Kindness is the way of life

We have successfully made it through the first day of the week and I hope it was a good day for y’all. I am thankful for my job and the people I work with, especially during this slow time of year. It can be easy to get discouraged in this life, but it is wonderful to have family, friends, and co-workers to make it a little easier to tolerate. Even though work has been rather slow, I try to help my co-workers because I value them and want to help them keep things on track, and so they do not feel overwhelmed. It can be exhausting when things pile up due to meetings or training, and some people have children they need to tend to. I feel like taking a little off their full plates when I can help them not get too overwhelmed and frustrated.

We never know what another person is going through in their life. Many people will put on a fake smile to hide their pain because they do not want anyone to know they are going through something complicated and mentally draining. They hide their emotional pain by acting as though their life is happy and they are not suffering silently. Others that are going through something in their personal life that is problematic and troublesome might behave negatively with an abrupt tone because they are angry and or frustrated with something personal. Even though it is not easy, we need to not take their behavior personally.

Instead of reacting negatively to someone who says something harsh or behaves rudely, we should learn to take a step back and think about what that person may be going through. If this is someone that we know and understand their personality, we should be able to figure out if something is different. It should be easy to know if their behavior is normal or out of the ordinary. There is someone that I know that can be really kind and understanding most of the time, but every once in a while her demeanor changes drastically, and not for the better. I tend to ignore the negative behavior of this person because I do know she is battling with something on a personal level. Instead of reacting in the same way she is, I do the opposite and treat her kindly.

If we react with emotions every time someone acts negatively, we would constantly be dealing with hurt feelings. Then if we speak out of hurt feelings with a negative tone and say something that makes the other person feel even worse than they did before, we will never be able to erase those hurtful words. Too many people resort to suicide when they cannot handle life anymore and we would never want our mean words to be the last words another person hears. I am not saying it will change anything, but sometimes all a person needs to hear when they are struggling are kind, supportive, compassionate, and loving words.

I think if we could all just try being nicer and more understanding of others the world might be a happier and better place to live. Maybe if we all try spreading kindness, love, compassion, and understanding, it would catch on and spread as far as and beyond negativity. I believe we can all admit that negativity can spread like wildfire, so why can kindness and love not as well? None of this should take too much energy and should be rather easy😊!

Thank you for visiting my site today. I hope you enjoyed what I have shared, and my words resonated with you. Many people reading this might be battling with a medical issue, which I do understand is not easy, so it should be so easy for us to be kind to others regardless of how they behave. I am looking forward to reading your comments and I will respond as quickly as I can. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

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2023 Goals and Habits

Hello, the first Monday of 2023! Now that 2022 is behind us and we are starting this new year with a fresh start, we can set new goals without feeling too much pressure because we have the entire year to accomplish them😊! As I said in my post yesterday, I do not make New Year’s Resolutions because I feel they are pointless and most people, including myself, never stay with them. It is always important to make goals that are attainable or create new habits that may help us to achieve our goals. We should only set a few goals that we want to achieve because they are meaningful to us. Setting too many goals or new habits can be overwhelming and we may end up getting burnt out and then give up, which no one wants to do.

For the new year, one of my goals is to learn ways to not be so hard on myself. I have always been my own worst critic and I know this is not healthy. We should want to stay motivated and encouraged in life, which is impossible to do when we are constantly criticizing everything we do. There is already far too much negativity and, in this world, and we do not need to add to that by insulting ourselves. Instead of always telling myself that I am not good enough or that I am doing something wrong, I am going to try only repeating uplifting and encouraging words to myself daily!

Another goal or habit I want to do this year is to try doing a blog at least five times each week. I want to open my horizons and write about different topics that are meaningful to me. I have always had a deep love and passion for writing, so I think it is extremely important to try new things and learn different ways to write. I would love to try doing a writing contest again and not back out before I finish the essay because I think my essay will not be good enough. We never know what we are capable of unless we try, right?

