Tag: kindness

Empowerment Blogging

Life Won’t Sparkle Unless You Do

thevirginiahypegirl

ℕ𝕠𝕥 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖𝕤 𝕤𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕜𝕝𝕖𝕤?! I remember going to an event once and hearing a couple of the BAs I was managing laughing at something. Turns out they were making fun of my sparkly shoes, sparkly water bottle and bright printed backpack. “She looks like a rainbow…who does she think she is”, was said, like rainbows are a bad thing. In turn I’d done nothing to them except introduce myself and give event instructions.

We’ve all experienced it and I think it takes a lot of courage in today’s world to embrace being different. Most people want to fit into a certain category or a label that’s popular and few want to be someone that stands out. It is unfortunate that as a society things out of the norm are labeled as bad or, “abnormal”. Our society puts a negative label on things people aren’t use to or can’t understand. These labels dont really mean those things are actually wrong. I like to sparkle! Im different and I want to put the sparkle in life.

If society would move more towards acceptance and embracing the unique and different, imagine what a wonderful place the world could be. If society was open maybe people would stop hiding who they truly are. Being different unfortunately though can cause a person to be ridiculed or made fun of. This is unfortunate and it’s hard to learn, but self esteem and self worth should not be linked to acceptance by society.

Being different might cost friendships. However, you will find your tribe and be better off with people that can accept and support the real you. We must each do our part to promote inclusion of differences and to share who we really are. If you see something happening that you don’t agree with stand up. It is likely others want to make a stand too, but may need a leader to follow. Be a leader and don’t be afraid to stand out.

Empowerment Blogging

Hug a Caregiver

thevirginiahypegirl
Caregivers: Don’t forget to breath, take some time for yourself and ask for relief if you need it.

For my fellow caregivers I am sending lots of love and hugs! I know some days we need some extra support and encouragement. I feel your emotions and understand how it is to wear yourself thin taking care of another. Don’t forget to breath, take some time for yourself and ask for relief if you need it. Someone reminded me today that you can’t pour from an empty cup and it was a much needed reminder.

If you haven’t dealt with taking someone to the doctor since the pandemic I will tell you things changed drastically. Some facilities don’t allow anyone, but the patient back during visits and treatments. It sometimes makes for a lonely wait and can be confusing to understand what the doctor said to the patient when it’s relayed. Rules on socialization due to the pandemic have also, decreased the amount of in person support groups for caregivers and other stress outlets. In my case I deal with someone that has early onset Alzheimer’s, suffers with schizophrenia and sundowning.

It is often physically and mentally exhausting. Sundowning if you don’t know is an onset of anxiety, extra confusion and often times aggression that sets in the evenings. Often these patients get their days/nights mixed up. As a caregiver this means loosing sleeping some nights and suffering through aggressive behavior. Keeping someone that is mentally not there in your home is sometimes a task in itself.

I understand people that choose to put their relatives in facilities and I don’t fault anyone for it. This has been my choice and I take full responsibility for it without complaint. I love my life and I wouldn’t trade it for anyone else’s. Being transparent though I’m open enough to tell you I smile often but, not everyday is easy. On social media we see highlight posts and no one really knows the in between. This is not as a complaint or quest for sympathy, but as another reminder to be kind to those around you. We never know what a person is going through. Take time to ask your friends how they are doing, especially, if they are a caregiver and spread the love!

Empowerment Blogging

Page 1 of 365-Curbing Imposter Syndrome

thevirginiahypegirl
do it for yourself
Don’t be silent about your feelings, remember you and your thoughts are valid and important!

Welcome to the new year! A fresh page, number 1 of the 365 that will make up 2022. Many people have been posting their new year’s resolutions and some will have broken them within a day of posting them. I personally stopped making resolutions years ago and instead focus on the goals I wanted to achieve in the coming year and reassessing my long term goals.

Since I can remember imposer syndrome has given me a fear of failure and made me think I needed to be superwoman to be defined as successful. If you do not know what imposter syndrome is, basically it’s an internal battle of not believing one is as competent as other people perceive.

What is imposter syndrome?

My own thoughts will make me believe I am not worthy of the compliments or praise I get from interactions with others or my job. Imposter Syndrome has made me disregard or dissect most praise I received in life. It gives me guilt about being seen as successful. To combat these feeling I had to write a new script for my mind’s responses and separate my internal feelings from fact. It took me a long time of learning to practice self-love and self-acceptance to not have these feelings daily.

Finding a Way to Cope with Imposter Syndrome

Some people see hanging up diplomas or having a trophy case for example as pretentious, but seeing my accomplishments daily verifies my success in what I choose to accomplish. Visual reminders of my personal success help me to chase away the feelings of not being good enough/imposter syndrome. Everyone has to find out what works for them personally to help them feel comfortable in their own skin.

Please do not allow yourself or other people to make you feel like you don’t matter. Do not be silent about your feelings, remember you and your thoughts are valid and important. Imposter Syndrome like anything can be overcome. Do not ever feel like you’re alone in your journey! There are many free resources that are only an internet search away my friends.

