Happy Friday Eve

Behind the positive

Life is filled with challenges and choices. I prefer to think that all the challenges we encounter, make us stronger and provide us with opportunities that will better our lives. Often, we see the way another person’s life “appears” to be, but “appearances” can be deceiving because no one has the “perfect” life. Behind the prettiest smile, can lie sadness and pain. Honestly, tears do not fix pain or hardships. Of course, I do think letting the tears flow can help for a short time, but we must stand up, brush off the sadness, and push forward with life!

It is the same thing with the choices and decisions we make in life. I know I mentioned this in a previous post, but I believe with each choice and decision we make can change the course of life for the better or worst. Life can feel like an unorganized maze, and it is not always easy to get through, especially the way we think it “should” go. I have always thought that our story was written for us before we were born but can be altered slightly by the decisions we make.

Some things in life are out of our control, such as the traffic we run into, being laid off, or the weather. Regardless of how powerless we feel, it is crucial to never give up. Many of us fear failing, but I do think the only time we fail is when we give up and we allow the challenging times to paralyze us from the success we were meant to experience.

There have been many times in my life when I did not have a clue what to do or which road to go down. I have run into many barriers, especially when I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, but I refuse to stop trying to break down all the barriers I stumble into. The life I am living is the one I was meant to live and despite the frustrations and challenges, I know I can handle it. I might not always deal with things in the most graceful and positive ways, but in time I have no doubts that I will.

There are many things that I know I am not great at. One of many is patience. The crazier thing is, I am extremely patient with everyone else, but have none for myself. I guess it is just that I have lost patience with the job search. It has become extremely discouraging and beyond frustrating. I do know good things come in time, and everything happens for a reason. If only there were a fast-forward button that would allow for the right job to happen tomorrow!

Feeling like I am on house arrest has been irritating. The levels of frustration and isolation have caused my temper to elevate at random times and sometimes for no reason at all. I love my cats more than words can explain, but there have been days I did not even want to be around them. The poor cats hardly ever do anything wrong, but they just want my attention constantly. This is not like me, and I hate feeling this way. Have you ever just wanted to get away from everything and everyone, and be on a quiet island with no cell signal?

Thank you for stopping by my site today. This post was basically just me releasing my emotions because this is something we all need to do during life. Being positive every moment of every day is not always possible and that is okay. There is nothing wrong with not being okay, but at least still trying to find happiness. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Bad News Week

I hope y’all have had a wonderful week and you are looking forward to the weekend. I managed to fall behind with my blog and still have a few comments to respond to. The past few days I have been consumed with either a migraine or back pain that was so awful I could hardly do anything. Wednesday morning, my back pain was in a different location than normal. On a typical day, it is my mid to lower back that is in pain, but Wednesday morning it was only in my lower back and it took me at least fifteen minutes to pull myself from the bed. This pain was like nothing I have experienced before and had me mildly concerned. I did not lift anything in the previous days, so it did not make sense and I detest when things do not make sense.

I started having another mean migraine on Wednesday that nothing would help it to ease up. Having a migraine and the unusual back pain was extremely frustrating and nothing was making any sense. I detest when things do not make sense because I am the type that needs logical answers. I guess with Multiple Sclerosis, answers are one thing I may never get.

I would assume I know why there were so many issues with pain and a migraine. I do believe I could make an educated guess because after dealing with this unpredictable and hateful illness and knowing my body better than anyone else. My assumption for these issues is none other than stress. I feel like I continue getting bad news daily almost like there is a sign on my head saying, “Please do something that is going to create more problems in life” on my forehead. I mean getting laid off on December 9th and two weeks later having my truck in the shop with an expensive repair, and then on Wednesday learning that my former company is not paying out for the PTO I did not use threw me into the worst stress tailspin.

I was counting on the PTO payout for bills, my husband’s birthday, and a few other things. I cannot say I am surprised that my former company was going to screw me over again. Apparently, my former company thinks it is perfectly acceptable to basically steal money from me and it seems they can do that legally.

I have been constantly looking for another job and it has been beyond frustrating. Many places are hiring for remote positions, but it has been almost a month and I am still unemployed. Being unemployed is causing my personality to change and I do not like it. I feel like my anger about what has occurred and keeps happening is causing me to be a little hateful. I love my cats more than I can explain, but my mood even has me being angry with them and not wanting to be anywhere around them.

