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Things I learned outside of school
Just a continuation of 10 things I learned outside of school, you might not know that I left school when I was 17 and later got my HS diploma through GED school. I'm very grateful for it and today I contribute to society and even help other people to get their GED. I work for a website that offers free GED classes, you help me to spread the word too if you want. Just share this website address: Best GED Classes- free GED prep for exam: www.bestgedclasses.com. Anyway, here is what I learned outside the school.
5. Letting myself be vulnerable.
Of course, I am not advocating you to jump off planes and walk through shady alleys. However, in terms of emotions, vulnerability allows us to just learn how to deal with ourselves and the everyday situations that we cannot control. Even though it is so innate for us humans to avoid any sort of physical, emotional, psychological pain (i.e. tragedy, sadness, and death) is inevitable. Regardless, just like everything else in life, practice makes perfect. The more you take that emotional risk to trust, start a relationship, end a relationship, move across the world; the more you learn just a bit more how to deal with the everyday hardships.
Creating Your Own Safe Haven
Childhood
As a child, I’ve spent most of my time outdoors as I was lucky enough to grow up on the countryside surrounded by nature. Because of this, I have developed a strong bond with nature that has lasted all the way through adulthood and will probably stay with me until I die. Why am I telling you this? Whenever, I need a break from work or life, I find peace and relaxation in nature. Although I currently don’t live on the countryside, there are certain places I go to when I want to take a brake and feel like relaxing. These places are so powerful that they always bring me peace, happiness, and relaxation. When the wind blows in my face, it feels like like stress, worries, and negative emotions disappear.
Creating Your Safe Haven
Creating a place where you feel relaxed and peaceful can help you cope with difficult situations or through tough periods in your life. It doesn’t need to be a desolate place in the middle of nowhere. It depends on who you are and what you like. For some people it can be a small park in the city, a cozy coffee shop, a football pitch, or just your living room.
If you don’t have a place where you feel completely relaxed and free of stress, it might be interesting to look for one. There are lots of places that can bring relief after a day of hard work or on a Sunday afternoon. Before you go looking for such a place, ask yourself the following questions:
- Where was I most happy as a child?
- When do I relax easily?
- Who makes me feel at ease?
- We Are All Conditioned
The first question has everything to do with conditioning. What I mean by that is most people associate certain scents, flavors, and feelings with specific emotions. As a child, I was happy being outdoors getting dirty in the forest or chasing rabbits :-) . The result is that I have come to associate nature with happiness. For you, it could be the smell of coffee or the feeling of the sun on your face. Really, it can be anything. Go through your childhood memories and look for those moments when you felt really great and happy. If your childhood wasn’t all that great, don’t worry. Look for any moment in your life you felt happy, relaxed, and in balance. The power of childhood memories is that most of us were happy as a child and these associations with scents, flavors, or environments have become ingrained.
Timing Can Make The Difference
Stop Caring What People Think
You’ve Heard This Before
A great deal has been written about this subject and that is exactly the reason I write about it now. The reason so many people have written about the subject is dead simple, virtually everyone is affected by it. How much we care about what others think, affects us in many ways. In this post I want to show you how your life will improve if you care less about other people’s opinion.
Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinions of others, for those voices. Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself. Face the truth.
Katherine Mansfield – Katherine Mansfield: A Darker View
Our Social Nature
As you very well know, it isn’t always easy to not care what people think about you. The irony is that our interaction with other people has the side effect that we do care what they think. However, I will do my utmost best to convince you to try and care less about other people’s opinions, especially their opinions about you.
Let’s Be Honest
I was always told that it is important to forgive and look at a person’s strengths instead of their flaws. While this is perfectly true (something I will discuss in an upcoming post), most of us are focused on people’s flaws, at least to some extent. Don’t get me wrong, this is natural as it is a form of protection. If you know what a person’s shortcomings are, you know what to expect (and not expect) from that person. However, the opposite is also true and liberating: if you know a person’s strenghts, you get a peek at the beauty that’s inside that person, the beauty that all of us characterizes.
Why Should I Not Care?
Some People Never Change
Do You Claim Your Right To Suffer?
What Is Suffering?
Have you ever asked yourself what it is that makes you unhappy? What is it that makes you suffer? Why do you suffer? What triggers suffering? These questions might sound philosophical or too spiritual for your liking, but if you take the time to think about these questions you’ll notice that they are immensely important if you want to find lasting happiness. Why? Suffering is what keeps us from being happy. In other words, it is important to know what that road block, suffering, is and how to find your way around it to find happiness.
Suffering Is Part Of Our Conditioning
A Willingness To Change
Why change?
When I hear people talk about a change in their lives, it always strikes me how different people think about themselves. The two extremes are easy to notice. On the one hand, I meet people close to being perfect, but relentlessly striving to further improve themselves. On the other hand, I come across people who think they are perfect, but … you know what I mean ;-) .
I think it’s not necessary to change, if you genuinely are happy with every aspect of yourself. Read that sentence again. What I just said is critical, because most people are not happy with who they are or with the way they live their lives. If you are unhappy with a certain aspect of your live, then you have two options, accept it or change it.
Accept
Do Not Expect Excellence If You Aim For Mediocre
How we feel about the work we do or the ventures we’re involved in, can have a tremendous impact on our happiness and the quality of our life. I write about this quite a bit on Wake Up and Start Living, simply because most of us spend about eight hours a day doing just that, working. Today, I’d like to talk about being excellent in what you do and how it can improve the quality of your life. Let’s dive right in.
You Have What It Takes
First of all, allow me to remind you that you have what it takes to achieve your goals and dreams. I’ll go even further by saying that I am convinced that you have what it takes even though most of us have never met in real life. Why am I saying this? Part of the reason I can get excited about other people’s projects, ideas, and goals is because I see the potential in these people when they talk about their goals and dreams. People enthusiastic about their goals and dreams emanate that enthusiasm and energy, you can see the potential in their eyes. These people, every one of you, are the foundation to success and excellence.