Hal Stratton's (and Your) Personal Transformation
Life involves stress, even heartache, for all of us. Furthermore, studies of people who are happier than average show that they experience the same number of failures, disappointments and pain as anyone. They are happier not because life treats them differently, but because they use different strategies for dealing with their difficulties, strategies that can be learned and practiced by anyone.
Psychologist Martin Seligman has been able to demonstrate the differences in people who become depressed and those who do not, based on the kinds of attributions people make during difficult experiences. Three critical differences in attribution determine how people experience setbacks, frustrations and failures. [Read more...]
I’ve been writing, recently, about the theme of gratitude as a key to happiness. Not only research but personal experience attest to its value and transforming power. And best of all, it is available to all of us in abundance. All we need to do is train our minds to see the goodness of life.
Here are some quotes on gratitude. Which one speaks most poignantly to you? Why? Let’s enrich each other by leaving a comment explaining why this quote speaks to you, telling us the personal meaning it has for you. Then I want to invite you to memorize it and make it part of your life during the next few weeks. Recall it often. Live its message. [Read more...]
We live, primarily, from one of two attitudes. Scarcity is a perspective of fear and lack. I look at life and see what is missing instead of what is available. My income, work, family, achievements are never enough. Something is always missing.
Abundance is the perspective of love and gratitude. I see what is right in my job, family, income, living environment. I experience wonderment about the gift of life and beauties of the world, my friendships and associations. I see what is rather than what is not. [Read more...]
In my studies of gratitude, I came across this beautiful story told by Maureen Deuterma. [Read more...]
I vividly recall an experience when I lived in Cochabamba, Bolivia (many years ago). My traveling companion and I met a man on a bus who invited us to come to visit his family. We immediately changed our plans and accompanied him to his home. We arrived at a small, adobe-like, two-roomed house. The floors were dirt and the furnishings were few.
Most memorable was the greeting this man (and we) received from his wife and two little boys, about five and three years of age. They boys hollered and jumped up and down as soon as their father walked through the door. Their father picked them up, whirled them around, and gave them both a big squeeze. His wife, preparing dinner in a wood oven, stopped what she was doing, looked at us a little shyly, approached her husband, and gave him a hug. [Read more...]
I recounted in my blog, last week, the story of Elizabeth Smart, the 14-year-old girl kidnapped from her home in the middle of the night and held captive and abused daily for nine months before being freed by law enforcement and returned to her family.
You might recall that I posed a question at the end of the article: What enabled Elizabeth to overcome this horrible experience and move forward with her life? [Read more...]
I’m intrigued by the story of Elizabeth Smart, the 14-year-old girl who was kidnapped from her bedroom in Salt Lake City on June 5, 2002.
The previous evening, Elizabeth’s family attended an award ceremony at Elizabeth’s school. Her father, Ed Smart, locked up the house, as usual, and the family went to bed. In the early morning hours, Brian Mitchell broke into the home and entered the bedroom of Elizabeth and her sister, Mary Katherine. At knife-point, he forced Elizabeth out of bed and down the hallway. Mary Katherine, who had been faking sleep, immediately got out of bed and to tell her parents but froze in fear when she nearly ran into Mitchell and Elizabeth as they looked into her brother’s bedroom. Terrified, Mary Katherine crept back to bed, not daring leave her room for a couple of hours. [Read more...]
Self-acceptance is recognizing that “who I am is okay.” Many people, especially those who are conscientious and internally motivated, have an ideal in mind of who they are supposed to be or what an ideal person is like. Your list may include being intelligent, slim, kind, charming, trustworthy, friendly, young, courageous, frugal, exciting, well-groomed, cheerful, wise, a good conversationalist, witty, loving; the list can go on and on. [Read more...]
Do you know someone who would benefit from my weekly newsletter & blog posts? Please forward this page to others you care about. And now on with the message.
Feeling good about yourself on a consistent basis is only possible if you are willing to experience yourself as the source of your own self esteem. Whenever you allow others to decide your worth, life is an roller coaster ride over which you have little control. Taking that responsibility back gives you the power and freedom to be in charge of your life. Ultimately, no one else can decide for us whether or not you have worth. [Read more...]
