Understanding Shame and Why You Feel It

Shame is a complex feeling to articulate. You can experience it as a feeling of not being good enough, a worry that there is something wrong with you, or an overwhelming feeling that you are inadequate, inferior, or unclean.

Shame is not the same as guilt. Guilt is a healthy emotion. You feel guilty if you do or say something that fails to live up to your moral code or when you do not obey God. For instance, when you speed to work, you might feel guilt. Guilt is helpful. It often comes from the Holy Spirit. It motivates us to repent and modify sinful behaviors.

What Causes Shame?

Shame is the result of lies you believe are true about yourself. Some women experience shame because of a difficult childhood filled with abuse or neglect. Others feel shame because an abusive boyfriend or husband blames her when something goes wrong. Still, other women contend with shame as a result of consuming alcohol or drugs.

What Should You Do about Shame?

When...

Happiness is not yesterday's memories or tomorrow's hopes; it happens today.

I treasure the enjoyable memories of 'days gone by'. But, I do not live in the past. Also, I let go of any predisposition to put off my life while waiting for a better day. Tomorrow might not ever come!

Today is what I have, and I collect happiness from each minute of it.

When the day begins, I am happy to live another wonderful day in my life. I peek out the window and note how lovely the dew is as it reflects the sun's light. I hear birds singing in beautiful harmony as they also rejoice in this brand new day.

I relish the pleasant aroma of my morning coffee and enjoy the warmth of the sun when I go out the door to meet whatever adventure life brings me today. When every day starts this well, how could anything diminish its pleasure?

My day is a parade of wondrous moments, and I joyfully receive the pleasure of every one of them.

My husband, flowers, puppies,...

People can sometimes react excessively to circumstances without even knowing it. How does this happen?  Well, we permit our emotions to take over.

When you take control over your emotions, you make sounder reactions, leading to better solutions.

It is essential to remember that no person is perfect. Everyone overreacts from time to time. It is when your overreactions become a pattern that you should seek a better way.

Consider the following action strategies to help you stop overreacting:

1. The art of not reacting. To end overreacting, you can try using the art of not responding. This means that when presented with a particular situation, your goal will be not to react at all. Instead, you will take the time to think about the problem and then formulate your action.

2. Let out your emotions. Let yourself feel your feelings as they happen to you, and find positive ways to express them. When you let your feelings build up, they become more...

Sometimes you feel like you have all the time in the world to realize your dreams. Yet there are daily reminders that our time on Earth is fleeting. Unfortunately, there is no way to predict how much time you have left, which is precisely why there is no time than now to make your dreams come true! 

Concentrate On The Positive

It is vital to start off with positive thoughts. As you think positively about yourself and your dreams, you will begin to believe that you can accomplish anything. These early positive emotions can lead to a dedicated drive and enthusiasm that will help build lasting momentum.

Remember that nearly everyone feels overwhelmed when you are about to embark on a long journey. That is exactly why it is easy to fall into negative thinking patterns, but you must combat those ideas. It can be tough to imagine that so much can be achieved simply by having positive thoughts, but it is real!

The truth is, when you imagine something as startling as "I could...

Marketing is a vital component of running any lucrative business. Most entrepreneurs are very good at what they do best. It could be speaking, coaching, writing content, or other highly valuable activity, but marketing is vital to getting out about their goods and services. This means business owners must understand marketing and successfully market themselves so they are noticed.  

The Many Hats of a Skillful Marketer

Skillful marketers must wear many hats. Marketing includes multiple aspects of their business. Nearly everything an entrepreneur does consists of some form of marketing. Let’s take a look.

Hat #1: Skillful marketers know how to convey their value. Having a great product or service won’t guarantee any sales if no one knows they exist. Great marketers can communicate the benefits of their goods and services concisely and with credibility. Through the power of persuasion, great marketers can express why their goods and services surpass...

Anything you focus on will usually manifest itself in your life. Many individuals refer to this as the Law of Attraction. Unlike the speed limit, it is one of those universal laws that you really cannot break. Sooner or later, whatever you focus on will be what your life becomes.

Discovering the proper life focus can be challenging. Lots of factors catch your attention and drag you away from your passions. If you devote too much time to look at the distractions of life, those distractions can keep you from accomplishing the things you value most.

Activities to Focus on in Your Life

Countless ideas, obligations, and thoughts compete for your attention every day. Consider the following questions when you are trying to decide on the activities you want to focus on more deeply:

1. Where would you like to be in your profession? If you are not where you would like to be, what could you do to move forward in the direction of your professional aspirations?
2. How are...

It is not certainly uncommon for women to go through occasional anxiety or depression, especially in response to life's stressors. But, if those feelings become disproportionate or prolonged with no significant reason, it needs to be addressed by a professional

Fortunately, diagnosing and treatment approaches have come a long way, partially thanks to numerous public health campaigns to bring mental health issues 'out of the shadow'.

The co-existence of anxiety and depression is a noted feature of the disorders. While behavioral and emotional symptoms vary within the two, the fact remains that both are unnatural and unwelcome states of a woman's mental health.

Anxiety is described as a constant overwhelming state of fear or worry and can be debilitating with physical manifestations. The symptoms of depression are similar with an unrelenting feeling of despair or sadness.

The precise cause is still uncertain. Fluctuations of brain chemistry, genetic...

"Imagine what would happen through you if you shared your testimony, gave God the time He deserves, used your talents and gifts to serve Him by serving others, and invested God's treasures in a way that changed the world" – Tim Passmore.

Think about that, "…used your talents and gifts to serve Him by serving others." For centuries, women have recognized the power of kindness. Not only does being kind help others around you, but it positively impacts your life as well.

But, it seems life has taken women to a place where we no longer value kindness as a trait. Compassion has been swapped with self-importance and wanting to stay impersonal. My question is, why has our world come to be less kind?

Is it that we no longer are concerned about others? Do we think kindness makes us weaker? Is this lack of kindness from some global change?

The truth is, kindness has become less and less important in our daily lives for several reasons.

• Our environments cause women to...

I form new habits to enhance my life and improve my overall satisfaction. I am resolved to keep on practicing the healthy habits I have established. The power necessary to successfully form and keep new habits is in me.

I have tolerance for myself when creating challenging new habits. At times it takes days or months to form a new behavior pattern. I have the patience to keep trying.

Repetition is my key to success. To change new activities into habits, I must exercise repetition. I achieve my new activities with hard work and great effort daily.  

If I feel persuaded to give up, I push myself to do it again. I communicate my goals with those closest to me and gather their support. With the help of my loved ones and my reminders, I am successful!

When establishing new habits, I take them one day and one habit at a time. An easy-going pace helps me progressively make a long-lasting change. I forgive myself when there are setbacks and jump right...

No matter our profession, we all come in contact with difficult, negative people from time to time. Our primal instinct is to defend ourselves, fight back, and react to their negativity with some of our own. However, we are not animals who respond by instincts. We are human beings with the capacity to manage our reactions.

• To fight anger with anger merely exhausts our energy and brings us down to their level.

Why are people challenging?

When people act negatively, it is a reflection of what is going on inside them. It is about them; it is not about you. It may be a complex, troubled past or something as straightforward as a terrible day that gets an individual angry.

• Individuals who are unhappy and bored with their own lives will pursue conflict to enhance their egos.

Our ego then reacts by thinking, “I need to be right. If I don’t reply, I’m admitting defeat.” Then we find ourselves involved in a conflict that harms us...