Something else I want and need to do is find ways to limit stress in life. Even though I know that stress is the silent killer, I tend to allow myself to stress about things that I have no control over. It seems silly to be able to understand and admit that I stress about things I have no control over because it is clear there is nothing that I can do to change the outcomes, so what is the purpose? There are many things in life we have no control over and should not waste time thinking about because there are also many things we can control, which are mostly our reactions to situations and the way we treat others. We will never have any control over how others behave, so it is senseless to try.

There are certain types of books that I enjoy reading and need to start making more time during the day to read. I have a few books that are on my to-read list but have neglected the books because I am too tired or cannot find the time to read them. Even if it is only 20 or 30 minutes each day, I should be able to make time to read a little. Reading helps to relax after a long day and can help people sleep better!

One thing I will always keep doing is being kind and respectful to others. It is 2023 now and things should be much different than they are. I do not know why people stopped evolving but decided to devolve to an extremely terrible level. I will do everything that I can to help others see things in a fair and better way, but I know some that are stuck in their ignorant ways, and nothing will change them.

Thank you for visiting my site today. I hope you enjoyed what I have shared, and I look forward to reading your comments and learning about your goals for the new year. I hope your week begins well and gets even better with each day. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

First Post of 2023

Another year has come to an end and the new year has begun. During the past several years, we have all experienced many challenges and 2022 was no different or an exception to the vast amounts of challenges. There is no point in dwelling on the things that went wrong or could have and should have gone better, instead, we must remember the valuable lessons that were learned. Now is a time to think about what we want this new year to contain and how we are going to make changes happen to make 2023 a great year. We must consider ways to make the changes that are needed in life and understand the reasons why change is necessary.

We have, unfortunately, all seen many negative things take place over the past several years and none of them helped us to evolve. Too many people have spent many years devolving to levels they are shameful. I cannot understand why so many are living as we did in the early 1900s when people were not treated equally and there were ignorant judgments about the way people lived their life. I will never understand why people are so scared of what they do not understand and banish the ways others are living when it is not causing anyone any harm.

There were many years when anytime we turned on the news, we saw political leaders criticizing others and spreading hatred as far as they could. The ones that valued these political leaders’ opinions and thoughts carried on with so much hate in their hearts. Why is it so difficult for people to think for themselves and stand alone if they disagree with others? I would rather stand alone in the middle of an empty space if it meant I was standing up for what I believed in and had a strong hold on my morals.

I have mentioned before that I do not believe in making New Year’s resolutions but would prefer to make good new habits. I think it is so important to treat others with kindness and respect. It does not matter if I understand how they are living their life because it does not cause me any harm. I have noticed during the past few years that honesty and love are not practiced or known. I feel that honesty and love almost go hand in hand because you cannot love if you are not being honest. How can anyone say they love another person if they are not being truthful with that person?

For 2023, I want to learn ways to not be so hard on myself and begin to trust my instincts. I want to find ways to remove the people that have a habit of disappointing me or causing me emotional pain because life is too short to deal with constant disappointments. I also want to continue treating others with kindness and respect and hopefully help others to do the same. I do know it is impossible to change others, but I do have the power to change how I allow the negativity to affect my mental health.

Did you do anything special to celebrate the New Year? My husband and I normally just spend the New Year at home because it is safer, which is what we did last night as well. Unfortunately, we were both still not feeling well because of the 2nd COVID booster we got on Friday morning. I remember after the 1st COVID booster I felt awful for several days, so I did expect the same with the 2nd booster. Is it not crazy to get something for protection against a deadly virus, but it makes you feel terrible for days? I would rather feel awful for a few days at home than be in a hospital fighting for my life. I am hoping today will be the last day of feeling bad, but we will see😊!

Now that we are in 2023, do you have any goals for the new year? How do you plan to accomplish your goals? I hope you know that you do have the strength and power to reach any of your goals! Was there anything in 2022 that you wish never happened, but did the experiences teach you any important lessons? How can you use these lessons to better your life and the new year?

