she came into the class she would get a headache and not be able to concentrate. She explained that she was stressing a lot and she didn’t understand why this was happening since she loved history. Sonya and the teacher went through options of what it could be that was causing the headaches. They checked the lights but they were the same as in each of the rooms. They checked to see if where she was sitting was causing her to be too far back to where she couldn’t see the board or hear the teacher very well but she was fine with her spot able to read perfectly and understand every word the teacher said. They figured they would find a way for her to catch up later after class, for it was five minutes to start.

Sonya went and sat down as the teacher pulled out a spray can. She started to spray around the room this air freshener and then placed the bottle back into her drawer. Within a few minutes Sonya started to feel her head begin to hurt. Within ten minutes her headache was strong. She suddenly thought could it be the air freshener? She asked the teacher if they can open the windows a small bit cause she thinks she understands why she was getting her headaches. As the time went on Sonya’s headache started to release and she was able to comprehend more. The fresh air was helping break up the air freshener.

It turns out every day her teacher would spray before the kids got there for a pleasant smelling class. Without realizing it that spray was causing Sonya’s headaches. The headaches were causing her to not be able to concentrate very well in class. Without that concentration she was failing which then lead ultimately to Sonya’s stress.

Not such an odd question when we realize that time does make an importance to situations.

Are you ready for question four? Yep you guessed it that will be for tomorrow. So keep those pens and papers handy.

Hugs and Smiles
~Keyria~

Seek God’s will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take~ Proverbs 3:6
You can do anything through Christ who gives you strength ~ Philippians 4:13

The Stress Challenge: Instructions (Day 1)

Wow! Look at all those things on your list! And all of those whether a lot or a little are from stress.
Ok so we have our list and some have a major cause of stress, so what is the next step?

Next step will help you identify your major cause of stress if you don’t know what it is. This step takes a lot of work to stay ALERT and FOCUSED. You will need a notebook and pen on you at ALL TIMES.

Stress Challenge: Starting on Friday, Try keeping a notebook on you for one month writing in it each time you have a symptom of stress. Make sure you answer all the questions I will be giving you in the next few days.

Every time you encounter a symptom I want you answer 6 questions. The first two are:

What Symptom did you encountered:

What you were doing before it happened:

So how does this help?
For one thing most of us do not really focus on what is going on with us. Some of us however are overly aware. Either way this will help us pin point the problem or problems high point of stress. That way later we can look for the solutions.

So why then each one of those questions?
Just like a doctor needs to have all the facts so that he/she can check all the possibilities and find the right cure we must do the same. Imagine going to the doctor and leaving out how many days it happened, or how long it lasted. They may think that this is just a once in a blue moon thing and it is not to be worried about. When in reality this is happening everyday and needs to be checked.

First: What symptom did you encounter?
This question is straight forward and to the point. Did you encounter a racing heart? What about a rash? What about shortness of breath or dizziness? These are things that are very important to know. Write down all symptoms that apply.

Second: What you were doing before it happened:
This question is to find out if maybe it is a certain similarity that may be causing it. Maybe you do a lot of lifting and this is putting stress on your body. Or maybe you are watching a movie that has got you so wrapped in it that you fear as if you were the character in the show. Or maybe you are doing something that is racing your adrenalin. These are all things to be aware of. This is so that if you have the same symptom during the same activities then you learn that maybe that activity is not one that you should be doing or maybe you are doing it wrong. You may want to tone it down.

If you go to the gym and you exercise but you start to get dizzy and short of breath you don’t keep going. Instead you slow down or take a break. This is the same with finding out that it may be an activity, Try slowing it down, taking a break or doing a different activity that is similar but stress free.

So what is the next question I need to write down?

You dont have to be curious for long that will be answered tomorrow. So have your pens and paper prepared.

Hugs and Smiles
~Keyria~

Seek God’s will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take~ Proverbs 3:6
You can do anything through Christ who gives you strength ~ Philippians 4:13

Steps for Stress

So did you figure out what which stress problem happened?

