Category: Daily Prompt

The Power Of Sugar

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This week, I have read David Gillespie’s The Sweet Poison Quit Plan and discovering the impact of sugar on the body. Research has shown that sugar, or more importantly the fructose in sugar effects us because it’s:

  1. Converted to fat by our liver
  2. Interferes with our appetite control hormones

I like everyone else thought my diet was reasonably balanced however what I didn’t realise is how much hidden sugar is in the healthy everyday foods we eat. So as a challenge, between now and the end of the year I  plan to watch my daily intake of  sugar attempting to keep it down to the recommended 6 teaspoons a day for women. This is actually 24 grams of sugar as 1 teaspoon of sugar equals 4 grams of sugar. It won’t be easy but I think the improved health of my body will make it worth it. Let me know what you think and if you are up for the challenge too.

 

 

 

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/craving/

Profound Relationship

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Profound

How is your most important relationship? No, I don’t mean the one with you partner or kids, I mean your relationship with yourself. I like Shirley Maclaine believe that this is your most profound relationship and its depth mirrors the depth of your relationship with others. It’s easy to please others or blame ourselves but neither of these behaviours allow us to get close to others. To let people into your life, you need to be friends with yourself first. To know what you like, your passions, your strengths and weaknesses and be ready to stand up for them if necessary.

When life doesn’t go according to plan, can you set aside the emotion for a minute and look at your role in the situation before making a plan to move on? There are always two sides to every story. And although being open and honest with ourselves can be very difficult to do, it is important for our mental health. The more we understand ourselves and take responsibility for our actions, the more we grow as a person. From this growth we learn any lessons necessary to make sure our future relationships are profound and we enjoy a better quality of life.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/249091/

Admire

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It’s very easy to criticize yourself and others. But it’s not helpful. Instead learn to admire and be grateful for the things you and others do well. By focusing on the positive, we set goals, move forward and become the best possible version of ourselves. So let’s take the ADMIRE challenge.

Acknowledge what you and others do well

Discover the ways you can continue to grow

Master the oppurtunities

Insight is important

Recognise, respect and take responsibility for your abilities

Encourage yourself and develop confidence as you communicate with others

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/admire/

Crisis

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Crisis

Working in mental health, for me crisis management, big and small, can be a daily occurrence. And while helping someone or even myself through a crisis is a good feeling, I don’t believe it is the best part of the experience. Like Marilyn Monroe in the above quote, “Within crisis, are the seeds of opportunity,” I agree that the opportunities that arise after the event are. They create personal growth within us that transforms our lives. We are a changed person, older and wiser. due to the lessons we have learnt or have been forced to deal with due to the crisis.

For more information on my inspiration to get through a crisis stop by my earlier post below.

Getting Through Tough Times

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/crisis/

Unpredictable

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Life is unpredictable and that is what makes it great. If everything we did was the same everyday, yes it would be safe but also boring. One of the things I love about mental health nursing is that no day is ever the same. It’s the interactions with people that make the difference and change the course of the day.  I see being unpredictable as adding the following to my life:

Uniqueness

Never boring

Passion

Richness

Enjoyment

Daring

Individuality

Change

Trust

Adventure

Brilliance

Learning

Experience

Unpredictability makes life more exciting, like the difference between riding the rapids or a calm stream. A mixture of both allows us to use all of our skills.

 

Lower Tonangiro River

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/unpredictable/

Use Your Imagination

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Evil Cloud outside Lake Taupo

My husband and I love to mindfully look at clouds. We study them regularly and usually can agree on a title for the cloud formation. This photo taken outside Taupo, New Zealand was one we found very interesting however, we weren’t able to agree on a title. Personally, to me it was a Bunny Cloud and to my husband an Evil Cloud.

What do you see? Let me know in the comments as I am sure there are many other ideas hiding in this special group of clouds.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/clouds/

Perfectionism

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Perfection

 

The meaning behind the above quote is that in general perfection cannot be reached. When you aim for perfectionism in all areas of your life you stop setting realistic achievable goals. This is because you believe you can’t achieve them so  you don’t bother attempting to, which affects your contentment.

However, perfectionism can be healthy if it is isolated to only one achievable area. The difference is how you feel about yourself and why you are attempting perfection. In some sports, Olympians can achieve a perfect score. However, remember that to get one perfect score—on one skill or routine—they also have practised the skill thousands of times imperfectly. They may have also injured themselves attempting to complete the skill. Athletes accept this as part of the journey and get back on track to do their best. They know and accept that while they may achieve one perfect score—they won’t always be able to keep this up and on a different occasion, they may achieve a low score for the same skill or routine. It is what it is.

The following table considers some of the differences between healthy and unhealthy perfectionism.

HEALTHY PERFECTIONISM UNHEALTHY PERFECTIONISM
Achieve your personal best Increasing anxiety due to fear of not achieving goals and self-worth is only achieved through completing unachievable goals
Do a good job at your workplace Setting yourself up to fail then being afraid to try
Do the best you can in specific areas of your life e.g. Olympians with perfect scores or students who score high scores in some exams Fearing failure to such an extent that you avoid the task at hand
Setting high but realistic and achievable goals Setting unachievable goals

If you want to aim for perfectionism, make sure it is healthy and achievable for you. Aiming for perfectionism in all areas of your life creates so much anxiety that you never get started and as a result your self-worth and content of life plummets.

 https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/perfection/

The Butterfly Story

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Life is a personal journey. Others can help and support along the way however, they cannot do the work for us. When they rescue us, we never learn the skills required to save ourself when things get tough. Sometimes life has an odd way of putting the challenges we require in our path. But, it is important to notice what we learn from each experience — the good as well as the bad. The following true story of unknown origins explains the importance of struggles very well.

A man finds a butterfly cocoon, which develops a small hole. Over several hours, he notices the butterfly struggling to force its body through the small hole.

After a period, the man noticed that the butterfly appeared stop progressing. In trying to be helpful, the man decides to cut the cocoon open.  The butterfly emerged easily however its body was swollen and it had small-shriveled wings.

The man continued to watch the butterfly expecting at any moment the wings to enlarge and expand enough to support the body.

Neither happened!

In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around the ground. It was never able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and haste did not realise was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle by the butterfly to break free was nature’s way of forcing the fluid out of the butterfly’s body and into its wings so that it is ready for flight when the butterfly emerged.

Like the butterfly’s journey out of the cocoon, the struggles, we overcome help to develop our strengths needed for later life. They allow us to overcome obstacles that would otherwise cripple us. Without them we are unable to fly.

All our journeys are unique experiences and remember, there are no maps.

Butterflies-in-cocoons-emerging

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/struggle/

Rebuild

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Rebuilding is a natural occurance in life. It involves improving or making changes to something/someone that already exists or building something/someone again that has been damaged or destroyed. To ensure that the rebuild is the best it can be, both scenarios involve planning. Before creation, the person, building or thing needs stripping down in order to help reinforce the changes. The following list may help if you are considering a rebuild in your life.

  1. What works of the old plan?
  2. Can any of it be incorporated in to the new plan?
  3. Write a dream list of things you would like added to your rebuild.
  4. Prioritise your dream list and incorporate as many as practically possible.
  5. Draw up a new plan then leave it for at least a week. During this time get feedback form others.
  6. Come back to it, review and make any necessary changes.
  7. Start rebuilding — one step at a time.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/rebuild/

Understanding

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Understanding another person’s thoughts, feelings or behaviours is part of getting to know them. It is easy to judge based on our own assumptions of what is appropriate, but life is not that simple. It can be hard sometimes to look at a situation through another’s eyes. However, from my experience, the real growth comes as you can learn about your response to the initial trigger. Without this knowledge, you will find yourself in the same situation again and again.

To help me gain understanding I regularly review situations outside of the moment. The stronger my reaction, the more important I find it is to dig deep and be honest to develop the best outcomes for every one. In the following acrostic poem I share my thoughts and experiences reviewing difficult conversations and situations.

Unveiling the uncertainty

Negativity or neglect

Discovering the depth of the drive

Educating myself to encourage and empower

Realising any resentfulness I respond with reassurance and respect 

Secure, sensitive and supportive

Treading lightly, building trust and tolerance

Aware and authentic of my feelings

No longer nervous, nasty or numb

Delighted the situation is different now

Invigorated through involvement

Nurturing and

Getting to know myself as well as you better

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/understanding/