My Essay Blog

At a certain point our lives don’t change much. We’re moving around on automatic pilot and don’t notice the sameness that has taken over&ndashsometimes for many years. We’ve gotten used to very little occurring in our lives beyond our daily routine, and many people become comfortable with that, or just accept it. Somewhere along the way our lives got stale. We’re stuck in a rut. But don’t despair; being in control of your own life is being in control of your wellness!

More and more people are regaining control of their lives and changing their futures. They’re setting goals and reaching them, they’re feeling better, being happier, getting healthier and spending more time and energy on what matters to them. Their outlook on life has improved dramatically.

As you know, the concept of wellness covers a broad range&ndashwith different definitions depending on where you look. But for starters, let’s use the following&ndashwellness is the belief that improvement is possible throughout our lives. We’re continuously seeking information on how we can improve. We’re choosing options and making decisions that support our best interests. Everything we think, feel and believe impacts our whole being. You are in command of all aspects of your life&ndashphysical, career, relationships, finances, spiritual, environment, and emotional well-being, and so on. You can break free and take charge of your life. Try these simple ways to discover how you can start moving towards taking control of your life and wellness.

1. Turn lack of time into more time.

“I don’t have the time,” that’s what John, a corporate attorney, constantly told himself and others. He knew he wasn’t alone. Lack of time was a concern for nearly every person he knew. John really wanted to be happier and healthier, but he just didn’t have free time to date, visit family, exercise, or any of the other things that made him happy. When John decided he had to take control of his wellness, the first thing he did was regain ownership of his time. He examined how he spent his time on an average day. By jotting down his daily activities and realigning his priorities, John found opportunities to include the things he really cared about in his daily life.

2. Reclaim your energy.

Megan, a wife, mom and marketing executive, was always tired. She had no energy to meet the demands of her job, do housework, run errands, cook, take care of her children, or the other priorities that made up her day. Megan desperately needed to reclaim her energy&ndashbut instead, she let people drain it, steal it and suck it away. To begin, Megan examined the areas of her life that needed more attention and focus. She also drew new boundaries to protect herself, by declaring what she would and wouldn’t allow. Instead of working 12 hours, Megan cut her workday to no more than nine hours. She stuck to her plan, reclaimed her energy, and is there for her family and job with a new, revitalized energy.

3. Make lasting changes.

“Our resistance to making lasting changes is innate,” says Jeff, a mortgage loan officer. “It’s such a big challenge for everybody.” He constantly told himself that his inner resistance to making changes would stay with him forever. Jeff’s first step was to recognize that resistance is always the initial barrier to making changes. For example, losing the 70 pounds his doctor recommended would offset having to take daily medication for his Type II diabetes. Jeff started by being open to seeing the positive side of change&ndashi.e., first making a decision to change, and then enlisting help in doing so. He joined the YMCA, and now participates in Tai Chi and walks five days a week. He’s also met with a nutritionist who has helped him gain a better understanding of what to eat in order to maintain his overall health and well-being. Jeff has lost 30 pounds and continues to maintain a healthy, balanced diet.

4. Set boundaries around your life.

What’s one of the shortest words&ndashyet so difficult for many people to utter? If you guessed “No,” you’re right on the money. Sidney, a customer service supervisor was so afraid of saying no that when someone asked her to do something, she felt queasy inside because she wanted to say no, but felt uncomfortable actually doing it. The first thing she needed to do was learn her limits. She realized that learning to say no to the things that she didn’t want to do would help her reduce the stress of excessive demands on her time and energy. Sidney could say no in a way that was comfortable to her, yet respectful to the other person. Many people believe when someone makes a request of you, you must say yes, but saying no isn’t that horrible! When Sidney began saying no, it changed her whole life; she found her “to do” list shrinking. She recognized that it was her choice to either overload her schedule or only accept requests to do something when she wanted to.

5. Take excellent care of yourself.

Eden, an emergency room specialist, wanted to improve her quality of life. She was bored with her daily routine, and her social life was nonexistent. Eden began making changes for the better by putting her needs first. She focused on what she wanted, instead of others’ desires. She began scheduling two social activities on her calendar each month, in order to create a social life. Eden never really enjoyed living in the suburbs, but she was close to her job. She put together an action plan for re-inventing her life. The first thing she did was sell her house in the suburbs and move to a more urban environment in which she always dreamed. She could walk to quaint caf

To grow and evolve, we need relationships for mirroring and feedback. Yet fear, negative assumptions and coping strategies can erode or destroy relationships. When we design relationships together with loving cooperation, they can be both enjoyed and utilized for conscious transformation.

