In Career Gems December 28, 2020 By Women of Rubies

Sad: Little Girl Dies After Swallowing Remote Control Battery That Generated Electricity Inside Her

A baby girl has died after swallowing a tiny button battery which began generating electricity inside her and eroded through her tissues, causing terrible burns.

Reese Smith, 1, died last Thursday, Dec 17, weeks after taking the button battery out of a remote control at her home in Lubbock, Texas, and swallowing it.

Reese suffered severe burns to her throat, oesophagus and vocal cords.

Pediatrician Dr Thomas McGill, who treated Reese, said the youngster’s mucus membrane had been burned “completely black, as if you were roasting a marshmallow.”

Dr McGill, who treated Reese at University Medical Center in Lubbock, explained that one side of the flat battery has a positive charge, while the other has a negative charge. So, the battery began generating electricity after settling in the child’s oesophagus, before eroding through the oesophagus and settling in her airway.

Reese’s mother Trista, a hairdresser, noticed her daughter could not stop coughing last month, and feared she may have swallowed the battery after noticing a remote whose back had been taken off.

Trista rushed her daughter to hospital, where an x-ray confirmed her worst fears.

Reese was later transferred to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. There, she underwent multiple surgeries to remove the battery and try and repair the damage to her insides.

Unfortunately, the toddler eventually succumbed to her injuries despite surgeons’ best efforts to save her.

Doctors said the battery had been inside the child for too long to save her.

In Inspiration December 28, 2020 By Women of Rubies

Actress Taraji P. Henson Reveals She Contemplated Suicide During The COVID-19 Pandemic

Hollywood actress, Taraji P. Henson is opening up about a “dark moment” she had during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Speaking on her Facebook Watch series, Peace of Mind with Taraji, the actress said she contemplated taking her own life while discussing mental breakdown with co-host Tracie Jade and licensed psychologist, Dr. LaShonda Green.

She detailed the “dark moment” she faced after the coronavirus pandemic left her feeling withdrawn and isolated.

“During this pandemic, it’s been hard on all of us, and I had a moment. I had a dark moment,” she recalled. “I was in a dark place. For a couple of days, I couldn’t get out of the bed, I didn’t care. That’s not me. Then, I started having thoughts about ending it. It happened two nights in a row.”

Prior to this, Taraji said she had purchased a gun. The actress remembered thinking to herself, “I could go in there right now and just end it all, ’cause I want it to be over.”

When her 26-year-old son, Marcell Johnson, crossed her mind, Taraji told herself he’d “get over it” because he’s an adult.

After Taraji said she began “withdrawing” and stopped responding to concern loved ones who had reached out, she realized she needed to speak up about her feelings.

“Finally,” the 50-year-old remembered, “I’m talking to one of my girlfriends and I knew, I was smart enough to say, ‘I have to say it.’ Because a part of me was ashamed. I was like, ‘I don’t want them to think I’m crazy. I don’t want them to obsess over me or think they gotta come and sit on me.'”

Taraji continued, “So one day I just blurted it out to my girlfriend. She called me in the morning and I was like, ‘You know I thought about killing myself last night. Oh my god, I feel so much better. I’m not gonna do it now.'”

The Oscar nominee explained, “…what scared me, is that I did it two nights in a row. And the thoughts kept coming. Now I started think about how. At first, it was like, I don’t want to be here. And then I started thinking about going and getting the gun. And that’s why when I woke up the next morning, and I blurted it out. Because I felt like after a while it was going to take over me and it was going to become a plan because that’s how strong my brain is. Our thoughts… They’re that powerful.”

This comes a month after she opened up about the end of her engagement to former NFL star, Kelvin Hayden.

In Career Gems December 28, 2020 By Women of Rubies

Mum Gives Birth To Triplets From Two Different Wombs

A mum has become the first woman in the UK to give birth to triplets from two different wombs.

Melanie Bassett, 32, was already a mum-of-two but was left stunned when doctors made the discovery that she was carrying identical babies in one of her wombs and another child in a second womb.

The parent first discovered she had two wombs when she was pregnant with her first child Phoebe, now three, in 2016.