Well unfortunately it wasn’t just one!

His shoulder started to give him discomfort and pain. Then He started to have headache and diarrhea . His lack of sleep came from his negative thoughts of feeling insecure, not being able to do the job, self-doubt feeling low self-worth. He started to feel the anxiety hit and became frustrated when he was not able to comprehend things like before. He was feeling overwhelmed , worried and began to have a speech problem. Then came the tensing after forgetting things he knew. But he really struggled with stress after seeing a skin irritation (stress rash) on his hands and he seemed to be going slower at work. So to him his efficiency at work was lacking the normal energy he once had.

That is quite a bit if you really look at all the problems he was having. Yet he didn’t realize he was having problems he just blamed everything on himself and not realizing that he was having heavy symptoms of STRESS. No one really sees all of what is going on until they take time to focus on each problem.

So let’s see if we can help cure this. As I said yesterday, people will turn to things to help them cope with stress. They push the stress aside and focus on their new project in front of them. Not all of these things will help in fact all it does is shield the problem. It is like throwing a blanket over the mess around your room. The mess is still there but now you can’t see it because you are focusing on the blanket. Or we push all the mess to one side of the room. What will this accomplish? If we stress but cover it up we just create more stress. This becomes a bigger problem.

“The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken” ~ Lloyd Cory

I love that quote. It puts things into perspective. We may not want to deal with our stress so we push it aside thinking it will go away. But until we face the stress, face that mess we placed along the side of the room or under that blanket and remove it piece by piece. It will never go away but keep consuming us.

To get stress out of our lives so we can focus on our goals we must do some actions similar to actions being done for our goals. This is all a step by step process. Just like picking up that mess piece by piece. To make sure that you do get rid of it.

We start by identifying why you are stressing. What is the major cause of it? It could be your Job, Finances, Relationship etc.

Did you find your major cause of stress? Sometimes this is not easy. Only because sometimes we don’t realize we are stressing. So that is when step two and three come into play. This is how the ones who may not know what their major cause is can figure it out.

Just like with goals, Make a list. This is a list of your symptoms.

So your goal for today is to go right down your major cause of stress if you know what it is if not, then just list all the symptoms of stress you have encountered while trying to get a goal done.

Tomorrow we are going to find out what to do with that list.

Until then have a great day

~“Hugs” Keyria~

Seek God’s will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take~ Proverbs 3:6
You can do anything through Christ who gives you strength ~ Philippians 4:13

S.T.R.E.S.S. Is not for Goals

STRESS…ewww another yucky word.

What exactly is Stress?
Stress when looked up is: A cause of strain that is felt by a person whether be emotional, Physical, or Mental. Or as I call it “Surviving The Real Emotions Surrounding Someone.”

Why do we dislike this word?
This word is not just a word but a word with conditions applied to it.

What does that mean?
It means Stress can cause a disturbing affect. Stress can cause many symptoms. Each symptom can be at different levels. Some of these are:

• Headaches (migraines at times)
• Digestive problems
• Soreness all over, muscle tension
• Back/chest pain (almost any pain anywhere)
• Autoimmune disease, Decreased immunity (easy to catch colds, infections and allergies)
• Feel insecure, low self esteem
• Breakdowns, feeling of not being able to cope
• Confusion, hard to make decisions, lack of concentration, trouble understanding or learning new information, hard to communicate
• Memory problems, forgetfulness, unclear
• Lack of humor
• Racing or pounding heart
• Shortness of breath and holding your breath
• Dry mouth, hard to swallow, thirst
• Tightness all over, tense, jaw clenching
• Over react to small things
• Increased minor accidents
• Obsessive or compulsive behavior
• Lack of work productivity and efficiency
• Overly defensive or suspicious
• Lack of interest
• Self Doubt, Low self-esteem
• Overall Change
• Phobias, jumpy, feeling wired • Depression, Sadness, Crying (which can lead to overeating, Obesity and sometimes under eating and/or suicidal thoughts)
• Raised blood pressure
• Skin conditions, rashes, irritations
• Heart Disease and/or heart Palpitations
• Upset stomach, heart burn and Nausea, vomiting
• Sleep problems, Restlessness, insomnia, nightmares
• Worry, racing thoughts
• Anxiety and Panic Attack
• Irritable, anger, outbursts, fustration
• Feeling overwhelmed and/or overloaded
• Negative thoughts and negative self talk, (leads to suicidal thoughts)
• Feeling loneliness or worthlessness
• Mood swings, feeling out of control, fear, guilt, denial, emotional shock
• Lack of energy, lack of motivation
• Sweaty palms, Sweating for no reason
• Butterflies in stomach, Nervousness (which can lead to fidgeting, foot tapping, stuttering, shaking, rapid or mumbled speech or other behaviors)
• Horrid Bowl movement problems like diarrhea, constipation or frequent urination)
• Tired, fatigued, weak, dizzy, light headed

Some will start up addictions to try to overcome stress by using activities to calm themselves or putting their focus on something else. These can include but are not limited to

• Drug use
• Smoking or increased smoking
• Social withdrawal/ isolation
• Physical or mental abuse against yourself
• Use of over the counter drugs
• Controlling
• Gossiping
• Taking up a sport
• Cleaning
• Excessive Exercise
• Blaming others, overly suspicious • Under eating (as mentioned above
• Alcoholic use
• Crying spells
• Over Spending, impuse buys
• Adrenalin rush activities
• Lies and excuses
• Gambling
• Arguing, fighting, Getting violent (getting into conflicts with family, friends, co-workers, others) • Try to take on others problems
• Be someone other then yourself/ personality change

Wow! That is a bit scary when you look at what stress can do to you. Now is it a wonder why having stress can affect your goals?

I have a friend that works in a very fast pace job. He has been working there for many years. His goal is to get his tasks done. He works mainly in the back area where it is usually himself while there are others in the front working with customers. Lately though his job is changing so he is dealing a bit more with the customers then before. This has caused him to stress!

Look at all the things that can happen to him when he stresses. Eeek. Do you want to guess what happened to him?

Well I will tell you tomorrow. Can’t wait to see you then!


~ “Hugs” Keyria~

Seek God’s will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take~ Proverbs 3:6

You can do anything through Christ who gives you strength ~ Philippians 4:13

Stress management

Oh, you didn’t think I was done did you lol. Of course not, Ok so now that we have our start let’s go on a bit. So we decided no more excuses, we are going to think positive from here on out and be patient with our results. We are trying to be realistic and not give in to our pressures. We are making substitutions for our sacrifices and having support from others. We have a long list and broke it into manageable time; we have found the first goal and begun.

Everything seems to be going good. But then ….

Jessica was out on her daily walk. She wanted to lose weight and she figured she was ready. She knew the steps to start her goal and she knew what to do to overcome it or so she thought. She had been doing this since three weeks ago. She started going for walks thirty minutes a day. She was thinking how wonderful it was that she was sticking to it. How great she was feeling. She was very excited. Sure she didn’t see the results but they would surely come in. I just have to be patient she thought. Then a phone call came in. Her walking suddenly came to a halt. “What? How?.... When?...... Where?...... Why?” As she said ok and hung up her eyes suddenly filled with tears. There had been a family emergency for her Father who came down with cancer. She wiped her tears finished her walk though it seemed to take forever. She got home and packed getting ready to go visit her Father and see what exactly needed to be done. You see it was just her and her younger sister who was still in college. Her sister had a lot of things still to do. So it was up to Jessica to step up and take the role of guardian caretaker. Jessica got to her father’s house. He was there instead of the hospital and was refusing to take his medications to help him. He refused all help from any person that was associated with the hospital.

Jessica looked around the house it was a disaster. It looked as if a twister came through and tore up the place. She sighed and started to pick up the dirty clothes lying everywhere. RING. She answered her phone again. This time it was her work saying they couldn’t approver her request to take a few days off to get her father settled because she was the only person not on vacation. “How can this be happening?” she thought. She tried to make a deal but no luck she had to be there. For the next few weeks Jessica started to commute. She went to work then back to her fathers to take care of him, clean his house and keep up on his bills that he had also been lacking to do. Another phone call came in and her sister needed her to sew her costume for the college play. Jessica apologized saying she was too busy but her sister begged and pleaded that she finally gave in. She had extra work on top of all of this reports she needed to finish and hand in each morning to her boss. Soon Jessica had lost track of how many months went by. She started to eat out almost every night bringing the fast food home. She was just too tired to cook. Her exercising was nonexistent. Gone. It had slowly faded without her realizing it.

Instead of realization of her surroundings and situation, she replaced her goal with overwhelming thoughts about what all needed to be done, Stressing about time management, and breaking down every second until she couldn’t take it anymore. There are always going to be things in your life that will slow you down from your goal. Things that you may not be able to control (especially on your own). However we can control our mind set. If we really try to that is. For Jessica that became hard because she became stressed. She let the stress control her to forget her own goals. It took hold of her.

For the next couple of days I would like to talk to you about stress and time management. How you can work around it to accomplish our goals. Stress is not easy to overcome and most of us push it aside and figure we can deal with it later only to realize that it builds and later we are unable to handle it when it decides to surface again. That is when we break down. This can be avoided with the knowledge of time management.

So I will see you tomorrow.

~ “Hugs” Keyria~

Seek God’s will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take~ Proverbs 3:6
You can do anything through Christ who gives you strength ~ Philippians 4:13

Rewarding Passion

Well you have made it this far what could you do next? Only something enjoyable of course.

REWARDS! Everyone love rewards. It is always fun to treat yourself at the end of each goal that you have achieved. Just something small that you enjoy would be a great idea for rewarding yourself. Be reasonable. If you are dieting and you reached your goal wieght I wouldnt go out and buy the most fattening item on a menu. Instead I would proably go to a clothing store and purchase a new clothes item you had always wanted to wear. Alot of people buy bathing suits. Those who save for a car may buy an extra feature that doesnt cost much like a steering wheel cover, or a new cd to play inside the car. Those who achieved getting a degree may enjoy taking a vaccation. It doesn't have to be the most expensive vaccation, instead it could be a one day trip to a place you never visited, or maybe a two day trip to a favorite place of yours just to relax. It is a way to say Thank You to yourself after being so loyal to achieving your goal.

Goals are always with us. Even when we finish we don't just stop what we have learned. If we did people who lost all the wieght would gain it back. No instead we keep doing what we learned. So next comes motivation. Think of ways that we can motivate yourself. These are way to stay passionate about your goals because:

GOALS = PASSION and visa versa

What I mean is: If you had goals and no passion then you would never achieve your goal. For you would not have a want or a thrill to achieve the goal. To have a goal you must have had passion for it. For you don’t make goals without passion. Exp a person wanting to be a photographer would have a goal to be a photographer because that person has a passion for it. A person wanting a car would set a goal and succeed in doing so because they had a passion to get the car. Goals and passion go hand in hand.

Without passion you have no want for a goal. A person who does not like soccer would not set a goal to be a professional soccer player, nor would a person who did not like math would not go into an accounting job. Try not to make goals complex. Let them be something simple and easy that you enjoy.

A big thing to remember is that each goal you set in one way or another represents a healthier YOU. You would not set that goal if you did not want to improve something about you. It could be losing weight, finding a job, getting a dream car or it could be setting a goal to raise money for orphan which you learn to humble yourself. Goals help people see their potential and when accomplished let the person feel great. There is always going to be goals in your life. Don’t get overwhelmed instead just have fun and work on them one at a time. You may be surprised how they can shape who you are. If you have a passion you will succeed more so then if you don’t.

So let’s go over these again:
1) No more excuses
2) Have a change of mind (have discipline and think positive)
3) Be patient (don’t rush) Take the Time to Try the Truth
4) Be realistic, especially when it comes to timing
5) Don’t give up or give into pressure
6) Sacrifice with Passion
7) Make substitutions. (Enjoy the small things)
8) Write a list, break each goal down into time & needs to achieve. Mark off finished goals.
9) Search 4 Solutions and Support
10) Reward yourself
11) Goal = representing a healthier you
12) You fill in this one ;) What did you learn?

Goals= Go Out And Learn (Love) Success

Testimony: I work with God on all my goals. We are always working on a goal in my life to help me improve and be more like Christ. There are many Goals I have achieved with God’s help, from the first job I had to the first place of my own. I have even written a couple of stories and have gotten awards for them. All of this could not be done for me without my Father in Heaven.
~K. Hollon~

I can do all things through Him who gives me strength
~Philippians 4:13~
Seek God’s will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.

~Proverbs 3:6 ~

Sacrificing with Passion

So I know all the rest that you have said what could be more then that?

Even with all the things I have mentioned before you still have another major thing that needs to happen:

SACRIFICE.
Yuck!! Now that is not a word we want to hear.

Why would I say that? Well with each goal there are things needing to be done. For getting a car you must save money. To save means to sacrifice splurging on things such as movies. To get to a certain weight you sacrifice time by going to the gym and certain foods you once ate. But it is not just enough to sacrifice.

You must sacrifice with Passion!!!

What does that mean? Well when people see the word sacrifice they already put on a face saying “Yuck do I have to?” This makes them think of sacrificing in a bad way. When you sacrifice in a way of enjoyment then that is a different story.

An example: Instead of going to the movies, you go out and work on mowing lawns, raking leaves and other yard work for a little bit of cash. As you do these things you find fun ways to keep you thinking of them as chores. Maybe you get to keep the leaves after getting them in a bag then go over to a friend’s house and dump them out for their kids to jump in. Or maybe while you are mowing you sing a song loudly and no one has to plug their ears because they can’t hear you.

You sacrifice your time to get your goal obtain. While sacrificing you have fun. Sacrifice is giving up something you love. This may be the movies, but in the long run you better yourself or that of another.

There are other ways of sacrifice that I would say is more of a substitute. Like instead of going to the movies why not enjoy staying at home watching a movie you haven’t seen in a long time with your friends. Maybe you can make your own movie with a phone camera and place it on you tube seeing how many comments you get. Or use a jar and all the money you find out and about place in that jar. Once you have enough for a movie ticket then treat yourself to the movies (better yet once you have enough for two tickets or more treat you and others). Another example is instead of rushing to become an animal trainer right now, why not work on your own animals and see if they follow your lead. This well help you in the long run to be prepared more.

And how can we prepare ourselves?

By looking up information on our goals, Searching for information online, in books, magazines, even some documentaries may have some information. Youc an go out ask others like your friends, families, others that have the same goals or have succeeded in what you are trying to do. Even doctors may be good to ask on some goals.

With good information and good support (from friends, family, support groups, etc) You will have another step closer to obtaining your goal.

What else can you do? Start by writing a list. Write down your finances, listing the goals you want to set and how long it would take to set them. (remember to be realistic) Then place then into categories. Place you priorities on top. Work on the top one and go down. Do not do more than two goals at once for it will become very overwhelming. It is better if you can just work on one at a time. Put all your focal point into that one area.

Look at each goal you want to reach thoroughly and make sure they are all realistic and can be achieved. Mark them off one by one as you make your way down the list. Make sure you are listing your solutions and supports for each goal. And never be afraid to ask family, friends and others for help.

HELP!!! .... don't forget to be respectful either. For when you are not and you are bossy or pushy others wont help out. They will remember you as being rude and try to avoid. When you are polite and respectful others are more often likely to help out. Then there are even some that will go beyond what most would when helping and may get you to where you want to be. They could even turn into mentors or great contacts.

"Oh, I see. Would you be so kind as to help me on this?" There that is better.

"So what is next???"

That you will find out tomorrow. Until then have a great day!

~Keyria~ :)

Goals ... Changing your Mindset

One of our problems is our mind set. In this day in age you can’t leave the house without there being advertisements, announcements, and more telling you to buy. Most try to use the word SALE for that draws people into the trap.

We can’t get away from buying and spending. It is hard to overlook those signs. However if you think about it after we buy that “Got to have item." "You will be sorry if you miss it." "You won’t be cool if you don’t own it." or "It's a one of kind need to own item.” We place them on a shelf and forget about them as they collect dust. Or maybe we do use that item but only at times and not often enough for it to be useful. We don’t realize that when we die it will be worth nothing to us. It will be a “Don’t need to have, didn’t need to buy item.” Even before we die it loses its pleasure and we want something else bigger and better. Examples: Cars you can’t settle with a older version you need the newest one, Video game systems are always trying to outdo the other and gamers try to buy them all.

Maybe your goal is not to buy something, but it is to do something. So why do you put it off? Is it because you don’t have time? Is it because you don’t have the right items?

“Oh well I was feeling ill” said a boy to his mother when asked why he didn’t clean his room. Even though he said he didn’t feel good he was feeling well enough as he played video games during the time he was supposed to clean. You see it is not that we don’t want the goal to happen we do. Some call it laziness.

I once read a card that said something similar to the following: “I wrote you a long letter the other day but Mr. Wiggles decided he was hungry and ate it. So I rewrote it for you and then I spilled my coffee all over it. Again I wrote you a long letter and then it got lost. So here I have written you three letters why haven’t you written me?” Can you find something consistent with that card? If you guessed EXCUSES you are correct. We would rather not be the ones having to do goals so instead we make up "excuses" to get it out of doing so. It is a lack of responsibility.

Have you looked at how many times you make up an excuse cause you don't want to do something. See how many excuses you can catch yourself in the next week (maybe even a day).

To break the excuses we need to have a change of mindset!!!!!!

Today many view goals as a chore. They see goals as hard work that they just would rather not do. Now I am not saying every goal you set is like this, but most goals that people set are hard to do. Our mind is on what pleasures us more than what will improve us.

For example dieters would rather have that food that is forbidden by diets then to not have it. But they have to change their minds to not want it (Also known as disciplining). Many try to find this by looking in false ways. Hypnosis, mind control, clearing the mind for the soul, and some even try help from psychics. The irony of this is that they have to have an open mind that it will work. That is the same with changing your mindset. You believe instead of it just being words said.

People look for a quick, fast, and easy way to get to their goals. So what is the quick, fast, and easy way for accomplishing a goal? You will just have to wait till tomorrow to find out. :)

Keyria :-)

Reaching 4 Your Goals

How many times have you heard yourself saying “This time I am going to do it. This time I am going to finish what I started.” To once again find yourself repeating your actions before of not finishing what you wanted to do. Amazing everyone has once in their lives done just that. They started a goal to find out that they couldn’t finish. For many it is an ongoing struggle.

Why is that?

Why do we struggle with goals?

Most of us like the idea of the goal, but not the process of getting there, so we push the process in the back of our minds and forget about it.

For example let’s say you have been wanting to buy a new car. We know the way to achieve that goal is to save the money to get the car. However let’s say we are big on watching movies. You may tell yourself ok just this time and then I am going to stop going that way I can save. So we go to the movies this time thinking it will be our last.

Now let’s be honest with ourselves.

Can we really save the money and not go next time? What if our friend comes over and says “Hey I am so excited, that movie we have been waiting to see for four months is now out in theaters tomorrow. It is going to be amazing!” Now do you honestly think you are going to be able to say no to the movie? What about hanging out with your friend? You see there is always going to be another movie waiting around the corner. So are we going to reach our goal of buying that car with this mindset?

(continued tomorrow.... see you then) Keyria :)