Never A Blue Monday

Today, January 21nd (2008) is termed by Cliff Arnall as Blue Monday, the most depressing day of the year. It is described as the unhappiest day in the entire year, which takes into account six factors: weather, debt, time since Christmas, time since failing our new year’s resolutions, low motivational levels and the feeling of a need to take action.

There may be type of truth to this statistical day which is claimed to have the highest percentage of potential suicides of any given day of the year. But any day can bring doom or depression. It is a matter of how badly the tough times weigh upon your mental state or heart.

My belief is that you always need to try and find some level of goodness to pull your self through. Many times we fail to see even the slightest amount of goodness that does exist in our lives. We will focus so heavily upon the negative as it takes so much less energy to do, yet it exerts the most damage to our lives.

There are of course clinical reasons for depression and many great professionals that can help one through these times. My purpose is to offer any small glimpse of hope that there is that light, the hope of a better life. I have experienced the lows of depression and have had a close relative take the option of suicide. If I could have offered that bit of light, maybe things would be different.

So when you dip into this downturn in life, hold onto any bit of light that may exist. The smallest of things are a building block to something better. For the rest of us, that smile you give, the small gesture of kindness can have an impact on someone that may be walking through a dark point in life.

Search for the light of good that exists in your life, do not dwell upon the negative. Also, be the light for someone else and know that it can be a life changing gesture to others.

Turning Dreams Into Goals

“Our life is composed greatly from dreams, from the unconscious, and they must be brought into connection with action. They must be woven together.” -Anais Nin

Your dreams are now ready to be converted into goals. Conversion of dreams into goals creates a more tangible or physical realization of them. Goals are the first steps to realizing the dream.

By setting goals you can:

- Achieve more in your lifetime
- Improve your overall performances in life
- Increase your motivation to achieve the most out of life
- Increase your pride and satisfaction in your achievements
- Improve your self-confidence
- Plan to eliminate attitudes that hold you back and cause unhappiness

People who use goal-setting effectively:

- Suffer less from stress and anxiety
- Concentrate and focus better
- Show more self-confidence
- Perform better in all areas of life
- Are happier and more satisfied with life

Attitude In Words

In the next month or two, I hope to have published my first book. It has been a long time coming and the recent push was inspired by a friend of mine, Dean Baker. Dean is one of those guys that says, "come on, let's do this thing." He gave me that one last push without me asking for it. It showed me that people are paying attention.

So we are in the editing stage, the cover is being designed and then the publishing will start. I will certainly give you information on how to order the book. Then I will be interested in your comments.

Stay tuned...

Something Small Impacts Big

Today I'm sharing a video update from my friend Paul O'Connell with Open Road Missions and his work down in Peru, South America.