When to Change Your Friends

November 19th, 2008

Reading Level: Leisurely

A reader asked what to do about harmful friends?

The question itself is almost an oxymoron-opposite terms. You usually do not think of calling someone a “friend” who is harmful to you. However, depending on one’s personality, some people tend to repeatedly choose relationships with people who are harmful to them-emotionally or physically. Other times, it may simply be an idiosyncrasy in the friend’s personality that needs to be discussed.
Let’s take a look at how to determine if the relationship is harmful, why you chose the relationship, and when to change friends.

A few simple questions can help you determine if the friendship is healthy for you or not.

Answer each of the following questions either (1) most of the time, (2) about half the time, or (3) rarely.

1. Does the relationship with your friend lessen your self-esteem?

2. Does the relationship hinder you from achieving short and/or long term goals?

3. Does the relationship create various stress-related physical health problems, such as headaches, stomachaches, nervousness, or lack of sleep?

4. Does the relationship cause emotional health issues, such as fear, worry, or intimidation?

If your answers were in the 1 or 2 range, the friendship is showing signs of harmful behavior which is negatively affecting the well-being of your life in significant amounts.

If the friendship is affecting your life mainly in negative ways, ask yourself why you became involved in that relationship.

If you repeatedly choose to be in relationships with people who are not good for you and your life, you need to ask yourself why? Immerse Yourself in the Full Healing Contemplation Here »

Share This
[Bloglines] [del.icio.us] [Digg] [Facebook] [Faves] [Furl] [Google] [MySpace] [Reddit] [Shoutwire] [Sphere] [Technorati] [Windows Live] [Yahoo!] [Email] More »
<b>Print This</b> Print This
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted in Reader's Questions | 2 Comments »

From Loneliness to Joy

October 10th, 2008

Reading Level: Leisurely

Loneliness is something most people face at a variety of times throughout life.

I came across a free download for 148 pp. e-book on dealing with loneliness. It is written by internationally known public speaker and author, Josh McDowell. Though the book is aimed at college age youth, the general concepts should be applicable to overcoming loneliness no matter the age at which you are experiencing it.

Here is a brief description of the Free E-book, Friend of the Lonely Heart.

You can overcome loneliness and rejection. This book provides you with practical proven advice that will enable you to break the loneliness cycle and put real meaning into your life. Friend of the Lonely Heart can help you - Uncover the reasons you feel lonely; Find a new sense of direction and real meaning in your life; Learn to turn your lonely feelings into feelings of joy and happiness.

Here are 3 separate excerpts from the E-Book which is in .pdf format. The download link is at the end of the post: Immerse Yourself in the Full Healing Contemplation Here »

Share This
[Bloglines] [del.icio.us] [Digg] [Facebook] [Faves] [Furl] [Google] [MySpace] [Reddit] [Shoutwire] [Sphere] [Technorati] [Windows Live] [Yahoo!] [Email] More »
<b>Print This</b> Print This
Tags: , , , , , ,

Posted in 2 Minute Reflections | No Comments »

Responding to Abusive Relationships

June 4th, 2008

Reading Level: Gratifying

A reader recently asked, “How does God desire for us to handle abusive relationships?” I already have some other posts related to this topic such as recognizing real love and how to move forward after getting out of the situation which I will reference below.

Let’s cover now 6 specific steps important for anyone in an abusive relationship or trying to recover after one.

Forgive Yourself- Admit any mistakes you made in the situation. There are always mistakes on both sides. You may need to forgive yourself for getting into that relationship to begin with, especially, if in retrospect, you realize you ignored all the warning signs. Or, you may now see that you should have not waited so long to confront or abandon the relationship. Also, people often feel the need to forgive themselves for the valuable time that was lost while devoted to an unhealthy relationship.

Forget - Leave the past in the past. We all make decisions that we later regret. They cannot be changed, but we can keep from living under their shadow the rest of our lives. Immerse Yourself in the Full Healing Contemplation Here »

Share This
[Bloglines] [del.icio.us] [Digg] [Facebook] [Faves] [Furl] [Google] [MySpace] [Reddit] [Shoutwire] [Sphere] [Technorati] [Windows Live] [Yahoo!] [Email] More »
<b>Print This</b> Print This
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted in Personal Reflections, Reader's Questions | No Comments »

Emotional Healing Parallels Physical Healing

April 19th, 2008

Reading Level: Leisurely

Want physical health? Your emotional hurts may be as much as 85% of the root cause of your physical health problems!

There was an astounding statistic in an article on 12 Tips to Preventing Cancer from Dr. Mercola’s email newsletter which said, “Even the CDC [government's Center for Disease Prevention and Control] states that 85 percent of disease is caused by emotions. It is likely that this factor may be more important than all the other physical ones listed here…”(1) Those of us who readily acknowledge our need for emotional healing will have little difficulty listing a broad range of physical conditions that are in need of healing as well.

To see physical healing, we must come to terms with the emotional hurts of the past and present.

If you are struggling with past hurts, Immerse Yourself in the Full Healing Contemplation Here »

Share This