I am trying my best to stay positive, but it is becoming harder every day. I keep trying to tell myself that everything happens for a reason and the perfect job is out there for me and will surface when the time is right. I do not know what I did wrong in a previous life to have to continue dealing with challenges, but whatever it was I am so sorry. I just really need a break and have something, just one small thing happen work out.

I am working on another post and will hopefully have it completed tonight. I have also been working on a short story to help build on the creativity I know that I have inside. Writing has been an outlet for me and even though two of my cats are doing everything possible to not let me write because they want my attention, it is still the only thing that lets me escape from reality.

Thank you for visiting my site today. I appreciate your time and look forward to reading your comments. I will be responding to comments today and tomorrow, so I will be caught up soon. I hope you have a lovely and safe weekend. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Curiosity Is Exciting

~Ways Curiosity Can Enhance Our Well-Being~

How many times have you heard the saying “Curiosity killed the Cat?” Of course, the levels of uncertainty can be high, but we should hold onto the thoughts of scrutinizing. This is something that could hold many benefits and gratifications. Our curiosity may include an opportunity to reveal great new information, but also taking a journey into the obscure territory. The unknown can create a momentarily feeling of apprehension and discomfort, but the risks may be outweighed by the benefits. Giving in to your curiosity could help you gain a chance to expand your horizons and the fulfillment that comes along with personal growth. Challenging yourself to search for new experiences and different outlooks provides deeper insights about yourself and the world.

What exactly does “curiosity” mean? Curiosity means having a strong desire to know or learn something new. Entering the area of curious exploration shows the desire to learn and you are choosing to accept the challenge, instead of accepting the current situation as the end all be all.

What makes a highly curious person different from someone who is not very curious? Those who are extremely curious tend to:

1. Search and track down new and unknown experiences.

2. Question the views of others, oneself, ad the world with an unavoidable unbendable knowledge and/or awareness.

3. Behave more receptive to circumstances offering growth, competence, and stimulation.

A curious min can offer numerous benefits and promotes a sense of well-being. Curiosity positively relates to gaining satisfaction in life and the true meaning of life. Activities that require carrying out curious behavior can increase the amount of satisfaction you gain from life. Curiosity can ignite creativity, which may invigorate deeper exploration and combined other ideas with the creative-thinking process.

We have all been told that negativity and positivity can be contagious, but curiosity can also be contagious. Many will end up being curious regarding the answers to questions asked, especially when there is evidence that others are interested as well.

Curiosity can be profoundly important in developing social connections, empathy, and understanding. The vastly contrast views, experiences, and values of others offer unfamiliar areas to investigate, which may lead to immense benefits.

Nourishing an understanding and recognizing other cultures, customs, values, and ideas is a type of “social curiosity”. Empathetic curiosity is being curious about the thoughts and feelings of others, as well as the reasoning behind these thoughts and feelings. This curiosity regarding others’ experiences and being intrigued by others without any judgments.

Of course, empathetic curiosity requires us to ignore any need for being familiar and admit our opinions, and beliefs are not the only ones that matter. When we have an opportunity to become enlightened by the experiences of someone else and can respect the difference in views and ways of doing things are not any less important than anyone else’s. Everyone’s views are meaningful and deserve to be respected.

The feelings of enjoyment and pleasure are typically related to doing things that are known and comfortable. However, curiosity forces us to search for things that are new and/or unknown. This does not need to be a huge change but can be something as simple as trying new food, book, or even taking the time to talk with a colleague you have not spoken to before. This new food, book, or the new colleague you spoke with may provoke even more curiosity and delight in your life.

I am going to share a few ways to help trigger your curiosity.

1. Walk away from the TV and read instead. This is something that sets extraordinarily successful people apart from others. 85% of those that are successful read 2 or more self-improvement books per month.

2. Utilize social media platforms and podcasts for greater benefits. Fill what you are listening to with inspirational and life-giving materials. Things that provide you with life and reminds you that your possibilities are endless.

