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“We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes to us, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down.”

Eleanor Roosevelt, former First Lady of the United States

“Screens provide superficial happiness. The real world provides real happiness.”

Moss Oppenheimer, outdoor adventurer

Try:

Grilled cheese

Soup with noodles

Apple with peanut butter

Fried chicken

Egg burrito

Oatmeal with brown sugar

Berry smoothie

It’s OK to go into the darkness for a tiny bit.

Just don’t unpack your bags.

“The deeper and more softly we breathe in, and the longer we make our exhales, the calmer we become. Breathing through the nose rather than the mouth also increases our oxygen absorption by 18% and leads to better circulation, immune function, and cognitive performance.”

James Nestor, author of Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art

“The wound is where the light enters”

Rumi, 13th century Persian poet

“The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts.”

Marcus Aurelius, philosopher

“Making art, working with your hands, forces you to focus on the present moment. When you’re focused on the present moment, your mind can take a break from the constant chatter. That’s the definition of true relaxation.”

Carrie Leeb, artist

“Crying does not indicate that you are weak. Since birth, it has always been a sign that you are alive.”

Charlotte Brontë, author Jane Eyre

“Laughter is an external expression of joy; it is the most salutary of all bodily movements; for it agitates both the body and the soul at the same time, promotes digestion, circulation, and preparation, and enlivens the vital power of every organ.”

Hukeland

Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese monk, describes how to eat an orange with extreme mindfulness. He instructs us to notice the color, feel the shape, smell it. Think of the orange on the tree during the rains and sun, under the night sky. Watch what happens when you peel the orange. Now taste that orange. Suddenly, you’re involved in a miracle and the worrying world has slipped away.

“At a fire scene we try to make only very deliberate movements: grab axe, pull hose, walk to fire. Yelling, running - all that makes the adrenalin go through the roof, and that in turn impairs judgement. Slowing down your physiology increases your situational awareness, allowing you to be open to all that’s going on so that you do the right thing.”

Caroline Paul, former firefighter, author

“Hey, take a damn number!!!”

Deli Guy

“I am sorry to say that Peter was not very well during the evening. His mother put him to bed, and made some chamomile tea.”

Beatrix Potter, author The Tale of Peter Rabbit

“Have no fear of perfection; you’ll never reach it.”

Marie Curie, physicist, chemist, Nobel Prize winner

There is nothing evil or weak about you if you’re struggling with substance overuse. Please don’t demonize yourself. Instead, get some support:

www.samhsa.gov
1-800-662-HELP (4357)
(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)

To find a therapist:

Ask your primary doctor

Ask a friend for a recommendation

Visit your school’s mental health office

See if your job has an Employee Assistance Program

Visit www.psychologytoday.com

“That’s the way of feelings: resist them and they grow. Feel them and let them flow through you like weather and they will change.”

Anna Agell, clinical social worker/therapist

Picture bringing your whole etherial self into your rib cage

Imagine your body as super heavy and firmly on the earth

Squeeze and release every part of your body from your feet and to your eyebrows

“The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their proper names.”

Confucius, philosopher

“Tidying up your space can give you a fresh perspective and restore peace of mind.”

Dana Bjornsen, Clutter Chick

Let unshakable hope be the David who stands up to the roaring cruds of Goliath.

“Make friends with the angels, who though invisible are always with you.”

Saint Francis de Sales, Catholic bishop

“All that we are is the result of what we
have thought.”

Buddha

“The least movement is of importance to all nature. The entire ocean is affected by a pebble.”

Blaise Pascal, philosopher

“I know nothing in the world that has as much power as a word.”

Emily Dickinson, poet

Imagine you are the sky. Your emotions and thoughts are temporary weather patterns just passing through. Sometimes it’s sunny; sometimes it rains like hell on your head; sometimes a fog flattens you and takes all the color out of your world. But tornadoes pass and fog lifts. And then there you are, the sky. You’ve been there all along.

In the 1700s, physicist and musician Ernst Chladni made sound vibration visible on a metal plate. The patterns were symmetrical, geometric, and amazingly gorgeous. Check out “Chladni figures” online and you’ll see what your radiant voice is doing to the molecules in your radiant being!

In every moment and every nook of this planet, there are congregations, prayer circles, and good souls who are chanting, singing, praying and wishing to ease your suffering. Bask in that when you’re feeling alone, scared, or weird.

Human and artificial cognition expert Dr. Fernando Marmolejo-Ramos found that the physical act of smiling stimulates the amygdala (emotional center of the brain) to release neurotransmitters that boost positive feelings. Even when the smile was faked, the brain responded with a little leap of glee.

“No preocupación. (Don’t worry).”

Sylvia Wence, babysitter & housekeeper

Dr. Masaru Emoto is an internationally renowned Japanese scientist and author of The Hidden Messages in Water. He did an experiment exposing water droplets to various words, music, and environments. He then froze each droplet for three hours. Viewing the frozen crystal formations under a microscope, Dr. Emoto found that the water droplets which had been prayed over formed into snowflake-like patterns, as did those exposed to classical and folk dance music. The droplets exposed to negative thoughts looked like oozing, melted metal.

Please:

Forgive yourself
You’re doing your damn best

BFF yourself
Give you the same care and advise you’d give
your bestie

Spoil yourself
A bubble bath, bubble tea, bubble gum …

Go easy on yourself
Life is hard sometimes

Love yourself sweetly
Like a teddy bear

Believe in yourself
Ardently!

“The healing forces of nature are abundant: a gentle breeze clears the cluttered mind; sunlight on the water calms the frantic heart; eagle’s flight above blue mountains - stronghold of the ancestors - consoles the longing spirit.”

RoseMary Diaz, Santa Clara Pueblo

Palms up!

Try this 1-2-3:

Write your current unhappy thought

Write a more realistic thought

Write a radically positive version of the thought

“There can be no knowledge without emotion.”

Arnold Bennett, author

Cuss like a cowboy because it is a damn sh*t fest

Sing your heart out because sound vibrations humming through your body alter you

Scribble furiously because dumping the yucks onto a page will lighten you

Talk because people love you

“Storytelling gives meaning to our experience. Because of its chronological structure, we can understand how events begin, evolve, and the consequences they have.”

Todd Oppenheimer, Editor and Publisher of Craftsmanship Magazine

Bonus:

Showing friends or family your vulnerability and pain will encourage them to do the same with you when they are feeling walloped.