 Disclaimer: I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Associate with a Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy. I am not a Psychiatrist or medical doctor. Medication is something Americans tend to be incredibly comfortable with. According to a study by the CDC from 2011-2014: 1 in 9 Americans take antidepressants compared with 1 in 50 three decades prior. In many ways, this is a necessary treatment. What seems to be an issue is the way it can be handed out. For example, if I break my foot there is a protocol I would follow. I would see a doctor, maybe have surgery, take some medication to manage the pain, take some time off work depending on the severity, and track the progress until I can make changes. I would not be on crutches forever and I would not be taking pain pills forever. I use those things for that season where my foot is broken. In other cases, I might be dependent on medication for life. We know these things about physical issues but when it comes to mental health, we have a different view. If I break my foot, I will probably see a doctor that specializes in this area. I probably would not be comfortable with my general practitioner performing a complicated surgery on my heart or brain. However, we will take psychotropic medication from someone that does not specialize in that field. And it can help, right? That is why we do it. We feel better after we take it so we do not really see an issue. The physical equivalent here would be hobbling around on a broken foot and taking pain pills to get us through without treating the source of the pain-the break. There are many reasons why this is important, but let me highlight one of them. When it comes to depression and suicidal thoughts, sometimes people are too depressed to make a suicide attempt. With the little energy they have, it sounds like too much work. While this keeps them alive, it is not how someone would want to live either. Here is where a big difference can come in: If this person were to go to a psychiatrist, they may be given anti-depressants that they take for a week and then return. When they return they have an opportunity to explain if their suicidal thoughts have become worse or more accessible. If they receive the same medication from their general practitioner that asks them to return in a month or three it may be too late. While this may seem extreme, depression can literally be a life or death situation and it needs to be addressed by people who know the spectrum of potential outcomes. There are many things in the area of mental health, like with physical health, that may require lifelong medication. However, there are other things we face in life that can be overcome in therapy. There is a difference between shoving down the emotions we have and addressing the root cause of these emotions. If you are not crying anymore but you are not happy anymore either, you may have dealt with your pain or grief in a way that left its own damage. Here are some tips to change the way you deal with your medication:
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 Do you ever feel overwhelmingly busy? Do you ever feel guilty saying no despite already being busy? Something occurred to me recently-we talk about being busy like it’s a badge of honor. The expectation seems to be “If you are not busy, you must not have value as a person.” There are seasons of life where it really is inescapable. In some cases, being busy just comes down to having poor boundaries. It can come from an inability to say no and make time for your priorities. We think having time on our hands is some indication of lack in our lives. I’ve noticed more people being involved in various community roles, being more serious about their diet and physical fitness, advocating in their passions, seeing family, seeing the world, and bowing down to a zeitgeist that says if you do not do all these things you are a miserable person. Consider these conversations about being busy. Busy with “working all the time”, “taking the kids to their (XYZ)”, “hanging out with (unimportant relationship)”. Riveting, right? There are very real solutions to these things. If possible, say “no”. If your job overworks you and they will not let you spend appropriate time elsewhere, decide if that particular job is more important than relationships. If you sign up your kids for too many activities, realize the consequences of that. Believe it or not, recent scientific literature suggests kids having time to be bored can be healthy for them emotionally. When it comes to relationships, I think there is a balance. Sometimes you spend time with challenging relationships because that person is struggling. Where I think it is unhealthy is if you genuinely dislike who you are spending time with and spend time without them complaining about them. When we take on a manageable load, we produce at a much higher rate. However, when you take on too much, all areas of life can be impacted. You may not be able to put in the energy at work and miss details or run behind on projects. If you volunteer, you might not have enough left in the tank to really meet the population you are trying to serve where they are at. Relationships tend to be put on the backburner because you are exhausted from everything else you are trying to accomplish. Social media really just throws fuel on this fire of social comparison. While I’m writing this post, the first three posts on my Facebook feed are about one person being an amazing parent, someone else is in Niagara Falls, and the next is traveling out of town for a speaking engagement. Meanwhile, I’m sitting on my couch while my wife is watching TV. By comparison, it can be easy to feel less than. If I’m honest though, this is one of my favorite days of the week. I don’t want to be doing these things others are doing. It took some effort to structure my life in a way that creates boundaries so I do not feel overrun with being busy. I still struggle with this as well. There are times when I am talking with someone and it is easy to feel like I am missing out. There are other times when I talk to people that are incredibly effective, have really healthy relationships, and are totally comfortable delegating tasks or turning down invitations. They, to me, seem to be the most relaxed people I know. What I want to make clear is there is a balance. We all have many things that are important to us and some things we cannot take off our plate. If we are intentional and mindful with what we do accept, those things will be more fulfilling. Here are some ideas with how to deny the culture of busyness. Action Steps:
 Since 2005, depression rates among adults in the US have nearly doubled. Since 1999, suicide rates have risen by 24%. While rates vary among ethnicities and ages, the rise is the same. Reasons vary among researchers as to why this is happening, but a common factor is unsatisfactory income. However, if you make minimum wage in America and work full-time, you are richer than 92% of the world. With that income, why are we so depressed?
Now before you stop reading, this is not a political post. It just begs the question: If we have our freedom, high wages relative to the rest of the world, and a culture that puts our individual happiness above all else, why are people so unhappy they are choosing to end their lives? In Stumbling Upon Happiness, Dan Gilbert states happiness increases very little after you make $50,000 annually. Obviously there are benefits to earning more, but it does not impact happiness because we expect too much of what it will bring us. Considering celebrities are not immune to suicide-this makes sense. However, there is a way that money can bring happiness: giving it away to benefit others. We do not have to have money to experience this though. We can also give away time. People who volunteer tend to find themselves happier than those who do not, they feel more connected to others with whom they share a common goal. This can result from any number of things. Working together to build a house for someone, serving food at a soup kitchen, or mentoring others are some examples. I wonder about this connection piece though. Are we not more connected now than ever before? We have social media! I can always see what people are cooking or feeling or buying, what more do I need? “Social media” may be a misnomer though. Have you ever had a real moment of connection via social media? There is a difference between texting and sending memes to someone and taking the time to connect with them face to face. The more we learn about social media, the more information we have about the negative effects. There is actually a connection between how many social apps people use and how high they rate symptoms of depression. There is also a connection between depression and people having more friends on social media. This does not necessarily mean social media is the culprit, but it does seem to be related. If people are more tied to social media are they still investing in relationships in-person? This may be a determining factor. I wonder if we have placed too much emphasis on individual happiness to the degree that we will not put up with things that bring real happiness, that can bring us pure joy. Relationships, whether it be with friends, family members, or romantic partners, will occasionally cause us to be uncomfortable. They impede on our momentary happiness. If we are willing to work through this conflict it can make our relationship more meaningful. This does not mean we will see eye to eye on everything, but we could be able to respect differences of opinion. Not being able to be comfortable with these differences is actually a sign of boundaries that may need to be restructured. There is a family therapist that would call this enmeshment. Meaning our boundaries are so unhealthy, we are uncomfortable with others disagreeing with us. If we are able to have these more clear boundaries, we can be friends with people we disagree with. Does having a social support system really make a difference though? Let’s look at veterans to understand the need for deeper social support. The military spends so many weeks in basic training together. They get reprimanded together, eat together, sleep in close quarters, and support each other to overcome the mental barriers to their physical challenges. They spend an incredible amount of time in community. Did you know 50% of them come back with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder? This is something people obtain when they suffer traumatic events. It is easy to assume that this is due to war, but something does not add up. Only 10% of those veterans actually experience live warfare. Sebastian Junger suggests that the remaining 40% is traumatized by something else: our lonely society. Maybe veterans are hit so hard when they come home because they know what it is like to experience being in a unit and supported by people and experience the society that makes people who have never had an experience like that depressed. People are lonely. Not just some people, but nearly half of the population reports feeling alone despite the ease of connection we have with 21st century technology. We need people with us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We need people to walk alongside us when things are hard. Life is filled with challenges. Having people you can be real with when you are struggling can make things much more bearable. Maybe this post does not really relate to you directly. If anything, I hope it creates some awareness towards those in your life that may be overcome with loneliness. If you think you could stand to increase your social support, here are some practical ideas:
 Dr. Eggerichs, the author of Love & Respect, has a doctorate in Child and Family Ecology, was a lead pastor, provided pastoral counseling, and is the President of Love and Respect Ministries. His technique primarily focuses on improving communication skills. He essentially takes the stance most marriages can be improved if the wives respect their husbands more and husbands loved their wives better. He presents it in a “one-size fits all” approach.
 This musical production is fantastic! If you haven't seen it, you should, ASAP!
After watching for the hundredth time, I started to look past the inspiring lyrics, the fabulous costumes, the great choreography into what the storyline and characters are truly about. That is what this post is really about: when you are not distracted by the lights and dynamic scenes, there are some great lessons that we can use to help our kids, teens, and ourselves understand some important life lessons. 1. Diversity This story creates beauty out of many different types of people. Our society is often caught up in their appearances and judge others based on clothes, accessories, or money, without thinking about the person behind the looks. It is easy to be distracted by the outside layer and difficult to not make snap judgements about someone but we miss out on so much when we allow our own prejudices to take over. The Greatest Showman shows how one person being willing to accept those who look different created a family that is able to love and support each other in way their biological families did not. To be an example to others, we have to start by checking our own prejudices and truly consider how we perceive and act around people everyday. 2. Dare to dream Too often it is easy to tell ourselves, and others, that dreams are not possible. We are quick to list all the reasons a dream would be too hard to achieve or list all the obstacles. What would happen if we allowed ourselves the room to truly explore dreams? The Greatest Showman tells a story about a man who went from being broke to making more than enough. It takes hard work, making a plan, and setting goals but it is not impossible to ever achieve creating something out of nothing. We should encourage dreaming big, help others achieve their dreams or give ourselves room to achieve our own dreams. Achieving a dream means nothing if the startup and success goes unsupported or unappreciated by others. Let’s begin to help those in our lives set goals and create the plan that can lead them to seeing that dream actualized. 3. Facing adversity together We have all had those days; those days when it feels like the whole world is against us, when we feel tired, overworked, and unappreciated. Life is is a constant state of change and it is easy to become overly connected to everything that is happening in the world around us. The Greatest Showman created a world where a group of diverse people are not accepted and become ignored by the one person that brought them together. What gets them through their struggle to gain acceptance of themselves and their world, is the support they gain from each other. Sharing the burden by showing up and never wavering, never judging is a way to show our support to anyone who is facing adversity in our world. Now, I know that not everyone has been obsessed with The Greatest Showman the way some of us have been, but we cannot deny that there are lessons that can be shared with our families. I think the point of this film was to share how easy it is to get too caught up in looking a certain way, lose sight of values previously held, and how tempting it is to ignore those who appear too different from ourselves. My hope is that next time you view a film, that you can look past the stage production, past the costumes, and amazing actors to the deeper area behind the characters. Obviously not every film can be taken to deeper places, but if you look for it, you may surprise yourself.  The topic of failure brings up lots of feelings. People often assume that failure is not an option, like we are all capable of choosing to fail or not to fail. Being afraid to fail is a little like being afraid to step out the door in the morning; everyday comes no matter how prepared you are just like failure is inevitable no matter how prepared you are for the day ahead.This pressure to never fail is, in a way, a failure. Not just to ourselves but to those around us.
Failing has always been a struggle of mine. I used to desperately cling to being perfect and doing everything I could to ensure that I would never fail at school, at dance, in a job, in relationships. Let me tell you: it is an exhausting way of living. When I finally accepted that I am not perfect, that I will fail many times in my life, and that I do things wrong; life got a little easier. I truly believe that learning how to fail is an important life lesson. When something is inevitable, isn’t it best to learn how to handle it head on rather than hide from it? There is a way to accept failure and a way to move past that failure. Not just for ourselves but for those around us, because we not only fail ourselves but occasionally others. It seems that so few of us have learned this lesson which can make it difficult to accept failure in those around us. Let me tell you the lesson learned here is grace. Grace is the reason we are capable of accepting failure and how we can move past failure. When we remember that everyone fails and that we are made imperfectly, it is much easier to fail with grace rather than fail with a temper. This is a lesson that should be past on to our children. Learning graceful failure as a child is easier than to live our lives trying to be perfect until we run out of steam. Children are so resilient and capable of bearing more than they are given credit for. They learn from the adults in their lives what is acceptable and what is not. If a child is told over and over that failure is not an option, they learn to live in a constant state of anxiety. On the flipside, if a child is taught that they will be shown grace when failing, then they will learn to show grace to themselves and others. I pray that this philosophy of expecting and accepting failure in life will trickle down to our children and influence others in our lives. Teaching children how to fail with grace is not something that many people think about, I know I never did until I noticed how hard some kids take it when they fail. Especially with our new age philosophy of allowing every child to ‘win’ in sporting events. This idea of everyone winning only leads to disappointment in later life because we can’t all win all the time. But win children are given the opportunity to fail, they are being shown that it happens. Everyone loses. Everyone fails. Everyone also recovers, moves on, and learns from their mistakes. Failure is always an option, sometimes an inevitable option that can’t be helped. As fall approaches and schedules get loaded up with games, competitions, tests, and other activities let us remember grace. Grace in failure for ourselves, for our children, and for everyone else in our lives.  When I met my wife, most of my time away from her was spent looking forward to seeing her again. I would think of creative ideas for when we would see each other and how we would spend that time. We would get coffee and walk around the park talking, go to movies, go dancing, or go walk around the bookstore I knew would make her fall in love with me if she associated it’s greatness with me (Thanks Recycled Books in Denton, TX!)
