It’s really easy to complain and point the finger and eyeroll at what’s not fair, what others are doing, and how you’re being affected by it. I made an honest effort to not just want to change things about myself, but be an active and willing participant in making that change happen. Derrick on what [...]
[6 Apr 2010]
On self-help books: They have self-design down, but somehow convince themselves that with enough self design, they can be happy in any situation. Ignore the fact that they have no passion for their job, they don’t communicate well with their spouse, and they live in a city where they hate the weather and the local [...]
[22 Mar 2010]
And so it is with luck – unlucky people miss chance opportunities because they are too focused on looking for something else. … Lucky people are more relaxed and open, and therefore see what is there rather than just what they are looking for. From Be lucky – it’s an easy skill to learn from [...]
[16 Feb 2010]
[M]ost often our minds do not consider a range of options; our first impressions, reactive as they are, are usually taken as an accurate readout on reality — the way it really is. From page 163 of The Mindful Way Through Depression: Freeing Yourself From Chronic Unhappiness. Depression skews your perspective so that everything seems [...]
[4 Jan 2010]
The researchers found that more activity conferred more mental-health benefits and that “participation in vigorous sports activities” tended to be the “most beneficial for mental health.” But their overall conclusion was that being active for as little as 20 minutes a week is sufficient, if your specific goal is mental health. From the New York [...]
[30 Dec 2009]
From The Christian Progressive Liberal piece The Gift of Good Mental Health on Jack & Jill Politics: We value good physical health, but somehow, many of us believe we don’t deserve good mental health as well. That we deserve to live life to the fullest without dealing with soul-destroying depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, personality disorders, [...]
[30 Nov 2009]
From New York Times Well Blog post Why Exercise Makes You Less Anxious: But the youngest brain cells in the running rats, the cells that the scientists assumed were created by running, were less likely to express the genes. They generally remained quiet. The “cells born from running,” the researchers concluded, appeared to have been [...]
[18 Nov 2009]
I have struggled with depression and anxiety for most of my life. In second grade, for example, my teacher made me stand in the hall because I had interrupted class for the umpteenth time. My reaction? I tried to strangle myself with the blouse’s tie (it was the early 80′s when such a shirt was [...]
[19 Oct 2009]
Right now, I have a tightness in my chest. I have a tightness in my throat. Right now, I am taking deep breaths and reminding myself that it’s the anxiety doing that. Right now, my head is starting to throb. Right now, I am scared, tense, anxious, overwhelmed, drained — but most of all, I [...]
[2 Jun 2009]