Defeat Tuesday

Posted on April 19, 2022 by Positively Alyssa

The weeks can feel extremely long and strenuous. We typically prepare ourselves for Monday on Sunday evening because we understand they can be very demanding. Honestly, not every Monday is as bad as we think it is going to be and some are worst than we were expecting. Whether it be Monday or any other day of the week, sometimes there is no amount of preparation that can help us be ready for the days ahead of us. No matter what happens, we should never give up and should always try to see the positive in all situations. I believe a positive mindset will keep us healthier and happier rather than being negative.

Yesterday felt like a train wreck and I believe it had a lot to do with getting too little sleep. I knew it was going to be a rough day because if I had to guess, I might have slept for four hours. By the time we ate dinner, finally got my work monitors set up correctly, and cleaned up, it was close to 2:00 AM and I normally get up a little before 7:00 AM. Knowing I would be exhausted, I tried giving myself a few extra minutes of sleep and pushed the alarm back to 7:30. I still felt foggy, irritable, achy, and distracted all day, which made for a long day.

Besides being overly tired and achy all day yesterday, I was dealing with other frustrations. No matter how many times in our life we deal with challenging and frustrating times, it never gets any easier. While life was never meant to be perfect and easy, we must NEVER let go of trying to think positively and NEVER give up. We were all dealt a hand of cards when we were born, and we are forced to keep playing the game of life and not fold. It is so easy to feel like we cannot handle life anymore and give in to those awful negative thoughts. The only thing a negative mind will do is make everything worst.

I am not going to tell y’all that remaining positive during challenging times is easy because that would be a lie. The only thing negativity will do is make you feel empty. The life we were given is a gift and viewing everything as negative makes us take our life for granted, which tends to be selfish. There are so many people every day that lose their life and through NO fault of their own and they would all love another day to enjoy their life.

Thankfully, we have survived Monday and hopefully, every other day of this week will get easier. I understand more than I care to admit how unfair life can be, but through all the unfair things we have endured, we are stronger than we realize. We all have a strength inside that is powerful. When you start thinking you cannot deal with anymore, remember what you have already accomplished in life and hold your head high!

Thank you for visiting my site today. I hope what I have shared was beneficial for you and you are feeling better about life the way it currently is. Understanding what we have control over and what we have no control over, is a valuable lesson to learn because it will make things easier. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Pick-Me-Up Thursday

Posted on March 18, 2021 by Positively Alyssa

~Brighter Days Are Ahead Of US, Just Keep Going~

Happy Friday eve y’all How has your week been? I do hope your week has been great and you are continuing to stay safe! Do y’all have any plans for the upcoming weekend? I do not think anyone will be surprised to know that I do not have any real plans. My husband will be working this weekend and I thankfully will not be working! I will be staying home staying warm, comfortable, and safe with my sweet cat on my lap, where he loves to be! I know he still misses Chloe, as we all do and I continue trying to keep the poor little boy happy as possible.

I always keep things real with y’all and that will never change, my week has been a mixture of good, bad, and painful. The good is being able to continue working from home and also the Gilenya order came without having to wait. The bad was just a “little” frustrations with work that was not necessary. The pain is just due to the weather playing games with my body. It never fails rain and cold always make my pain levels skyrocket, but I do not complain about it because that does not make it go away. I think most people that do not know me would never have any idea how much pain I am in and I prefer to keep it that way. I think we all know that you cannot have good without bad in life, it is the yin and yang of life!

As our week is closer to the end and the weekend is a short way away, I think a little pick-me-up might be helpful to get through one more day! Unfortunately, there are still many people struggling right now and most of us are still feeling the stresses of COVID. With everything, we have seen and been through it is crucial to not look back on the past of stress and ill- feeling, and keep moving forward with positive thoughts. If we only focus on all the negative, we will never be able to enjoy the life we are meant to have, which would be a true shame. I would love to read your what you thought of this quote and my thoughts about it!

Thank you for visiting my site today. I hope you have a great day and as always, please continue to stay safe! I can promise y’all that I will respond to all comments as quickly as I can, which might end up being after I get out of work. Please never forget that I am sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Tranquil Tuesday

Posted on November 3, 2020 by Positively Alyssa

~My 20 Year Battle With Multiple Sclerosis~

Many of you already know that I have battled my fight with Multiple Sclerosis for going on 20 years now. Most days I can’t even believe it has been that long and yet I still remember the day I heard the doctor say the words to me “Alyssa, you have Multiple Sclerosis.” I was a 19- year- old girl, alone in the exam room, and was in complete shock. At the time of my diagnosis, I was naïve, scared, and did not know what my life was going to be like. I only knew one person that had MS and she was in a wheelchair. Being so young and clueless I thought I was going to be diagnosed, and then bound to a wheelchair, and then death. I know how ridiculous that sounds now because I have a better understanding of this disease.

