During the process of writing my “Tips to a Happier You” series, I’ve thought about how I felt in the midst of my depression. Would I have been receptive to small, practical tips to help my depression? I can tell you the answer is no. There are just some lessons we have to learn the hard way. If I could have put some of these things into practice, I’m sure I would not have had to endure the hell I {Read More}
Tips to a Happier You in 2012~Your Handiwork
9 January, 2012 by 1 Comment
Has anyone tried Laughter Aerobics, my first tip to a happier you? (Tips to a Happier You in 2012~Laughter Aerobics) Well, here’s my next tip to a happier you: Work with your hands…“Handiwork.” I realize this really doesn’t make much sense, but it is another thing we can do that will naturally increase the serotonin in our brain. When we do repetitive, coordinating movement with our hands, the amount of serotonin in our brain will increase. The ideas are limitless–scrap {Read More}
Tips to a Happier You in 2012~Laughter Aerobics
2 January, 2012 by 9 Comments
As a pharmacist, a patient, and a child of God who’s had to be “parented” quite a lot over the last eight years, I have learned many practical solutions to insomnia, depression, anxiety, and addiction. I’ve also learned that these four issues often go hand in hand, and are directly related to the chemicals in our brain. The pharmacist in me sought a medical solution–pills. And as most of you know, pills just made things worse. Throughout this year, I’m going to share {Read More}
Narcotics~Let Me Introduce You
3 December, 2011 by Leave a Comment
A “friend of a friend” wrote this poem and was kind enough to allow me to post it, though he wishes to remain anonymous. In my last post, I commented that you cannot truly understand drug addiction until you’ve been there. No matter how or why someone ends up addicted to drugs, prescription or otherwise, they lose any thought of control in their life. As I explained in a recent post, Help…I’m in Pain!, narcotics actually change the chemistry of our {Read More}
Who’s behind your mask?
31 October, 2011 by 3 Comments
Have you ever seen the movie, Point Break, with Patrick Swayze? I’ll never forget it. Not because Patrick was in it (though that was memorable), not because of the surfing and huge waves in the movie, but because of those stupid masks they wear at the beginning to rob the bank. There are four robbers, each wearing the mask of a US President. Doesn’t sound like big deal, right? For whatever reason, those masks completely freaked me out! I had {Read More}
The Trulywed Game~Episode Three
26 September, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Spiritual intimacy includes submitting to Jesus Christ and sacrificing for our spouses. I think one of the key words here is “spiritual.” True intimacy cannot exist without a spiritual component. God created man and wife…marriage, the closest tangible example of a Christian’s relationship with Christ. Marriages have such a hard time these days. We are bombarded by the media with Hollywood’s definition if intimacy…sex. Sex is most definitely necessary for intimacy in a marriage, but certainly does not stand alone {Read More}
You Reap What You Sow. But Skunk Stink? Really?
14 September, 2011 by 4 Comments
Last Friday, I had a horrible, funny, but not horribly funny beginning to my day. When I was telling my friend Tonya what happened, she said, “I bet I’ll be reading about that in your blog soon!” Also last week, I was listening to an audio class on speaking by Vonda Skelton (long time friend and now mentor). In her suggestions, she says to keep track of stories in your life that you might be able to find lessons in. {Read More}
What I learned from Rudy Giuliani…
6 September, 2011 by Leave a Comment
A few weeks ago, David and I went to a big motivation seminar held in downtown Greenville. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Rudy Giuliani spoke about something that’s fascinating and frustrating to me these days…the “almighty” internet. With the invention of the internet, we have “knowledge” at our fingertips and it travels faster than we are capable of dealing with. Computer knowledge is necessary to live in this century. It’s here, and it’s here to {Read More}
“It’s all in your mind.”
5 September, 2011 by 5 Comments
Has someone ever said to you, “It’s all in your mind?” It’s a funny and not so funny thing that my dad used to always say those words to me, and now my husband does! It made me crazy then, and it makes me crazy now. HOWEVER (and I promise you these words WILL come back to haunt me), we can train ourselves to think in a way that can change our mind, our hearts, and our world. How often {Read More}
Small Beginnings & New Habits
23 July, 2011 by 3 Comments
In this small, obscure book tucked neatly at the end of the Old Testament, the prophet Zechariah has been sent an angel from God to help him understand the visions he’s been having. Zerubbabel is the governor of Judah and in charge of the daunting task of rebuilding the temple. The vision given to Zechariah was a message to Zerubbabel to encourage him. Through Zechariah’s vision, God is telling Zerubbabel the task will seem huge, and he may think the {Read More}
One God, One Hope, One Choice…It’s that simple.
22 July, 2011 by 2 Comments
One God, One Hope, One Choice…It’s that simple. Now when you read this statement, you might think, “what does she mean it is that simple?” Believe me, when I was in my state of depression, I would not have thought so either. When I felt like I would rather chop my head off that have my migraine continue, nothing was simple. My well-meaning, glass-always-overflowing teenager would say, “think about it this way, it’s better than if you were in a {Read More}