Thank you for visiting my site today and reading my first post for 2023. I hope your New Year’s celebration was wonderful and safe! I am looking forward to reading your comments and I will respond as quickly as possible. I hope 2023 is a great year for everyone! Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Last Monday of 2022

How has your year been and is there anything you wish you could have changed? I have many questions that may not have answers, but I am going to ask anyways. Why are so many so quick to make a judgment? Why do some people think it is acceptable and humane to not be kind to others? Do people really think their way of life and how they behave is much superior to everyone else in the world? I am starting to believe that I might have missed something when I was younger because I was not ever taught that any one person is better than anyone else as I was taught, we are ALL EQUAL no matter where we are from or anything else people think it is acceptable to judge others for.

Why are so many people afraid of what they do not understand and automatically think the way others are choosing to live THEIR life is not the way they should be living? Who can say there is only one way to live? I guess I was under the impression that the United States is a FREE country and therefore people can live how they want to live. As I am sure you can tell by several of my posts, this is something that bothers me tremendously.

Over the past several years, it has seemed like there has been a vast amount of people devolving instead of evolving. A lot of this might be a result of our political leaders’ comments which might have made it seem like it was okay. Too many have glamourized racism and hate because of what they were feeling inside their heart, which to me is cold and dark. It is almost 2023 and we need to get back on track with evolving with the times.

Why should anyone care who someone else loves? I mean love is love, right? Does this affect their lives in any way shape or form? Who really cares about the color of someone’s skin, where they are from, or who they worship? They cannot control or change it and it does not cause issues in anyone’s life. The things that do matter are the way we treat others because that is something we do have control over. Superficial nonsense is not things that matter in the bigger picture of this life.

2022 is almost over and 2023 will begin soon, so I think we need to begin the new year with a better and kinder outlook on life. We need to start being more accepting and compassionate towards others that live differently than we do. I think learning about others’ way of life is fascinating. Different cultures are something we should all want to learn about because no individual is the same in this HUGE world and there is nothing wrong with that. Think about it, if we were all the same, would the world not be boring?

Thank you for visiting my site today. I hope you enjoyed what I have shared today, and it resonated with how you feel about the world we share. I believe we should all learn new ways to think and start treating everyone equally and with respect. The only time an individual does not deserve our respect is when they disrespect us personally or someone else, but even then, it is best to not sink down to their ignorant way to behaving. I am looking forward to reading your comments and I will respond as quickly as I can. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Build Up to Holidays

The holidays for the past few years have been abnormal, to say the least. We had been forced to place family gatherings on hold, with no idea when to reschedule them for. COVID caused holiday celebrations to change drastically and add even more stress to an already stressful time of year. Although COVID is much better than it was a few years ago, the pandemic has not seen its final days yet. The good news is that travel restrictions have been lifted, which is helping make long-distance family gatherings more manageable. Everything seems as though there are promises life will see what we used to consider “normal” again soon.

Even though life is starting to become normal again and COVID stress is decreasing some may still feel increased stress as the holidays approach us. Many have adjusted increasingly well to being at home and isolated from the outside world. Of course, for anyone who naturally enjoys socializing, the ability to interact with others, and to have mindless conversations, the holidays will be a breath of fresh air and excitement.

The low-key, mellow homebody type was thrilled to have a logical excuse to stay at home for the holiday of their dreams. Changing back to the spectacle of talkative relatives, rambunctious children, and loud noises may be a complete shock to their sheltered systems. Human beings do have the ability to acclimate to new environments quickly and adjust to change, which COVID pushed all of us to learn quickly.

Everyone needs to remember that the holidays do not mean we need to make up for all the holidays missed due to COVID in one day. We need to enjoy these times without feeling increased pressure. We can converse and interact with our family and friends, while still protecting our personal space.

For anyone that is an introvert and enjoys the comforts of their home, the following tips might be beneficial to read. I am sure there are many more ideas available, but these are just a few that I came across and wanted to share them.

Take Baby Steps:

Now is a time to take things slow and not push ourselves too far. Many of us might be tempted to try avoiding social gatherings and holiday parties, but we should try to at least make a conscious effort. Avoidance can potentially make things far worse than they truly are.

The best way to readjust and ease back into the “normal” holidays is to take it one manageable event at a time. Remember, to stay true to yourself, if large events and gatherings cause you too much stress and anxiety, choose to attend smaller gatherings until you begin to feel more comfortable and less anxious.