Of course, the past 20 years have come with many ups and downs, but not only am I still here to talk about it and hopefully help others living with chronic illnesses. Yes, I do live with various issues, but I have learned to live a fairly normal and full life with all of it. I think it is important to understand that no matter what our struggles are in life, we can learn to make the most of it. Life is short and no one ever said it was going to be easy. I think the more struggles we overcome, the stronger we are.

It has been a while since I have written about Multiple Sclerosis and considering I had an appointment a little more than a week ago with my new neurologist; it might be a good time to write a little about what I deal with day in and day out with Multiple Sclerosis. The real reason I do not write much about it anymore is I do not think it is good to dwell on things we have no control over, but it is important to help others that do not have MS understand what it is all about and others that live with this unpredictable disease to know they are not alone. I say this because I remember when I was first diagnosed, I felt so incredibly and painfully alone.

One of the most important things when living with any chronic illness is finding a specialist that you trust and can work well with. Over my years with Multiple Sclerosis, I have had my fair share of specialists that I respected and trusted, but then there were those I would do anything just to avoid them. The only reason those I trusted, respected, and admired are not my specialist anymore is that they retired. I have only met my new specialist was virtually, but she said one thing that won me over, she knew, admired, respected, and loved my first neurologist. As simple as this may sound, I have been missing my first neurologist since the day he retired. It did take me time to be accepting of him because he was the one that confirmed I had Multiple Sclerosis. The only reason I left the practice he was at is because the neurologist that was taking his place insulted him when speaking with me and this was a HUGE no, no!

During my two decades of living with Multiple Sclerosis, (WOW that sounds like a LONG time), I have faced and dealt with various issues. Of course, some of what I have struggled with have ranged anywhere between being a minor inconvenience to almost unbearable, and everything in between. Symptoms involved with Multiple Sclerosis and any other chronic illness can be different for each individual because we are all unique.

I am sure that most of you know about Multiple Sclerosis because you or someone you know has it, but I am going to take this time to provide you a brief overview, and then I will describe the issues I battle with every day of my life. I will begin by explaining what Multiple Sclerosis is.

What is Multiple Sclerosis?

Multiple Sclerosis is a disease that may become disabling of both the brain and spinal cord. With MS, the immune system attacks the myelin, which is the protective sheath covering nerve fibers and creates communication issues between the brain and the rest of the body.

What are the types of Multiple Sclerosis?

Unfortunately, in 2020 there is still not a way to foresee with absolute certainty how a person’s disease will advance and or how fast this will happen. The four main types of MS have been established by the: International Advisory Committee on Clinical Trials of MS and were defined as the following explanations.

Clinically Isolated Syndrome (CIS):

This is the first occurrence of neurological symptoms that are caused by inflammation and demyelination in the central nervous system. Although the occurrence must last for at least 24-hours to be considered a characteristic of MS, it still doesn’t meet the specifications for an MS diagnosis because those that experience CIS may or may not have MS.

It is when CIS comes along with lesion on a brain MRI, which is typically seen in MS, that the probability of the person having a 2^nd MRI is high, and being diagnosed with RRMS is very common.

Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (RRMS):

This is the most common form of MS with 85% of people being diagnosed originally with it. RRMS is distinguished by undeniably defined attacks of new or increasing neurological symptoms, which are known as relapse or exacerbation and are typically followed with partial or complete times of partial or complete remission. While in remission, all symptoms may disappear or the symptoms may continue and be permanent, but during this time there isn’t any progression seen. RRMS can be further described as either active, which is with relapse and or confirmation of new MRI activity in a specific time frame, or NOT active, as well as worsening or not worsening.

Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis (SPMS):

Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis is a type when one was initially diagnosed with RRMS and progressed into SPMS. The progression from RRMS to SPMS is due to the increasing worsening of neurological function over time. SPMS can also e distinguished as either active, not active, as well as progression indicating disability accrual over time.

Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis (PPMS):

Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis is classified by increased deteriorating neurological function from the onset of this disease and without early relapse or remissions. Just like the first few types of MS, PPMS can also be distinguished as active, not active, progression, and without progression. Only about 15% of people with MS are diagnosed with PPMS.

The symptoms for each person living with Multiple Sclerosis might be very different, slightly different, similar, but they will never be exactly the same because we are all very different. I really did not mean for this post to get so long, so I will briefly share with you the symptoms I deal with both daily and or randomly.

