Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Motivation.
Kindness is a Superpower
Kindness is a superpower. I fully believe that. Kindness has the power to change the world, to transform lives, to make things better for everyone. So why is it underrated? Why is it seen as a weakness? Why is it easier for people to be cruel or nasty, to hide behind vitriolic words and criticism than to share a kind word?
By Sophie Jackson6 years ago in Motivation
Does Gratitude Journaling Feel Forced? Here's What You Could do Instead
A few years back, I was in a pretty bad slump. Everything in my life had been falling apart. Not for months, not even years, but decades. It was like a never-ending tunnel, and after waiting so long for the light, one loses hope. It was at such a time, when I was deep in despair and helplessness, that I came across the concept of gratitude journaling.
By Parag6 years ago in Motivation
What I learned from 2020
So it's that time of year again, when we reflect on the previous year and set goals for ourselves for the upcoming one. Let's just say I had a lot to think about with this. First off my 2020 was actually pretty good all things considered, I know a lot of people had to face many hardships last year, and I had my own that I had to endure, but on a scale of 1 to 10, it was a solid 9, maybe even better than that. Now I don't say this to brag or to denote all the people that had suffered during the pandemic. I just say it to help tell this story and because it was my experience. In 2020 not only did I start talking to and dating the love of my life, but we got to spend a lot of precious time together. Time I don't know that I would've had if I had been working all these months during covid. And that being said comes goal #1: To simply be better. Let me explain, in all the time I have spent with this amazing man I have learned a lot about myself, just from being stuck inside for almost a full year, but we also got to talk, a lot, and it was really eyeopening. And one humongous thing I learned, even though I pride myself on being a good person, he's an even better one, and it just reminds me that no matter what, I can still work to be even better of a person than I am now. Thanks, babe!
By Eliza Vargas6 years ago in Motivation
A Grumpy Old Man
My sister and I have only been attending our church for a few years. It’s a small church, no more than 100 people most weeks. We made it a point early on to go around introducing ourselves. Before and after service, we would walk the pews shaking hands and hugging necks (this was pre-COVID times of course). We became known amongst the congregation for our “sweet” disposition. At first, it felt nice. . . To be recognized in such a way. But, as time passed, this image people had of us began to feel like a weight. I felt as if I was obligated to put on my best face, even when I found myself in a depressive state last Spring. To greet everyone, even when I’d rather stay silent. To shake hands and hug necks, like I once so joyously did, even when I’d rather do anything but. Something we’d started as a way to break the ice and build fellowship became the one thing I came to dread every Sunday.
By Lauren Wells6 years ago in Motivation
Hello Self Care, Bye Self Destruction
After a year of sulking, denial, despair, depression and a copious amount of wine and seltzer’s I am bull dozing full force into 2021 with a conscious and focused effort on my mental wellness. I am going to manifest positivity, stability, independence and consistency. How will I accomplish this, you ask? I couldn’t seem to find it at the bottom of a bottle or in my many attempts at a flailing relationship in 2020. So I’m going to dig deep into myself, expose all the wounds, worries and insecurities and examine them, tend to them and allow them to heal. The new me, not a different me, but a stronger and unbroken me, is going to practice self-care, follow my passion and for a dash of healthy, practice moderation in all things I enjoy. I am going to be 35 this year and throughout my life I thought I had experienced the worst of the hard knocks and heart aches and chocked each up to a life lesson that I have learned from. But it’s so easy to get lost in the moment and let negativity and toxicity envelope you, you forget that you can’t control what happens to you in life but you can control how you react to every situation. And that’s life, a domino effect of situations and events. And let me tell you, 2020 is what kicked me right in the ass to realize that. I had self-destructed completely. A 5 year relationship ended with a boom, I up rooted my kids over night to my sister’s house and instantly lost my independence. I had no car, no job, and I blamed everyone else for it. There was nothing but broken pieces that surrounded me and I lived in it, breathed it and eventually became it. I detached myself emotionally from the people who loved me and who were there for me and became obsessed with what I had lost. Until something changed in me. It was New Year’s Eve, just minutes away from 2021, the clock was ticking towards midnight. I was sitting with my younger sister in the backyard, looking up into the sky, I was wrapped in a blanket and crying, and she looked at me and said, “I’m not trying to be mean, but when are you going to stop being like this?, I miss the happy you”. And her words resonated right through me. I had that ah ha moment. I was so stuck on what I had lost, , the loss of my routine and what I thought I needed to feel alive, wasn’t that at all, I was holding on to an intangible past. Then I started writing that night. Writing anything and everything on my mind, my thoughts, poems, stories, what I would say to him. It was a release. Writing has always been my passion. And I had stopped because I had lost myself in my self-assembled trench of darkness and exchanged the therapeutic effects of writing for a real bad wine head ache in the mornings. I feel free and light when I put pen to paper, and through writing, I felt a weight lifting little by little, day by day. I started practicing acts of self-care. Started listening to positive thinking pod casts, even downloaded one of those inspirational quote apps, there’s an app for everything. I have started therapy, opened up about my feelings to my sister and mom and I stopped hiding under all the debris of what ifs and if I would haves... Not to forget, I cut back on drinking, comfort sweets and binge watching Netflix, everything in moderation they say. A glass of red wine is good for the heart but a bottle everyday will probably give you cirrhosis of the liver and it cuts out the problem of drunk texts to your ex. That’s like a double resolution. I learned through therapy that the trauma of a break up or anything that changes your life dramatically, can flood your mind with only the good memories, it’s your brain trying to protect you, but it equates to loss and grief causing sadness, anxiety and depression. And that’s ok and its normal, but only you have the power to defeat it and purge it. Process it, cry, write, shop, take a boxing class and let it go. There is a reason I left that relationship and a reason why I was able to endure the emotional roller coaster and moments of madness and questionable decisions that brought me to this point in my life. Once I could grasp that concept, it helped to clear the fog that kept me in such a dark place and allowed me to see clearly. I was free to embark on a new journey the one I have always searched for. It was right in front of me now, a new life to build from scratch, however I want, I am the curator. My goal for 2021 is to practice self-care through my passions, writing and spending quality time with my kids and doing what I enjoy, keeping a positive mind set, and living in the moment, otherwise I’m cheating myself and my kids out of the most important memories of life, which is found in every second. So say a positive mantra in the morning, go get your hair and nails did, go out with the girls, don’t get too drunk, remember moderation, do something that challenges you and make no apologies for being you, we are all human and were made to make mistakes, we were crafted to be perfectly imperfect
By Monica Nissing6 years ago in Motivation
ATM
At this very moment, my brain is exhausted, and my legs are aching from working all night. My toes are cute though…snow white against this chocolate skin…Ooooweee…Any who! Right now due to every ache that I feel, tear that I cry and sense of exhaustion, I can barely focus to even write this let alone every laundry list of things I need to do to reach my goal is just an ATM (At The Moment) feeling.
By Queen M6 years ago in Motivation
Eyes Front
As I get into my car, I put on my seat belt next check my mirrors and shift the car into drive. The year 2020 is now in the rear view mirror getting smaller and smaller as I continue to press my my foot fiercely on the gas pedal, as if my foot was planted there and the roots are too strong for my foot to break. There is only what I can see in my windshield, last year is disappearing. In the express lane of change no longer waiting in traffic going nowhere stuck in place. Radically changing for the better, I have a decent amount of miles under my belt already the only question is, where to next?
By Bev Slater6 years ago in Motivation
New Year Resolutions
New Year Resolutions have never been my thing. The older I get the more I start to see that new year resolutions are not there to make you look back at your failures. Most of the time I would set an unrealistic goal that I knew would take a longer than just a year. For example, I started working out, not consistently but I wanted to gain muscle. That was never going to happen until I started to be more consistent.
By KP6 years ago in Motivation
