Category Archives: Beliefs

Beliefs

Emotional Intelligence Development

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Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to identify, understand, and manage one’s own emotions and the emotions of others. It is a critical skill that can help individuals to navigate social interactions, manage stress, and build positive relationships.

There are several ways to develop emotional intelligence:

  1. Self-awareness: Developing self-awareness is the first step towards improving emotional intelligence. This involves awareness of your emotions, understanding their triggers, and how they affect your behavior.  Knowing how you will react to things and why is a strength that will allow you to be proactive and understanding in your life. Other people will not so easily be able to push your buttons.
  2. Self-regulation: Once you know your emotions, you can learn to regulate them. This means managing your emotional reactions to situations and learning to control impulsive behavior. Rather than reacting to situations, your will be able to respond to people and situations with thought and steadiness of purpose.
  3. Empathy: Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. This involves paying attention to nonverbal cues, listening actively, and showing genuine concern for others. Through concern and understanding of other people’s emotions, your wisdom will grow, and you will be able to help people manage themselves better.
  4. Social skills: Developing social skills involves communicating effectively, building positive relationships, and constructively resolving conflicts. Through Emotional intelligence, you will be able to communicate in a more meaningful way. This strength will help you grow existing relationships and to establish powerful new ones.
  5. Continuous learning: Emotional intelligence is not a fixed trait but a skill that can be developed over time. This involves being open to feedback, learning from your experiences, and seeking opportunities for growth and development. We all are growing every day, and each interaction and experience is a chance to grow into a better human.

Actively looking for ways to develop your emotional intelligence in your daily life will lead to personal growth.  You need to try to add some strategies to your conscious thought. Some strategies for developing emotional intelligence include:

  • Practicing mindfulness and self-reflection
  • Seeking out feedback from others
  • Engaging in activities that promote empathy, such as volunteering or community service
  • Building positive relationships with others
  • Reading books or attending workshops on emotional intelligence
  • Practicing active listening and practical communication skills.

By developing emotional intelligence, individuals can improve their personal and professional relationships, increase their resilience in the face of stress, and enhance their overall well-being.

Beliefs

Your Little Voice

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We all have an inner voice that speaks to us. Sometimes it’s a positive voice, encouraging us to chase our dreams and pursue our goals. Other times, a negative voice holds us back and tells us we’re not good enough or that we’ll never succeed. This negative voice can be so strong that it can prevent us from taking risks, trying new things, and achieving our full potential.

What to know about the Voice

It’s important to understand that this negative voice is not a reflection of who we are as people. It’s simply a product of our experiences and the messages we’ve internalized over time

Our Negative Voices

. These messages may have come from critical parents or teachers, societal expectations, or even our own self-doubt.

But the good news is that we don’t have to be held back by this negative voice. We can learn to recognize when it’s speaking to us and take steps to overcome it.

Overcome Negative with Positive

One way to overcome the negative voice is to challenge it with evidence. For example, if the negative voice tells us that we’re not good enough to apply for a certain job, we can make a list of our skills and accomplishments to prove to ourselves that we are qualified. If the negative voice tells us that we’ll fail at a new hobby, we can remind ourselves of times when we’ve succeeded at something new in the past.

Another way to overcome the negative voice is to practice self-compassion. This means treating ourselves with the same kindness and understanding that we would offer to a friend who was going through a tough time. When we make mistakes or face setbacks, we can remind ourselves that everyone experiences these things and that they don’t define our worth as a person.

Surround Yourself with Good People

It can also be helpful to surround ourselves with positive influences, whether that’s supportive friends and family members, inspiring books and podcasts, or uplifting social media accounts. By filling our lives with positivity, we can counteract the negative messages we may have internalized over time.

Ultimately, the key to overcoming the negative voice is to take action despite it. We may never be able to silence that voice completely, but we can choose to act in alignment with our values and goals despite the fear and doubt that it may be trying to instill in us. By taking small steps toward our goals each day, we can build momentum and confidence and eventually prove to ourselves that we are capable of achieving great things.

In conclusion, the negative voice in our heads can be a powerful force that holds us back from achieving our full potential. But by challenging it with evidence, practicing self-compassion, surrounding ourselves with positivity, and taking action in spite of it, we can learn to overcome it and find success in our lives. Remember that you are not alone in facing this challenge, and with time and effort, you can learn to overcome the negative voice and achieve your dreams.

Beliefs

Isn’t It Ironic? Don’t Cha Think?

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 Isn’t it Ironic? Bad Luck is Not Necessarily Ironic

Isn’t it ironic? I am sure that I am not the first person to take issue with Alanis Morrisette and her song Ironic.  But I heard it today and have to point out once and for all, the many examples she provided of things that weren’t ironic at all.  

Alanis Morrisette Ironic
Alanis Thinking about irony,

I hope that by pointing these out in detail, people will understand what irony really is, and may be able to identify it in their own lives.

Isn’t it Ironic

Let’s start with the definition of irony-

WHEN THE LITERAL MEANING IS THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF THE INTENDED MEANING, THAT IS IRONY.  
or if you want to add a little more depth: 

  • Definition of Dramatic – A situation in which the audience knows something about present or future circumstances that the character does not know

  • Definition of Verbal –  A contradiction of expectation between what is said and what is meant

  • Definition of Situational – A contradiction of expectation between what might be expected and what actually occurs often connected to a fatalistic or pessimistic view of life

The word “irony” is among the most commonly misused (and misunderstood) words in the English language. Most people think that irony means a juxtaposition of opposites.
Now let’s look at all of the examples from Alanis Morrisette’s song, Ironic, and evaluate if  they are in fact……….Ironic.
An old man turned ninety-eight,  He won the lottery and died the next day
THIS IS NOT IRONIC, IT IS A LITTLE TRAGIC AND DEFINITELY BAD LUCK, BUT IRONIC? It does not fit any of the definitions.
It’s a black fly in your Chardonnay
DO YOU CONSIDER THIS IRONY, I DON’T.  IT COULD HAVE BEEN BUG SEASON, BUT CALLING A DEAD INSECT IN YOU BEVERAGE IRONY IS NOT ACCURATE.  THIS IS JUST THE CIRCLE OF LIFE. ALANNIS KNOWS THIS. 
It’s a death row pardon two minutes too late
THIS AGAIN FALLS INTO THE BAD LUCK CATEGORY, OR EVEN THE TRAGIC CATEGORY, BUT NOT IRONY.
And isn’t it ironic… don’t you think.  
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!It’s like rain on your wedding day
HOW CAN RAIN ON YOUR WEDDING DAY BE IRONIC?  MIGHT CHANGE THE PICTURE LOCATIONS AND IS UNFORTUNATE DEFINITELY, BUT NOT IRONIC.
It’s a free ride when you’ve already paid
ALREADY PAYING MAKES THE RIDE NOT FREE, SO THIS STATEMENT IS AN IMPOSSIBILITY, BUT ALSO NOT IRONIC.  IT’S LIKE SAYING AFTER I PAID FOR MY HOUSE THE BANK GAVE IT TO ME.
It’s the good advice that you just didn’t take.
IF YOU AREN’T SMART ENOUGH TO FOLLOW GOOD ADVICE, YOU GET WHAT YOU DESERVE.  NOT IRONIC IF YOU HAVE POOR JUDGMENT.
Who would’ve thought… it figures
NOT ALANIS, I GUESS.
Mr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly,  He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids goodbye
He waited his whole damn life to take that flight And as the plane crashed down he thought
“Well isn’t this nice…”
A PLANE CRASH IS NOT IRONIC, AND IF YOU WERE AFRAID TO FLY YOU WOULDN’T BE WAITING YOUR WHOLE LIFE TO TAKE A FLIGHT, YOU PROBABLY HAD A PREMONITION WARNING YOU THAT IF YOU FLY YOU ARE GOING TO DIE.  PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR INSTINCTS BUT DON’T CALL IT IRONIC WHEN YOU DON’T.
And isn’t it ironic… don’t you think      
 STILL NO!!!!!!It’s like rain on your wedding day
STILL NOT IRONIC!
It’s a free ride when you’ve already paid
STILL IMPOSSIBLE AND NOT IRONIC
It’s the good advice that you just didn’t take
STILL POOR JUDGMENT IN AND OF ITSELF DOESN’T CREATE IRONY
Who would’ve thought… it figuresWell life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
When you think everything’s okay and everything’s going right
And life has a funny way of helping you out when
You think everything’s gone wrong and everything blows up
In your face
THE FACT THAT YOU THINK LIFE IS SNEAKING UP ON YOU LIKE A CRIMINAL SHOWS PARANOIA BUT NOT IRONY
A traffic jam when you’re already late
YOU CAN’T BLAME TRAFFIC ON IRONY, SMALL TRANSPORTATION BUDGETS AND PEOPLE WHO CAN’T DRIVE, YES BUT IRONY,  NOT!
A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break
YOU SHOULDN’T BE SMOKING ANYWAY, BUT A SIGN DOES NOT LEAD TO IRONY.  JUST BETTER HEALTH.
It’s like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife
THIS DOESN’T EVEN MAKE SENSE, THEY ARE NOT EVEN TRYING FOR IRONY, JUST CUTLERY.
It’s meeting the man of my dreams, And then meeting his beautiful wife
TOUGH LUCK, HONEY, MANY PEOPLE ARE ALREADY IN RELATIONSHIPS.  IS IT IRONY THEY DIDN’T SPEND THE LAST 10 YEARS WAITING FOR YOU TO DROP BY AND SAY HELLO.  GET OUT MORE.  OH, YEAH, THIS ISN’T IRONY EITHER.
And isn’t it ironic…don’t you think
NO, NOT AT ALL.
A little too ironic…and, yeah, I really do think…
NO YOU CLEARLY DO NOT THINK
It’s like rain on your wedding day
UNLUCKY, NOT IRONIC
It’s a free ride when you’ve already paid
ALWAYS IMPOSSIBLE, PLEASE TAKE AN ECONOMICS CLASS, AND A PHILOSOPHY CLASS AND A BASIC ENGLISH CLASS
It’s the good advice that you just didn’t take
BECAUSE YOUR NOT VERY BRIGHT
Who would’ve thought… it figures
BASED ON YOUR RECORD OF CONSISTENCY WHEN IT COMES TO RECOGNIZING AND GIVING EXAMPLES OF IRONY, I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT AND FIGURED THAT YOU WOULD NEVER FIGURE IT OUT.Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
Life has a funny, funny way of helping you out
Helping you out

LIFE CAN HELP YOU OUT, AND WON’T USUALLY SNEAK UP ON YOU LIKE A THIEF IN THE NIGHT.