Mental Health

Ten Ideas to Pay it Forward

Based on a book and movie, the concept of Pay it Forward is to provide random acts of kindness to people, and instead of asking for that kindness to be “paid back,” ask they pay it forward to someone else, in essence spreading goodness. Ten ideas to pay it forward:

1. Tip people you normally wouldn’t tip such as the Walmart Greeter or the Hostess who seats you in a restaurant.

2. Did you receive awesome customer service at your bank today? Send that representative some flowers for your appreciation.

3. Leave quarters near the games and gumball machines for the kids.

4. Randomly lay pennies heads up on the ground, for luck for someone else.

5. See people hard at work outside during a cold day? Bring them some coffee or warm cider.

6. While driving, if you see someone trying to get over in your lane, brake and let them through.

7. Tape a dollar bill in random places like under the table for the person so kind to clean the bottom of it.

8. Let a woman with young kids in front of you in line. Kids hate waiting and she’s losing her mind trying to keep them near her temper tantrum free for your convenience.

9. Win something from the claw machine? Give the toy to the first kid you see.

10. Give out inspirational greeting cards at random.

Just take caution when Paying it Forward. Do not give out personal information to a stranger, and only provide what you can. Think safety, and follow your instinct with people.

Filed Under: Mental Health Tagged With: Blog, Customer service, Pay It Forward

How to Handle the Haters

Image via Wikipedia

Haterism is the act of hating people just to hate. Many of us have our haters who try to interfere in our lives in a negative light. They are the people who criticize, insult, and spew negativity. Sometimes they are passive aggressive with backhanded compliments, and other times they are obvious pointing in your face laughing at your mistakes. Kill the hate with Love.

Be Happy

Haters cannot stand to see you happy. Sincere happiness will take you to a point where you truly don’t care about the haters to be vindictive. The secret to happiness is in your attitude. Take a look around at the blessings in your life and think about ways to enjoy those blessing to the fullest.

Be Confident

Haters can’t stand the fact that you are awesome, and even more so, they hate the fact that you know it. Confidence is best displayed in achievement, no matter how minute the achievement may be. While it’s important to have faith in others, it’s also just as important to have faith in yourself.

Spread Cheer

Have you ever had a bad day and someone tells you something funny to where your attitude changed for the better? Haterism can be stomped by spreading the smiles. If someone insults you, don’t allow their anger to be contagious. Instead, be the medicine. Help them heal with love, kindness, understanding, and a caring attitude.

When up against haters, let the hate roll off you. Build your character by responding with positivity, and keep yourself psychologically and spiritually healthy.

Filed Under: Mental Health Tagged With: Hate Crimes, Hatred, Mental health

Do Long Distance Relationships Work?

Depending on your age and lifestyle, you might find yourself in a long distance relationship that could test anyone’s devotion. Whether you are a high school student about to go away to college, or in a band that’s constantly on tour, you have to wonder whether its possible for a long distance relationship to work.

Don’t Even Try!

Research shows that distance does not make the heart grow fonder. More often than not, it makes the heart cranky and adulterous. A study conducted at Umea University found that couples are 40 times more likely to get divorced when one of the members commutes long distances. That’s just the result of spending an hour and a half on the road each day. Imagine how impossible relationships are when you only get to see your honey once a month.

Learn to Adapt and Anything is Possible

Obviously, some couples do just fine with their long distance relationships. This often has quite a bit to do with temperament, but, more often than not, these relationships survive because the love birds have adapted to their situation.

The specific ways that you adapt, though, depend on your relationship and concerns. You might, for instance, get your relationship fix by calling each other once a day. That can help you feel connected to your partner, even when he or she isn’t around. You might also need to make extra effort to see each other regularly. Instead of spending $200 on a new pair of designer shoes, you could spend that money on airfare.

Filed Under: Mental Health Tagged With: Long-distance relationship, Mental health, Relationship

The Impact of Technology on Your Relationships

Image by EronsPics via Flickr

Technological advancements have created societal progress in many respects. The world is suddenly smaller. You can communicate with and see others across the globe in ways that weren’t imaginable only decades ago. Cell phones, text messaging, videoconferencing and emailing are easy ways to connect with others.

Instant Reunion Through Technology

For relatives who live thousands of miles apart, a videoconference chat can bring instant joy. A young grandchild’s newly missing tooth, a sister’s new haircut, a teenager’s tattoo can all be shared instantly by way of a video chat with loved ones across the world. Being able to hear one another’s voice and see each other via video is the next best thing to being in the same room together.

The Challenges of Technology in Relationships

The flip side of technology and its impact on relationships is when it’s relied upon heavily. Choosing to send an email to address an emotionally charged subject rather than speaking to a boss or loved one in person can potentially harm relationships. It’s difficult to decipher tone in an email, and the messages conveyed in body language can be much more revealing than a few carefully worded sentences in an email. As another example, text messaging with a friend while sitting with a loved one can potentially create hard feelings. Clearly, technology holds the potential to both heighten and strain relationships.

Use technology to strengthen communication in relationships and to advance the goals of clearer communication and reunion. In some situations, it’s best to cut back on technology when the better choice is an in-person conversation, a warm phone call or even a handwritten greeting card.

Filed Under: Mental Health Tagged With: Communication, Text messaging, Videoconferencing

Using Technology To Strengthen Your Long Distance Relationships

As anyone whose ever felt the necessity to keep relationships alive even across great distances knows well, if someone’s worth having in your life, there’s almost nothing you won’t do to ensure that you explore ways to keep in touch across the miles. Long distance relationships are increasingly common, whether they are between people who are simply close friends, or those who are romantically involved. Of course, there is a certain degree of commitment that comes with making a long distance relationship work, and the amount of trust that exists will often play a defining role in determining whether or not the relationship survives.

Fortunately, the availability of technology including Internet, mobile phones and video chatting means that you no longer have to rely upon traditional postal mail to send messages to the one you care about. Many chat services such as Skype and Yahoo! Messenger allow users to engage in streaming video chats free of charge, even if each party is located in a different country.

To make long distance relationships easier to bear, consider setting specific times where you will interact with each other on a periodic basis. Whether this is on a nightly, weekly or even more frequent time frame, knowing that you have that special time to look forward to on a regular basis will make long distances seem not so overwhelming.

Even though technology is great for helping long distance relationships thrive, it can’t always replace in-person interactions, so try to intersperse your technological media conversations with real-life visits when possible.

Filed Under: Mental Health Tagged With: Long-distance relationship, Skype, Yahoo Messenger

Encouraging The Creation Of New Holiday Traditions In Your Family

By the time we reach adulthood, often we are not as persuaded to uphold holiday traditions as we were during our childhood years. However, if you think back about what was most memorable about the holidays of your younger years, you may often find that the most memorable times were dominated by traditions that were taught to you courtesy of your parents or grandparents.

If you have children, you may be anxiously seeking ways to help them understand that holidays can still be dominated by traditions and not necessarily by commercialism and a sense of want. It’s easier than you might think to start or rekindle traditions during the holidays.

Start by considering the creation of a tradition that is related to food. Cooking can bring about a great sense of togetherness that encourages us to put aside our hectic lifestyles and cling to the benefit of the simple joys of creating a delicious culinary creation that can be enjoyed by all.

You can also create traditions that are centered around music. Whether that means that you begin a tradition of a singalong that is related to your family’s favorite holiday, or if you choose to purchase an album of holiday music, there are many ways that you can use music to spark the creation of new traditions. If there are some musicians in your family who enjoy performing for others, see if they would be open to hosting a holiday concert.

As you can see, creativity is the only requirement when it comes to finding new traditions that your family will treasure for years to come.

Filed Under: Mental Health Tagged With: Christmas, Easter, Family, Holidays

Helping Your Children Avoid A Materialistic Lifestyle

In these recent economic times, an increasing number of parents are feeling compelled to teach their children the importance of not being dictated by a materialistic lifestyle. One of the best ways to foster this belief is to stress the importance of managing money from an early age. Particularly in the United States, your children will constantly receive messages from friends and the media that it’s okay to “buy now, and pay later” while avoiding the value in saving up for an item and only purchasing it when funds are available.

You can help your children appreciate the value of money and sticking to a budget by giving them a periodic allowance in exchange for doing small chores around the house. Start with a small amount, and then consider increasing it if your child shows a long term commitment to finishing the chores to satisfaction. The benefit of starting with a small amount and increasing it later is because your child will be gently forced to save up for items that cost more than their allowance provides. This not only starts to instill a consciousness about the need to save for more expensive items instead of simply buying them on credit, but it will also help your child to learn to think carefully about whether they really need to spend money on an item, or if they should wait to make sure that it’s something they really need to own.

Today’s mass culture emphasizes a materialistic lifestyle, but the use of an allowance will not only help your children to understand that money is something that must be earned, but also help them avoid the temptation of impulse purchases, which could ultimately help them to avoid debt problems later in life.

Filed Under: Mental Health Tagged With: Child, Home, Parent, United States

Managing The Financial Obligations Of A Middle Class Lifestyle

In these uncertain economic times, your financial situation can be one of the most stressful aspects of your life, especially if you consider yourself to be part of the middle class. Although you may not qualiify for some of the benefits that are given to people who are in a lower income bracket, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you don’t struggle with learning how to juggle your expenses and ensure that your bills are paid on time, too.

As a member of the middle class, it’s important to live a lifestyle that focuses on taking care of yourself. Even if you’re feeling nearly stretched to the limit, take a bit of time every day to do something good for yourself. If you’re engaged in an activity that you enjoy, you’ll soon find that any stressful situations are pushed to the back of your mind, for a least a few brief, precious moments. Another reason that you need to make sure to take care of yourself is because you need to keep yourself in good health whenever possible. Many members of the middle class do not have adequate health insurance, or any sort of insurance at all, and without proper coverage, a sudden illness can derail your lifestyle quite severely.

Also, don’t underestimate the importance of setting a budget for yourself. Whether you are prioritizing your expenses on a weekly or monthly basis, it is important to sort out exactly how you spend your money so that you can evaluate if there are any unecessary expenses present. If you do notice that you are spending money on things that you could easily do without, consider the possibility of no longer using your money towards those items. Although this may be hard to accomplish at first, it will likely cut down on your overall stress level.

Filed Under: Mental Health Tagged With: Health, Middle class, United States

Teaching Your Kids To Show Respect To People From All Generations

As a parent, it is important that you teach your children to respect themselves as well as others around them. It is also crucial that they learn to show respect even for people when a difference of generations exists. We hear of the command to respect one’s elders throughout our lives, but in order to help your children put those words into action, you must accept some degree of responsibility within your role as a parent.

Lead by example. If your children see you acting respectfully towards your own parents, as well as older people in your community, they will be more inclined to follow suit. Help your children understand that people who are older than them, and from a different generation will probably have a different set of morals and hobbies. Explain to your children that although they do not necessarily have to agree with the beliefs of others, they should at least show respect for people who hold differing opinions.

Also, reward your children when they behave with respect. Their actions may be as simple as holding the door for someone, or speaking in a calm tone of voice when in a public place, but even such simple things instill a sense of respect that is so deep-seated it will last throughout a lifetime.

Finally, use real-life experiences as a learning opportunity. If you see someone who is publicly acting very respectful, or conversely acting in a way that is disrespectful to others or themselves, use it as an example, and help your children understand how they should respond if they find themselves in a similar situation. Your children will also learn how to forge successful relationships with others throigh their efforts to be successful, so your teachings in the realm of respect may be even more far-reaching than you realize at first.

Filed Under: Mental Health Tagged With: Child, Parent, Respect

Planning a Fun Birthday Party

When you plan a fun birthday party for your child, you create memories that endure a lifetime. Watching the joy on your child’s face as he or she plays with other children dressed in kids costumes, playing games and laughing is worth all the effort. Here are some tips for planning a fun birthday party.

Choose a Party Theme and Select Kids Costumes

Choosing a birthday party theme will add spice to the occasion. You might choose to make it a super hero party or a cowboys and Indians theme. It can also just be a general costume party where all children come dressed in their favorite character from Harry Potter, Toy Story or as their favorite princess. Ask the birthday boy or girl what character he or she would like to be. Then purchase the costume and you might even have an extra few costumes handy in case some children come without one.

Decorating for a Birthday Party

Visit a party supply store and pick up themed napkins, cups, plates and tableware. For a girl, you might choose a princess theme. For a boy, choose decorations in his favorite superhero, such as Spiderman. Hang colorful streamers and balloons.

Picking Party Food

Kids love sweets. Cookies and cake are popular birthday party treats. A birthday cake decorated in your child’s favorite cartoon or superhero image will be a hit. Be sure to also fill the table with healthy treats such as fruits, cheese and crackers, for the more health conscious parents and their children.

Plan Fun Activities

For entertainment, create a safe space for children to play together either in the backyard or in a large part of your home. Make many toys available. Duck, Duck Goose and Simon Says are popular children’s games. Maybe even organize a game of musical chairs and enjoy watching the children play in their kids costumes.

Filed Under: Mental Health Tagged With: Birthday, Costume, Home