It is crucial to create and maintain time limits. If you know you can only tolerate an hour or two at a family dinner, let this be known so everyone is aware and understands. You could simply say, “I am so excited to celebrate the holiday with everyone, but unfortunately, I must leave by 9 PM.” If you are with your significant other or a friend, establish a code word to let that person know you are ready to head home, so you can begin saying your “goodbyes”.

Envision Success:

During the days leading up to your holiday gathering, try to self-talk. Do not tell yourself, it is going to be an uncomfortable and awful situation. Instead, remind yourself you are going to be surrounded by family who loves and accept you, and everything is going to be fine. The more you tell yourself this, the more that is what your brain will hold onto and remember.

Allow Yourself Breaks:

Whether the holiday gathering is with family or friends, keep your needs in mind. Stay aware of any indicators you are getting overwhelmed, your heart begins racing, you become overheated, etc. If your stress and uncomfortable feelings build up, simply politely excuse yourself to the restroom or step outside for some fresh air. A short and quiet break can help to calm yourself and be ready to socialize more.

The holidays do not need to be stressful, as they are meant to be enjoyable. We still have a few days left before Christmas Day, so try to keep yourself stress free and look forward to spending time with your loved ones. If you are not able to see everyone in your family due to distance, there is nothing wrong with picking up the phone to chat or even chatting on Zoom.

Thank you for visiting my site today. I hope you found the tips I have shared helpful, but if you have others, I will encourage you to share them. I am looking forward to reading your comments and I will respond as quickly as possible. I hope your week is going well and you have a good day! Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Sunday Thoughts

Happy Sunday, y’all! I hope you are having a good and relaxing weekend! Can you believe that we only have two weeks left in 2022? It is amazing how quickly time goes by and how much we endure each week. Sometimes, it is hard to believe what we have survived and witnessed because some things are so incredibly unbelievable. No matter what tragic events we have dealt with, it is crucial to remember that each experience is another lesson that is going to help us become better. We need to not think of hard times as a punishment because none of them are, they each continue making us stronger and more resilient.

The past several years have been complicated, to say the least, but what have we learned over the past few years? We have seen so much violence, which “should” have taught us to be kinder and more understanding. But, honestly, has it? I ask this because violence and hatred continue to ravage the world daily. Why do people feel so much hatred? Why can we all not get along and be nice to one another? Is this something we are taught by watching the news, which has made hatred seem normal and okay?

As we approach the holidays, we need to keep a few things in mind. One is, we still need to be practicing safety protocols because COVID is still around. For anyone that is not vaccinated, it is well past time to get vaccinated. Being vaccinated against COVID can be a matter of life and death for ourselves and our families. The other thing we need to remember is, Christmas is NOT a time for receiving gifts, but it is a time to share the love with those around us and be better at practicing kindness and never forgetting what the Golden Rule means!

New Year is only two weeks away, so now is the time to recall the past year and think about what changes we want to make for the next year. Are there new things we want to learn or things we were taught years ago that we want to put back into play? Do we want to make a difference in the world and if so, what difference needs to be made? Do we want to make changes in our day-to-day lives, and if so, what changes do we want to make? I am not asking you to share this now, but I am asking you to put thought into this!

The weekend is nearing its end and I hope you had a nice weekend. Did you do anything special over the weekend? Are you looking forward to the week ahead of us and are you ready for it? We do still have several hours left of the weekend, so I would encourage you to make the best of it. The important things we always need to remember are what we are going to do this next week which is something we will be proud of!

Thank you for visiting my site today. I hope you have enjoyed what I have shared, and it gave you things to think about. I am looking forward to reading your comments and I will be responding as quickly as possible. I am going to continue to try staying on a schedule with my posts, which gets harder once the work week begins, but I am going to try. Please remember that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes! 

Always, Alyssa

Letting Go Of The Past

Something everyone around the world has in common is, we all have a past. This can include positive and negative situations. Of course, we all enjoy remembering the positive things that happen and never want to forget those memories. Unfortunately, life is not perfect, and we encounter negative experiences during our lifetime. Although our first reaction to negative situations is to try forgetting them because they were traumatic and caused emotional pain and anxiety. There are better and more effective ways to handle those negative situations.

