Help Yourself and the World

1. Unlimited possibilities: Be aware that there is a universe out there that is full of unlimited possibilities of things we don’t know anything about. Start by being mindful or aware of everything around you while avoiding taking anything for granted. In other words, open all your senses to awareness and possibilities.
2. Change: Nothing changes unless a person has the discipline and intention to change daily.
3. Money and happiness: Let go of believing that money will create your happiness while taking on the responsibility for creating your own happiness. Remind yourself every day that you will be responsible for your own happiness. Then think out and write down what you believe you need for happiness. Keep a rating or record of what scores high for happiness and what scores low for happiness daily and adjust your thinking and actions accordingly.
4. Mindfulness: Learn and practice mindfulness, which is the state of being present and aware of your thoughts, feelings, and sensations without judging them. You can engage in activities that can increase mindfulness, such as meditation, yoga, breathing exercises, or journaling.
5. Professional help: Consider professional help where it is needed.
6. Read materials: Be willing to read materials and participate in programs or self-help groups where the intention is to be mindful of oneself, others, and the earth.
7. Einstein’s definition of insanity: Einstein’s definition of insanity is doing things in the same manner and expecting different results so that one chooses to be aware of possibilities and change oneself to be more positive, appropriate, and healthier in our actions toward others and the environment. So that change does not happen unless there is the intention to practice mindfulness with everyone and toward all of life.
8. Dreams: Remember, it’s a great idea to dream of possibilities as long as you are acting on those dreams.
9.  Appreciation: Learn to practice appreciation for everything in life.
10.  Develop emotional intelligence: Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize and manage one's own emotions and recognize the emotions of others as belonging to them. You can develop emotional intelligence by practicing empathy, active listening, and effective communication.
11. Emotional reactiveness: Learn to recognize reactive feelings and actively work to understand the origins of reactive feelings and how to reduce them.
12. Relaxation/meditation/peace: Find ways to relax, meditate, and reflect. On a warm day, I find it wonderful to sit and enjoy nature. Bringing peace to oneself is the best method. One method I call the brain switch is imagining a switch in your brain that you can turn on to reduce reactiveness and create relaxation. This method takes imagination and a lot of practice.
13. Journaling: J ournaling each day can help you better understand your emotions and encourage regular reflection. At the end of every day, try to write down any memorable events. You could start by answering the following questions: What happened today?   What were my dominant emotions today? What was positive about my day? What was negative about my day? Did I experience conflict today? What could I have done better today? Did I have a positive or negative impact on others? Why? In addition to writing in your journal, it can also be helpful to read your old journal entries every so often, so you can see how you’ve changed and developed. I have a software program that I find looking back after 6 months at what I wrote can be very revealing about what I can change in my life for the better.
14. I recommend a software program to keep track of your success or lack thereof.

 mayoclinic.org. healthlinmag.com. simplyfiercely.com. mellowed.com
 en.wikipedia.org. psychologytoday.com e.com. healthdirect.gov.au   healthline.com. urmc.rochester.edu. rendezvous

1. History: Everything that happens today is a product of our developmental history or everything we learned yesterday. That does not suggest past behaviors were correct. In fact, we had not learned the most appropriate, healthy, disciplined, and mindful ways of being in the past. That is the reason for learning more about how we can grow and act mindfully today. 
2. Change: Today, we continue to harm each other and our environment. It’s imperative that we deepen our understanding of these issues and actively seek positive change. This happens today because our ancestors lacked a full understanding of effective ways to interact with one another, raise children, and manage our behaviors and the environment. These systemic behaviors were past on to us during our developmental years so that everything we are today is a product of our past learning from our ancestors, our developmental years, and what we have learned more recently, whether appropriate or not. These habits are called habit loops. To improve ourselves, we must unlearn outdated habits and embrace methods aligned with current psychological awareness.   That requires learning more about positive, healthy, and appropriate ways of being today or mindfulness. Please recognize that mindfulness is not the same as polite. These are totally different concepts. One can be polite and still not understand mindfulness or respect for people and the environment.  Understanding emotional intelligence(EQ) involves recognizing that people’s emotions—such as anger, upset, rudeness, or indifference may not be directly related to our own behavior. It is important to have a clear understanding of one's own emotions separate from that of another and recognize the origins of such behavior (systemic and personal development).
3. How to bring about positive change 

• Focus on Your Strengths: Instead of dwelling on what’s wrong, recognize your strengths and positive qualities. Celebrate them and build upon them.
• Practice Gratitude: Regularly acknowledge things you’re thankful for. Consider keeping a gratitude journal to reinforce this habit. Find ways of being grateful for and appreciative for all things in life.
• Self-Compassion: Treat yourself kindly and recognize your achievements. We often forget to appreciate what we’re doing right. Cultivating self-compassion can improve our mindset. Then learn how to expand that compassion to others and to the environment.
• Self-Care: Believe that you’re worth taking care of. Prioritize self-care, allowing you to think more positively about yourself and have better experiences. Learn that before one can appropriately help others, it helps to have a strong self awareness first. That means compassion for others begins with oneself.
• Shift Your Attention: Our minds tend to focus on negativity. Intentionally redirect your thoughts away from negativity. Try activities to distract the mind from negativity or redirect to a positive.   

          Letting Go of Negative Feelings

1. Distract your mind. Work at letting go of angry feelings till you are ready to manage them. 
2. Avoid fueling anger with other negative or angry thoughts or feelings. \
3. Think about, take action on, or remember something positive to distract oneself from anger. 
4. Find a place of comfort, hot tub, pleasant environment, haven of peace. 
5. Consider relaxation therapy, mantra, meditation. 
6. Exercise, watch TV, listen to music. 
7. Remind yourself it is a temporary feeling. 
8. See a counselor, friend or someone who can help with negative feelings. 
9. Create a safe and powerful place inside of yourself to go to in your mind. 
10. Find any kind of therapy, art, play, music, flower gardens, zoos, animals, photography. 
11. Find any mind activity or game that requires switching your focus of attention such as puzzles. 
12. Concentrate on your breathing or deep breathing, meditation. 
13. Count forward or count backwards. 
14. Use an emotional healthcare program. 
15. Keep track of anger while challenging yourself to reduce the severity and duration. 
16. Reverse psychology or find other reasons to be positive and happy. “I can do this.” 
17. Reframe and think of reasons that might lead to a different conclusion.

•  Acknowledge Your Positive Qualities: Reflect on your best qualities.
• Prioritize Self-Care: Believe you’re worth taking care of.
• Embrace Optimism: Cultivate a positive outlook.
• Try Loving-Kindness Meditation: Foster compassion for yourself and other and environment. 
• Visualize Best-Case Scenarios: Imagine positive outcomes

 Building a harmonious relationship with the environment involves cultivating an awareness and genuine appreciation for environmental issues. It also requires a positive intention to deepen our understanding of ecology, aiming to restore balance. This endeavor necessitates knowledge about critical ecological factors, including the intricate relationships between animals and plants and the impact of human encroachment on land and ocean biodiversity. Refer to the environmental section.

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