The way I discovered that I had MS all those years ago, is because I lost vision in my left eye and went to the eye doctor. Never in a million years did I expect that this vision loss was the start of my journey with Multiple Sclerosis. After going through the MRI to confirm the doctor’s suspicions, I was put on an insane amount of steroids, which even though I completely and utterly detest steroids; they did help restore my vision. One would think I would have been relieved to learn I wasn’t going blind, but I often think the diagnosis was worse than the diagnosis.

Through the years, I have experienced a wide range of symptoms that have varied from mild and tolerable to awful and intolerable. A few things that have been a constant are pain, numbness and tingling, and spasticity. Sometimes I think that if I had one day without any pain, numbness and tingling life wouldn’t seem as normal. My legs always have that numbness and tingling sensation from my knees to the tips of my toes. It can make walking be challenging depending on how bad it is, but normally I am fine with walking. My back hurts every minute of every day from the middle to lower back, but I try not to let that get me down too much. There are times when the mixture of pain, numbness, and tingling can contribute to muscle weakness. I also experience a lot of fatigue and then have a hard time falling asleep. It is an annoying cycle!

Another symptom I have dealt with over the past two decades that is not very often is vertigo. There was a time several years ago when I was having vertigo very bad, but had a doctor’s appointment with my neurologist and drove myself to the appointment. I did well driving when a little dizzy because I managed to keep between the lines. It is insane that I hardly could walk a straight line, but drove perfectly fine! I have also dealt with the MS hug, which is not a huge anyone ever wants. The MS hug feels like there is a huge snake around you and just keeps squeezing. Another issue I deal with at least three times a week is headaches/migraines. Headaches/migraines are a form of pain that I can’t deal with.

Thank you for visiting my site today and reading about my LONG journey of living with Multiple Sclerosis. It has been a long journey and one I never wanted, but one I wanted to give up on 20 years ago. I am thankful that I did not give up and followed advice from my dear Poppy. When I was diagnosed, my Poppy told me that I was strong enough to handle this disease and to always remember that no matter what I am going through, someone else is going through something a lot worse. I have held onto his words all these years and hope that I can inspire y’all to never give up because you are far stronger than you ever knew.

I know this post got a little long and longer than I anticipated, but there is so much involved when living with Multiple Sclerosis. All the challenges you experience throughout your life are making you stronger and therefore you can inspire someone else to never give up! I am looking forward to reading your comments and I promise to 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

Motivational Monday

Posted on October 12, 2020 by Positively Alyssa

Our New Week Is A New Start For More Success!

Happy Monday y’all! How was your weekend? Honestly, I had a lot of ideas of what I wanted to do over the weekend. Unfortunately, because of a nasty rainy weekend I did not feel well enough to do any of it. Rain makes me feel all my pain more and causes an extreme amount of fatigue. I do hope your weekend was spent better than mine and you are felt well all weekend.

Are you ready to begin another week? It isn’t ever easy to say goodbye to the weekend and begin another week that should be full of opportunities! Each week offers us opportunities for even more chances of success! I am wishing for y’all to have a nice and safe week! I am hoping the quote I am sharing with y’all today offers you the motivation you need to start your week with positivity and optimism!

I can tell you how some of my week is going to go. I have a doctor’s appointment on Thursday afternoon and unfortunately, I have to go to the office. I will be as careful as I possibly can be. I will wear my mask and sanitize as much as possible! I am not too concerned about safety with this office because they do not have people sit in the lobby. I will be immediately taken into the exam room, where I will sit and wait all by myself. The Nurse Practitioner will be quick and she is careful and understanding.

Thank you for visiting my site today! I hope you enjoyed the quote I shared and I am looking forward to reading your comments, and I promise to respond as quickly as I possibly can. I am sorry there are some comments I didn’t respond to yet over the weekend because I really wasn’t feeling well at all. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and many positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Let It Go Friday!

Posted on September 18, 2020 by Positively Alyssa

It’s time to let go of negative emotions from the week & enjoy the weekend!

Happy Friday y’all! We finally made it through the week and I hope you had a wonderful week! Do you have anything planned for the weekend? I know that any plans you may have, y’all will stay safe, right? I know this will come as a surprise to y’all, so brace yourself, I have nothing planned at all. I know you must think I just live a boring life, but truthfully, this is what I prefer because of my intense fears of COVID-19.

As this week finally comes to an end and with so much going on around the world that may cause some stress and or negative feelings, I think today is the perfect day to attempt to let those emotions go to hopefully enjoy the short weekend. The weeks are so long and the weekends seem to get shorter, we need to be able to enjoy it as much as we possibly can. I am hoping you will find the quote I am sharing with y’all today encouraging and it helps you let go of any negative feelings you may be carrying with you.

It breaks my heart anytime I hear the news because there are so many awful things going on and not just with the virus. I have never understood why there is so much hate that is only building throughout the country. In my eyes, we are all simply imperfect human-beings with a heart and feelings. It does not matter how much money you have in the bank, the house you live in, the clothes you wear, cars you drive, or anything else because what matters is the way you treat others. I feel pretty confident that y’all agree with me on this, but please let me know what you think.

Thank you for visiting my site today. As always, I appreciate you taking the time to read what I have shared and I also love reading your comments, which I will respond to 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

A Little Extra Optimism

Posted on August 22, 2020 by Positively Alyssa

Smiles & Happiness Make A Huge Difference

While we are all still learning ways to deal with and accept what our “new normal” is, it can continue causing so many fears and stress. No one knows when or even if COVID-19 will come to an end allowing us to live comfortably and not wear a mask anytime we leave our homes. Of course, masks are suffocating and not comfortable, especially when the temperature is pushing 100 degrees outside, but a little discomfort can possibly save our lives.

In the meantime, as we are waiting for things to settle down, it is important to try remembering the positive aspects of life. So, let’s make a list of things we enjoy and some of our favorite things. It has been so long, some of us may have forgotten what it means to enjoy and favorite means. Enjoy means either to take delight or pleasure in or possess and benefit from. Favorite means preferred before all others of the same kind.

Now that we have had a little reminder, what are five things you enjoy? This can be anything you can think of, the sky is the limit! To get this started I will share my list of five things I enjoy the most.

1. Listening to music because this helps me relax and even helps my massive stress issues.

2. Of course, I enjoy writing. This is something that has always helped me to process and let go of my emotions, both positive and negative.

3. My husband probably will not appreciate me sharing this, but he will be okay. I enjoy watching General Hospital at night with my husband while we eat our dinner.

4. Even though my two sweet cats can get rather obnoxious at times, I do enjoy time with them fighting over my lap. Our older cat has an overwhelming need to sleep almost on my head every night; we actually end up sharing the pillow.

5. I enjoy quiet and drama-free evenings and weekends at home with my husband and our cats. Many people would say this is boring, but there have never been any troubles or issues caused by times like this.

We were already reminded about what favorite means, so now comes the questions! What are some of your favorite books, authors, movies, music, TV shows, places to travel, colors, meals, etc.? I guess this can be a little tricky because some favorites can go hand and hand, but we can have a little fun with it or at least I hope we can. I am going to share my five favorite types of music/musicians and my five favorite books/authors. I am hoping y’all will share some of yours as well because I think it will be fun and interesting.

Truthfully, I love most music. I am not a huge fan of country music though because it always makes me sad and that isn’t what I want when relaxing listening to music. So five of my favorite bands are the following:

1. Red Jumpsuit Apparatus because they will always hold a special place in my heart considering my husband proposed on stage with them before they sang “Your Guardian Angel”.

2. Radical Something because no matter how awful my mood is, their songs can make me smile and be calm. Their music has beach vibes, probably because they are in California!

3. Simple Plan because they have a calming, chill, and relaxing vibes. This band is from the country my husband and I have talked about moving to, Canada. Depending on the outcome of the upcoming election the move may happen sooner rather than later.

4. Taking things a little old school, but yet still current is Fall Out Boy. This is a rock band that started off playing in their garage back in Chicago Illinois before making it to the big time. My husband and I have enjoyed this band for many years now!

5. The Pretty Wreckless is an amazing rock band that took me a while to warm up to, but that was because my husband pushed them on me too much. I am a very stubborn person and when something is pushed on me too much, I will fight to hate whatever it is. This band is from NYC and has several songs that can make anyone smile because the singer is singing what most of us are thinking and feeling.

To save y’all a little time from reading too much, the only other favorites I am going to share is who my three favorite authors are and some of my favorite books by the author. My top three favorite authors are James Patterson, Nicholas Sparks, and Kelly Rimmer.

James Patterson has written many fantastic books and continues doing so to this day. I find him and his books very addictive and almost impossible to put down once you begin. Patterson’s series “The Women’s Murder Club” is one of the BEST series I have ever read. There have been 20 books released so far, with the 21^st set to be released in 2021and I have read 19 of them. I had to slow down reading these books because it was torture when I finished a book and had to wait for the next one.