At this time in our lives, we were in college, but the busy part. We were both taking full-time upper level courses, working in research labs, working for actual money, and volunteering at our church AND a non-profit. Somehow, we managed to fit sleeping and eating in there too.When we did have time together though, we made it count by being intentional with focusing on each other and trying new things. Most dating couples do this without much thought. Sometimes, people get married and transition to dealing with life. Some may think they have moved on from dating to being married. Could this be a damaging way to think of our marriages? Gary Chapman (author of Five Love Languages) suggests that there is about a two-year period in a relationship where people feel “in love” without doing much to keep this going. When someone is “in love” they have yet to experience much difficulty in the relationship. We are not very aware of our partners flaws, or have not found those flaws irritating (yet). Once we start to get back to real life though, we have to make an intentional effort to keep these relationships moving forward. We cannot just put our relationships on auto-pilot and expect them to fly the distance. A common reason for divorce is people drifting apart. This can happen at any stage of your relationship. There is always something else that can be made priority over your relationship. A newly married couple with no kids may put their career or friends over their spouse. Many couples struggle keeping their relationship strong after the kids are out of the home. I’ve had conversations with people who are simply aware they have put their spouse on the back burner and focused on parenting. Some couples dread retirement and having to be around their spouse more. Our culture has just given into the lie that marriage is impossible and that no one has a happy one. However, many couples DO make it and DO have fulfilling relationships. A consistent date night is a way to accomplish that. A pushback I often hear if I suggest this in therapy is that a couple doesn’t have time and/or money for date night. This is a misconception that we all can easily fall into and it can be devastating to our relationships. So let’s reconstruct how we see date night. It does NOT have to be an expensive dinner followed by an expensive activity possibly paired with baby-sitter fees. Try this instead. A date night is intentional time spent together to deepen your connection. My wife and I will usually do one date night out a month where we spend a little more money. The other three weeks consist of playing games at home, taking a walk, or going to a coffee shop. (This is without cell phones mind you, but that is a different topic for a different post.) If you are married or have been dating your partner for a few years now, there is no doubt that you’ve changed since you’re relationship began and so has your significant other. This is the case for every person on the planet, and will be until the end of time. Putting in the effort to know this changing person before you can create a relationship far beyond what the culture puts out there. Action Steps
Michael Fowler, LMFT
 When I was a kid, I really wanted to play professional basketball. That was my goal until I was in high school and Lebron went straight to the NBA. At that point, it occured to me, I was hopeless. He was just a few years older than me and I was nowhere near that level. Up until that point though, I played all the time. I started out watching. Next, I learned how to shoot and dribble. I picked up on some of the rules by playing NBA ‘95. I learned much more once I joined a team though. I learned more rules. I learned plays. I learned how to work with different players with different skills. I even played select for some time. My grandparents doled out extra cash to give me more tools to achieve my dreams of being in the NBA.
This way of learning is not unique to basketball though, right? There is a learning process to everything. You might shadow someone when you start a new job. If you want to learn a new instrument you might receive lessons or at least spend time with others that play as you try to figure things out. If we work so hard to learn how to play a sport, learn a new skill, or learn an instrument; why wouldn't we apply this concept to marriage? Premarital education significantly reduces the chances of divorce. So much so that the state of Texas offers an incentive program called Twogether in Texas for engaged couples in order to be better prepared for marriage.. This is a great thing! It offers couples a chance to talk about subjects they might not have covered yet, gives them some worksheets that can be used over time, and just helps build a foundation. I think we could take it further though. I think about how much I read about counseling before I actually met with a client face-to-face. Theory without application only goes so deep. It is one of those scenarios where you don’t know what you don’t know. Why don’t we apply the same logic of mentoring to relationships? Marriage mentorship can have a huge impact on a relationship. Everyone’s relationship will vary, but everyone WILL face challenges as a married couple. Marriage mentors can help you work through these issues to some degree, provide encouragement and perspective, and be a third party to help you work through something you are not seeing eye to eye on. Sometimes having someone to just talk to that cares about your marriage and is not just taking sides can give some good clarity on issues blinded by emotions. Maybe you are in a dating relationship, are about to get married, are newly married, or have been married and still know you could benefit from that sort of thing. Often times, people will not just offer a marriage mentorship but would love to help! I had a mentor like this when my wife and I were about to get married who very plainly said something to the effect of, “You and Shelbie should come over for dinner. You don’t have a clue how to manage money. Let me teach you some things.” It was a huge benefit to our young relationship, but he is the only person to be that forward. You could start this process by having a heart to heart with your spouse. Think about the older couples you know in your lives. Whose relationship would you like to have 20 years down the road? Who do you see treat their spouse in a way you have never seen? Invite them to have coffee or dinner and ask them if they would mind sitting down with you and your significant other once a month or so to talk about your relationship. Maybe you are an older couple. Hear this: YOU are desperately needed by the younger generation. You have wisdom to offer. Talk with your spouse about finding a younger couple to mentor. Seek them out. There will likely be times you offer and are turned down. That is okay. When you offer and a couple accepts, it will make the process that much easier because they are likely to be in a state of mind where they realize they need some help. That couple will be much more coachable than one that thinks they have it all figured out and marriage is no different than dating. The view on marriage in America has gone through some up’s and down’s. There are many in my generation that view marriage as the problem, coming from their family of origin that perhaps has been broken in some way. Many couples will cohabitate rather than wed because once it is official, it has the potential to go bad. I have a different view. Relationships are hard. If you could have “broken up” with your parents or siblings and not had to work on the relationship, many would have. Some have. Maybe instead of avoiding marriage, we need new ways to build strong relationships. We are in a revolutionary age where science backs up multiple ways to do this, but all of them take intention. This is the reason why those of us that can, should be willing to step up and be encouraging mentors to those that are growing up behind us and those who know they need mentoring should seek it out. Michael Fowler, LMFT
 In the past few years, I’ve seen the term “self-care” floating around on social media. It’s usually attached to a meme about quitting your job or eating pizza or ‘Netflix and chill’. I really hope those memes are exaggerations and just jokes but I want to answer the question: What is self-care?
You could liken self-care to basic maintenance or upkeep. Let’s consider our cars. Hopefully, you take steps to keep your car running well by getting oil changes, putting gas in, and changing filters or parts as needed. We need to take care of these things so that they can serve their function. Do we show ourselves that same courtesy? Sure some of us get to take vacations every now and then, but do you take time in between vacations in order to keep everything running smoothly in your life? Self-care is intentional time taken to keep yourself mentally, physically, and emotionally healthy in order to be able to strive towards your full potential. It should be a time where you feel refreshed afterwards-revitalized-ready to face the next thing in life, whatever it may be. You need to take an honest assessment of your “hobbies” and determine if you need to branch out. If your ‘hobby’ is Netflix or video games, and you feel deflated/gloomy afterwards, you may need to find something that gives you a sense of accomplishment. This looks differently for everyone. I tend to cycle between gaming, reading, and working out. My wife likes to read, get her nails done, do yoga, or deep clean our apartment. All of these things are helpful to us depending on the season we’re in or the time we have available to dedicate to our self-care. After reading the definition of self-care, most of you probably fall into one of two categories: You are either confident you have destressing hobbies and take part in self-care regularly or you feel like you are too busy to have the luxury of self-care. If you fall into the latter, you might be thinking you don’t have time for self-care or that self-care sounds selfish Consider the car analogy: our cars are in need of routine care otherwise things can go bad very quickly. We could end up broke down on the side of the road without a way to get to our next destination. People are a lot like a car: we need routine self-care in order to avoid having breakdowns and getting stuck in a bad place. When we neglect relationships, jobs, school work, health, kids, things go can go wrong. Our relationships deteriorate, we get fired, fail, get sick, miss out on fun; we simply lose out on life. These are reasons why self-care is not synonymous with selfish. We all need to find a way to balance the many tasks in life that can break us down if we neglect our own personal cares. I wholeheartedly believe you are busy. I also believe that if you take time to take care of yourself you will be better equipped to take care of your responsibilities. Self-care doesn’t have to be a week vacation or an entire day; it just needs to be revitalizing so you can continue to carry on down the road, no matter how rocky it may get. Here’s 3 steps to help you move forward with your self-care:
Shelbie Fowler, M.S.
 When given the choice between being right and being kind, choose kind.- Dr. Wayne W. Dyer Before the holidays began this year, a new movie called Wonder premiered based on a book of the same title written by R.J. Palacio. This is a story about a middle-school boy named Auggie who has a facial deformity and struggles to learn to trust new friends as he begins his journey in a public school setting. He is bullied, shamed, and loses a bit of his child-like trust on this journey. More importantly though, Wonder reveals through several narrators how one act of kindness by one person can make ripples throughout an entire student population. This story really left me wondering about the way I treated my peers growing up and even now. I have asked myself have I chosen kind over being right? The answer is: not always. R.J. Palacio wrote this story after her own child had an encounter with a girl with a facial deformity and her response was to remove her crying toddler and leave. Since that moment, she has felt guilty and angry about her actions. Why? Because she missed out on an opportunity to show her child how to react in kindness. She missed out on a moment to teach her child that just because someone looks different from us, our first response should never be to run away, even though that is often easier. We should choose kindness even in uncomfortable moments. The interesting part about how she tells the story of Wonder is that it is based on the children’s perspectives. The adults are shown through the eyes of their children which helps us understand a little more about what is being modeled in their homes. The bully in this story is shown with his parents one time and that one moment is enough insight for us to see that he has only be told that he is never good enough. We see how a friend’s home life is nothing but a mother who drinks and is never there to support her. This friend ends up lying all the time and distancing herself from what she sees as a ‘perfect family’. These are teaching moments for how quick we are to judge others, to be right, to justify our actions but we are often slow to choose kindness. Wonder does an excellent job of setting up how our negative reactions can bring another person down. As Auggie (main character) struggles to cope with overtly negative interactions, he becomes distant, sad, and disinterested in things he enjoys. The thing that begins to positively change him slowly is when one person makes a choice to sit with him at lunch. That’s it. One person showed up and started a ripple effect. I know it may seem like a fantastical set up, that only one person can have an impact, but according to relationship experts, multiple positive interactions with one person can actually make up for negative interactions. The magical ratio for positive to negative interactions is 5:1 and was originally developed by John Gottman. This ratio means that for every 1 negative interaction, it takes 5 positive interactions to overcome that 1 negative moment. How powerful is it that to overcome one negative comment we need five positive comments to feel better? Our human nature calls for us to need positive interactions on an emotional, physical, and spiritual level in order to thrive. Otherwise we simply struggle to cope as Auggie does in Wonder. I have no doubt that we can all remember a person who has hurt us and never made up for it in some way, those memories are more prominent because we need positivity to continue on. One moment of kindness changes everything within us. Our children and teenagers are especially primed to be shown how to be kind, what steps it takes to stand up to for themselves or for others, and the majority want to do what is kind but maybe intimidated. There are some simple steps we can all take to make the world a little more kind. One step Wonder talks about is using ‘precepts’ (which are words to live by) they’re kind of like life quotes that reflect a person's values. I think the easiest step to take in making a decision to be kind is to choose our own precept and then encourage teens to find theirs. R.J. Palacio even wrote a companion book to Wonder all about precepts because she believes it is important enough for everyone to understand how our thoughts speak into our words and our words are turned into actions. A second step is simply to model what it looks like to be kind to others. Adults can use uncomfortable moments to act in a kind manner to those who may look different or act differently from themselves. We can do this by starting a conversation, by offering a helping hand, by simply not staring or running away. These acts are simple by definition but can cause major ripples when acted upon. One more thing we can do to choose kind is to be sure that we are speaking kindly of all those in our lives. Words are powerful things that are used to tear people down to nothing or that are used to build people up to their fullest potential. When we actively choose to use kind words on a daily basis, our perceptions can begin to shift to become more positive which leads to more positive interactions. I hope that we all can work on creating those five positive interactions with the people in our lives in order to help them overcome any negative interactions they may have had. It only takes one person creating one interaction to change another person’s life for the better. Let us be the ones to create a more kind world. |
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