Opportunities.

I am grateful for the opportunities I have had and the opportunities that are yet to come. I have so many good memories and a rich past! Lately, I have been able to envision a bright future for myself as well.  I have seen and done things that I never imagined I would do.  I think of my education/career; the wide variety of friendships I have and the different people who have walked into my life; the journey of self discovery; the places I have traveled; and the places I have yet to see.

I am pretty good at keeping an open mind to try new and different things. Sometimes, I don't care if I see or do certain things ever again but at least I know I took a chance. The majority of the time I am glad I left an open mind for the opportunities that are given to me.

Opportunities exist to let everyone know the possibilities for growth and discovery are endless. The opportunities I have been given are apart of what has shaped my own unique journey!

Gratitude for Yoga.

Yesterday and a small portion of today I was on my feet walking while I shopped.  I had fun shopping yesterday but my legs and the rest of my body are pretty tight and sore.

Thankfully I know exactly what to do. I'm still working on when and how often I do it.......but when I make the effort, yoga and stretching makes me feel so much better. It not only helps with sore tired muscles but belly aches and sinus difficulties as well. For each aliment, I know which stretches and poses to do for about 15 minutes.

Aside from the physical benefits, yoga is also teaching me to remember to be patient and appreciate what my body has to offer. I can tell when I have progressed or improved with a pose because I am checking in with my body and how it feels. I don't need to pass a test or to keep track on a timer - I just know I what my performance level is based on what my body is telling me.

Writing

I am grateful for my ability to collect my thoughts and write. I am thankful my mom and teachers pushed me to expand my ability to write when I was younger.

I feel like I am better at writing my thoughts than saying them out loud. For me writing is a way to speak my mind and organize thoughts and ideas I am having. Writing has kept me company when I have been lonely and cheered me up when I have been sad. It's given me courage to take action and is a reminder of the things that make me a unique individual.

Making writing a daily, essential part of my life has become a journey and has started making the impossible feel possible.

The Importance of Gratitude

The more I think about gratitude and practice it, the better I feel. I feel less negative towards myself and the world around me. It provides me with the opportunity to feel a sense of pride for what I have accomplished and also feel fortunate for the people and things in my life. This helps me sleep better and sometimes I am even able to focus better on tasks that I hope to accomplish. I am certain there are other health benefits it is helping me with as well.

I think it's cool that individuals on Facebook and other forms of social media are able to write about what they are grateful for each day of the month of November. That is what Thanksgiving is all about and there are many negative things in the media. It's good to work on making things as positive as possible.

This week my college intern and I are going to have the students on our caseload write about 5 things they are grateful for. It will be cool to explain what the concept means and also see what they say. This will be the first time I have done this.

Throughout this month and other times of the year I will also continue to work on this.

https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/gratitude-appreciation/

http://happierhuman.com/benefits-of-gratitude/

Happiness Is....

I haven't written a "Kim-ism" in awhile but I've been wondering what happiness is to people.

In the past I have written about the difference between happiness and contentment. This week I've written about the fact that we all have bad circumstances to deal with which can bring up negative feelings, it's only natural.

What I see for a lot of people is that happiness is having the bad circumstances go away, obtaining money, materials and people who approve of us and our actions for long periods of time. Everyone is seeking happiness as a constant way of life, a goal to obtain, when really it's just a few moments here and there. We just have to learn not to miss them and gain appreciation for them.

We can't always agree with others, money doesn't grow on trees, loss and accidents happen. So is it assumed that because these things exist - we're all missing out on obtaining our goal to be happy?

What I've recently noticed is happiness comes in really small doses. Unlike the big bad negative stuff that lingers.......happiness tends to sneak right in there and then quickly disappear.

Again, just like with the bad circumstances - we each have a choice on what we do with these doses of happiness. Let them slip by......or use our senses to taste, smell, see, hear, feel what is making us feel so good, so we can store it in our memory bank. Or let the tiny moments race by and then feel negative and unhealthy that we're never given anything worth being happy about.

Think about it.....
Sunsets/sunrises, chocolate chip cookies, belly laughs, a kind compliment, and all the other things that can make people happy......slip by so quickly. 

I hope I keep catching these little moments and embracing them to the fullest!

Negative Nancy.....

As a writing exercise I decided to list out every bad thing that my disability brings to my life. I'm not angry or stressed and I don't need counseling............I just wanted to see how long the list would be. I wanted to see what it would feel like and look like.

I'm not going to share it. Because it's negative and that's just not me.

Before writing this, I decided I wasn't going to share it and I also was going to write facts not emotions. After some of the statements I found myself wanting to write a justification on how I fixed that problem area.

My statements are done and in conclusion:

One of the biggest life lessons to learn is we all have our baggage. What each of us choose to do with it is our own personal decision. I was given a personality and soul to teach and set an example for others to take the shitty hand we are dealt and turn it into something great.

Prologue

I was born with this ugly part of me that has been bound to cause many hardships. Heavy and important questions weighed on my parents mind after they learned I had a mild form of cerebral palsy. Would I walk through schools, malls and on vacation? Would I earn an education that would lead me to a job that paid well? Would I be employed? Would I be able to take care of myself? Would I face discrimination from peers, employers, society? Would sports and other activities be hard for me? As I grew into an adult would my disability physically hurt? Would I blame this obvious physical mishap on every disappointment and challenge I faced in this life? 

The answer to all of these things is, yes even though the outcomes have never really been easy or handed to me. It all seems like I was born with a huge wall in front of me and my challenge is to find a way over the wall. Many would think this is a reason to approach life with despair, sadness or negativity.

I feel the complete opposite. This big ugly unfortunate thing that I was born with, has taught me so much! I see it as a gift. It's automatically given me the gift of empathy because I know we all have big ugly things we are dealing with. It has shaped my career and the relationships I have created. Since it was assumed I'd be living a life full of sadness and despair, it's very easy for me to make the little things in life that me happy a really big deal! Big or small accomplishments and things that make me smile last a little longer in my world. It has made me more perceptive. I've had to learn to separate CP issues with other flaws surrounding intense situations. It's made me smarter and more aware of what occurs in the world around me. If my an area of my body hurts, I find out why and figure out how to make it better by using rehabilitation. I know laws that protect me as a person with a disability and I am also not shy to seek out the help I need for any of life's situations even if it isn't related to my CP. It's taught me not to be scared to discuss or show imperfections and to seek the positive in the situations that I encounter. It's made me raw and has allowed me to live life to it's fullest.