Another book I read by Patterson that was outside The Women’s Murder Club series was “Filthy Rich”. The incredible details he wrote in this book had me despising Jeffrey Epstein long before he was even arrested because it is a horrible and jaw-dropping story. Honestly, after reading the book I thought Patterson was supporting that disgusting and appalling perverted man causing me to not want to read another book from James Patterson. Thankfully, I later saw an interview James Patterson did and it was crystal clear he did not and never would support anyone like Epstein.

While James Patterson is an astonishing and enthralling author, Nicholas Sparks is a captivating author on a whole different level and style. Since Nicholas Sparks began his writing career in the mid- ‘90’s with his first book, “The Notebook” that was not only a best-seller but even turned into a hit movie later. He continued his incredible journey writing many other fabulous and beautiful love stories that could bring tears to anyone’s eyes. A few more of his books that were brilliant consist of Two by Two, Every Breath, The Best of Me, The Last Song, and The Choice, but there are many others that would be very worth reading!

Kelly Rimmer is a truly spectacular author from the beautiful country, Australia. I have read all seven of her books that were released in the United States and cannot wait for her to release another. Kelly has an engaging and engrossing way to keep her readers completely mesmerized. She adds an emotional twist to the stories she writes. Kelly has a natural ability to make you feel every emotion each character is feeling.

The seven books that I have read of Kelly’s were so amazing they would be worth reading a second time. The books I have read were: Unexpected, Before I Let You Go, Suspending Reality, A Mother’s Confession, Me Without You, When I Lost You, and The Secret Daughter.

First, I want to thank you for visiting my site today! I hope your weekend has started off well and you are staying safe. Weekends are our time to rest and recuperate from a long week. I hope you are enjoying this post and you will share some of your favorite things and things you enjoy because I think it will be fun to see how much a like of different we are all. I admire differences because it allows for us to learn, grow, and build relationships!

I am looking forward to reading more of your posts this weekend and learning more about you if you are able to make a comment! Whatever the rest of your weekend holds, please do everything you can to stay safe! I hope y’all never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and many positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Pros & Cons to working from home

Posted on August 15, 2020 by Positively Alyssa

Let’s Talk About Our New Norms

In the wake of the pandemic, many companies are not requiring their employees to work in the office but instead allowing them to work from home. The truth is many positions could have been working from home long before now. Companies could have saved themselves a lot of money by not paying rental payments or leases on buildings, the utilities required, or any other expenses. Technology in 2020 has come as far allowing for any and everything to be done online. Meetings and training can be done through Skype for business, Zoom, GoToMeeting, and countless other programs.

Working from home and setting up a home office comes with many benefits, but also several challenges. Do y’all have a home office since COVID-19 has spread massively and relentlessly around the world? If you have, what have been the benefits and challenges you have experienced?

The benefits of being able to work from home might be rather obvious, but I will explain a few I have found. One of the greatest and most crystal-clear benefits is safety from a deadly virus. Considering I have a weak immune system because of the medication I take for Multiple Sclerosis, it is a blessing to work from home. I try my best to keep my distance from people outside of my home and now days hardly leave my house. This virus scares the hell out of me because it has already killed so many people and could, unfortunately, kill me as well and I can’t do that to my family.

Another benefit working from home provides me is the ability to always wear comfortable and non-dressy clothes. This might sound like a silly benefit, but it can be incredibly helpful when dealing with the massive pain I deal with on a daily basis. Just by having the choice to never wear those uncomfortable, but cute high heel shoes or the pretty but extremely confining dresses or pants, it is priceless. Simply being able to get out of the shower and not have to mess with drying my hair or trying to get it looking nice is a time saver! Then just throwing on a t-shirt and comfy pants are amazing. Of course, I do still continue putting my makeup on because it makes me feel much more confident, even though no one but me sees it.

An additional benefit to working from home is never dealing with the insane and chaotic traffic in the mornings on my way into work or the evenings on the way home. With the ridiculous amounts of crazed drivers always in a rush to get where they think they must go, seldom paying attention to anything but the phone by their side, and seeing the numerous accidents along the way was terrifying. I always dreaded my drives and now to get to work is a simple walk downstairs to where my home office is set up!

In a crazy way, it is always a benefit and also a disadvantage to not have to be around co-workers. We have all dealt with those co-workers that enjoyed office drama and gossip. Trying to remain polite to others while avoiding the drama was always so exhausting. It is rather nice to never be forced to worry about the latest drama or gossip the runs through most offices. I do not need to worry about who I should avoid and or who can or can’t be trusted. I enjoy being able to focus completely on the work that I need to do during my workday without interruptions from co-workers wanting to talk nonsense. Even with all that said, I do still miss having a co-worker close by to ask questions or run issues by, but I guess that is what email is for.

Even though there are many benefits to working from the comfort and safety of my own home, there are some challenges involved as well. To be honest, it does not matter how many challenges I might face working from home, the benefits will always outweigh any and all obstacles.

Although I did work for a mortgage company for almost three years in the past, it has been a few years since I worked in the industry. The company I am with now is a lot different and so are my job duties. My previous mortgage company, like any other, had its good and bad parts. I did and still do have a great amount of respect for my former manager. I am not going to talk negatively about my previous mortgage company because I did learn a lot, so overall it was a good experience. The negative aspects of that company are the same as most companies, there are many immature people that are in positions they do not have the knowledge or business being in.

One of the challenges I have found working from home is the virtual/online training and guidance. Like I just explained, I worked for a mortgage company previously and even though that company had its own challenges, I did receive adequate in-person training. The training, guidance, and direction provided me with the confidence that enabled me to do my job almost like second nature. Learning a new job with many new responsibilities virtually has been slightly difficult. There are a few people I can email or instant message with any questions I have, but this causes me a lack of confidence in the knowledge I have and or even my skills. I think not having someone to give me feedback on what I am doing well with or what and how I can improve on is frustrating. When you work for a company and go to an office, there is normally a handbook on processes, but working from home there has not been such a thing.

Another challenge I have encountered while working from home is having the silence needed for focusing. My husband also works from home, but he works nights and we do share the same home office area. There are some hours after his shift ends he needs to unwind, which I can understand and support. The only issue is he will watch new segments online causing an annoying distraction for me. I know it is important to know what is going on in the world, but I have had more than enough of the political lies and prefer to not listen to anything that comes from the president’s mouth. I also can’t take any more about Epstein or his girlfriend/partner in crime Maxwell. Everything that Epstein and Maxwell did cause me to feel sad, angry, and massive amounts of emotional pain.

I never in a million years thought I would ever think this, but something else that is a little challenging for me is, not know any of my co-workers. Of course, I managed to get to know a couple of my co-workers through email and phone calls, but I have never met any of them in person. I have been with my company for one month now and I still do not even know everyone’s name on the team I work with. It is unusual for me to not know at least something about everyone I work with. I have always been friendly and accepting of others and now it is just me alone. I guess in a way, working from home can be a little lonely.

Now that I have gone through the benefits and challenges I have found about working from home, I would love to hear your feedback. I know not everyone is able to do their job from home, but many have been granted this access. Do any of you that work from home have benefits and challenges you have found? How have you dealt with the challenges?

Thank you for visiting my site today. It has been a little while since I have been able to write about a specific topic because I am normally too darn exhausted to do so. This is something that I have missed and plan to do more of. I know y’all deal with being tired and it is hard to leave comments, but I do look forward to reading yours. I promise that I will respond to all comments as quickly as I can. I know I say this in every post, but please do everything you possibly can to stay safe from the virus. This virus knows no boundaries and will cause problems for anyone it can. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and many positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

How to be Free of Bad Habits

Posted on May 23, 2020 by Positively Alyssa

What is meant by bad habits? Bad habits are defined as a patterned behavior that is considered to be detrimental to one’s physical and or mental health. This is typically linked to a high level of discipline and self-control. No matter who you are unfortunately we all have bad habits that we want to be free from.

Many people will end up dealing with stress and boredom with bad habits. If you can think back to a time you were faced with a stressful situation, how did you deal with those negative feelings? While many things are viewed as bad habits, I normally end up biting my nails or pick at the skin around my fingers. What would you say your bad habits are?

We all know it is not easy to break bad habits, but it is important to at least try and not give up. I do have several bad habits I would like to be free from to proceed with a healthier and fulfilling life. I have discovered several ways to eliminate bad habits and would love to get your feedback on them.

The first step is determining the core of your bad habit. Charles Duhigg, a Pulitzer-prize winning American journalist and non-fiction author, has determined three basic parts to our habits. Our habits primarily work in a cycle of these parts.

The Cue– This is the feeling, time, or location which triggers your habits, good or bad.
The Routine- This is whatever the habit itself is.
The Reward- This is the craving that the habit satisfies.

Taking the time to understand each of the components is the first step to seizing our habits. It may be beneficial to write down the cue, routine, and reward for whichever habit you decide you want to break, ask yourself:

What triggered the routine?

What is the craving the body is trying to satisfy?

Change your surroundings-

At this point we have already determined the cue or cues that are responsible for triggering our bad habits. Logically, we can understand once we manage to eliminate what cues our habits initiate, there will no longer be anything prompting the habit cycle to begin. Changing our surroundings can remove the cues causing our bad habits. One study that was done in a university, researchers found that students who transferred to a new university were far more likely to change their bad habits, than the students that did not change universities. This occurred because the students that changed universities did not have certain cues that were the cause of their bad habits.

Focus on one bad habit at a time-

Many of us have more than one bad habit we would like to eliminate. Trying to tackle too many habits at a time will on decrease our abilities for successful outcomes. To successfully eliminate our bad habits, it is crucial to focus all of our attention on just one habit before we try handling another one.

View your goal as a positive-

Another key element of habits is the routine, which is the behavior that is triggered by the cue. In other words, it is the habit you want to eliminate. Typically, when we set goals for ourselves we are not putting them in a positive frame of mind, but instead they are in a negative mindset. Our brain’s habit system responds better to positive goals. For instance, instead of your goal being “I will stop eating junk food” try “I am going to eat healthier”.

Psychologists have suggested that pursuing negative goals is linked with feelings of inadequacy and decreased self-esteem, which can discourage us from taking action. People tend to find it easier to become motivated by positive goals, which increase the opportunity for successfully achieving our goals.

Replace the bad with the good you love-

Quitting a habit altogether seldom work out the way we intended. Once a habit is formed, it becomes an instinct for us to follow through with the routine because our brains are wired to see the cue and desired reward. Instead of completely eliminating habits, keep the old cue and reward, but start a new routine.

***In a future post I will go through a few bad habits and how to eliminate them***

Forgive yourself if you relapse-

It is not easy to break bad habits and there is always a possibility you will go back to your old ways several times before achieving your ultimate goal. You have probably heard old habit die hard, well that couldn’t be any truer! It is important to allow yourself the chance to try again and not be angry about any setbacks. You will have a far better chance at achieving your goals if you do not deter yourself with negative and disappointing thoughts.

Keep your goals to yourself-

We might think that sharing our goals with others would be encouraging, but this actually lowers our chances of success. Once we tell people about the goals we have set for ourselves, they will view us a little different and this could falsely assure the mind that the identity goal is partially complete and you might not put the effort in that is needed reach your goal.

Thank you for visiting my site today. I hope your weekend has started off great and you are feeling the best you can. I am excited to read your feedback on this post and anything you have tried to free yourself of bad habits, I promise to respond as quickly as I can. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love , comfort, and many positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

How to not feel trapped by life

Posted on March 11, 2020 by Positively Alyssa

We are all in the pursuit of happiness for our life. We must try to discover what we truly want from the life we are living. We can easily begin to feel trapped by our aspirations, triumphs, failures, and responsibilities. We can inflict these on ourselves or they may be imposed on us by outside forces.

Our ultimate goal needs to be to not feel trapped in life because there are so many pathways for a joyful, prosperous life that there isn’t a good reason to not aspire for something healthier.

It is crucial to create your own journey and not view something as better but focus on making things healthier. This can enable us to free our mind from feeling trapped in our life. Below are ways we might be able to get to that free point.

Live below your means

There is so much marketing that encourages consumers to buy new products. They promote these new products as better and those they will make people happy, which isn’t true.

This creates the thoughts we need to make more money so we can buy bigger houses, newer cars, up to date brand name clothes, or the most current electronics, even though the one bought last year still works.

Living below our means gives us the freedom to not be a slave to a job that makes us miserable. The advertisements that are created to grab our interests need to be ignored because most of those products are not needed. Balancing our needs with wants is important to acknowledge.

Accept responsibility for your choices and actions

We are the only one that can save ourselves from the decisions we have made. There are too many people that spend their time complaining about how awful they think their life is, instead of putting the effort into making the changes we need. There are times bad things happen to a person that can’t be avoided. When this does happen, we need to accept what occurred and move on the best we can.

The truth is, many only want to blame everyone and everything else for their hard times in life, but they fail to look in the mirror for the blame. It is important to look in the mirror because often times there is no one else that can fix our problems.

Strive for a healthier lifestyle

Living an unhealthy lifestyle will negatively influence our quality of thoughts, emotions, and life.

Easy choices like cutting back on unhealthy foods, trying to get a little more regular exercise, and the proper amount of sleep each night can drastically improve our mentality and perspectives. A healthier lifestyle can depend on the foundation of sleep. The deeper stages of sleep are when our brain produces the chemicals to maintain our mood and balance throughout the day. Both our moods and emotions will suffer if we don’t get enough sleep.