Instead of trying to ignore and forget about the past, it might be better and longer lasting to confront the past head-on. Confronting the past involved a conscious, dedicated choice to approach past emotional pain and begin to process them. When we continue trying to avoid the past, it is only going to circle back around. This will continuously force us to remember the pain over and over again, which is a vicious negative cycle.

There are numerous ways to confront the past and I am going to share some steps that I hope will help you. I do understand that you may have other ways that have helped you, which is great. Everyone deals with emotional pain and stress differently, so I would encourage you to share what has helped you face these issues.

One: Acceptance:

Accepting the traumatic events that were experienced is the first step and can be the most challenging step towards recovery. It depends on the severity of the trauma, but it may require professional help to overcome it and move forward. Mental health is critical to take care of before it escalates, so seeking guidance from a professional should not be viewed as a weakness and no one should feel shame from this.

Two: Consider the effects:

Any hurt we experience is going to include a reaction. We will gain additional wisdom that we must value. We should always try using what was learned from our painful experiences to have a better reaction when faced with future pain. Everything experienced in life is meant to help us deal with similar situations that we may encounter, and they are all learning opportunities. These opportunities are a gift to help us handle complicated situations we may endure and should not be viewed as a punishment, but more as a benefit.

Three: Distance:

We have all heard that sometimes it is necessary to distance ourselves from negative situations or toxic people in our life. It has been suggested by psychologists, that distance from a situation or the individual causing us to feel upset or stressed can help with letting go because we are not around the individual or situation and not forced to think about whatever is causing us to be upset. Often, we need space and time to process things on our terms.

Four: Allow yourself time to let the negative feeling flow:

We may try to avoid negative feelings out of fear but understand this is normal. Many people are in fear of feeling such as anger, grief, sadness, and disappointment, but these are common and natural feelings to experience once you have been hurt. It is okay to take time alone to let your tears flow or scream your frustration and anger out when no one is around. This release may severe you well and you are one step closer to recovery. If you do not want to scream or cry your feelings out, you can try writing a letter that you do not plan to send to whatever has you upset.

Five: Accept you may never get an apology:

Waiting for another person to accept responsibility for hurting you and apologizing can be a wasted energy. If you wait for an apology, it will only slow the progress of letting go down. It is not easy to understand why people are so unwilling to accept responsibility for the wrongs they do, but unfortunately, it is the way things are and we deserve the chance to let go so we can be happy!

We have almost made it to the end of the week, and I know we are all looking forward to the weekend. I know I have talked about this before, but PLEASE if you have not already been vaccinated for COVID, PLEASE do so. The vaccine can save lives and we all should be wearing masks when in public places to keep ourselves and others safe from getting COVID. Over the past years, too many have lost their lives and this COULD have been avoided. My mother and her husband, both are vaccinated have recently been diagnosed with COVID. I am thankful they were both vaccinated because that might have saved their lives! Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers! 

Thank you for visiting my site today. I hope the information I have shared will be beneficial for you and if you have other advice, I do wish you would share it. Life is challenging and we do not need additional stresses added to our lives because it is not worth it. It is so important that we try to be understanding towards what others might be going through and know there are probably things we do not know about. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Motivational Monday

Once once again Monday has returned a little too soon, but let’s tackle this week with pure determination! I know the weekend was too short, but hopefully, this is going to be an amazing week that is filled with great opportunities! Do you have anything going on this week that you are excited about? No matter what insanity this week might throw your way, just remember that you can handle anything with grace and massive amounts of strength! I do know most everyone dreads the start of the week, but we all survive the madness and live to tell about it😊!

Of course, I do understand that it is not easy to be motivated after coming back from a weekend, but we all somehow always manage to find something that motivates us! I hope you will be able to feel some motivation from the quote that I am sharing with you today. Unfortunately, many of us experience daily pain and it lets us know we are still alive to fight another day! We all make mistakes in life, but as long as we learn from them they build our strength and make us wiser. No matter what happens in life, we are all just perfectly imperfect human beings that are trying the best we possibly can!

