The Raving Optimist

Posted on January 1, 2013 by susanh

Happy New Year!

Well…here we are again…on the edge of a brand new year with all its glowing potential for promise and all its hidden opportunities for disappointment. When it comes to life, some people believe in fate or blind luck. Others believe in destiny of sorts. I suppose I don’t strictly believe in either. I believe we have free will and ample opportunity to make good decisions regarding our own life…or to suffer from bad ones. Truly, we all have the same amount of time each day to build a life worth living. But it is totally up to us. Continue reading →

How Do I Change Me: Golden Opportunities

Posted on December 15, 2012 by susanh

You know the old saying, “When it rains, it pours.” Well, boy was it raining when I wrote this. Literally and figuratively. I looked out at the rain and the clouds and it looked so gloomy as the fog hid the beautiful mountains from view. In fact, the hiding was so complete, it was as if they didn’t exist at all…there was only a sheet of gray fog. So I thought, “I’ll just stay inside today,” which is to say that I also wanted stay in the same old familiar emotional rut because pressing onward Continue reading →

How Do I Find Happiness: The Inspired Life

Posted on December 12, 2012 by susanh

Inspiration sometimes lands in our laps...

One of my goals for 2013 is to learn how to consistently live a truly inspired life. Perhaps you share this goal. But first, we have to know what this actually means! Inspiration can be defined as “the process of being mentally stimulated to do something, especially something creative.” Certainly, being mentally stimulated and working creatively rank high on many of our priority lists! And people frequently report that creativity often serves as an amazing antidote for boredom, fatigue and moodiness that Continue reading →

What is Mindfulness: The Right Now

Posted on December 9, 2012 by susanh

Enjoying the moment...

What is mindfulness? Mindfulness is a crucial skill for anyone, for there seems to be no lack of worrisome items. The to-do list runs the length of a 20k marathon and fourteen people seem to need your attention at once. And like a run-away train, our thoughts can collide and erupt into frustration and anger or spiral down to apathy or depression. So many of the thoughts that feed our negative emotions focus either on the past or on the future – the two time frames we can Continue reading →

Successful Entrepreneurs: The Happy Entrepreneur

Posted on November 24, 2012 by susanh

Free Dry Cleaning for the Unemployed

Although owning your own business certainly has its trying moments, I have to say that I wouldn’t have it any other way. Long gone are the days when I feared what my boss would say, rushed out the door in a panic for fear of being late and dealing with the repercussions, or agonized over the decision as to whether to stay home with my sick child or go to Continue reading →

Why Gratitude: It’s a Bit Like a Vaccine

Posted on November 22, 2012 by susanh

On this day, as with every Thanksgiving, I take care to stop and consider all for which I have to be grateful. And there really is so very much. In a day in which the only things that seem to make the news or capture our attention are the ugly and the horrible…what an amazing change to consider how much real, honest good there is in the world. My Continue reading →

Why Anxiety: Understanding the Habit of Anxiety

Posted on November 15, 2012 by susanh

If you suffer from anxiety symptoms or an anxiety disorder and would like to walk free of it, there are a number of things you first need to understand. Chief among them is to remember that, while walking free from anxiety is not complicated, it is not necessarily easy at first. This is because anxiety, like many other daily routines, is built upon emotional and mental habits (why anxiety is perpetuated). When you repeat any set of actions long Continue reading →

What Are Eating Disorders: Improving Self-Esteem

Posted on November 15, 2012 by susanh

Melissa H. Smith, PhD

How do you help someone with an eating disorder improve their self-esteem? It is not as easy as you might think. Dr. Smith provides some insights below.
(Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7300502)

While self-esteem is a significant risk factor for eating disorders, one research team found body dissatisfaction to be the single strongest predictor of eating disorder symptoms Continue reading →

What is Mental Health: Well, Balance for Starters

Posted on November 11, 2012 by susanh

I loved the seesaw when I was a kid. The goal was to see how high I could spring up and how quickly I could get my partner in the air. But the principle of the seesaw is always the same: if I am up, you are down and if you are up, then I am down. It runs in cycles and operates off of ceaseless motion. Many of us do indeed like the wild ride and find stillness to be much more of a challenge than ceaseless motion. And while the Continue reading →

What Are Eating Disorders: Relationship Between Self-Esteem and Eating Disorders

Posted on October 30, 2012 by susanh

Melissa H. Smith, PhD

Does low self-esteem put someone at risk for the development of an eating disorder? This is a good question and Dr. Melissa Smith addresses this issue. Here is an excerpt from her article: (Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7300502)

“Anyone working with women with disordered eating recognizes that self-esteem is intricately connected, however just how the two are related is not entirely well-defined. Inevitably, any discussion of eating disorders and self-esteem Continue reading →

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