Polly Campbell's Blog, page 20

Using the Power of Suggestion for Success and Happiness

In a few weeks I’ll be headed for a vacation in a tropical locale that has a poolside bar and drinks with little umbrellas in them. There will be palm trees swaying behind the beach chairs where I intend to plant myself. Thinking about all this makes me feel pretty good. I expect to have a good time.  And, that suggestion alone is one of the factors that will insure it.

When it is suggested to us  — through our own personal thoughts or the statement by another person – that things are going to go well, we tend to plan, prepare and otherwise do the things (even unconsciously) that will insure things do in fact will go well.

Course, when bad outcomes are suggested, we generally get those things too. The Terrible Two’s, may in fact be terrible because that is what you expect. The anticipation that a medical procedure will be painful, is bound to hurt a lot more than if you remind yourself it won’t be a big deal. A work meeting will be more boring if you’ve been told by others that the meetings are always lame.

But we can use the power of suggestion to create success and happiness rather than the opposite.

Here are four ways to do it:

1. Become conscious. This is good advice for just about anything. But as is with so many things, awareness is required to help us identify the suggestions that are coming our way in the first place. If you are not aware of the messages you’re sending or receiving from others it’s tough to counteract what you hear or to make conscious choices to adopt more positive scenarios. Tune into what’s going on around you. Get curious about it and the suggestions that are influencing you will be easier to spot. Also, notice what you hear or see the next time you decide to do something. Notice the response and pay attention to those suggestions that are most helpful.

2. Suggest helpful thoughts. Instead of letting the internal tape run amok, deliberately suggest positive outcomes and expectations to yourself. Seriously, people, you can choose your thoughts so choose helpful ones.

“I’ve heard  this is bad” will get you much different results than “I can handle this.”

“I’m not good at interviews” is different than “I’m going to do my best and have fun with this.”

Simply by making a helpful suggestion you increase your chances of success and feel better along the way.

3. Choose positive, direct language. Sometimes even when our intent is to develop a more positive action plan, we use words that inadvertently sabotage our success.

For example: “It can’t be that bad” is more likely to lead to more negative outcomes than a statement like “I’ve got this.” While both imply the same thing – that you will get through it – one uses more positive language – to fire up the suggestion of something good.

Get clear, be positive, and use the suggestion as a pep talk to help you move toward better outcomes.

4. Act on the suggestion. After choosing a powerful suggestion take one baby step toward it. Much of what we do, we do without awareness, but consider how powerful it is to take conscious directed action toward what you want. It’s just super-charges the power of suggestion.

So suggest the outcome you want, and begin expecting that, then take a step toward the outcome.

Remember, whether you are aware of it or not, the influence of suggestion is always working.

If you expect something to happen – if someone or something suggests to you a specific outcome – your expectations of that outcome play a major role in its occurrence. The suggestion alone is enough to alter your behavior (often unconsciously) and that is often enough to make it reality.

 

 

The Suggestion of Happiness

How happy do you expect to be?

The answer to that question could have a major influence on how happy you feel.

A team of scientists led by Robb Rutledge from the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, found that while our in-the-moment happiness levels are  influenced by activities, events, and outcomes our expectations for those events, contribute to our happiness before they even occur.

For example, simply booking the exotic vacation you’ve been looking forward will leave you feeling happy long before you ever wind up on the tropical island.

We have a real shot at happiness by simply expecting to be happy, according to Rutledge.

Suggesting Happiness

It’s no surprise that the suggestion or expectation of happiness might lead us there. Deliberate suggestion has long been shown to impact our moods, behavior, healing, and even our memory, according to psychological scientists Maryanne Garry, Robert Michael and Irving Kirsch.

The reason, they say, is attributable to something called “Response Expectancies.” The way we anticipate our response to a situation influences how we will actually respond.

In other words, once you expect something to happen, your behaviors, thoughts, and reactions will actually contribute to making that expectation occur.

If you book that trip, schedule the wedding, or plan the party you probably have some reasonable expectations that you will have fun and things will go well – which boosts your in-the-moment happiness.

Then, you automatically set about planning the wedding or preparing for the trip in a way that gives you a greater chance of having a fabulous event.

The suggestion of a good time (it’s unlikely someone would plan an event doomed to fail) inspires you to plan and prepare in a way that insures that you have a good time.

Practicing Happiness

Yet you don’t need to make big plans to find moments of happiness and joy in the middle of your daily life. Instead, you can adopt some in the-moment habits — that will help you feel happier now and leave you with the suggestion of future happiness.

Gratitude is one of those on-the-go practices that can leave you feeling better no matter what kind of drama is going on.

Tip: Stop, take a deep breath and give thanks aloud for one thing you notice in this moment right now – your breath, the beautiful tree outside your window, the warmth of your coat, the comfort of your home – then pause to allow the feelings of gratitude to emerge.

The practice of savoring can also inspire a quick and lingering sense of happiness. It requires you to pause for about a minute (at least) and to become aware of your experience. To notice it and find the amazing within it and pause long enough to enjoy all that.

Tip: Using all of your senses, seek out something interesting or inspiring in the natural world outside your window – a spider’s web, the way the snow balances on a limb, the leaves blowing, the shadows on the sidewalk — and marvel at this element. Absorb it. Identify the emotions you experience from noticing this thing and sit with them for about 30 seconds.

These practices allow you to tune in to the experience in the moment. To disconnect from what isn’t working and notice what is. And, even in the mix of challenge or frustration they help me to find the awe and beauty and joy that exists there too.

If you regularly take on the habit of gratitude and savoring, I suggest you’ll feel happier, not only right now, but for the days to come.

 

portions of this post also appeared in a psychcentral.com article by Polly Campbell

 

Image by  Erin Cairney White. She  uses mixed media – acrylic paints, gelatos and a variety of papers, inks and stamps to create her work from her Snohomish, Washington studio.

Can Gratitude Help You Lose Weight?

Image by Erin Cairney White

Happy Thanksgiving! Love a holiday that’s geared toward noticing the goodness in our lives.

But, alas, it’s also about eating.

Before you freak over the cream in the mashed potatoes and sugar in the pumpkin pie, here’s a little-known fact about gratitude the makes it even more awesome — it helps us with self-control and that can help us lose weight and even make smarter money decisions.

According to researchers at Northeastern University, gratitude reduces the impatience that can cause us to make poor choices a la eating two servings of potatoes (because we are hungry in the moment) when one works just as well.

When we practice gratitude we tend to slow down, become more patient and less selfish. All that helps us make better decisions, so that we are less likely to make an impulse buy or serve up on too many sides, too soon.

How to Practice Gratitude

Put your practice in place now with these three tips:

1. Name three things you are grateful for – go small if you have to — the breath in your body, fresh water to drink, the home that you live in, the device you are reading this on.

2. Feel the emotion of appreciation and gratitude for those three things.

3. Then consider the cause of them.

See that? Gratitude practice is easy-peasy and you don’t have to wait until Thanksgiving to give it a go. Do this daily, all year round, and not only will life feel just a little easier, but you might just make it through the holiday meal without needing to loosen your belt.

 

**portions of this post appeared previously in Imperfect Spirituality

Let Go of Holiday Drama

You’ve probably started the grocery shopping. Ordered the turkey and picked up the Brussels sprouts, which your sister will remind you, she hates. You’ve planned the table décor and invited the guests and soon you’ll vacuum the floor while praying that the kids don’t track wet and rotting leaves across it before guests arrive.

You’ll spend time getting excited for the festivities, perhaps. And feeling grateful for the people and food you’ll enjoy. Grateful for the goodness in your life.

Then, if you’re anything like me, you’ll start freaking just a bit at the thought of all that there is to do, and all the people and personalities that will bear witness while you work to do it all without splashing gravy on your only good blouse.

But this year, I’m aiming to replace the side of stress by surrendering to the joys and quirks and curiosities and gratitude that makes the holiday great, or at least memorable.

Just Let it Go

Let it Go. This mantra isn’t just for Disney movies anymore, it can work for you whenever you need to remember to lighten up, stop the fight, give up the worry, and smile when your mom looks at you and says “Honey, weren’t you going to wear some lipstick today?”

So often the stress and drama we experience during the holidays and other times of the year are self-created. Products of impossible, self-imposed expectations and mental musings about what others are thinking or doing or implying when all anybody really wants to know is when will dessert be served.

So, pour yourself a glass of red and follow these tips to to enjoy the holiday.

Go with the Flow

Now, there may be plenty of good reasons not to celebrate certain individuals – so don’t invite those people. But, if you have opted in by extending invitations to family members and friends or by accepting an invitation to join others, then be prepared to go with the flow.

This doesn’t mean nodding and laughing off  crude jokes or endorsing the bad behavior of others, but it does mean not taking it personally. Thanksgiving Dinner is not the time to fix family issues that have persisted for decades.

If you chose to share the day with these people, then don’t judge them or the  experience. Just observe it as though you are an archaeologist searching for insight as to how these little Homo Sapiens can cram so much food down in a single meal or as to why the centerpiece is so big that no one can see over it.

Just let go. Let go of all that the drama, the judgment, the criticism and  choose peace, and kindness and gratitude.

Let Go Of…

1. Your opinion. You don’t need to have one. Engage with others. Be open to new ideas. Grateful for those who have come and the food and festive time you share. You don’t have to judge as good or bad or happy or difficult or easy.

You can simply observe, accept the moment as it is and get curious about the entire experience.

If your sister brings a casserole that isn’t all that, you need not offer an opinion. If your dad mentions he liked your hair better when you were 12, you can smile and move swiftly toward the red wine in the kitchen without suggesting his nose hair need plucking. You don’t need to weigh-in on every detail, just let go.

2. The timeline. If dinner isn’t ready right on time or your aunt shows up late or the football game runs long, let it go. If the guests want to rest a bit before dessert, let it go. Have a loose timeline in mind to keep on track, but be okay if things change. Life is dynamic and celebrations can be too.

3. Making everybody happy. You can’t, so don’t. Do what makes sense for you and your family. Do special things for others because you want to, not because you are obligated. And give your best effort. The let up and let go. Not everyone is going to love your sweet potatoes, or the bean casserole. Who cares? At the beginning of the day set the intention for a fun, peaceful, and loving holiday, then do what you do, in a way that aligns with that intention and your values. Let the rest of it go.

4. The pursuit of perfection. So here’s a shocker –you aren’t perfect and you wouldn’t have any friends if you were so get over it. Let go of the need to be right, best, perfect, and be real, honest, vulnerable, funny, joyful and quirky. Just be you. Be authentic and you’ll feel less stressed.

5. The behavior of others. How others act is not your responsibility nor is it your business unless they are hurting people in your presence. If tough stuff happens and others are being threatened and hurt, then get support and end that situation.

But for many families, the holidays just present a stage for familial weirdness and quirks to emerge. We can all be loving and kind and silly and stupid and downright inappropriate at times and often all of that stuff bubbles out when the people we shared our formative years with are all at the table.

But let go of how others should behave and how they should talk and what they should do and wear and eat and just be present for whatever emerges.

When we can release the stress-producing stories and expectations we are guaranteed to have a more fun, interesting and all-around peaceful celebration.

 

 

Life Hack to Help Manage Moods

Sometimes life circumstances can toss and turn us like clothes in a washer. Drenching us with intense emotion, churning us with stress and anxiety, spinning us into fatigue.

We all have those moments. While awareness and acceptance — when we get there —  can help us experience and move through the challenging times and even yield unexpected gifts, some days we just need to find little ways to feel better in one moment so that we feel strong enough to head into the next.

A  new study led by Alison Jing Xu from the University of Toronto Scarborough has shed some light on how we can ease the pressure in the moment just by dimming the lights.

Her research demonstrates how sensitive we all are to bright light – it seems to intensify everything. People felt warmer, preferred spicier food, perceived behavior as more aggressive and even had a stronger reaction to words when the lights were turned up.

This is cool if you are feeling awesome because bright light intensifies our good feelings. But, if you are feeling depressed or fearful, angry, or uptight, a bright sunny day or well-lit rooms can make you feel worse.

“Bright light usually correlates with heat and heat is linked to emotional intensity,” write the authors in the study which appeared in the Journal of Consumer Psychology. “This psychological experience of heat turns on the hot emotional system, intensifying a person’s emotional reactions to any stimulus.”

Try it for yourself. Next time you are feeling edgy, stressed, angry or uptight, dim the lights to dim the intensity of negative feelings. And, when you are feeling good, turn up the light and amplify those feelings.

How to Fully Experience the Moments in Life

Life is a series of situations.

Moments we get to experience.

And each of them are a gift.

Some of those gifts like,  a first kiss, the first sip of rich, morning coffee, a stunning sunset, holding our babies for the first time, getting the job, the house, the car that we’ve always dreamed of — are fun. Really fun. And we feel good and think life is great and nothing can be better than this. And aren’t we awesome?

Others like the death of a loved one, divorce, illness, job loss, a sick pet, financial stress, don’t feel so good. They throb and hurt. They are scary. So we judge them as bad.

Yet, even those times are a gift. Each experience contains the things we need to be who we are and to live close to our potential. We may not know what those are yet, we might even resist some, but they are there to serve us if we can just let them be and participate.

Fully Experience the Moment

We have become so comfortable with judging ourselves and others that we forget that we don’t have to. We can simply show up, become aware, and fully experience the moment as it is.

When we judge our experiences as good or bad, easy or hard we are limiting ourselves to only one possibility. One way of looking at things.  Either bad, or good. That’s like deciding to paint your house dirt brown without ever looking at the deep shade of cocoa or the other colors in the palette. When we judge, we miss e miss out on the texture of life. The color.

Judgment makes those so-called hard times even harder.

Yet, each day we get myriad experiences – if we’re lucky. And every experience holds multiple layers of thoughts and emotions and actions and possibilities.

When we allow ourselves to fully experience those vast moments, without defining them, we can appreciate their complexity and their value and move through them. This intensifies the awe we experience when something touches our heart. But, it also allows us move through the things that hurt rather than becoming stuck in them.

My friend’s husband died today after a long illness. She is sad. Her grief is deep. And she is a little afraid. She is in a new journey now, one where she will have many moments without him.

Yet even in her grief she isn’t talking in terms of bad or good. It’s deeper than that. Because despite the pain, there is also peace, and love, and some laughter, even.

This is an intricate life we lead. Layered. To judge it as right or wrong, good or bad, is to diminish it.

Instead, allow yourself to fully experience the moment as it shows up and you’ll find the gift within it.

How to Set a Sleep Schedule

When my daughter was young, we put her on a sleep schedule. The same time each night, we’d begin a bedtime routine that started with pj’s and teeth brushing and book reading and ended, finally, hopefully, with her sleeping through the night.

The same thing can work for grown-ups and it’s worth trying, because just about everyone I know needs more sleep than they are getting. We are tired, people, and lack of sleep can do funky, crazy things to our brains (like shrink it)  and bodies (like compromise immune function).

But a consistent sleep-priming routine can help you settle down and rest easy.

Here are some things to include in your routine to help you sleep better.

1. Turn off all devices. Starting two hours before bed, shut down the smartphones, computers, televisions sets and other electronics that emit blue light waves. This light throws off our natural rhythms and make it harder to sleep. Powering off the devices will also help you power down so you can rest.

2. Eat early and wisely. If you are an evening snacker nibble on a few crackers and a slice of cheese, or another small protein/carb combo at least two hours before bed. Also lay off caffeine and alcohol in the evening hours.

3. Turn down the lights. When darkness falls, turn off (or at least dim) the lights in the house. Our bodies are sensitive to the natural day and night light patterns called circadian rhythms. When the sun rises, the light helps us wake up and become alert and our bodies secrete cortisol. When darkness falls, our bodies are infused with sleep-inducing melatonin. But here’s the rub: artificial lighting throws off those biological rhythms, suppresses the release of melatonin, and makes it hard to sleep. A habit of darkness at night and exposure to natural light during the day will help.

4. Release the niggling negative thoughts. After you’ve created a sleep-promoting environment, choose a relaxing activity like meditation, a hot bath, deep breathing exercises, journal writing or something else that allows you to release pent up emotional stress.

Sometimes, I practice mindfulness while brushing my teeth and washing my face as a way to release bad feelings and promote calm. No matter which you choose do use this time to quietly observe, without judgment, your thoughts and concerns and then release them. This will keep you from ruminating into the early hours.

5. Go to bed. Finally, after you’ve gone through your sleep routine, head to bed, turn off the light and lie down. Even if you don’t feel like sleep, it’s important that you develop the habit by lying down in bed and getting up at the same time, every single day. It may take a few days, but soon your body will catch on that it’s time to sleep when you lie down in bed.

In this hectic, heavily-booked culture we live in, a sleep schedule may seem like a cumbersome way to get rest. But anything that will help you sleep better will also improve your physical health, daytime productivity, mental resilience and even your relationships and could just be the simplest way to boost overall health and happiness.

 

 

A Lack of Sleep Can Shrink Your Brain

The fancy digital, pedometer-bracelet thingy around my wrist tells me I slept 6 hours and 25 minutes with four interruptions. As I struggle to awake, my body can tell you, that isn’t near enough.

An estimated 70-million Americans are sleep deprived, according to the National Sleep Foundation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And, many nights, I am among them.

Aside from the health risks associated with inadequate sleep, such as depression, inability to focus, difficulty planning, memory issues, and higher risk of physical illness, researchers at the University of Oxford now believe a lack of sleep or poor sleep quality may also contribute to brain shrinkage. As if that thought alone won’t keep you awake nights.

Sleep is essential to repair and restore the brain, says lead researcher Claire Sexton. If the reparation process is interrupted by a sleepless night, brain function can also be impacted. In her study, participants who experienced poor sleep, also showed brain shrinkage in the three lobes of the brain linked to decision-making, movement, and emotions, thoughts, and memory and learning, according to the study published in the journal Neurology.

It doesn’t take a study to remind us that sleep is essential, but getting a good night’s sleep begins long before bedtime.

Set a Routine

Parents of young children, (I know from experience) talk often and even obsess about how to get their kids to sleep. When my daughter was a toddler we put her on a sleep schedule.

Every night beginning an hour or so before bed, we followed the same routine, a ritual of sorts, to help her wind down and get primed for sleep. We turned off the television, dressed her in her pajamas, brushed her teeth, snuggled in the rocking chair, read books, and finally, after she was tucked in with lights out, we sang some little songs. By the time we left her room, she was, most nights, ready to rest.

The same approach can work for adults. When we prime our body to rest, we have a greater chance of getting some good shut-eye.

Start a couple of hours before bed by limiting what you eat and drink and turning off electronic devices – the blue light can throw off our sleep rhythms. For those who sleep with their Smartphone, this is nearly blasphemous. But, sleep impacts everything from how we learn, to how we feel, heal and perform. It is a key aspect of our health and success.  So try these, and the other tips I’ll offer in Wednesday’s post, as an experiment for three weeks. You might find that a sleep routine is all you need to feel rested.

Wellness Can Be Regained with 30-day Goals

Just over a year ago I went camping with my husband and daughter. While they went hiking I sat by the campfire, looking up at the sky through the dense branches of 80-foot fir trees, wondering if I’d ever be back.

Most nights, I was up stumbling around outside of the tent, because of the pain of my arthritis made it hard to lie still. I was so tired during the day, I could barely focus long enough to have a conversation or read by the fire. I lurched around the campsite with a muddy-tipped cane, struggling not to fall over tree roots. My patience level with the family? Zilch.

This had been going on for months. I was grouchy, uncomfortable and unwell.

But, I love to camp. To think that I wouldn’t want or be able to do it anymore made me feel worse. Sicker. If that’s even possible.

That morning as I sat by the fire alone I made the decision to recover my wellness so that I could at least come camping again.

Getting Well

Wellness is a result of our ability to do the things we want to do. While there are varying degrees of wellness there are things we can all do to live closer to the things that are meaningful and satisfying to us. This takes some work and we may have to make modifications – for example, I needed a higher air mattress instead of one so low to the ground, so that I could stand up easier – but when we are able to participate in the things we find satisfying,  we feel better and actually create better health.

The process of wellness, then, starts by recognizing what makes you feel good and well.

Right now, pause and think about that. What are you doing when you feel alive and vibrant? Who are you with? What matters to you enough to want to keep doing it?

Now, get specific.

What are the things you want to achieve in the next 30 days?

And, what do you physically need to do to achieve it?

One of my early goals was to sleep through the night more often then I didn’t. I needed to look at my diet, my medical care, and my habits to figure out how I could improve my sleep patterns.

I started with acupuncture and the first night after treatment, I slept nine hours straight. Goal achieved. A little of my wellness regained.  I went into physical therapy starting with two or three days a week and daily exercises on my own, until I began to get stronger and no longer needed a cane to get out of bed. Another goal achieved.

Once you know what you want to achieve in that 30-day period, you can take baby steps every day toward that little goal. Then, next month set a new one.

Often my wellness goals are spiritual, emotional, mental. Gratitude makes me feel good, so one month my goal was to have a designated gratitude practice every day. I needed to schedule the time to do that.

Even if you are in great health, this is an important exercise to do because it keeps us focused on what matters to us as a whole person and keeps us moving toward that. Wellness is to be cherished and cultivated, not just when you are ill, but throughout the phases and stages of our lives.

Wellness Regained

In August, I was back by a campfire again, looking up through the branches of those same trees, the ones that had weathered 200 years of storms. I’d been through a storm too.

But this time, as I sat by the fire in the quiet, I gave thanks. Then, I got up and easily walked to the picnic table where I grabbed a cup of coffee and a book to read by the fire. Wellness regained.

How to Live Well

I got out of bed this morning and walked to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. It was still dark outside and I didn’t turn on the lights. In the darkness, I leaned against the counter and had my first sip.

It’s one of my favorite parts of the morning: The first sip of coffee in the quiet, dark kitchen.

Then I wake up my daughter, feed the cats, shuffle around to make breakfast and pack lunches and do the morning chores. Despite the arthritis that causes pain and stiffness, particularly in the mornings, I feel well. Healthy even.

 What is Wellness?

But how can this be? How can I be well when my doctors have files listing dozens of my physical ailments? How can I feel healthy when I have a chronic disease? What is wellness anyhow?

One of the best definitions I’ve heard comes from registered nurse Renita Henson. She works with older adults through the Longmont United Hospital in Colorado.

Wellness, says Henson, is the ability to do the things you want to do. If you love to cook Indian food and you are strong enough to do it, that is a measure of wellness. If you want to play with your kids, read, or golf, or run, or write, or meet your friends for lunch and you are physically and mentally strong enough to do those things, well then, that is a marker of wellness. And wellness contributes big-time to our overall well-being and life satisfaction.

I am not all that fit, nor flexible. I am sick – on paper – but I feel well and I am living the life I want. I can read and work and travel and cook and enjoy time with my friends and family. And that makes me feel good. But, what is good for me is probably not the same for you. A marathoner who can no longer run, may not feel well, until he adapts and finds new interests. But I have no desire to run, so the fact I can’t doesn’t bother me a bit. Wellness is highly personal. Part of living well, then, is discovering what makes you feel good.

Finding My Way

A year ago I didn’t feel good at all. The arthritis flared so badly that I rarely slept. I had a difficult time walking to the kitchen – couldn’t carry a cup of coffee to the table because I lurched so badly it would spill – and I could barely make it to the soccer field to watch my daughter play. I certainly couldn’t go without help. I was too tired and hurting to enjoy the things I’d once loved. My wellness was slipping away. And for the first time in a long time I began to feel desperately sick. When I couldn’t do what I desired, my mental and physical health took a dive. Depression lurked.

After complaining a fair amount about how bad I was feeling; after worrying and dwelling and focusing on the chronic disease and the uncertain future, the pain and discomfort, I went to work on reclaiming my wellness.

A physical therapist taught me to do slight, little movements from my bed or chair that slowly helped me build my strength and flexibility. I felt better emotionally, too, as though I was finally taking charge of my life and choosing health over illness. That fueled my sense of well-being and inspired me to do more. I was participating in my life again. Slowly returning to the things I liked to do. My body got stronger and so did my attitude.

Working toward Wellness

Wellness is part attitude and part action. It is fueled by curiosity and joy and determination and mixed with the physical strength and agility that comes from doing the things we want to do.

It doesn’t happen by default. We have to decide to be well and then go after it. It is shaped by our habits and choices and beliefs. It is affected by how willing and able we are to adapt, alter our goals and plans, so that ultimately, we can keep moving toward what we want the most. It is influenced by how often we laugh, how optimistic we feel, how nutritious our meals, how active our bodies, how we care for our mental and physical health and manage our stress. It is shaped by the people who love us and those whom we love. It is attached to how worthy we feel.

You can be well, you can have well-being, no matter your physical condition or circumstance. I know from experience. The trick is to go within to discover what matters, so that you can then go after it.

On Wednesday, I’ll offer some tips for recovering your wellness and sense of well-being.

For now consider these two questions: What do you need to feel better, right now? Are you willing to go after that?