As I have said before, we are not always going to agree on everything, but I think we can all agree that life can be extremely demanding. This is the reason that I found the quote I shared motivating. As y’all know, I live in constant pain and it can create challenges, but that pain lets me know I am still alive and still able to make changes and help others when I can! I think we are all put here on earth for a reason and one reason is to be kind, loyal, compassionate, and understanding because those traits allow us to give back to the world.

Thank you for visiting my site today. I hope you enjoyed what I have shared and you found it motivating. I am looking forward to reading your comments and I will respond as quickly as I can. I hope you have a wonderful start to the week and it gets better with each day that passes. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Inspirational Wednesday

We have successfully made it through the first part of this week, so we just have the other half left until the weekend returns. How has your week been so far? The way I view things is, if we survived the first part of the week, the second half should be a breeze😊! My week has not been too terrible, and work has been a little slow. The good thing about my job must be the great people I work with. Of course, I have never met any of them in person, but I have made some good friends by getting to know them through email and chats. Most of the people that I work with, I would have loved to work within an office setting!

This morning I must go to my dreaded appointment with my neurologist. I know the Nurse Practitioner means well and so does the doctor, but they never offer good news and I tend to leave the office feeling discouraged. I think it must be because I am overly sensitive when it comes to Multiple Sclerosis issues☹. You would think after dealing with this for over 20 years I would be more accustomed to the random issues, and nothing would bother me, but it still does rub me the wrong way every time. I have tough skin for most things, but still have very thin skin when it comes to this. I feel like I need to go into these appointments with low expectations and expect the worst so that I am not disappointed and upset the rest of the day.

Considering we do have a few days left this week, I think we all need to find ways to remain happy and feel the inspiration to keep going. I hope you will find the quote I am sharing with y’all today as inspiring as I did when I saw it. We all deal with many challenges in life, but it is so important to find ways to be happy, no matter what! I am holding this quote close to my mind today as I am not looking forward to my appointment this morning. I do not like dealing with Multiple Sclerosis or doctor’s appointments, but there is a part of it that has given me the strength I never knew I had!

Thank you for visiting my site today. I hope you enjoyed the quote I shared, and it provided you with inspiring thoughts for the day! I look forward to reading your comments and I will respond as quickly as I can. Hopefully, I will do a post tonight about how the appointment went and hopefully the Nurse Practitioner will not have awful and discouraging news for me. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Motivational Monday

Welcome back to the beginning of a new week! The weekends are always way too short, but each week brings us new and amazing opportunities. How was your weekend? My weekend was uneventful and peaceful, which was nice. I did even get to sleep in a little on Saturday and the rest of the weekend I just took things slow. Sunday is always my day to get things done and I prefer to relax and rest on Saturday. I also spent a lot of time with our three cats, and there was rarely a time I did not have at least one of them on my lap.

As we have to say our goodbyes to the weekend and start a new week, which might feel long, we all need to find a way to stay motivated. I decided to share this quote with y’all today because I think we can all agree that life is complicated. With that being said, we need to find ways to learn how to be happy despite the challenges we face because there will always be something we must endure. Why not accept and welcome the challenges, instead of trying to ignore them? Sometimes facing issues head-on will make the complications easier in the long run!

Do you have anything going on this week that you are looking forward to or dreading? I have a follow-up appointment on Wednesday with my Neurologist. I know they have their policies, but I think this appointment is senseless and I do not understand why it cannot be done via Zoom. Honestly, this is probably my fault because I reached out to them after my appointment with the pain management doctor due to something I have been experiencing for weeks now. I do not think they need to see me in person to understand what is going on because I explained exactly how I will when I am face-to-face with them. Needless to say, I am not looking forward to this appointment and I am going to flat-out refuse having another MRI!

Thank you for visiting my site today. I hope you found the quote that I shared motivating and each day gets better until the weekend returns. I look forward to reading your comments and I will respond as quickly as possible. No matter what challenges each day throws your way, never forget that you are strong enough to master anything. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa