10 Question you should ask yourself

Have you ever asked other people this question: "What Really Makes You Tick?" Well, instead of asking other people you might want to point it to yourself. If that is what you want, then here are 10 questions you should ask to yourself. It could lead you to a good start to prepare yourself towards self-improvement.

Be all that you can be, but it's not always in the Army. I often see myself as somewhat contented with my life the way things are, but of course it's hard to think of anything else when there are real issues to be discussed.

Still I aspire for something deeper and more meaningful.

So we're all pelted with problems. Honestly it shouldn't even bother or even hinder us to becoming all we ought to be. Aspirations as kids should continue to live within us, even though it would be short-lived or as long as we could hold on to the dream. They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks… or can they?

Here are your questions:

1. What do I really want?
The question of the ages. So many things you want to do with your life and so little time to even go about during the day.

Finding something that you are good at can help realize that small step towards improvement. Diligence is the key to know that it is worth it.

2. Should I really change?
Today's generation has taken another level of redefining 'self'', or at least that's what the kids are saying. Having an army of teenage nieces and nephews has taught me that there are far worse things that they could have had than acne or maybe even promiscuity. So how does that fit into your lifestyle?

If history has taught us one thing, it's the life that we have gone through. Try to see if partying Seventies style wouldn't appeal to the younger generation, but dancing is part of partying. Watch them applaud after showing them how to really dance than break their bones in break-dancing. I am not a fan of break-dancing but it is not wrong to talk about it!

3. What's the bright side in all of this?
With so much is happening around us there seem to be no room for even considering that light at the end of the tunnel. We can still see it as something positive without undergoing so much scrutiny. And if it's a train at the end of the tunnel, take it for a ride and see what makes the world go round!

4. Am I comfortable with what I'm doing?
Well, what are you doing right now? There's always the easy way and the right way when it comes to deciding what goes with which shoes, or purse, shirt and whatnot. It doesn't take a genius to see yourself as someone unique, or else we'll all be equally the same in everything we do. Variety brings in very interesting and exciting questions to be experimented.

5. Have I done enough for myself?
Have you, or is there something more you want to do? Discontentment in every aspect can be dangerous in large doses, but in small amounts you'll be able to see and do stuff you could never imagine doing. Do things for others what you want them do to you -- read good things.

6. Am I happy at where I am today?
It's an unfair question so let it be an answer! You love being a good and loving mom or dad to your kids, then take it up a notch! Your kids will love you forever. The same goes with everyday life!

7. Am I appealing to the opposite sex?
So maybe I don't have an answer to that, but that doesn't mean I can't try it, though. Whether you shape-up, change the way you wear your clothes or hair, or even your attitude towards people, you should always remember it will always be for your own benefit.

8. How much could I have?
I suppose in this case there is no such things as having things too much or too little, but it's more on how badly you really need it. I'd like to have lots of money, no denying that, but the question is that how much are you willing to work for it?

9. What motivates me?
What motivates you? It's an answer you have to find out for yourself. There are so many things that can make everyone happy, but to choose one of them may be the hardest part. It's not like you can't have one serving of your favorite food in a buffet and that's it. Just try it piece by piece.

10. What Really Makes You Tick?
So? What really makes you tick? You can be just about anything you always wanted to be, but to realize that attaining something that may seem very difficult is already giving up before you even start that journey. Always remember, that self-improvement is not just about the physical or philosophical change you have to undergo, but it's something that you really want.

Have a good day.

Transform The Negative

It has been said many times over and over again and I do not know how many times more over again that one of the ways to turn off the negative alarm has been confirmed to work, which is to verbalize whatever negative feelings we have. This is not a process of explaining them, but simply identifying them and naming them accurately.

Verbalizing our feelings makes our sadness, anger and pain less intense, according to a new brain imaging study by UCLA psychologists. We know from experience that this is true, and now we know why.

Virtually all negative emotions are fear-based, despite what we might otherwise try to justify. This puts these emotions under the influence of the amygdala - a region of the brain which serves as an alarm to activate a cascade of biological systems to protect the body in times of perceived danger. This alarm goes off whenever we experience anything negative.

What happens when we name the negative emotion is an activation of the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, which turns down the emotional levels, and a decrease in activity in the amygdala, which reduces the negative emotion and the fear underlying it.

Paying attention to what we are feeling requires reflection, and then labeling the feeling might require learning some new vocabulary - words that describe feelings.

We need to remind ourselves that while verbalizing negative feelings is beneficial, justifying or rationalizing them is not. When we justify the feelings we have, we affirm the intention of keeping them. Defending their presence within us only intensifies their activity. We do not then make the shift to the higher functioning parts of the brain in the prefrontal cortex but reinforce amygdala activity.

It is often helpful to verbalize your feelings to someone else or to write them in a journal. It does not matter how you do it. The process itself is what is important. Of course, I am not recommending that you should by necessity hurt someone physically, much less emotionally.

We can take this a step further if we want to enhance the process to a point of transformation, thus integrating personality with soul to a further degree. This step is to find the meaning of what we are experiencing, realizing that a negative state is some kind of imbalance or resistance. We can do this by answering the following questions about the negative emotions we are experiencing so we can move beyond them.

 

1. What do I need to understand?

2. What do I need to let go of?

3. What do I need to open up to?

4. What different choices do I need to make to experience something different?

5. What soul quality do I need to express?

 

What a good and meaningful exercise is this.