THE STORIES OF OUR LIVES - Turning Disenchantment Into Enchantment - Part 2

Written by Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein


In my psychology practice I hear so many disenchanted stories -- stories full of pain, anger and fear. My heart goes out to my clients every day. Butrepparttar wonderment is listening to these stories and helping my clients listen to themselves, recognizingrepparttar 123710 special capacities that each display in their stories. I try to help someone appreciate and even feel beloved toward herself as she realizes that she has had so many talents and strengths buried even inrepparttar 123711 worst of times. I try to help her see that it's her very coping skills that may reflect her genius, her humor and her capacity for endurance. If I can do this, then I've helped my clients and we have begunrepparttar 123712 healing process. In my counseling and therapy, I teach clear ways of reframing a person's experience so that she can retrieve from it what are her positive capacities and even to reclaim what gives her pleasure and joy. For example one of my clients was constantly put down by her husband and was now separated, was able through telling me stories about her childhood to reclaimrepparttar 123713 wonderful talent of singing. Even though her childhood home had been dysfunctional,repparttar 123714 family hadrepparttar 123715 capacity to sing together and once she recognized as a great gift, she brought it frequently into her own life with her children. It was a small step in regaining a sense of self worth and actually having pleasure with her children. I'd like to leave you forrepparttar 123716 moment with an easy activity to begin to reframe some of your life story: 1. Pick a year in your life and spend some time jotting downrepparttar 123717 main events of that year. They may be pleasant or they may be unpleasant.

5 Steps To A Great Life

Written by Miami Phillips


Here are what I believe to berepparttar five steps to creatingrepparttar 123709 life you want. Of course, a five-step list torepparttar 123710 perfect life has to be kind of short and requiring definition! However, these five are a great start!

1. Have gratitude. Gratitude opensrepparttar 123711 door for all that follows. Have gratitude for where you are and how you got there. Give thanks for what you have and those around you.

2. Acceptance Can you accept that you are where you are because ofrepparttar 123712 choices you have made? Every choice combined together has createdrepparttar 123713 life you now have. You may not have been aware ofrepparttar 123714 choice you were making, but it was a choice justrepparttar 123715 same.

Accept that your life is perfect as it is. Not to say it is wonderful, or perfection, but that it is perfect inrepparttar 123716 sense that you created it, and therefore you can change it if you want.

3. Choose Begin to make conscious choices on a consistent basis. Hold every decision to your values and definitions of success as a measuring tool. This will begin to create a life based on what calls to you and what you have defined as success to you.

4. Let gorepparttar 123717 outcome The challenging part of all this is giving uprepparttar 123718 idea that you have any other control of your future! If you define success as money, or a job, or a relationship, then you are bound to be disappointed. Life never gives us what we want, but what we deserve.

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