9497566-the-time-is-now-live-in-the-present-not-in-the-future-or-the-past-act-now-living-day-to-day-clock-co-Stock-PhotoThe Time is NOW!!!

The time is now and I would like to encourage everyone to work on themselves and grow this year.

You aren’t getting any younger and time stands still for no man or woman! Love yourself, think positive, stay focused and goal oriented. Live your life to the fullest as if there were no yesterday and there is no tomorrow! Move forward and grow spirituality, financial, and personally (mind, body and soul).

It is so easy to live in the negativity that surrounds us, but why not try and switch up, do a 360 and live in the positivity of our environment. For me, this means finding the good in all things! When working with clients and listening to their story I continue to grow personally and take heed to all things that are good and working in my favor! We always think that we have problems and get so caught up in the rhythm of the self-pity and dwelling in our sorrows, but if we stop to count the blessings and the little things that we have, we would be a lot better off! I mean really, not to minimize any ones problems or situations, but there is always someone who is having a harder time than you could even imagine. I always say if you tried to put on someone else shoes, forget walking a mile, you wouldn’t make it a step. You’d jump right out of them like a hot potato on your foot. Look at the people that are homeless with no shelter and the people that have terminal illnesses and don’t know if they are even going to wake up to see tomorrow.

I mean really, are your problems that bad? Are you problems self-inflicted? Can you do anything to change them? If yes, why aren’t you? If no, why not just accept the things that you cannot change instead taunting yourself with unnecessary stress? I am no fan of pity parties, so please don’t invite me as I will not be in attendance! However, if you decide to have a celebration of life, living and all the things that you are grateful for and blessed to have, then sign me up!

I am a strong believer in the words and teaching of a brilliant American psychologist and developer of Ration Emotive Behavior Therapy and Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Albert Ellis.

Listed below are some of his beliefs and teaching that I’ve adopted:

*People upset themselves.

*We can’t change the past, so change how you are thinking, feeling and behaving today.

*Whenever obnoxious or unpleasant activating events occur in people’s lives, they have a choice of making themselves feel healthily and self-helpingly sorry, disappointed, frustrated, and annoyed, or making themselves feel unhealthily and self-defeatingly horrified, terrified, panicked, depressed, self-hating, and self-pitying.

*No, our wills are not completely free, nor are we completely governed by our heredity and environment.

*We seem to be born and reared with some degree of choice, agency, or self-control but have to work at accepting its limitations and push ourselves to use it adequately.

*The emotionally mature individual should completely accept the fact that we live in a world of probability and chance, where there are not, nor probably ever will be, any absolute certainties, and should realize that it is not at all horrible, indeed—such a probabilistic, uncertain world.

*You must gain three types of acceptance:
(1) unconditional self-acceptance;
(2) unconditional other-acceptance; and
(3) unconditional life-acceptance to believe that you are okay or are good just because you exist.

*Unconditional self-acceptance:
1. I am a fallible human being; I have my good points and my bad points.
2. There is no reason why I must not have flaws.
3. Despite my good points and my bad points, I am no more worthy and no less worthy than any other human being.

*Unconditional other-acceptance:
1. Other people will treat me unfairly from time to time.
2. There is no reason why they must treat me fairly.
3. The people who treat me unfairly are no more worthy and no less worthy than any other human being.

*Unconditional life-acceptance:
1. Life doesn’t always work out the way that I’d like it to.
2. There is no reason why life must go the way I want it to
3. Life is not necessarily pleasant but it is never awful and it is nearly always bearable.

I hope that by now you get the point that I’m trying to stress here! Adopt a new motto of life and start living your life positively in the here and now, instead of negatively and in the past and unfortunate!