In this new year invest in yourself and do things that make you feel good about yourself. Take away: We all are dealing with something in our lives no matter how perfect things look from the outside. Imposter Syndrome is real, but it doesn’t mean I couldn’t find ways to work through it. I’m not too proud to pretend my life is perfect. Thoughts are not facts and this year I will strive to give myself more grace and kindness .

Empowerment Blogging

How will you use your energy in a New Year?

thevirginiahypegirl
Inner peace is everything, don’t let others steal it! Now is the time to make a commitment this new year to making boundaries to protect yours.

During the day are you using your energy to manifest positive thinking? Are you focused on being kind to others, promoting healing, growth and attracting positive things or are you using your energy to worry or be negative and in turn attracting negativity. We control our own mind and thoughts. Imagine what good could be done if we all focused our energy in a more positive way. A new year is quickly approaching and it’s a great time to evaluate how you’re using your energy.

A way to help manifest positive thoughts could be as simple as smiling at another person. Being kind isn’t exactly a new year’s resolution, but small gestures of kindness can go along way especially to someone that desperately needs it. Changing one’s mindset can be hard sometimes especially when we ourselves might be hurting too, but I always find when I’m kind to others that kindness eventually is returned to me full circle. Being kind to others even when I’m having a bad day seems to make me feel better too.

Another step towards a more positive mindset is making amends with one’s own past. This can really help to remove negativity and help to facilitate positive thinking. Why let someone that has done wrong continue to live rent free in your head? Forgiveness can be hard, but holding malice in one’s mind doesn’t effect the person that did the wrong as much as it does the person holding onto the hurt. Perhaps it is time to accept and burry these feelings for good.

Positive thinking isn’t going to be easy if all one’s thoughts and focus is on negativity and downing yourself either. On the quest for positivity one should never compare their journey with the journey of others. Falling into any type of comparison trap can rob one of inner peace and should be avoided.

Doing things that foster good feeling and happiness like taking a walk or going for a run to clear one’s mind can be beneficial for example. Taking care of your physical self and your body will effect the mind too. Staying away from other people that are negative or behaving in a manner that makes you uncomfortable is another way to make sure you keep up positive thinking. Inner peace is everything, don’t let others steal it! Now is the time to make a commitment this new year to making boundaries to protect yours.

Empowerment Blogging

Don’t Let Your Inner Grinch Steal Christmas

thevirginiahypegirl

Who is the Grinch?

Most have seen the holiday classic of How the Grinch Stole Christmas or heard the holiday song about him. As a child I found the movie to be funny and simply amusing, but as an adult this classic childhood favorite actually provokes more thought. If you haven’t seen the original cartoon or movie remakes I’ll give a brief synopsis. The Grinch, is a foul, green character created by the author Dr. Seuss and first mentioned in a 1957 poem The Hoobub and the Grinch. He is a hermit that lives alone high above the town of Whoville on Mt. Crumpet with his loyal dog Max.

Seeing Whoville celebrate Christmastime is especially aggravating for the Grinch. The Grinch finally takes action when the Whos decide to make their Christmas celebration even bigger. He concocts a scheme to pose as Santa Clause and literally steal Christmas from the Whos. Yet despite having their material Christmas items taken from them the Grinch finds he can’t take away their Christmas spirit. With the help of of young Who, the Grinch has a change of heart and rediscovers happiness, love in the season and his Christmas spirit.

Is the Grinch relatable?

Perhaps we all have a little bit of an inner Grinch in us and if we aren’t careful it can steal Christmas!

Aside from the green getup and the fictional town with traditional Dr. Seuss rhymes it is a very thought provoking storyline. The term Grinch is used often still in fact to describe people that don’t want to celebrate or participate with a group (especially during the holiday season). We’ve all encountered that grumpy person that seems to despise everyone and everything around them.

In the story the Grinch had a difficult childhood and was hurt by others. As an adult I think many of us can relate to the Grinch. So many of us have memories that come rushing back during the holiday season. Not everyone had a Norman Rockwell Christmas and for those that did growing up and loosing those special people may also, make the holidays an emotional time.

Tips to Suppress Your Inner Grinch and Save Your Christmas Spirit

During this season of love and light many feel a need to hide from the holiday season or to be reclusive despising other people being happy and celebratory. Learning to recognize the incoming emotional overload, setting boundaries and dialing things back is so important to prevent a holiday melt down. With Christmas festivities, the impending new year and all the pressures abound I encourage you to set aside time to allow yourself to breath.

Don’t be afraid to take in the quiet moments or to literally unplug and be still. The world won’t come to an end if you go off social media for awhile, turn off the Netflix or skip out on a stressful holiday event. Be mindful and spend time in the moment this holiday instead of letting your own thoughts become a brick wall or the pressure from others bring out your inner Grinch. If we aren’t careful the Grinch can steal our Christmas too.