Help From a Motivational Speaker

The first contact that I recall having with a motivational speaker was watching approximately a 30-minute infomercial on TV by a man named Tony Robbins....  I found him very inspiring to listen to.... [www.tonyrobbins.com]  Mr. Robbins was also selling a set of cassette tapes, at the time, in which he interviewed various experts....  I don't recall exactly what the name of this set was but the theme was relating to personal improvement.... At that time, I wasn't able to afford the tapes but I found a book of Robbins' at the library called, "Awaken the Giant Within."  I gained some insights from the book and soon after moved to a bigger city, with a bigger library.  I found the library had many cassette books prepared by Mr. Robbins and other motivational speakers and experts.... So, I started listening to them. I found the audio books to be more convenient than regular books.... And when I was dealing with my legal matters, these books were very encouraging to me--I needed encouragement!

The experts interviewed by Mr. Robbins had written their own books, more or less, called self-help books.... Self-help isn't a substitute for professional therapy, if a person needs it, but the self-help can also be a supplement to therapy....  Problems like abuse, addictions, sexual assault, eating disorders, and depression, etc. can benefit from professional help.... And it's good to research everything available in your area and then to make the best choice--or even to try different options, if possible. Myself, I've had a lot of counselling and I'll tell more about my issues in this blog....  But I wanted to recommend that the self-help books and professional motivational speakers can be very valuable resources.

What Does "Motivational" Mean?

My dictionary says the word "motive" means "moving to action...."  The words "motivation" and "motivational" are forms of the same word....

When a person has suffered a loss, a failure, or a setback, it's easy enough to feel discouraged and get stuck in that position.  The job of a motivational speaker or writer, as I see it, is to encourage people and help them to move forward....  And it's what I'm trying to do--even in some small way--in this blog....

The Healing Properties of Nature

If a person can spend a little time in nature, it can be refreshing to the mind and perhaps to the soul, if a person has a religious background; and the nature can be calming and relaxing.  Our daily life in the cities is often described as a "rat race" and as "hustle and bustle."  Not to mention technology keep us on our toes....  Nature can be a nice change.

Since I'm living in a city now, I don't always get to be in nature as much as I'd like--especially in the fall and winter.  But I do what I can.

Gratitude--Part 2

This post is continued from a post on Friday, October 28.

Pastor Glenn Coon, whom I mentioned, had a dramatic event himself with the power of gratitude.  He'd been diagnosed with nervous exhaustion and was ordered six months of bed rest at one point.  When he was in bed, he started to express gratitude for "simple" things around him--like a roof over his head, a door to keep him safe, a bed to sleep in, teeth to brush, his toothbrush, a jaw to keep his teeth in, etc.  Some of it was almost humourous but there are things we take for granted and don't even realize it.... Pastor Coon continued being thankful for things every day and within two weeks he was out of bed and well again!

When I was a teenager, my mother used to listen to some talks on cassette tapes by Pastor Coon and that was how I first heard of him. He wrote some books, also.

In college, I decided to try Pastor Coon's "Ten point plan," for ten days.  Before that, I used to say something like, "I have this and this and this good thing in my life, but I have this bad thing...."  And after the ten days, I learned to say, "I have this one bad thing in my life but I have this and this and this good thing...."  My thinking changed from negative to positive!  Under times of stress, a person might need a reminder to stay positive--like when my dad encouraged me--but I've found that gratitude really makes a difference!

Gratitude

A while after my divorce, I met an exciting, "eligible bachelor"--with children who played with my son--and this man and I were friendly for a time.  But it didn't work out in the long run and I was feeling down.  My father came to visit one day, and he was a person who used the "power of gratitude" a lot in his life.  He said to me, "Well, Susan, what can you be thankful for?"  So I thought a little bit and decided, "I'm glad I don't have any divorce papers to handle!"  And I started feeling better right away!  [When I was going through the divorce, it seemed that my lawyer gave me pile after pile of papers to fill out.  And maybe they were necessary...?]

Many years ago, there was a pastor in my church who used to preach about gratitude.  He recommended to make a list of ten things you're thankful for and do it each day for ten days.... Nothing was too small to count--any simple things, or big things, could be used to express gratitude.  This pastor's name was Glenn Coon and he has various materials available on the Internet, at different sites.  [No specific website for him, that I've found.]  His materials seem to be free, or mostly free, also.

Stuff Happens!

In the top two photos above, I'd like to illustrate that problems happen in life!  [These photos were given to me, courtesy of "WillieS."]  Sometimes we know where the problem came from, and sometimes we don't....  But we can bring something constructive out of it, in one way or another....  [If I'm not mistaken, I believe I took the third photo.]

When I was young, my extended family owned the damaged van.  They'd been using it partly as a camper, with their small children.  Sometime after the tree fell, I was needing a camper, myself; and somehow, my family and I got an idea that the old van could be repaired and I could use it!  So, some work was done on the structure and then I did all the body work and painting.  It took a lot of work but it was a very positive experience.  The vehicle didn't run on its own any more but it was planned for use in a specific location.