Negative thinking

Dear friends,
NEGATIVE THINKING...with my mood disorder I regularly have time when I slip into negative thinking. I try to catch what is bothering me and when I am feeling better offer solutions to myself or seek advice from others. How do you deal with your negative thinking?

Lots of love from susan in australia

Gratitudes

GRATITUDES.....I write 5 gratitudes in my journal at the end of each day. They help to remind me what a blessed life I have and to keep me thinking positively. Do you practice gratitude? How does it make you feel?

Lots of love from susan in australia

Experience

Dear friends,
EXPERIENCE....I love the experience of knowing things, being sure and familiar with something like when I am driving around my area when it is busy and I am experienced with the roads and driving. How do you find your experience? Does it give you confidence or do you need more experience?

Lots of love from susan in australia

Guidance

Dear friends,
GUIDANCE...I look to god for guidance in prayer. I look to friends and family for guidance and the world around me.
Where do you go for guidance in your life?

Lots of love from susan in australia

Trying anyway

Dear friends,
TRYING ANYWAY...I am a person who is willing to give things a try even if I don’t do it well. I’m usually glad I did. Are you willing to give things a try? Are you glad you did?

Lots of love from susan in australia

Praise

Dear friends,
PRAISE....As a hangover from my school days I have often found I get hooked into praise for what I am doing. I love putting things on my blogs and getting comments. I like sharing my art with my friends and being praised. I need to remember to live my life fully without the need for so much praise!! Do you need praise? Who gives it to you?

Lots of love from susan in australia

optimism

Dear friends,
OPTIMISM....I am an optimistic person nowadays and try to look on the bright side of things. I am optimistic about the future. Are you an optimistic person? How do you feel about the future?

Lots of love from susan in australia

Comfort

Dear friends,
COMFORT.....I find God a great comfort. I find nature and my writing are a comfort. My family and friends are definitely a comfort . I try to give them comfort in return. Where do you get your comfort from?
Who do you comfort?

Lots of love from susan in australia

under pressure

Dear friends,
UNDER PRESSURE.....When I am under pressure with too much to do I write a list of what is on my mind and needs doing and I prioritise the essentails and reallocate other things to a later date. I try to do a quick meditation, take a short walk or do some stretching exercises or deep breathing. What do you do under pressure and when you have too much to do?

Lots of love from susan in australia

Positive thinking

Dear friends,
POSITIVE THINKING...when I was younger I suffered a lot of depression. Nowadays I am very mindful of keeping my thoughts positive. Are you prone to negative thinking? Do you use positive thinking to get you out of it?

Lots of love from susan in australia

Trust

Dear friends,
TRUST....when I had a breakdown 7 years ago I really didn’t trust myself. It is taking time to gain trust in myself and acceptance. Do you trust yourself? Have you ever had your trust challenged?

Lots of love from susan in australia

Easy does it

Dear friends,
EASY DOES IT..is a quote often used by the Twelve step program (Alcoholics Anonymous, etc). I am a 12 stepper having given up smoking (Nicotine Anonymous) and now eating moderately
(Overeaters Anonymous). I have often pushed myself too hard and crashed and burned. Are you an easy does it person or do you push too hard?

Lots of love from susan in australia

Creativity in my daily life

Dear friends,
CREATIVITY AS PART OF OUR DAILY LIVES. Being creative is so important to me and I try each day to be as creative and joyful about my life as I can. I create in so many different ways and am always stretching myself in new directions. How are you creative in your daily life? How important is it to you?

Lots of love from susan in australia

Competitiveness

Dear friends,
COMPETITION....I have suffered a lot having a competitive streak. Nowadays I try to focus on my own objectives and try not to compare myself to others and to not be competitive. Are you competitive? Is this a good thing or not for you?

Lots of love from susan in australia

Inspiration

Dear friends,
INSPIRATION...I get lots of inspiration from my online friends, my other friends and family, from books, TV and life in general.I also get a lot from my journaling and from prayer. Where do you get your inspiration from?

Lots of love from susan in australia

Disappointments

Dear friends,
DISAPPOINTMENTS...We’ve all had disappointments in our lives. I am usually willing to take more chances and to move past the disappointment. How do you cope with disappointment?

Lots of love from susan in australia

Faith

Dear friends,
FAITH...when I gave up faith and hope that I would be able to get medication to help me with my mental illness a friend of mine kept faith and hope for me. She never gave up. I di find the right medication. Have you get friends or family that had faith and hope for you when you had given up?

Lots of love from susan in australia

Fear

Dear friends,
FEAR...I am fearful of my mum dying or traveling far from home. I am learning ways to challenge my fears like things I can do when my mum dies to help me grieve. What are you fearful of? What are you doing to challenge your fears?

Lots of love from susan in australia

Routines

Dear friends,
ROUTINES....I have routines of my prayers, yoga, meditation, emails, exercise bike, breakfast, gardening, oracles, daily beach walk. They help to stabilise me and keep my life on track. I also get a lot of joy from my routines as I enjoy what I do. What routines do you have? How do they make you feel?

Lots of love from susan in australia

Routines

Dear friends,
ROUTINES....I have routines of my prayers, yoga, meditation, emails, exercise bike, breakfast, gardening, oracles, daily beach walk. They help to stabilise me and keep my life on track. I also get a lot of joy from my routines as I enjoy what I do. What routines do you have? How do they make you feel?

Lots of love from susan in australia

Discouragement

Dear friends,
DISCOURAGEMENT...I often get discouraged in my life because of my ill health. I make great effort to change but often have set backs. Do you get discouraged? How do you handle it?

Lots of love from susan in australia

Friendship

Dear friends,
FRIENDSHIP...thinking about my friends I value their warmth, honesty, support, unconditional love and so many other things. What do you value about your friends?

Lots of love from susan in australia

Creative blocks

Dear friends,
CREATIVE BLOCKS....When I have a creative block I go for a walk, read something inspiring, share with my friends and family. Do you get creative blocks? What do you do to help get through them?

Lots of love from susan in australia

Ideas

Dear friends,
I am sharing my artist journals with friends and family who don’t do art and I love their comments and input. Do you ever go to other people who aren’t in your field of creativity for ideas?

Lots of love from susan in australia

To stop or not

Dear friends,
I am trying to figure out whether to continue this blog or not. I will keep my art blog but I don't know whether I will keep this one going.
lots of love from susan in australia

Patience

Dear friends,
PATIENCE...one of the greatest lessons I have learnt is to be patient. I find a lot of things in life take time to develop, to improve. Even today I practice patience. I do it as part of my prayers and meditation. Do you practice patience?

Lots of love from susan in australia

Patience

Dear friends,
PATIENCE...one of the greatest lessons I have learnt is to be patient. I find a lot of things in life take time to develop, to improve. Even today I practice patience. I do it as part of my prayers and meditation. Do you practice patience?

Lots of love from susan in australia

Being critical

Dear friends,
BEING CRITICAL..Part of me being a perfectionist which we talked about yesterday was being really critical of myself. Nowadays I try to be accepting of myself and realise I am doing my best and criticism doesn’t help. Are you overly critical of yourself? Or are you more accepting nowadays?

Lots of love from susan in australia

Perfectionism

Dear friends,
PERFECTIONISM..I have had this problem in my life where I have needed to be perfect at something or hadn’t wanted to bother. Whatever my idea of perfect was! Nowadays I am grateful for whatever attempt I make at things and give myself encouragement. Have you or do you suffer from perfectionism? What did or does it achieve for you?

Lots of love from susan in australia

Regret

Dear friends,
Regret...I try not to have regrets in my life. I try to make amends to myself and others for any regrets I get. Of course we all have regrets. How do you deal with your regrets?

Lots of love from susan in australia

A little each day

Dear friends,
My mum has shoulder problems which means she can’t do her much loved knitting more than 2 rows a day. She has knitted a jumper doing 2 rows a day and is knitting another one now. Amazing to see and so inspiring. I do a little art, gardening and other things in my day. Over the weeks, months and years it adds up. Is there something you could start doing a little of each day?

Lots of love from susan in australia

Talents

Dear friends,
TALENTS...you are gifted with many talents. Take time to list some of them down. Look at your newly discovered talents. Do you rejoice in your talents?
I used to really underestimate my talents. Over the past 7 years I have been trying to appreciate the gifts I have. I do very childlike art in my artist journals and I am learning to appreciate my style.

Lots of love from susan in australia