This activity is designed to help you transform a current personal or professional relationship into a supportive experience, or imagine the best one for you. Write your responses in complete sentences. Be patient with the process, and yourself. This activity will be both the foundation of and guide for your relationship. Give it heart and soul from the beginning, and you will be richly rewarded many times over. An adventure awaits you. Have fun!

1) Determine your objective. You are doing this:

- Alone to manifest a completely new relationship

- Alone, to imagine the possibilities with an existing relationship

- Together, with someone with whom you are in relationship

2) Why do you want this relationship? What need does it satisfy? Why is this important to you?

3) Why do you think your partner wants a relationship with you?

4) How is this relationship different and unique from your other relationships?

5) Describe the kind of relationship you want. Describe what you actually do, and what you want each to give each other. Include why you think you fit each other’s needs, values, preferences and standards.

6) On a scale of 1-10 (10 being high), what level of truth and trust do you want through this relationship? Explain why. What is its current level? If there is a discrepancy between the two, explain. Describe and explain what you are ready to do to enjoy this level of trust.

7) What feeling do you want to project to others? What is lacking or inconsistent? What are you ready to do about it?

What limiting patterns do you want to release? How do you want to be supported to change? How can you support your partner to release her/his limiting patterns?

9) Describe your attitudes, beliefs and conflicting values that will interfere with the partnering you described. Evaluate these and determine how to replace them with honoring attitudes, beliefs and values.

10) Determine your confidence with open, nonjudgmental communication, especially in awkward and challenging circumstances. Describe the changes you are ready to make.

11) Recall and describe the fears, resistances and limiting patterns you experienced while completing this activity. List them in priority order and explain what you are ready to do about them.

12) What must you learn and what skills must you develop, to better serve your partner, especially through challenging times? What resources will you draw upon? List the steps you will take and include dates, when appropriate.

13) How have your ideas, perceptions or feelings about partnering developed or changed from doing this activity? What will you do as a result?

14) Reflect on the points especially important to you, and describe how you feel empowered.

There really is no secret to being happy, you just have to make up your mind to be and you will be. But in case you need more than that here are 15 steps you can take to begin learning how to make yourself happy.

To be happy is relatively easy just decide to be a happy person. The choice is simple really, choose to be happy. Suffering is optional!

Once you make the choice to be happy your world will change to accommodate what it is you want and you will find being a happy person easier to do than you first thought! Abraham Lincoln once said “Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

Decide today that you are the best person to make you happy and find ways to do that.

Remember that no one can make you happy! Your happiness lies more in your hands than it does anyone else. Thinking he should, she should, they should make you happy puts your life in a shaky position because when “people” aren’t making you happy, you are miserable.

A great way to be happy. Laugh! Laughter has an amazing effect on the body, mind and spirit, raising us up when we feel down. Just stop for a minute and remember a really funny incident. It doesn’t matter how long ago it happened, just recall it now and see what you saw, hear what you heard and feel what you were feeling. It should bring back the feeling inside of you of being happy. Now whenever you are down just recall that memory. ‘Laughter is the best medicine’.

‘The only thing in life that will always remain the same is change’, and in our life we have the power to make the necessary changes if we want to. Even if we find ourselves in an unbearable situation we can always find solace in the knowledge that it too will change.

Social networks or relationships are important. Nobody likes to feel alone (although you never truly are &ndash but that’s a whole other topic!). Join groups, dating sites, network groups, whatever it takes to get you socialising.

People are different, accept people for who or what they are, avoid clashes, constant arguments, and let go of all kinds of resentments.

If arguments seem unavoidable do your best to make an effort to understand the situation, see it from your point of view, then their point of view, then see if you can become an outside observer looking at the two of you disagreeing and see it from that point of view. What difference does that make for you?

Being grateful is a great attitude. We have so much to be thankful for. Thank the taxi driver for bringing you home safely, thank the cook for a wonderful dinner and thank the guy who cleans your windows.

Express your feelings, affections, friendship and passion to people around you. They will most likely reciprocate your actions.

Avoid holding on to anger or frustrations, this is bad for your health. Instead find ways of expressing them in a way that will not cause injury or harm to anyone. I love thumping my pillow or screaming really loud (into my pillow or somewhere secluded!). I find the best medicine for expressing my feelings is writing in a diary.