3. Engage with people that have different viewpoints than your own. Be open-minded with the views others have and remain honest, and respectful with your own thoughts/views. Collaborative thinking is an astonishing way to gain deeper insight and learn new ideas.

4. Take some time to make a list of activities that offer opportunities for you to learn and grow. Search for these and then reflect on the benefits each offer and what you will gain from these new experiences.

5. Examine your perspective in specific situations, and then ask yourself why you think or react in a certain way to some situations.

6. Always ask questions and pay close attention to the answers. Avoid passing judgment and try being curious about others’ experiences and their unique viewpoints.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post and it offered you some exciting new experiences. I would love to read your thoughts on this and if you have any other advice for ways to break into curiosity. Our curious thoughts can help us to encounter exhilarating adventures!

Thank you for visiting my site today! I hope you are having a great week and you are continuing to stay safe. Unfortunately, even though many have received the COVID vaccine, many others are still waiting, and the virus continues to spread! I do believe we are continuously dealing with difficult times, but we need to find ways to remain optimistic. 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

~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

4 Helpful Tips

Ways to have a good day after a bad night’s sleep

There is so much focus on getting at least 8 hours of sleep each night to be more productive and feel most energized. This tends to make people center their attention only on the night but is just as important to consider what we can do during the day to help us get a good and restful night’s sleep.

One common mistake people make after a bad night’s sleep is to take it easy or rest up. Often our energy level feels like it is a limited resource, and we try to reserve it, but this is not the best idea. We can increase our energy and reduce fatigue by doing more, instead of less. Now allow me to explain further with 4 simple key areas.

Continue with your full schedule

Whether you have work, school, or both do not call in sick and/or cancel appointments. Maintaining the same schedule, you had planned when you anticipated sleeping well can serve as a benefit. Your typical schedule might keep you busy enough so you do not have time to think about how tired you are. Another benefit is the next time you lay your head down to fall asleep, you will not have to stress about how you are going to deal with a bad night of sleep because you know you can deal with it the best way possible by staying busy.

Avoid low energy people

When it comes to other people, your first thought might be avoiding high-energy people because you are feeling so low energy. Of course, I know right now with COVID we are not around many people, but it is possible that spending time with others that make you feel more energized and alive will increase your energy. Whether it is due to COVID or you are more introverted, find just one friend or family member you enjoy spending time with, but do this safely. This might assist you in reducing moodiness and make your mood better.

Maintain confidence in your body and relax your mind

Throughout the day, do not dwell on how you are going to catch up on sleep. Understanding that our body can adjust to most situations and will help us sleep more soundly and restful when necessary. Our body is more resilient than we give it credit for and it knows how to take care of itself. Going to bed earlier than normal or taking naps will create problems with our internal clock and we will have more issues in the long run, which is why it is crucial to maintain our normal schedule. We need to trust our body to get the sleep we required and wasting time watching the clock and calculating the amount of sleep we will get only generates stress and irritation, which will make sleep nearly impossible.

Do not rely on caffeine or coffee

Natural methods for increasing energy are much better for our body. We should always try to avoid caffeine pills and energy drinks because they are only a short-term fix, but the crash and/or other negative side effects can be awful, and we will wish we did not consume anything. The benefits you can get from sunlight, talking with friends, or exercise, even just a short walk may be a lot more powerful for the long-term.

Over the years, I have dealt with sleep problems and mainly because my mind is always on overdrive. The nights that I struggled with sleep and then the next day felt exhausted with hardly any energy, but I did always push through the day. Normally, I can handle a lack of sleep well for a couple of days because I do trust that my body knows when it has had enough.

Something I have done without for over one year is caffeine. In the past when I was low energy due to a bad night’s sleep, I would consume a great amount of caffeine. Honestly, to me, the crash from caffeine is worst than the tired feeling because it can produce awful headaches and I already endure these so I do not need any additional headaches.

