Out of the Dark

You must have been in great pain and sadness to want to go away.

And not be able to tell those you love who would have convinced you to stay.

Life is never easy,

Life is never fair.

Live one day at a time,

Because your future is there.

The beauty is in not knowing what tomorrow has in store.

Be patient with yourself and the world will treat you better than before. 🙂

Each time you look in the mirror think of me, the ‘Hatter’ and then say REALLY loud …”I Matter!!”.

Kick those self defeating thoughts right out of the park! Soon I just know you will be out of the dark.

~mh 💕😊

Monday Motivation – The World Needs YOU!

None of us asked to be born into the circumstances we came into this world BUT we are here and we ALL have the responsibility to spread compassion and peace in order to move forward from the history that plaques us if we want to create a better future for those who will be born after us. Each person can do their part independent of each other.

While corporatations are able to afford to donate millions to affect change, it does not take a penny to show compassion.

It does not matter what anyone else is doing to affect change….what are YOU doing?

Kindness, respect and understanding can spread like wildflowers. Try it!!

Uber stepped up! Your turn! 💕😊

“As a company, we believe that everyone has the right to move freely, no matter where they live or the color of their skin. We’re proud of how Uber has helped improve transportation equity over the last decade. But the reality remains that Black Americans often don’t feel safe to move freely in many places around our country. And they still face enormous barriers that others do not.

This is a reality we should not perpetuate or accept. We must do better.

We know there is no easy solution to the problems we have faced for centuries. We also know that we need to devote our time, energy and resources toward making a difference. That’s why we’re making a number of commitments that we will uphold not just this week, but for years to come:
We are committed to driving lasting change through criminal justice reform.

On Sunday, we announced a $1 million donation to the Equal Justice Initiative and Center for Policing Equity to support their important work in making racial justice in America more than just a promise.

We are committed to creating a community that treats everyone equally and with dignity. We do not tolerate discrimination, harrassment or racism on our platform, as outlined in our Community Guidelines. We will hold everyone who uses Uber accountable to these standards of basic respect and human decency. I respectfully ask anyone not willing to abide by these rules to delete Uber.
We are committed to supporting the Black community.

As a starting point, we will use Uber Eats to promote Black-owned restaurants while making it easier for you to support them, with no delivery fees for the remainder of the year. And in the coming weeks, we will offer discounted rides to Black-owned small businesses, who have been hit hard by COVID-19, to help in their recovery.

We are committed to making Uber a diverse and inclusive place for people of color to work and thrive. While we have more work to do, we have tied our senior executives’ pay to measurable progress on our diversity goals, and will continue to publish data on our workforce so the public can hold us accountable. We’re also committed to expanding opportunities for drivers and delivery people, including through education opportunities and skills training.

We know this isn’t enough. It won’t be enough until we see true racial justice. But we plan to work day in and day out to improve, learn, and grow as a company.

Lastly, let me speak clearly and unequivocally: Black Lives Matter.”

Dara Khosrowshahi
CEO

Monday Motivation – STAND in UNITY


I cry for George Floyd.

I cry for his family.

I cry for all who mourn his loss.

I cry for all police officers; good and bad.

I cry for peace.

I cry for compassion.

I cry for empathy.

I cry for justice.

I cry for those who understand.

I cry for those who say they understand but need more education.

I cry for rain to wash away the pain and sadness.

I cry for healing.

I cry for you.

I cry for me.

I cry for the Nation.

STAND in UNITY for George Floyd.

His life and his death DEMAND it.

~mh 💕

Monday Motivation Success – Time for a Cool Change

One does not have to own a sports team, be the CEO of a huge company, own a mansion or an expensive car, have a college degree, be married or have children to be considered successful. Success comes in all shapes and sizes.

Success can be:

Getting through an entire day without having a panic attack,

Taking a bath or shower instead of staying in pajamas all day,

Making the bed for the first time in a while after getting up for the day,

Laughing at something that brings us joy even in the midst of feeling like life has no meaning,

Managing the little money that one makes to ensure there’s food on the table and a place to call ‘home’, OR

Looking at our situation from a new perspective.

Success can be anything we define it to be….big or small.

Think about success stories throughout the day and when it’s time to lay down to rest, reflect on all of them and be proud. Be very proud as tomorrow will bring with it new challenges and new successes. Each day independent of any other.

Every day IS a new day!

We live in a society that promotes competition and it is easy to have feelings of inadequacy and become unhappy when seeing people around us we view as leading a successful life.

Remember:

I need to define success for ME and me only.

Success should not be measured by how much we have or don’t have. It should be measured by our achievements and what we do with them.

Ready for a change?

How about a ‘Cool Change’? Music motivates and heals!

~MH 💕

Monday Motivation – Start where you are

May is Mental Health Month.

Take a mental health day if needed and treat yourself to self care. Focus on you.

We cannot change the past but we can have a huge impact on our present and future. Whether we take it day to day or hour to hour that’s OK. We have to start where we are every day, every moment and begin again.

Addiction did not occur in one day and neither will recovery. Become the expert in what you are going through while practicing self-care along the way.

The best relapse prevention lies in viewing recovery as a journey and not a means to an end.

Every day is a new day!

~MH

Brain and Imaging

Neuroimaging. This is EXACTLY what we need …not more medication. While taking a class in school on brain and imaging I was wondering if this would ever become part of diagnosing in my lifetime. I certainly hope it does….and not just for assisting with suicide prevention but with ALL mental health patients. Hopefully with technology everyone can have a brain scan at some point because we would be amazed at what we find. Medication is altering our brain chemistry so why don’t we look at the brain chemistry FIRST before we attempt to do any changes.

https://mailchi.mp/afsp/research-connection-2020-april?e=929b7cf474

Monday Motivation – Make Peace with the Past

Our relationship to the past is correlated to the paths we take in the present and affects decisions made for the future.

“Make peace with the past”, “come to terms” and “resolve the past” are all good ideas and easier said than done. What do these even mean?

We can’t alter the past. We can’t erase the past unless somehow we develop amnesia. Hmmm…. This is probably not a good plan. This would erase the bad AND the good. We truly need both in order to achieve balance in our life. You’re probably thinking “what”? If everything was all bad we would never know joy. If everything was always good we would never know pain. We need to appreciate both because both have a purpose in our emotional growth. Am I saying that we need to be abused and traumatized in order to feel joy. Absolutely not!

We must NOT let trauma and abuse become so powerful that we lose sight of who we truly are and truly can be.

If we allow the monster of trauma and abuse to win, we lose the chance of finding happiness.

If we remain stuck focusing on all the bad that has happened to us, where is the openness to experience joy?

We must open that door, as much as we don’t want to, and allow joy to enter.

How do we open this ‘door’?

We change the way we think about the past and create a new relationship to all of the things that have happened to us including those events that are continuing to hurt us in the present which will most assuredly impact our future.

Our brain will adapt to this new way of thinking and as time goes by we will create new neural pathways in the brain healing the wounds of the past.

I can tell you that of all of the challenges, trauma and negativity that has occurred in my life I would not be the person I am today without those experiences.

I think about all of the people that I’ve met and never would have met had it not been for some really troubled times. When I needed someone to listen, I found amazing people who listened.

I have learned to not blame myself for things that happened in the past because we only know what we know in each moment and each moment thereafter a wiser man is born.

Everything that happens to us negatively is not necessarily under our control. Life happens. It is not always pleasant.

Do I wish I had made better decisions? Yes! We can always wish a lot of things in retrospect. Remember the old saying? “Hindsight is 2020.” What we need to tell ourselves is not only do we wish we had made better decisions but from this day forward we WILL make better decisions!

We must create change with our thinking patterns in order to make change with our behavior patterns. It is doable and most importantly it is a must!! There is a better world out there once we open the mind and seek change.

When we engage in change…..change occurs.

Engage. Don’t wait. Start TODAY!

~MH 💕😊

Seniors 2020 – Don’t Despair

Seniors 2020 ….. don’t let the challenges of the year keep you from accomplishing your dreams!

I will honestly say that I did not attend my high school graduation. I did not go to my undergrad graduation either. My masters was important and I did attend that ceremony.  I am still setting and reaching goals and that is far more important to me than anything else that has occurred or hasn’t occurred in my life.

We can sit and ponder what could’ve been or we can stand tall and reach towards our potential. 

Life rarely turns out the way we planned but that should not keep us from the journey ahead.

💕😊
~MH

Perspective

I don’t want anyone to miss the message of this post. I am 100% compassionate and tearful when seeing anyone lose their life due to the corona virus or any virus. It’s nice to see those who are recovering back to full health.

I would like people to put this crisis into perspective.

Those who succumb to this virus suffer for days or weeks prior to their death. It is horrible. I would not wish it upon anyone.

The government is now spending millions of dollars in research to find a cure/treatment and vaccine. We are applauding people surviving and recovering from this illness. People are willingly coming out and saying they are positive and that they are suffering and they’re talking about their symptoms openly. They don’t want anyone else to suffer as they did.  Videos are being created to show the world a timeline of someone’s illness. Social media is consumed.

Why can’t we do the same with depression, anxiety and those who die by suicide?

My wish is that we could spend as much time, as we have been lately immersed in listening and talking about the coronavirus, in talking and speaking about what leads up to suicide because I can tell you it’s way more suffering then just days and weeks. It’s months and years and most often a lifetime.

I am in no way comparing the two as apples to apples. I realize the differences. I want people to see how we’re responding to this illness and ask the question: why can’t we respond the same way to other illnesses with regard to the brain?….because we truly don’t. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Most people know that my passion lies in the area of mental wellness.


Let’s come out of this current crisis with a new perspective on how important mental wellness is to physical wellness and vice versa.

We talk openly about our physical symptoms daily. Let’s begin talking about mental symptoms and keep the conversation going.


~MH 💕😊