Learning is a joyful exercise. Try and learn something new everyday. Learning also makes us expand and broaden our horizons. And could also give us more opportunities in the future.

Run, dance, walk and do other things that your body was made for. Feel alive.

Avoid exposure to negative elements like loud noises, toxins and hazardous places.

I’ve had many ‘aha’ and self-congratulatory moments through coaching myself using self development workbooks. I refer to this as ‘Self-Coaching’.

Self-Coaching yourself in this way is great if you’re:

1. Shy;

2. Too busy for one-on-one coaching;

3. Someone who doesn’t like to go out much;

4. Trying to keep limiting beliefs to yourself;

5. Not ready to be coached by anyone else; and

6. Working on your own personal development without anyone else knowing &ndash that way no-one will be disappointed if you give it up or mess it up.

However to get the most out of this form of coaching you’ll need to be:

1. Committed to creating the change you want;

2. Disciplined;

3. Willing to do whatever it takes to develop yourself, eg spiritual development courses, up-skilling, coaching etc;

4. Aware of when you need outside help.

Please Note: From experience, self-coaching will not be enough if there are deeper issues needing to be resolved; and

5. The driver behind the wheel of change &ndash it’s your life; you’re in charge of your destiny.

Self-coaching can help (depending on the severity of the issue) find strategies to apply to:

1. A relationship break-up or make-up;

2. Work related issues;

3. Indecision - something you’ve always dreamed of doing is forever being pushed aside and you need to make a decision;

4. House move &ndash do I stay or do I leave?

5. Itchy feet and wanting to explore and experience a new lifestyle; and

6. Money problems.

A powerful step towards changing what you no longer want into something you really want is by remembering and experiencing what you’d like to change. Then, as you close the door of the past behind you, aim for and take action to making it happen.

Start by goal-setting the what, why, how of transformation, and when you want it to happen by.

A few more tips if you’re coaching yourself are:

1. Keep a diary or journal and write in it every day of how you worked towards achieving inner change. You’ll be able to look back and reflect upon your journey, how you did it, the frustrations, obstacles, and triumphs. It will also give you a sense of achievement, after all you did it.

2. Become aware of how you do things and ask yourself “if you could do this in a better way, how would you do it?”

3. As you coach yourself, at the end of every week summarise what you’ve written and determine what changes you can make easily for the following week.

4. Learn to meditate to give you inner peace as well as clarity not only whilst working with your situation but also to give yourself another self-help tool for your ‘life skill toolkit’.

5. Take up a spiritual development course and increase your intuition. People use their intuition practically every day without realising it, increasing your intuition can help in all areas of your life.

6. Inform everyone who needs to know that you’ll be offline for however long your self coaching sessions will be. Once you’ve organised your time, be ruthless and stick to your timetable. Failing to do this will result in a nasty thing called procrastination to hold you captive!

7. Make a special note of any limiting beliefs you discover about yourself. For example, maybe you have a hang up around earning an income, or maybe you’re not as confident as you like to believe you are. In this case if you are unable to find solutions to these beliefs it’s time to call upon the services of a transformational coach or other professional (this applies to anything you’re unable to effectively work through).

The success of any ‘Self-Coaching’ program is dependent on two things:

1. Your level of commitment; and

2. The quality and content of the workbook itself. It must be designed and developed by someone with coaching experience, an understanding of adult learning principles and the ability to encapsulate it all in ‘simple speak’.

Self-coaching has been an excellent ‘self-help’ tool for me over the years and may help you in some way too.

Michaela Scherr Transformational Coach

A hike in California’s Sequoia National Park turned deadly when Shannon Parker split from her group to grab her sunglasses from the car. Before she could get them, she found herself face-to-face with the lion and came to a daunting realization.

“I knew exactly what it was when I made eye contact with it,” she said in an ABC interview. “It was either the mountain lion or me. One of us was going to die.”

The cat attacked, catching Parker’s head in its jaws. Parker fought the cat for six minutes before she was able to free her face and scream to alert her friends. They chased it off with rocks and a pocketknife, but not before Parker sustained severe injury to her right eye, along with deep gouges in her thigh.

After a surgery failed to repair her eye, doctors fitted her with a

prosthetic. While Parker suffered no life-threatening injuries, the trauma to her face was devastating; Parker said the most challenging aspect of the attack was dealing with the disfiguring injuries she suffered.

Her plastic surgeon played a huge role in helping her recover when he told her that he’d be able to repair the damage to her face.

“And that right there, I mean, it just changed my attitude; it changed the hope that I had. It changed everything,” she told CNN. “And then, I knew not only was I alive, but I was going to progress.”

Progress meant not only recovering from her injuries, but recovering from her emotional trauma. Part of Parker’s solution has been to seek meaning in her experiences. Less than a year after the attack, she went back to Sequoia National Park to revisit the spot where she struggled for her life. Now she’s working to educate the public about what to do if a mountain lion attacks and, because she says that she would have stayed with her group had she seen warning signs posted, she’s working to place them where mountain lions might be a danger to hikers.

According to Parker, her recovery, though difficult, gets better as each day passes. “I believe that my strength and hope has got me to where I am today.”

I haven’t got time to relax &ndash really? Have you got time not too?

Being able to relax is important to achieving optimal performance and health. You name it; being relaxed will increase your productivity in it. If you’re not relaxed, everything you do will be a struggle. Relaxation provides mind-body integration necessary for peak performance.

It is important to relax to get your mind clear and your body tension free; to regain focus and to cool down and to help return to a balanced physical state. Relaxation is vital for a healthy mind and is required to maintain motivation and interest in our lives and careers. Not being able to relax and unwind can be damaging to your health. Even when there are huge demands on your life, you may have a large family, an important career, and a home amongst your other weekly commitments - it is still necessary to find your own time and space to relax.

It is very important that throughout the day we find time to relax. Twenty minutes, two or three times a day, is preferred. If you can’t manage twenty minutes, it’s important to realise that whatever amount of time you do manage to get to relax will be beneficial to your mind and body, even if not noticeably so.

When time is short there are a number of things you can do: reading, writing, daydreaming or just sitting quietly. Quite often what ever you do to relax will be personal and work for you, so you need to find what works best.

As a Life Coach I have worked with numerous people with issues relating to relaxation and stress etc. It’s interesting that initially many find it difficult to slow down and see the benefits of taking more time out. However after a few weeks and a couple of life coaching sessions focused on this area, and a bit of commitment on their part, most change their ways and wax lyrical about the benefits to their lives.

Some of the common benefits of relaxation are:

• It improves your ability to concentrate. It will help you in your ability to tune out distractions and gives you better sensory awareness.

• It improves body awareness; you need to know when you are under or over doing it.

• It speeds up healing time following an injury and fatigue, the body needs to recover fully if it’s going to perform at an optimal level in the near future.

• Learning is enhanced, it is much easier to introduce new thoughts and ideas when your mind is clear and you are relaxed. Skills are best learned when you are in a relaxed state and there is an absence of tension.

• It helps you sleep better

• You become more efficient

• It puts your focus back on the present and gives you a sense of control

• It increases energy

If you don’t take the time to unwind and relax regularly, you might be putting not only your own health and well-being at risk but also that of others as well.

In relation to your responsibility to the health and safety of others; we only have to think of driving a car, or operating machinery, and how our ability to do these tasks diminishes when we are tense, tired and stressed. So in fact our responsibility to relax is not just for our own sake but also for that of others.

With regards to our own health and emotional well-being, if we don’t make time to relax regularly we are putting our health and mental health at risk of failure. Some of the effects of lack of relaxation are below:

• Headache, common ones being tension headaches and migraines. Controlling tension and relaxing can help migraines. Tension headaches are susceptible by definition to treatment by relaxation.

• Chronic fatigue, your body is in a total sate of fatigue. You suffer from total lack of energy and motivation all of the time.

• Cardiovascular disorders, high blood pressure and heart disease, heart attack.

• Gastrointestinal problems, diarrhoea, constipation and stomach ulcers as well as indigestion and heartburn.

• Poor immune system, becoming susceptible to illness

Early warning signs that we need to have a break and relax are:

• Yawning/sighing

• Lack of concentration

• Feeling the urge to stretch and move about

• General drop in performance

• Feelings of stress and irritability

• Performing uncommon errors

• Tiredness

If we are aware of the signs and take notice of them and take a break etc, you could avoid a lot of stress and fatigue, you will be more rational and focused, and better equipped to carry on, and be far healthier.