I hope you found the information I have provided helpful! I would, of course, love to know what you thought or if this was how you normally handle a bad night’s sleep. I hope you had a lovely, relaxing, and safe weekend! Daylight savings tends to throw my internal clock off, so I am still awfully tired today. I guess it is a good thing I have a day to get used to the time change before another week begins tomorrow or it would be a long week! Thank you for taking the time to read this post! I hope the rest of your weekend goes well! Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Tranquil Tuesday

~Find Peace Within Each Day~

Happy Tuesday y’all! I hope 2021 is starting off well for you and you are enjoying the year so far! In previous years, my first day back to work after the new year I always had a hard time remembering the year change, but am finding it very easy to remember now. I guess it is because I was very ready to end 2020! I will admit to y’all, my first day back to work after the long weekend was not all that great, but I am not going to allow that to get me down and will keep pushing forward! It can be easy to let a bad day get you down in the dumps, but that does not solve anything!

We have just made it through one day of the first workweek in 2021! Even though this does leave us four days to go, we are also one day closer to the weekend! I think it is important to always find the positive in all and any situation! For us to have tranquility in our lives, we must stay connected with our inner peace. I hope the quote I have shared will offer you a little extra peace and happiness. Everyone in this world has unique personality traits and some will be challenging to deal with, but we should not let anyone’s negative traits harm our peacefulness in life! Do you find it to be a struggle to ignore those that seem miserable with life and only want to bring others down? I do find this challenging, but I will continue trying to kill these people with kindness because I do not know what is going on in their life!

How much have y’all heard about the COVID vaccine where you live? I have a virtual appointment with my neurologist on January 21st, but I messaged her a few questions yesterday, the vaccine being one of the questions. Apparently, there has already been a few of her patients that got the first shot and did well with it. I do not know the age of these people or what medication they take, but I do know they have Multiple Sclerosis. In all honesty, I am terrified of the vaccine, but I am petrified of COVID as well. Do you have any idea when the vaccine is going to be offered to you and how do you feel about the vaccine?

Thank you for visiting my site today! Your continued support and time means the world to me and I always look forward to reading your fabulous comments, which I will respond to as quickly as I can. I know it is only the 5th, but I am doing better at keeping up so far and will continue to! Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

How do you handle…

A Bad Day When You Work From home

Have you ever had one of those days when you found nearly everything extremely frustrating? How did you handle that intense amount of frustration? Normally, I am good at ignoring small issues that aren’t that important or can be dealt with calmly, but when numerous things occur at the same time, I allow all the little issues to upset me to an unreasonable extent. Sometimes all those small issues join together and feel like an enormous problem. This is the way my day was for the last part of the day yesterday.

So, let me explain a little better. First of all, let me say that I do love my job, but there are a few things that bother me more than they probably should. For starters, when I have a question that only someone in management can address, but I am left hanging for hours. Also, knowing full when this person is answering other questions only adds to my frustration. I mean, seriously, how do you handle things like this?

Second of all, I have always been the type of person that can and does get along with anyone. Even with this said, there is ONLY ONE person I work with that I struggle to tolerate. I know it isn’t just me that feels this way as this ONE person rubs most people the wrong way. Now, how do you endure a person that seems to have a negative attitude or is very unhappy with life? I have tried to kill this person with kindness, but it doesn’t work!

I am thankful to have my work from home job. This offers me a safe way to earn a decent monthly income, but this also means my home often feels like a prison where I never get away from work. I remember how work was before COVID-19. I can recall leaving my house and driving to work in the morning. Then I would work for only eight hours and LEAVE work to drive home! Leaving work for the day would be one of the best parts of my day because I had that distance from work, especially if I had a bad day at work. If you have a bad day at work and you work from home, how do you find that distance so desperately needed? I have tried, but I am clueless on how to do this. Please if you have any ideas, I am willing to try just about anything. Also, adding to the isolation and inability to find a way to escape work, COVID numbers in the state I live in are the highest they have been since the pandemic started so it isn’t like I can go to the mall and walk around.

I have always said that life is too short to not enjoy life to the fullest and not let things affect you negatively. The funny thing is my husband has heard me say this multiple times during our sixteen years together and when he saw how upset I got yesterday; he simply reminded me that I don’t get paid enough to get as upset as I did. I do understand that men and women think very differently, but his thoughts were extremely obvious. I knew he was right, but instead of calming down, it made me even more frustrated and angry. I also tend to cry when I get overly frustrated. It was an hour later I did end up calming down and admitted I need to learn how to let things go and remain calm.

