Tag Archives: Smile

10 Ways to Improve Your Day

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While I’m in Charleston, South Carolina, this week participating in and presenting a couple of workshops, I thought I would share a few of my favorite blogs.

This one is from the fabulous Kristin Barton Cuthriell.

  • Smile at everyone you meet.
  • Write down at least two things that you are grateful for today.
  • Do something physical. (Get rid of the excuses. My friend who works out regularly will be running three miles, while my aunt who has had a stroke, will be sitting in a chair doing her foot exercises. One is not more difficult than the other. They both will be pushing themselves appropriately. What can you do?)
  • Drink plenty of water.
  • Do something nice for someone else. (This does not have to be time-consuming. Sometimes it does not take a whole lot of effort to improve someone else’s day.)
  • Plan something that you will look forward to doing. (An evening walk, a dinner out, a vacation.)
  • Set and accomplish a goal. (Yes, accomplishing this list definitely counts.)
  • When you become upset or frustrated, remember that whatever it is that is bothering you may not matter next year, next month, or even tomorrow.
  • Pray
  • Take at least fifteen minutes to do something that you find relaxing. (Observing nature, talking a walk, meditating, taking a warm bath, listening to music….)

Let go of bitterness today and let life in.

Kristin Barton Cuthriell, M.Ed, MSW, LCSW

Kristin is a licensed psychotherapist and educator currently working in private practice, counseling individuals, couples, and families. She utilizes a hope based cognitive behavior approach to therapy and other empirically validated treatments to help individuals suffering from depression, anxiety, relationship issues, and difficult life transitions. Prior to entering the mental health field, Kristin spent a decade teaching first, third, and sixth grades. She received a BA in Education from Virginia Tech and went on to earn her Master’s in Education and her Master’s in Social Work. Kristin also enjoys speaking and writing and is currently working on a book designed to help people live more fulfilling lives.

You can read her blog at http://letlifeinpractices.com/

What’s There to Celebrate?

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It was almost exactly a year ago that I decided to become a Certified Professional Coach (CPC) and began exploring what that commitment would look like. I selected the most rigorous and challenging program I could find (a minimum of 9 months and 350 hours) and set out to achieve that goal.

Yesterday I received notice from the Institute for Profession Excellence in Coaching (iPEC) that I had passed my oral exam and am now a CPC. As I look back, it has been an incredible year of personal and professional development that was more challenging and rewarding than I could have imagined.

The release and satisfaction that I feel at having successfully achieved this goal is awesome!

So while I still have a week’s worth of intense work to complete my second certification as an Energy Leadership Assessment Index-Master Practitioner, I am giving myself permission this weekend to relax and enjoy my success.

And I encourage you to do the same. Give yourself permission to relax, smile, laugh, and enjoy this weekend—and your life. Celebrate your success, whatever that may be. Pay attention to the connection between lightening up emotionally and physically.

Together we can do it!

Wellness Tip of the Weekend

Aside

Wellness Tip of the Weekend: Give yourself permission to relax, smile, laugh, and enjoy. There is a connection between lightening up emotionally and physically.

Who Do You Want to Be for the Holidays?

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Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in doing, particularly this time of year. Shopping, wrapping, decorating, cooking, holiday cards, etc., etc.—there’s so much to do to make the holidays special for everyone else.

But what about you? Are you feeling the Happy, Merry, and Jolly? Chances are, not so much.

It’s easy to be so focused on the to-do list that we forget to be. We buy in to the idea that our value is demonstrated by what we do, and we forget that who we are being is so much more important.

Just ask yourself if your family would rather have that extra decoration, another batch of cookies, or even that extra gift, or if they would rather have you truly present, relaxed, smiling, engaged, and laughing?

If you have been going in overdrive to get everything done and as a result have been eating poorly, cutting back on sleep, skipping exercise, and are feeling the stress, how likely are you going to show up over the holidays being who you are meant to be? It’s more likely that you’ll be short-tempered, anxious, and miss most of the fun.

I think that’s been the most important reminder for me as I’ve struggled with having to let go of doing while recuperating from surgery. My ah-ha moment came yesterday when I remembered that my purpose in life is not to do something in particular, it’s to be the fullest and broadest embodiment of who I am.

No one else in the world can be you. You are unique. No one else has had the exact same experiences, or perceives things in exactly the same way. The gift that you bring to the world is who you are.

How can you rethink your to-do list? What are your priorities and what can you let go of? What do you need to do to remember the true value that you bring to the holidays?

Together we can do it!

 

Photo by Suat Eman / FreeDigitalPhotos.net