Just wanted to give you guys a link to my facebook page as well. I try to keep positive inspirational post on there as well. They are short and sweet if you need a quickie!  Stay positive yall!

https://www.facebook.com/adifferentattitudementalhealthcounseling

Which side are you on?

 As we move through our journey we have to make choices about a lot of different things. So many choices every single day. Skinny latte or full flavored? Donuts or oatmeal? One of the most important choices we make is what to focus our energy on; positive or negative things. Swirling all around us every minute of the day is a kaleidoscope of positive and negative. Where we choose to focus our eyes (energy) determines our view of life. 

When we spend the majority of our time remembering or noticing every little thing that goes wrong, or bad, our lives seem 'bad' or negative. We get so bogged down in the negativity that the bright spots are diminished. When we turn our eyes to focus on the bright spots or positive things we are able to light up the negative points. Remember a single candle can light up an entire room! 

The fact is we have to be the candle in our own lives to drive out the negativity. Sometimes all it takes is to notice one small positive detail to change your perspective on the entire day. No matter how hard it seems to find something, there is always a positive in the day when you are looking for it. 

If you start each day with the promise to look for positiveness you WILL FIND it. It isn't to say that you will never encounter negative again, oh you will, but you will have a bank of positive to balance it out. Now your journey, while going in the same direction, has a new brightness, lightness, and happiness. The road that seemed dark and gloomy can transform if we only switch sides of the bus! 

Stay positive ya'll! 

There will always be darkness

Yup, you read that right! There will always be darkness. 

There is no way around that. The key is to figure out what to do

 while you're IN the dark. Do you sit in it and focus only on the

 darkness or do you look up and enjoy how much brighter the

 moon and stars look because of the darkness? The things we

 focus our brain and energy on are the things we notice more. 

So, you can use all your energy focused on the darkness around 

you or you can accept that is is dark and find whatever glimmer 

of light you can. The thing I can promise you is that the darkness 

wont last forever, but then again neither will the light. 

Life is a series of balances.

 Light/dark, good/bad, positive/negative.

Too much of either throws life out of balance. 

Can you imagine if every single day was perfect? 

Pretty soon it wouldn't feel perfect anymore. The same is true if

 every day was miserable. Soon it would be so common you 

wouldn't even notice it anymore. The key is to accept that 

you are going to have both in your life at times and that is 

a good thing. 

Understanding this balance allows us to move through the

negative times in our life and to live in the more positive

ones. If you look up at the night sky at first you might only 

see a few of the brightest shining stars. As your eyes get

adjusted to the dark you notice more and more stars. 

Maybe not as bright as the others but still there. The same 

things starts to happen when you focus on the positive parts

even in negative situations. Once your eyes {and brain} get 

adjusted to looking for positive so the more positive you are

going to see. It doesn't change the fact that you are in

darkness {negative times} but your attitude has now shifted

and the darkness won't feel as long.

Your journey

In our journey through life we take many different paths. The truth is whatever path we happen to be on at this time in our lives, is exactly the right path to lead us to where we belong. Maybe it isn’t the path we thought we would be on right now. Maybe we are not nearly as far down the path as what we think we should be, BUT we are EXACTLY where we NEED to be.

You see, your path has all these little detours that branch out. Sometimes these detours lead us to places we wish we didn’t have to go, but the experience and the lesson we learn from these detours prepare us for the rest of the journey. Sometimes these detours lead us to the love of our lives or to someone who will be our best friend forever. It is even possible that these detours teach us something new about ourselves that prepare us for our lifelong passion and a new career.

The key is not to get stuck on any one path. We can get stuck when we constantly relive every stumble or obstacle on the path. We can really get stuck when all we see on this path are the negative parts and miss out on all the wonderful things around us. Even in the ugliest of times there is beauty and positive energy around, if you are willing to look for it. If it never got dark we couldn’t see the lighting bugs or the stars. We can get stuck when we start believing this is the ONLY path to our destination.

The point is that your path, your detours, your bumps in the road are all specifically for you. The flowers beside the road, the sunlight through the trees, the energy all around is purposefully placed to allow you to grow and blossom into the individual you are meant to be. All of these things are around you but it is what you pay attention to that will determine the type of journey you have. Focus on the negative and the roots you keep tripping over and your journey will be a dark and somber one. Focus on the light and the beauty all around you and your journey will be positive and joyful.

Stay Positive~ 

What's stopping you?

I have had this pic on my desk top for several weeks now, looking at it, thinking about it, rolling it around in my mind. I wondered what did the creator think about when this was composed. 

. 

Then I started thinking what if the root of all the things that are stopping you was actually the same thing!                                                    YOU!
Now I know what you are probably thinking "Margaret, that can't be right. I really want so-in-so, or to do such-in-such but this-or-that is stopping me". I say, nope its still you. 

Let me clarify here that I am not saying anything is wrong with you, just that you are the only thing stopping you. Sometimes we don't feel like we are worthy of good things in our lives. Sometimes we allow our fear to keep us from trying new things. Sometimes we just talk ourselves out of it. The underlying cause is us. 

So now you are probably saying "But Margaret, if it is ME how to do fix it?" Well, I am going to tell you. First you have to spend some time working on how you feel about yourself. You should think of yourself in the most positive way. Start by telling yourself you are worthy. Worthy of all the wonderful things that the universe has in store for you. This doesn't mean you become self absorbed or self-ISH. It means that you are allowed to have good things come to you without feeling guilt. 

Next you move past the fear. Fear basically comes from one of two places. 1. You are afraid you will try and fail. 2. You are afraid you will try and succeed. So lets say you try and you fail, what have you really lost? Well, you didn't achieve your goal but you learned at least one way NOT to do it. So you actually LEARNED from it, and that's a good thing right? Now if you are afraid to try because you might succeed please go back to step one and try that again. 

If you find you are talking yourself out of "whatever" I want you to think about that little voice that you are listening to. Who's voice is it really? Is it someone from your past saying you can't do something? Is it your insecurities playing with your mind? Where ever that voice is coming from you have the ability to stop the negative self-talk. YOU are in control of what your mind thinks. When those thoughts start coming you reach up and give them a mental smack in the mouth! You have to seriously, consciously, have to change your thinking patterns. 

Overall we have determined that the only thing stopping you, is YOU. It's time for you to go out there in this big wonderful world and do all the things that you have not been doing because of lack of self-esteem, fear, or negative self-talk. Imagine all the possibilities that were just opened up for you because you read this blog today!!! :D 

Stay positive my friends! 

Just being YOU

As you go about your day today, pay attention to all the people with whom you come in contact. Did those people somehow make a difference in your world? Were they nice? Mean? Grumpy? Patient?  How were you to them? 

Every person we interact with, even in the smallest of ways, can make a difference in our worlds. Just making eye contact and smiling at someone can change their whole perspective on the day. When we are nice to strangers or people around us we cannot necessarily see the ripple effect our actions have cause in their world but one day when we most need it someone may look us in the eye and smile. 

Let's talk a minute about YOU. You are an amazing person with the potential for greatness. (no, really you are!) That greatness comes from being YOU! Not by imitating the latest 'pop icon' or famous entertainer but by being you. You are able to make a difference in the world when you find what your greatest gifts are and use them. When we are able to examine ourselves and shake off all the negativity that we have accumulated we can find joy in using our gifts. 

For me, my gift is helping people. This is NOT a gift for everyone. Some people should NEVER try to work with other people, but that does not mean their gift is any less miraculous than mine or any less important. What about those people who's gift is working with animals? or small children? What about those people who's gift is being able to grow anything!! See it is YOU that takes the gift and decides to use it for good and not evil. 

When we are using our gifts and feeling good about ourselves we can take time to interact positively with the people we come in contact with on a daily bases. Because, we are happy we radiate with positive energy and spread that around the universe. Because we are using our gifts we can feel fulfilled, accomplished, and satisfied. Because we are feeling these things we take the time to look someone in the eye, and smile! 

Stay positive! 

Welcome! Come on in relax and enjoy

Hey there and welcome to Motivation, Inspiration, and Determination. I started this blog to motivate, inspire, & assist people in finding determination to make their life better. (Hence the name)

I want to make this place calm, relaxing, & inviting; where you can rejuvenate your soul and recharge your energy. Might I suggest some relaxation/meditation music as you peruse the pages. Perhaps you could have a scented candle lit for aroma therapy. Nah, you don't really need those things, just an open heart and a mind that allows free flowing communication. 

I want to make it clear that this blog is for entertainment and motivational purposes only. I do work as a mental health counselor but the thoughts and ideas (unless specifically quoted) are mine and should not be considered any type of therapeutic intervention or as a replacement for therapy.  

I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing. I encourage any feedback and hope you will feel free to post any comments. 

Stay Positive.