Along with her husband Ben, 33, Melanie, from Hampshire, then welcomed their first son Blake into the world in 2019.

But in January this year, the couple were amazed to welcome triplets, Brooke, Isabelle and Beau.

Having twins from two wombs, commonly known as uterus didelphys, is estimated to be a one in a million occurrence. And Melanie is thought to be the first example of the rare case in the UK.

Melanie has uterus didelphys which also creates the possibility of a second vagina. Rather than looking like a regular womb, the mum’s womb is heart-shaped with two chambers.

The condition doesn’t make it harder for a woman to conceive but it increases the risk of a miscarriage or premature birth. The mum had her first and second children via C-section.

Then two months after welcoming her second chid via CS, Melanie discovered she was pregnant again. It wasn’t until the 12-week scan where the sonographer told the couple they were expecting triplets in separate wombs.

Melanie and Ben were advised to go for scans every fortnight so doctors can keep an eye on the pregnancy.

The triplets were eventually born via C-section at 32 weeks on January 26 this year.

In Inspiration December 28, 2020 By Women of Rubies

“Before You DM me, I am a Christian And I believe In Waiting Till Marriage For Sexual Relations”- Lady informs intending suitors

A Nigerian lady, Adesekonge-Ire has informed intending suitors that she does not believe in sex before marriage.

“Before you DM me, I ‘m a Christian and I believe in waiting till marriage for sexual relations. tnx” said Konge, who is proudly a Feminist.

Her tweet elicited comments from the men who said if she has to wait till marriage to have sex then she should also not ask for money before marriage.

Others questioned her feminist stance as according to them, a Christian shouldn’t be a Feminist.

Reacting to the comments, Konge urged women to try and be financially independent as apparently from the responses, men only give money to women in exchange for sex.

“The responses to that tweet proves that men only give money to women because they want sex in return. Women, wake up! Make your money so these men would know to have something better to offer in a relationship asides money. You are not a sex worker, stop giving sex for money.”

In Career Gems December 28, 2020 By Women of Rubies

Women Affairs Minister, Pauline Tallen Tests Positive For COVID19

The Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen has tested positive for the coronavirus disease.

She announced this in a statement she personally signed and released. She says she has gone into isolation and is receiving treatment.

Read the press statement from her below

”PRESS STATEMENT

Following interaction with individuals that later show asymptomatic sign of COVID19, I have been advised by my medical team to undergo the test and self isolate for observation over the past few days.

This is to inform the general public that after undergoing a test carried out on myself and members of my family, my result returned positive while that of members of my family tested negative.

Currently, I am asymptomatic and have gone into isolation during the period of treatment. Please keep me in your prayers and I implore you all stay safe and observe all COVID-19 protocols as we grapple with this pandemic.

I urge you all to please take responsibility for yourself and family in order to protect our dear country even more at this time.

Signed:

Dame Pauline K. Tallen OFR, KSG

Minister of Women Affairs

26th December 2020.”

In Career Gems December 28, 2020 By Women of Rubies

Lagos State Government Shut Landmark Event Centre And 11 Others For Violating COVID19 Protocols

The Lagos State government has shutdown Landmark Event Centre and 11 other facilities for violating COVID-19 protocols.

The facilities were shut down during an enforcement operation led by the Director-General, Lagos State Safety Commission, Lanre Mojola. The team was out in the state on routine enforcement and monitoring activities to enforce compliance with the government’s directive on COVID-19 pandemic, especially as it concerns social and recreational centers.

Some other facilities sealed are DNA Night Club, Buzz Bar, Silverfox, Cocoon, Westend Nightclub, Rumours, Lekki Waterside, Landmark Event Centre and The Wave Beach club.

According to Mojola, event centers that broke the government’s seal and continued partying would be charged to court once documentation had been properly processed. He said the government was committed to curbing the spread of the virus and would leave nothing to chance to achieve this mandate.

Nigeria is currently experiencing the second wave of COVID19.

In Inspiration December 28, 2020 By Women of Rubies

#MondayMotivation |10 Ways To Beat The Monday Blues

“If you love your job and are passionate about what you’re doing, going in to work Monday morning is another opportunity to do what you love,” . “But if you’re feeling under-appreciated or unsatisfied with your job, it can be especially difficult to start another seemingly endless workweek.”

“The ‘Monday Blues’ describe a set of negative emotions that many people get at the beginning of the workweek if they’re not happy at work,” says Alexander Kjerulf, an international author and speaker on happiness at work. “It contains elements of depression, tiredness, hopelessness and a sense that work is unpleasant but unavoidable.”

The Monday Blues are so prevalent that they have become a cultural phenomenon, “and this makes it easy to laugh them off as ‘just the way things are,’” he says. “But they can be much more than just a passing tiredness; they are often a serious warning sign that something is not right at work. If you were happy, you’d be excited and energized on Mondays, not tired and depressed.

Here are 10 ways to beat (or avoid) the dreaded Monday Blues:

Identify the problem. “The first thing to do is to ask yourself what’s wrong,” Kjerulf says. If you have the Monday Blues most weeks, then this is not something you should laugh off or just live with. It’s a significant sign that you are unhappy at work and you need to fix it or move on and find another job.

Sara Sutton Fell, CEO and founder of FlexJobs, suggests making a list of the things that are bringing you down in your job. “Maybe it’s a negative co-worker or a meeting with your boss first thing on Monday morning, or maybe it’s that you don’t feel challenged–or maybe it’s all of the above,” she says. “In either case, clarifying what is bothering you can help you try to be active in finding solutions. It’s a way of empowering you to take charge and try to improve the situation.”

Prepare for Monday on Friday. “Mondays can be extra stressful from work that has potentially piled up from the previous week and, for many, can be challenging to jump right back in,” Kahn says.

To help combat that Monday morning anxiety, be sure to leave yourself as few dreadful tasks as possible on Friday afternoon, Friedman says. “By taking care of the things you least want to handle at the end of one work week, you’re making the start of the next that much better.”If you do have any unpleasant tasks awaiting your attention Monday morning, get them done as early as possible so that you don’t spend the rest of the day procrastinating or “feeling as if there’s a black cloud hanging over your head,” she says. “Make that uncomfortable phone call, resolve that outstanding issue, or clean up that mess that’s waiting for you. You’ll feel a lot better once it’s over.”

3. Make a list of the things you’re excited about. “We often look at the week ahead of us and think of all the tough stuff we have to do and the difficult tasks ahead of us,” Kjerulf says. “Turn that around. Sunday evening, make a list of three things you look forward to at work that week. This might put you in a more positive mood. If you can’t think of three things you look forward to, that might be an indication that you need to make some changes.”

Unplug for the weekend. If possible, try to avoid checking work e-mail or voicemail over the weekend, especially if you’re not going to respond until Monday anyway, Friedman says. “It can be tempting to know what’s waiting for you, but drawing clearly defined boundaries between work and personal time can help keep things in check. When you leave the office on Friday, leave your office problems there and focus on enjoying your time off. Sometimes going back to work on Monday feels especially frustrating because you let it creep into your off-time, and so it never even feels like you had a weekend at all.”
Get enough sleep and wake up early. Go to bed a little early on Sunday night and be sure to get enough sleep so that you wake up feeling well-rested, Friedman says. “If you’re only running on a couple of hours of sleep, it’s unlikely that you’re going to feel good about going anywhere when the alarm goes off Monday morning.”
Dress for success. “Dress up, perk up and show up ready to be positive and help others be positive,” Shane says. “Be the light and energy that makes others have a better day. Show and share your spirit, charisma and vibe and make yourself magnetic.”
Be positive. Start the week out with an “attitude of gratitude,” Kahn says. “Take time to recognize and appreciate the things that you enjoy about work.”

This starts before you even get to work. To pump yourself up on your way in to work, try listening to your favorite songs, Friedman says. “Think about the type of playlist you would create for a workout, and incorporate that same upbeat, high-energy music into your morning preparation or commute.”If you’re able to be a source of positivity in the workplace, not only will you make your day more enjoyable, but you’ll also make the work environment better for those around you, Kahn concludes.

Make someone else happy. Make a vow to do something nice for someone else as soon as you get to work on Monday, Sutton Fell suggests. “Doing nice things for other people definitely can lift the spirits, and in this case, it could actually help shift the overall mood in your office,” she says. “Paying it forward can yield great results all around.”

Kjerulf agrees. He says we know from research in positive psychology that one of the best ways to cheer yourself up is to make someone else happy. “You might compliment a co-worker, do something nice for a customer, help out a stranger on the street or find some other way to make someone else’s day a little better.”

Keep your Monday schedule light. Knowing that Mondays are traditionally busy days at the office, a good strategy is keep you Monday schedule as clear as possible, Kahn says. “When you’re planning meetings ahead, try to schedule them for Tuesdays and Wednesdays. This will help you to come into Monday with more ease from the weekend.”

Instead of tackling the biggest and most complicated tasks early on Monday, take some time for easier, more routine stuff, Kjerulf says. “This might get you up and running and give you the energy for the hairier tasks.”

But beware: If you have too much free time—you’ll sit around “feeling blue,” Shane says.

Have fun at work. Take it upon yourself to do things that you enjoy in the office on Monday, Kahn says. “Maybe bring donuts for your colleagues or take a quick break to catch up with friend in the office. Sharing stories about the weekend with co-workers can be fun and also is a great way to strengthen your interoffice network.”

Source:Forbes.com

In lifestyle December 24, 2020 By Women of Rubies

13 Productive Things You Can Do On A Sunday

Sundays are amazing days. For most of us, Sundays are a day of rest — a chance to relax, spend time with our family and friends and step away from work. Yet, for many people, Sundays can be a day of gloom. The thought of having to go back to work the next day and rejoin the hustle and bustle of everyday working life creates a dark cloud over a day that should be a joy.

With the right approach, though, Sundays can be days of rejuvenation—a chance to recharge our batteries—and to set ourselves up for a fantastic week. It is just a matter of the way you look at Sundays.

Sundays give me a chance to take stock of how my week has gone and decide what I want to achieve the following week. Each Sunday allows me to step back from the everyday grind and to measure my progress against the plan I had for the week and to reset that plan to make the next week even better.

Here are 13 ways you can turn your Sundays into amazingly productive days:

1. Wake up at Your Normal Time

A lot of us grew up thinking Sundays were a great day to ‘catch-up on my sleep’. The problem here is by over-sleeping on a Sunday, you often find it difficult to get to sleep Sunday night and that begins the cycle of sleep debt you want to avoid.

Waking up at your normal time maintains regular sleep patterns and this helps to make sure your sleep schedule is consistent throughout the week. When you are in a perpetual sleep debt all week, your productivity will sink. Ensuring you have a good night sleep every night, keeps you in a highly productive state.

2. Start the Day With “Me-Time”

“Me-time” is time you give to yourself. It’s time you can spend doing all the things you love doing without the fear of being interrupted. That could be exercise, reading, going for a long walk or meditation.

Decide what you want to do with your Sunday morning, make sure it is focused on you and start this week. You will thank yourself for it.

3. Do Some Exercise

Now, this does not mean you go out and do a 10-mile run or spend one or two hours in the gym. What this means is to get outside and move.

Our lifestyles today have taken away a lot of natural movement. This has become particularly prominent this year with many of us having to work from home. Those walks to the bus stop, train station and the office have gone. Now we get up, move from one room to another, sit down and start work.

Sundays give you a chance to move. Take that opportunity. Get yourself outside for an hour or two. Enjoy nature. Go with your family or friends and just have a relaxing hour or two in nature. This is possibly one of the best ways to reduce stress, get some healthy exercise and set yourself up for a wonderful week.

4. Plan the Day

Not having a plan for the day will leave you at the mercy of outside events. Instead, decide on Saturday evening what you will do the next day. Make sure you wake up at your normal time, indulge in your favourite morning drink and start your day.

Having no plan for the day, will likely result in you waking up late, making it difficult to get a good night’s sleep the next evening and you will waste the opportunity to make the day count.

Your plan does not have to be too detailed. Something similar to:

Wake up and make coffee
Put on some great music
Sit down and enjoy coffee
Take a 2-hour walk
Read for an hour or two
Spend some time with the kids

Just make sure you have a rough plan for the day, but keep things as flexible as possible.

5. Watch a Sports Game

This is a great way to get yourself away from thinking about work and your troubles.
Whatever sport you enjoy, take some time on Sunday to watch a game. Just getting into the game, enjoying the skills on show and marvelling at the professionalism removes you from your everyday world for a while. It’s a great way to give your brain some much-needed relaxation and provides a wonderful distraction from your everyday normal life.

6. Make Sure You Do Something Different

Doing the same things day after day will eventually turn every day into a grind. You want to be looking forward to your Sundays.
Do anything that breaks up your routine. Like watching a sports game, it takes you away from the normal everyday life you lead and gives you something refreshingly different to enjoy and experience.

7. Clean Up

I know, most people hate doing house chores but having a clean, ordered home does wonders for your overall mental wellbeing.
It can be hard to find the time to stay on top of all the cleaning during the week, so setting aside some time each Sunday to do a cleanup leaves you feeling refreshed, energized and ready for whatever the following week will throw at you.

8. Prepare Your Clothes for the Following Week

This may seem a bit excessive, but it saves so much time and cognitive overload. All it takes is one bad night’s sleep and you wake up and find yourself rushing around trying to get yourself ready for your first appointment.

9. Do a Weekly Planning Session

I’ve experimented doing a weekly planning session on different days but by far, the best day to plan is Sunday. I find that Sunday evenings are the best times to open up my calendar and to-do list, and to plan for the week ahead. It sets me up for the week ahead.

10. Clear Out Your Email

What? Doing email on a Sunday? Yes. Why? Because the worst thing you can do is start the new week with an inbox full of last week’s unreplied-to emails.

For most people, Monday morning is likely to be the one day in the week they do not have a lot of email in our inboxes, so we can begin the day on our most important project work. If you spend an hour or two cleaning up your email from last week, you miss a tremendous opportunity to start with a clean slate.

You don’t get a lot of email in on a Sunday, so you can process your inbox and actionable folders to make sure when the new week begins, you not only have a set of outcomes you want to achieve that week, but also begin the new week with no hangovers from the week before.

11. Do Some Work on Your Side Project

Now, this does not mean work. This means your own personal projects. It could be a DIY project, doing something in your garden, restoring an old car or writing your book.

Sundays give you incredible opportunities to do all those things you dream of doing but never seem to find time to do them. Just getting on and doing these side projects removes you from your everyday work, and allows you a few hours to do the things you love doing.

12. Read a Book

During the week, it can be hard to read a good book. We get up, rush out the door to get to work (or move to our home work station and start the computer). When we finish the day, we are exhausted and just want to vegetate in front of the TV.

Don’t waste Sundays. They give you a great opportunity to spend time with the books you want to read.

13. Prepare Your Meals for the Following Week

This is a great one for those of you who are following a healthy diet and exercise plan. Preparing meals for the following week not only saves a lot of time, it also encourages you to eat healthy on those exhausting days when all you want to do is eating pizza and flopping down on the sofa.

Having a set of pre-prepared meals reduces the temptation during the week when your willpower is at its lowest. It’s quick, healthy and easy to do. It makes sure you are sticking to your diet plan.

Bottom Line

I am not suggesting you try and fit all these things into Sunday. Just pick a few that resonate with you. Do those that will give you the biggest benefit and most joy.

Sundays need to be restful, relaxing and give you a chance to do those things you do not normally have time to do. It’s an incredible day, so don’t waste it laying in bed watching endless episodes of your favourite TV series.

In Inspiration December 24, 2020 By Women of Rubies

How To Celebrate Small Wins To Achieve Big Goals

We all want to be successful in our goals and it’s these goals that put meaning into our lives – give us something to strive for and help better ourselves. But have you ever tried to reach a big goal with giving up as the end? Have you started working towards your goal but over time felt that it’s just too high a mountain to climb – how are you ever going to reach the top? Have you ever experienced the feeling that you’ve spent so long trying to achieve your goal but felt you’ve got nowhere with it?

If this is you then you’re not alone. As humans, we are built to naturally see the problems and easily punish ourselves for bad behaviour. Poor performances are quickly condemned in our minds and guilt can rise to the surface. Our mindsets can bring us down when we feel we’ve failed and this usually results in giving up on dreams and goals.

So what is the secret to achieving these goals? Successful people make huge achievements all the time so how do they do it? What makes them so different?

Perspective and Mindset

Many people may put the success of others down to luck or a natural talent that allows them to excel at what they want to achieve. Yes, this can be the case but most of the time it is down to a particular mindset and way of looking at their goals as a whole.

Take Thomas Edison, the American businessman who invented the lightbulb. It took Edison almost 10,000 attempts to create a lightbulb – that’s a huge amount of ‘failures’ before finally finding success. But in response to his repeated failures he said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

In other words, he took his failures and turned them into successes because his perspective was focused on achieving rather than failing. It’s quite clear he had a mindset and positive perspective that allowed him to celebrate those small steps and see them as achievements.

As I mentioned earlier, it’s very easy for us to put ourselves down for small mistakes and failures. What about our small successes? Well the irony of this is that although we easily feel negative about failing, we almost never celebrate our successes either and this is where the magic lies.

Celebrate Small Wins

The key to success is realising that our big goals aren’t going to happen overnight, in the next week or maybe even the next year but this is okay. We tend to focus on the end goals rather than the small and significant steps we take to get us to that goal.

This is why it’s important to acknowledge and celebrate small wins. The problem with not doing this is we end up diminishing our motivation and motivation is what keeps us on the right path and gives us the strength to soldier on to the top of the mountain.

Demotivation usually comes because we are unsure of how far we are to our goals. We sometimes blindly believe that the goal is still so far away when it could actually be just around the corner – something we will never know if we give up.

It’s therefore important to make sure you celebrate your small goals along the way. Acknowledging these sparks the reward circuitry of our brains and releases chemicals that gives us the feeling of pride, giving us the feel-good and happiness factor and makes us want to go further towards our next achievement.

Appreciation is Key

Appreciation can sometimes be played down in life and we tend to forget to appreciate what we’ve done and what we have. Appreciating our small wins and the small steps we take can be the difference between failing and succeeding. Lack of appreciation and gratefulness can lead us down the slippery slope of not being able to see the importance of our small successes. Celebrating the small stuff is us acknowledging that we are well on our way to achievement – in fact we are achieving all the time and it’s a myth that we are only successful once we’ve reached that elusive goal.

Creating Successful Habits

Successful habits equal success. We all know creating and changing habits can be hard as our minds find it difficult to adapt to new routines but acknowledging and celebrating the small wins are how you help yourself establish the habits you need and to keep you going. Our brains need reinforcement so allowing yourself to be rewarded will develop an ‘addiction to progress’ that will cause your brain to want to carry on to the next steps.

Acknowledge the Importance of the Present Moment

So what is the secret to a successful habit? It’s all about understanding the importance of the present moment. We tend to take the present moment for granted – it seems insignificant and we believe the little things we do in the moment aren’t changing us.

You must invest in the small things over a long period of time and understand that you only have the moment you are in and although these moments seem insignificant when determining whether you succeed or fail at something, it is the combination of moments over time that achieve the big things.

For example, say you want to learn a whole new subject. Reading 10 pages of a book today on this new subject will not significantly raise your knowledge and maybe not even 10 pages tomorrow and 10 pages the next day. However, it’s the combination of all these moments of reading 10 pages a day that will eventually allow you to fully learn the new subject. In other words, reading those 10 pages a day may seem insignificant in the moment but they are all important in the steps towards achieving your goal.

5 Tips On Achieving Success

With all this in mind, it is the small steps we take that need to be acknowledged and appreciated for what they are. Motivation is a huge factor of whether or not we succeed and being able to reward ourselves and celebrate small wins is the key.

Break down large goals into smaller goals – You don’t want to focus on the bigger picture as tempting as that can be. Make sure you create small, achievable goals that will allow you to see your progress more clearly.
Reward yourself with achieving small goals – Think about what you enjoy the most and do this each time you complete a step. This cold be anything from treating yourself to your favourite coffee, chocolate or even a trip somewhere. Having something to look forward to trains the brain into creating motivation.
Don’t put pressure on yourself – Putting a deadline on your goals can lead to potential feelings of failure. Be relaxed with your time limits and this will increase your happiness and motivation.
Track your progress – Writing down or tracking your progress will remind you of how far you’ve come in achieving your goal. Sometimes we can give up because we are unaware of how close we are to success and forget how much we’ve done. Write down all the small wins – seeing them written down can even be a reward in itself!
Change your perspective – Sometimes when we focus too much on the end goal, it can seem too far away to get to. Try thinking of it, not as climbing a huge mountain, but descending one with perhaps a few nice restaurants (rewards) to stop off at and relax on the way down – this way you can visualise getting there a lot easier!

In Inspiration December 19, 2020 By Women of Rubies

You Are Not Your Mood

Humans are always in a mood. Moods are the background tone of our lives, but we easily forget that we are in a mood and, instead, we believe we are our moods and that our moods are fixed and will never change.

From there, we tend to fall into “why bother?” procrastination, putting others first, and overwhelm.

BUT when we remember that our moods are malleable, changeable, that we can always change our mood at least a little, we stop waiting to feel like it.

We remember: action changes mood.

Simply remembering our moods are not us, and not fixed, can get you off the couch and out the door for your walk or your other activity that needs to be done.

And sometimes you need a bit more help.

I understand that people struggle with depression and anxiety, and so I am not suggesting that because moods are malleable we can change how we feel “presto!” But rather this is another tool to play with to give us relief and wiggle room.

Here is what you can do to work with your mood:

Welcome what you are feeling. If you woke up in the morning feeling like you don’t want to leave the bed or get anything done, take a deep breath and acknowledge your mood.
Pay attention to how you feel and welcome it rather than try to pretend it doesn’t exist.
Remind yourself of the times you have pulled through and gotten things done. See yourself doing the things you want to do.
Connect with what you care about: Think about that thing you really care about and want to do. It can be taking a walk, going for a run or completing a project.
Then ask yourself, “What mood would I like to cultivate so I can feel okay today?” This simple question, if answered truthfully, will shift your posture, expand your breathing and help you see the many choices you have at the moment.

Your mood is a background that you can always bring to the foreground. In doing so, possibilities can open up.

You can shift your mood with movement, dance, a wonder walk, yogic breathing techniques, journaling your worries and fears, taking one small action step, but first you have to remember:

You are not your mood.
Your mood will change no matter how bad it is right now.
(It may have changed a tiny bit reading this!)
You do not have to wait to “feel” like it to take action on your desires, just a small step will help.
You can handle this day.

Be gentle with yourself. Play with your mood if that appeals to you.
Either way, remember you’re not your mood!

Women of Rubies

Sad: Little Girl Dies After Swallowing Remote Control Battery That Generated Electricity Inside Her

Mum Gives Birth To Triplets From Two Different Wombs

“Before You DM me, I am a Christian And I believe In Waiting Till Marriage For Sexual Relations”- Lady informs intending suitors

Women Affairs Minister, Pauline Tallen Tests Positive For COVID19

Lagos State Government Shut Landmark Event Centre And 11 Others For Violating COVID19 Protocols

#MondayMotivation |10 Ways To Beat The Monday Blues

13 Productive Things You Can Do On A Sunday

How To Celebrate Small Wins To Achieve Big Goals

Perspective and Mindset

Celebrate Small Wins

Appreciation is Key

Creating Successful Habits

Acknowledge the Importance of the Present Moment

5 Tips On Achieving Success

You Are Not Your Mood

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