Working and listening

Although I was on half day work scheme since the beginning of the month and have only just returned to work after a 2 day medical rest, this week has been a long one. I guess age has been catching up really fast and i feel tired easily.

However, I will do my best to perk up my spirit as much as I can as I have to talk to customers everyday getting their food orders. There's been plenty to do to catch up at the workplace and company now wants us to step up the hygiene level due to the scares of H1N1 here.

On two separate evenings, neighbours have confided in me difficult situations they are currently enduring. Somehow my social skills have been better due to Marie's firm encouragement all these while. I think of my neighbors when my mind wanders and I feel so badly there is nothing I can do to help them in their respective circumstances. I can only pray very hard for them for the better times.

They really appreciate my listening, but sometimes it doesn't seem like enough. And, although I am naturally detached, their pain is on my mind.

This weekend, I have no commitments and I welcome the free time -- for two reasons. It means I can rest and it means I can check in with my neighbors to see how they are doing. Free time is wonderful, especially when it's spent well.

Thanks Marie Callas.

Remember you childhood dreams

Once upon a time we had the imagination to dream and to feel in our hearts what we really wanted to do. But something happened along the way. The necessities imposed upon us and the prejudices society taught us made us think differently.

We lost touch of the child within us, the child who knew how to dream and to believe in that dream. We need to get in touch with that child again.

Hear his voice. Pretend you’re not afraid of the many difficulties that lie ahead. Pretend you haven’t heard of what the many other adults around you say a responsible person should be doing.

Think everything is possible, as when the time you believed in magic and fairytales. Think God can grant you your heart’s desires. What do you want? What would you ask for? What have you asked for when you were once a child? Did you want to be a doctor then and heal people? Did you want to be a teacher and feed the mind of young ones with knowledge and wisdom? Did you want to be an artist and paint the world with colors? Set yourself free.

Often times, what we really wanted to do, we already knew since when we were but children when our hearts were yet pure and our minds unbridled by the many rules the world has taught us later when we grew up.

Self esteem - a choice

Self Esteem Is a Choice

You're already showing that you're willing on some level to take action toward improving your self esteem simply because you're reading this page. Allow me to congratulate you on making this decision, for recognizing that you will benefit from examining this aspect of yourself is a major step in the right direction.

How you choose to view yourself is entirely up to you. No one dictates or can force you to see yourself in any particular way. You may have influences, history or learning experiences in your past, but it takes you to subscribe to these ideas. It takes 2: one person or circumstance to try to influence you AND your participation and willingness to agree with it. Otherwise, it remains a neutral event and dies there. If you don't like your reflection, you and you alone can shift that. That's a good thing and a challenging thing.

Challenging if you don't yet believe that you have the ability to change it.

Good since you have the full capacity to see yourself in any way you want.

Take Responsibility

Hand in hand with seeing how you view yourself as a choice is taking responsibility for your actions. Assuming a victim stance is the first give away that your self esteem needs work. I love to crack at this one; people don't stay victims long when I'm around because I quickly get them to see how they've created their circumstances, so they can create others. You'll get no pity here, but you will get support and praise for becoming accountable to and for the only entity that you are responsible for....YOU.

One of the manifestations of taking responsibility is finding solutions in your life. When you recognize that something is not going the way you want it to, do something about it. Instead of staying entrenched in your problems, find solutions. Ask questions and be willing to hear answers that may be difficult to hear. Taking action toward solution finding is a sign of self efficacy and inner fortitude, which all contribute to confidence. When you take on a challenge and strive toward a resolution, your sense of self improves with each endeavor, regardless of the outcome.

Your willingness to seek answers is the most important self esteem building component here. Despite the consequences, your motivation to quest, inquire, explore and take action is essential to improving your sense of self. No one I know feels good about sticking their heads in the sand. Knowing that you were willing to look at a situation and take measures to improve and innovate is sexy.