Food and drinks provide our minds with the nourishment we need and offer us our energy throughout the day. The simple changes we can make to drink less sugary and caffeinated beverages and more water can provide mental and physical health benefits.

Embrace change when it is the only option

Growth and change are things that can’t be avoided if we are living a positive and meaningful life. We will make changes to our views; work on our mental and emotional health, which may show us we have outgrown some situations and or people.

Outgrowing certain situations may be challenging. Outgrowing some of our friends and even our family will be much more difficult. During this time we need to analyze the situations and people to determine which are meaningful to our life. If you view some people are toxic because of their actions, they will only continue dragging us down.

Some people actually prefer to stay stagnant in their life because it is comfortable and they do care to make changes for a healthier life. We need to try embracing changes and enjoy the amazing opportunities that will free us from feeling trapped.

Learn to say “NO”

Adapting to the ability to say “no” can be difficult, but it is an important skill to learn. There will never be a time when something isn’t going on or someone else doesn’t need something or even when another responsibility doesn’t come up. If we don’t learn to say “no” we will always be caught up with something and may even be taken advantage of by someone who doesn’t expect to hear us say no.

The ability to say no could keep us from feeling trapped by too many responsibilities.

Do more things that make us happy

This might not be something we think about because of many different reasons that make sense to us. As long as what makes us happy isn’t harming anyone else, there is nothing wrong with it. We all know that people enjoy judging others for how they live, but they really do not matter at the end of the day.

We all have the right to discover happiness and do what makes us happy. Dedicating time to what brings us happiness is necessary for self-care.

The normal day-to-day life can have a great deal of negativity and repetition. There are times when the repetition can lead us to believe we are bored with our life, which can make us feel trapped. This is the main reason for doing things that bring us joy is so important.

Add spontaneity and creativity to your life

Human beings are not designed for an inflexible immutable schedule of things we must do. Often the feelings of being trapped are more thought of being trapped due to the monotony of life.

Working a normal job, bills to pay, and other responsibilities can get too routine. We all need excitement, creativity, and spontaneity in our life. Whatever we do doesn’t need to be expensive, it can simply be a walk in the park or a short scenic drive. We can even do something creative that can be displayed around the house or given to a friend or family member.

Seek help from a professional

There are many reasons a person may feel trapped and not all will be easy to figure out. The reasons could lead to depression or other mental health issues.

It might not be easy admitting the need to talk to a professional, but it might be worth it. Talking to a professional could help get past the feelings of being trapped.

Our life doesn’t need to feel like it is a chore because it has so much more to offer. If we can learn to replace our negative emotions with healthier thoughts and habits, we can allow ourselves a more fulfilling life.

Thank you for stopping by my site today! I hope what I have shared will be beneficial to helping you do what you need, so you can have the happiest life possible. I do look forward to reading what you thought about this information and I will respond as quickly as I can. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love , comfort, and many positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Motivational Monday

Posted on February 24, 2020 by Positively Alyssa

Welcome back Monday. I hope y’all had a wonderful weekend and you are ready to start the week off on a good note! It is gloomy where I live today and looks like the sky is about ready to open a storm. Thankfully, I do not have to go anywhere today and can just stay comfortable at home, which is great because my pain is always a lot more intense on rainy days.

There are a few ideas I have for posts and should have most of them done by Wednesday or Thursday, which I hope you will enjoy. Of course, I have been a little stressed because I currently do not have a job or insurance, but the stress isn’t helping. My saving grace has been good music and writing more than normal. Unfortunately, I have been dealing with another one of my unwelcome headaches since Friday evening, which did cause me to slow down with completing my profile for Upwork. Besides another nasty headache, I am the reason my profile isn’t doe. I am a little too hard on myself and never think what I write is good enough.

I find the quote I am sharing with y’all today very motivating and I do hope you will as well. We all have good days and bad days, but the most important thing is to keep trying. While we should appreciate our good days as much as we can! We must remember the bad days we make it through are the ones that make us stronger and I guess should appreciate them as well. I feel like even though we have never met face to face, I know how strong of a person each of you are.

I hope y’all have a wonderful start to your week and it only continues to improve. I do know it isn’t easy, but try your best to not let anything or anyone bring you down because you are better than that! There is no situation or individual that should be allowed to dull your light!

Thank y’all so much for visiting my site today. I always appreciate your continued support and love the comments you leave. I promise, I will do the best I can to respond as quickly as I can. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love , compassion, and many positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa