How To Be More Patient – 5 Tips

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If you are working on a big project, are following through with action steps toward your goals, or when you are in need of
change that just does not seem to happen, you need patience. Patience in those hard times is often a hard thing to have, yet with the practice of the following 5 steps, you can be patient, even during those trying times.

Goodbye Worries Mediation CD

1. Examine your schedule. Are your expectations for when things are to be done realistic? Have you given yourself enough time to truly finish the task at hand (or have given others enough time to follow through)? If you adjust your schedule to a more realistic approach, anger and frustration often disappear on their own. I can understand, wanting to set tight deadlines, but there is only so much work that can be truly done within a certain time frame. Be mindful of that, when you set your schedule.
2. Make those deadlines concrete. Once you know that you have arranged your schedule to a workable timeline, stick with it. Work on only the projects that need your attention now, and are to be completed first, rather than going back and forth between ideas. Even if it might seem at times tedious work to do, to take action steps on the same project every day, you will get more done in the long run.
3. Recognize the partial wins and celebrate them. Instead of waiting for the project or projects to be completed, allow yourself some celebratory moments for milestones within that project. Not only will that reinforce your patience to make it all the way to the end, but it also shows you how much you have already accomplished, a feeling that can give you the continued motivation to stick with your goal
4. Allow yourself some time during the day where you can rest – may it be by drinking a cup of tea, or going for a walk, or meditating. Clearing your mind not only will give you a better perspective on the tasks at hand, you will feel more refreshed, and ready to concentrate efficiently on your project
5. Use affirmations – either memorize or write them on a little index card that you can take with you in your purse or pocket.
Affirmations repeated often can have a stress-reducing effect, especially when you feel that you are about to loose your patience.
Try the following affirmations or write your own:

• I choose to be patient with and kind to myself today
• My patience is an attribute
• I have much patience and understandingI possess deep patience
• I now have the patience I’ve admired in others
• Today I stay patient through all things
• I have patience to spare
• I find the time to be patient today
• I am the epitome of patience
• I am patient with myself and others today
• I am patient with allowing myself to forgive myself
• I am patient with my lack of patience
• I remain patient in all areas of my life today

Source: The Book of Affirmations (Sharon Elaine)

Adult Coloring Book For Relaxation

Extra tip: Try some adult coloring books as a relaxation and stress-reduction tool:

Adult Coloring Book: Relaxation Templates for Meditation and Calming (Volume 1)

 

Have a wonderful day!

 

4 Health Reasons You Should Add A Pet To Your Life

Having a pet changes many aspects of your life. I purposely did not write “own” a pet, because most pet owners can tell you that most likely you are owned by them, rather than the other way around, especially if you have a cat in the family.

But did you know that pets can also affect your overall health?

Here are a list of 4 ways a pet has a positive affect on your health:

1.According to Dr. Silke Wechsung of the University of Bonn, Germany, simply being close to a dog can have a lowering effect on your pulse rate, which is a sign of relaxation. Instantly, the overall well being begins to improve, no matter what happened before the contact with the animal.

2.She also suggests that active engagement with your pet, via play, stops negative self-talk, by interrupting and redirecting it. This is especially helpful for someone who suffers from depression, and has a hard time disconnecting from negative train of thought without an outside influence, preventing spirals into even deeper depression.

3. It brings needed structure into a daily routine. Especially older people, people who live by themselves and suffer from that loneliness, or have depression, creating a positive structure can have a very positive affect on their overall health. A pet, no matter which type, forces the individual to create and follow a routine, no matter what.

4. Dog walks, having to take your pet outside no matter what the weather is like, also strengthens the immune system, according to Dr. Wechsung. Regular outdoor exercise with your dog, becomes a preventive health measure.

If you are considering to add a pet to your family, please always consider getting a pet from a shelter. There are hundreds of animals waiting for a home, and to give back to you, by being your companion and healthy support.

Thank you.

Check Out This Great Dog Bed From Our Affiliate ActiveDogToys.com 

 

Disclaimer: The above post contained affiliate links to ActiveDogToys.com – see Disclosure Page for Details

40 Things That Make Me Happy – And Why You Should Make a Happiness List, Too

There are times in our lives when trying to remember those little things we usually enjoy, becomes a difficult feat. May it be, because we experienced loss, are suffering from depression, going through marital problems or have financial trouble, a list of things that make us happy, can remind us of what we have, and help us for a moment to create a more hopeful state of mind to work from.

Here are 40 Things That Make Me Happy  – No Matter What

1. Hugs from my kids
2. The excitement of my dogs, when I get home
3. Coffee
4. Thumbprint cookies
5. Great, fresh bread
6. the scent of rain
7. Ducks upon a pond
8. the sound of a horse breathing
9. Drama television shows
10. a good romance novel
11. getting a text message from a friend
12. online banking
13. blog groups and link ups
14. taking pictures
15. designing/creating/working on a piece of my art
16. warm socks
17. flannel sheets
18. hibiscus tea
19. the sound of birds in the trees
20. spring time
21. black and white photography
22. inspirational quotes
23. flowers
24. the theater
25. a fresh, new notebook to fill with ideas
26. typing “The End” after a long short story, or a book
27. Jared Leto (yes, I am weird, lol)
28. being “cleaned” by my cat
29. A comfortable sofa
30. Nutella
31. a smooth-writing pen
32. Irish Dance
33. traveling
34. German chocolate
35. strawberry cheesecake
36. Happy Endings in stories
37. thick, white snow
38. trees
39. squirrels eating peanuts
40. my dog barking in her sleep

What do you have on your list? Why not create your own post and share it with us in the comment section below!

 

Check out the following journals for your gratitude and happiness lists:

Flower Power, Ivy by Sophie Gamand
from: Redbubble

Nine by fioski
from: Redbubble

Caterpiano by Jorge Lopez
from: Redbubble

Masks

Masks by Claudia H. Blanton

Hide

your colorful masks
empty of real expression
hide the pain inside

 

We all pretend. Sometimes in social media, this pretend leaves me with a feeling of disconnect. I don’t mean that we purposely pretend to be someone else we are not. I do not believe that. But because social media and blogging (as well as art and writing) can leave the creator vulnerable, we hide behind our masks of our own creation.

How much should we share? How will what we share affect those we love, and how does the parts that we do choose to show influence what others think of us?

Many bloggers choose to share quite a bit about their lives. Cautiously, they write about their depression, struggles, obstacles and dreams. This raw openness takes courage. Artists and writers do the same, through their creation and stories – even if it is not as recognizable at first glance as it is in the platform of a blog about someone’s life. The message and vulnerability is the same.

It is that what attracts me to those creatives, and the fact that the opposite is often the truth in social media channels and that pushes me away. Where is the real person behind the twitter feed, the emotion behind that snarky comment, or seemingly open attitude? We get snippets, not stories, little glimpses of masks, rather than the true person behind.

It is not to say that we should share more, indeed I think that sharing more on those open platforms can be too dangerous to consider it. Yet, I miss that more and more today. And within that lies my love/hate relationship with social media.

Question: What parts of yourself do you share openly on social media, and which ones do you choose to hide? Is that a concious decision you make, or is it an instinctive holding back?

“Masks” is available on RedBubble as a canvas print, poster or a framed art piece.

 

This blog post is a part of the following blog hops:

Elizabeth And Co Link Party

Together On Tuesdays

What Are You Doing? Blog Hop

Amaze Me Blog Hop

Share With Me

Moving Forward – A Haiku

“Sadness” Cell phone case by Avalon Media
http://goo.gl/lCmfHg

 

bitter-sweet memory
letting go off yesterday
no time to look back

Copyright Claudia H. Blanton 2015

 

Depression – A Haiku

beautiful morning,
I fear its possibility
another dream gone

Copyright Claudia H. Blanton 2015

Fate – A Flash Fiction

In my hands lays the power of fate, the fate of all in our society.
A move of my pen, and someone lives or dies, falls in love or will never find the connection they search for.
I did not ask for this job, just as much as those who’s lives I control did not ask for me to be in charge.
While some might enjoy this power, I abhor the role of the Seer.
Watching those whom used to be my friends play at the edge of the shore, I sit at my desk alone, grasping for the glimmer of hope, that one day, a new Seer would be chosen and my torture would end.

Copyright Claudia H. Blanton 2014

This post was inspired by the Flash Fiction prompt “Glimmer” and the writing challenge “Hindsight is 20-20”. 

 

Lost In Depression – A Haiku

a deep void reaches
the darkness hidden within
sorrow overwhelms

Copyright Claudia H. Blanton 2014