After reading all of this, do y’all have any advice on how I can escape from work? Considering my husband and I both work from home, but at different hours we share a home office in the finished part of our basement. Logically, you would think just going upstairs would be at distance from work, but I still feel trapped at work.

Thank you for visiting my site today. I know I missed my normal Tranquil Tuesday and Inspirational Wednesday posts, but I have worked too many hours and have been exhausted so I wasn’t able to. I am planning to do better next week and work normal hours so I have time for things I enjoy, like writing, crocheting (not that the weather is cold), and reading! I am looking forward to reading your comments and 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

**Tranquil Tuesday**

~Lets Us Be Calm Always~

Happy Tuesday y’all! I hope your week is starting happy and pleasant! The good thing is we have made it through one day and only have a few days left. Well, we have four days left until the weekend technically, but I think we can handle it. Even during these extremely challenging times, we all find a bright light that carries us through. Our strength, courage, and, pure determination is endless, which are all great qualities to have!

As we enter the second day of this week, we all could use some tranquil and calming thoughts! I hope the quote I am sharing with y’all today will serve a purpose for you and be beneficial as well! Once you read the quote and the rest of this post, I would really love to read your fabulous comments. All of you have such great insight on everything and I truly value your opinions!

I do not know about you, but this year is going by so fast. In a sense, it is great that the year is flying by, but the reason for why the year is going by so fast is pretty sad. Y’all know it is time to change the clocks this weekend, right? Fall back, which if I am not mistaken we actually again an hour sleep! Fall/Autumn is my favorite season because it is not too hot or too cold, the weather is just right!

We have been dealing with this pandemic all year and the end seems so far away. I think it is challenging to keep up a positive out look when so many are losing their lives or someone they love, or becoming very ill, or losing their jobs because of COVID-19. I still feel that if we all can continue following the very brilliant advice from top professionals, like Dr. Fauci, the Centers for Disease Control, and World Health Organization,we may have some hope to see the end of this pandemic and get back to our true normal!

Thank you for visiting my site today. I hope you enjoyed the quote I shared with y’all, and also hope you are having a great week so far. I promise that I will respond to all your comments as quickly as I can, but it might be after work. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Inspirational Wednesday!

We are halfway there!

Happy Wednesday! How has your week been so far? I hope you are having a great week and you are staying safe! For those of you that read my post from yesterday, you already know my week has been long and frustrating. I am making some changes though so that the same old things will not bother me anywhere near as much as I have let them previously. It is important to realize what is important in our lives and what isn’t, but also what we can change and what will never be different.

I have been thinking that I want to do more with all the amazing quotes I have found over the years. I already do Motivational Monday, Pick Me Up Thursday, and Let It Go Friday, but I want to do something on Tuesday and Wednesday as well. I have a name for Wednesday “Inspirational Wednesday” but still, need a name for Tuesday, so if you have any ideas I would love to know!

For my first ever “Inspirational Wednesday” post, I hope the fabulous quote I have will offer you some inspiration! There is so much going on around the world right now and it can be pretty scary, so I think if we can have a little more positivity and inspiration throughout the week it might help our week go by a little better. We must all remember how our mental attitude and ways we spend our time can be either beneficial to ourselves and the ones closest to us OR do the direct opposite and it cause more issues.

There have been many horrible things happening in the United States where we can’t seem to go one week without an unnecessary person being killed or critically injured by police. I thought when I was younger that the police were here to protect and serve, not kill unarmed and innocent people. Unfortunately, it seems that times have changed and not for the better. I hope that something will change with this because no one should die at the hand of someone that is “supposed” to protect! No child should ever have to see their father gunned down by police!

I hope you have a wonderful and safe day! We have almost made it through the week and only have a couple of days left until it is the weekend! I know this post had several different parts, but the part about justice is because I am so tired of seeing that another innocent person was shot and killed by a police officer. You would think after the massive riots that occurred, the police would be on their best behavior, and also with COVID-19 still being horrible things would have stopped, but it hasn’t. We need to support the people that can’t stand up for themselves and support them twice as much!

I do love reading your comments so I hope you will leave one for this post and let me know what you think! One thing I will ask y’all again is to please do what you can to stay safe, I do not want any of you to get COVID-19! Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and many positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa