And it’s okay to feel good.

How long have we had this idea in America that everyone should be happy all the time?

The media portrays smiling families, good times, and happy endings, but that isn’t always the case.

You don’t need to be happy all the time To Live A Great Life.

Oftentimes we look at someone who is upset and think “Oh there must be something wrong with them.” Why do we think something has to be wrong? Maybe it’s okay for them to feel bad. It’s okay for them to feel what they feel. When we allow our feelings to come and don’t try to force them to leave, they will leave on their own. When we try to control our emotions, they multiply.

You are not alone in your struggles. Basically everyone at one point or another in their lifetime will experience depression, anxiety, OCD etc.

Check out this list of some of the greats who have dealt with depression and in some cases suicide:

Vincent Van Gogh, Ernest Hemingway, Ludwig Wan Beethoven, Pablo Picasso, Edgar Allen Poe, Abraham Lincoln, Isaac Newton, Friedrich Nietzsche, George Orwell, Robin Williams, Jim Carrey, Kurt Cobain, Ellen Degeneres, Johnny Depp, Eminem, Chris Evans, Jon Hamm, Angelina Jolie, Lady Gaga, Michael Phelps, Brad Pitt, J.K. Rowling, Channing Tatum, Owen Wilson, and many others.

So we can be there to support others and to support ourselves because everyone is going through something, and that’s okay. We need to remember that everyone suffers in life, and the meaning we give our suffering can make our lives better or worse.

“You don’t need to feel great to act great.” Coach T

So how can we gain Peace of Mind through this idea of accepting our feelings as they are?

“Don’t look for peace. Don’t look for any other state than the one you are in now; otherwise, you will set up inner conflict and unconscious resistance. Forgive yourself for not being at peace. The moment you completely accept your non-peace, your non-peace becomes transmuted into peace. Anything you accept fully will get you there, will take you into peace. This is the miracle of surrender.” Eckhart Tolle

Echart Tolle

A Study…

Psychologists at the University of California Berkeley have researched and tested the idea of accepting negative emotions and have found that “people who habitually accept their negative emotions experience fewer negative emotions, which adds up to better psychological health.”

See their article Here

These psychologists have also stated that acceptance and self-compassion are two key habits to happiness.

“People who accept their emotions without judging or trying to change them are able to cope with their stress more successfully.”

My Experience

There have been multiple times where I’ve experienced overwhelming feelings. Over time I’ve learned that I can sit and dwell in these feelings or I can try to move on. Sometimes these feelings come back to me, but I now work on accepting them as they are. I allow myself to feel what I’m feeling, and then let the emotions go away in their time.

I remind myself that these feelings are temporary. They will pass, and it will be okay. With each new day comes a choice to suppress our emotions, or to allow them to come and then go.

Smiling helps, just look in the mirror and smile. It’s funny, I know. Try it for a few minutes and see what happens.

I Exercise. This is something that is known to boost endorphins which trigger a positive feeling in the body.

Or you can take some time to just breathe. Listen to your breath, just your breath. Find a comfortable place, let go of the wandering mind and breathe. Listening to your breath allows you to get back to this moment, here, now. Try that for five minutes just to see how often your mind wanders.

I am not perfect at this craft, but I enjoy the practice and think you will too!

Conclusion:

It’s okay to think & feel happy, sad, depressed, anxious, joyous, all the emotions.

Remember that feelings are temporary; they will pass, but your actions will last.

Try to be conscious of how you are thinking and feeling when you are down, and don’t allow yourself to just dwell on auto-pilot in negative feelings. Feel what you feel, accept what you’re feeling and thinking, even wave to your feelings if you’d like, and then watch them go like cars passing by.

Peace of Mind is not just a state of relaxation.

Peace of Mind isn’t about feeling a certain way.

It’s about feeling the way you feel.

Feeling how you feel is the greatest happiness of all.

“You can’t stop the waves (of emotions) but you can learn to surf.”

Above all, it’s about letting the mind be as it is and knowing something about how it is in this moment. It’s not about getting somewhere else, but about allowing yourself to be where you already are. — Jon Kabat-Zin

Thanks for reading! Please share your thoughts in the comments.

It’s time to create a World Anthem and change the U.S. National Anthem

I do not write this to be against the United States of America and it’s people. I write this for the U.S., it’s people, and for the World.

3 Reasons to Create a World Anthem and New National Anthem for America

The U.S. National Anthem promotes War and Brutal Competition
The Anthem is highly Outdated
To bring the people of the World Together

The United States of America National Anthem promotes War and Brutal Competition

The American National Anthem is a War poem, promoting an “Us Against the World” mentality. The Anthem originates from the U.S. winning a war against the British in the early 1800’s.

Francis Scott Key wrote a poem called “Defense of Fort M’Henry” in the year 1814 after the British could not conquer Fort McHenry and the American flag was still standing. This poem (Current U.S. National Anthem) was printed in newspapers and became very popular but it wasn’t officially used until many years later. The Navy used this poem officially in the year 1889 and called it “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

In 1916 President Woodrow Wilson wanted this Anthem to be played at all official events and in 1931 it was finally adopted as the official National Anthem of The United States of America.

War is always brutal, and it especially was in the 1800’s—Over 200 years ago… War has been going on basically since the beginning of time, but we are reaching a point in time where war is not needed anymore. We are not living in the 1800’s or the 1900’s. This is 2017! This is the future that people have been dreaming of. People in America have more rights than they have ever had, but of course there are still injustices.

There may always be conflicts but these conflicts can be solved in peaceful ways. The peaceful path is harder. War is the easy path. Just as negativity is easy and weeds grow on their own, positivity takes patience and persistent effort like creating a beautiful garden. Do you want to create beauty? Or are you okay with vile as an entirety?

One step at a time—Let us begin by changing our National Anthem to an Anthem that ALL people can celebrate.

2. The Anthem is Highly Outdated

The year is now 2017 if you forgot. Man created time in a way that it moves forward, not backwards. Change is inevitable. We live in a day and age where anyone can be who they want to be.

For example, Bruce Jenner is now Caitlyn Jenner—Things like this were not happening before the 2000s, at least from famous figures. Everyone has an opinion about all things, but have you ever thought that your opinion might be wrong?

Trump thinks all his opinions are right, which reminds me of this quote: “A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool” William Shakespeare.

Trump is a very smart business man, but he has a hard time looking forward; he wants to live in the past, like our anthem. Some people love his arrogant confidence but he should do a little more thinking in that oval office; although his “little rocket man” comment was kind of funny.

Trump would be a great leader in the 1800’s as he is trying to “Make America Great Again,” but we don’t need to make America great again. It already is great and it can get better if we continue to adapt and move forward. Wise leadership is a necessity!! Many politicians get elected due to their money, power, status and corruption, NOT their wisdom!

100 years ago Women and African Americans couldn’t vote. Most speed limits in cities were 10 mph. We were not even close to going to the moon. The computer and television were not invented. No microwaves and no sliced bread.

If we kept everything the way it has always been we would get nowhere in life. As a human species we have the great ability to think and adapt to create a better quality of life. Let us create a better life for all people, and begin by changing our National Anthem.

3. To bring the people of the World Together

Why? People are still starving to death every day. Poverty is killing children and the homeless continue to rise in numbers.

A multitude of people don’t have access to clean water and the environment is constantly being polluted. Wars have taken away fathers and sons from families and racism has divided our world, nation, states and communities.

Has any politician changed this like some of them say they will?? Some have made more of a difference than others, but for the most part one President isn’t going to solve these problems.

We can work together to create a better future, not just in America, but in the entire world. Conflicts will always exist, but we can learn to work through these conflicts in a positive way.

It begins with you, the individual, and it will spread as you carry on with your mind focused on how you can help another person, a community, a state and the world to become the best they can be.

I’m going to change JFK’s quote to: “Ask not what your World can do for you, ask what you can do for your World.”

I respect Colin Kaepernick for kneeling during the National Anthem and raising awareness for the oppression of minorities; yes there is racism in Francis Scott Key’s War Poem (the longer version of the American National Anthem) where he says “No refuge could save the hireling and slave – From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave.”

He says this because of the African Americans who fled to Britain with the promise of true freedom and many of those people ended up fighting for the British Navy during the War of 1812.

Kaepernick has caused a ripple effect that has influenced many athletes and others to join him in kneeling for what they believe in. America is supposed to be the land of the free, where people of any color can come to live their best life…

I hope these conflicts can only lead us to becoming a better country and a better World that some of us can truly see in our mind’s eye.

I do appreciate the pride America’s National Anthem has, but it has caused some division instead of bringing us together as a whole. We can appreciate our country and still want to change the anthem. You don’t need to be for America and against the World. You CAN be for America and for the World.

“If not us, then who?

If not now, then when?”

-John Lewis

P.S. Let’s change the Pledge of Allegiance too.

I encourage you to open your mind; to think outside of yourself for a bit. Put yourself in the shoes of a minority or anyone else, and try to really see things from their point of view.

Let go of your fears.

Peace

It’s okay to feel bad