Spending a lifetime of ignoring the signs could impact heavily, not only on your health, well-being and happiness but also those around you. Relationships could suffer as well as your career. On a personal note, the consequences of not taking time to relax over a lifetime could mean you pay the ultimate price.

You say you don’t have time to relax. I say you don’t have time not too. You are your own best resource; you need to take time to nurture and look after yourself.

Do you belong to the 97% of the world population, that is dreaming to make it one day as long as you buy more HOPE ?

Well then it’s best if you keep going. Enjoy the ride and come back once you are ready for the next step.

Or are you part of the 3% of the world population which is destined to live their dreams.

As Albert Einstein said:

“I am neither especially clever nor especially gifted. I am only very, very curious.”Congratulations. You don’t seem to be such a dreamer after all.

The cool thing is that deep inside everyone knows the truth, but unfortunately only a small percentage is conscious about it. It is much more convenient to blame one’s Karma then to do something about it. If you are somehow woken up from your dreams, you will see that the following makes perfect sense.

So let me first list a few of the big problems that stop you from achieving what you want.

1. You do not follow your heart but follow your instincts. (greed, envy, lust)

2. your goal is not clearly defined and too vague.

3. You have no purpose to support your success.

4. Your old habits sabotage the process of change

5. You lack in discipline and persistence in pursuing a chosen path.

6. You can’t stay focused on your goal

7. You do not see the opportunities around you.

Be honest to yourself and admit how many new year resolutions, courses, seminars and programs you have started but not finished successfully and only because of one or many of the points listed above. How many times did you try to loose weight only to gain a few extra kilos, how many self development products do you have in your shelf and have not turned into success. I bet there are quite a few, and in none of the cases was the program the reason for failure. True?

How can MindWatch help you to change that ?

Well lets say it that way. If you buy the watch and leave it in the box you won’t achieve anything else then what you had in the past. If you use it as a cool watch to impress the girls/boys in the pub, you wont experience big success either. At least not the success it’s designed for. But if you turn on your watch and follow the steps in the manual you are guaranteed to achieve whatever you set your mind to, because with MindWatch YOU are in charge of your life.

Let me give you a few examples how MindWatch works.

First of all MindWatch attracts a lot of looks and when asked what you do with your MindWatch you have a perfect chance to earn an affiliate commission by sharing your experience. MindWatch talk is like doggy talk. Always a reason to start a chat.

But now seriously.

Lets assume I was all day with you as your personal coach and would ask you with every thing you do: “Is this the way you want your life to be”. I’ll bet you would start to consider some changes. Quality questions are always replied to with quality answers. If you never ever think of an alternative way, you have no chance to see one, even if the opportunity is direct in front of your nose. Almost everyone using MindWatch had this experience and has changed a lot. It’s like being pointed to see the alternative. Opportunities arise all around you when you are conscious.

When you have set a goal, whether it’s big or small does not matter, you have a natural tendency to forget all about it during the course of a day or week. Latest after one month is’t history. As the new way of doing things is not programmed into your normal behavior you are likely to forget. True? Well we all know this tendency and no one is spared from this painful experience. With MindWatch you are not only reminded to stay on track, you are also asked to record your decision. “Do I follow my plans,or not.” If you keep self sabotaging you might consider a change of goal or you find a whole lot of good reasons (Mind Links are described in your handbook) to get yourself motivated.

I call this part of the journey REPROGRAMMING THE AUTOPILOT. You know perfectly well that poverty mentality is programmed to a course of poverty and very likely to end in poverty. Imagine you turn off the autopilot every 30 or 45 min and reprogram your course during the short conscious phase towards success. You might not get the course redirected all at once but in segments that lead in the end to the destiny of your choice

But the main effect of MindWatch is to keep your thoughts and actions focused towards the achievement of one or many goals. Once you have a definite plan which is worked out with a detailed strategy (see the hand-book) you can not miss your target any more as MindWatch keeps you direct on target until mission is achieved. Its like a missile that is programmed to strike.

During the course of the past years we have had so many success reports from all walks of life that a 200% guarantee is no challenge any more. Try it out and see. There is no risk at all. You will see like all others that CHANGE IS POSSIBLE.

Are you ready to put MindWatch to the test?

There are only 2 reasons you won’t do it.

One is because you are skeptical, and I don’t blame you. There is so much scam and fraud out there that it’s not funny. That’s why we have installed the 200% Money Back Guarantee over a period of 60 Days. No risk and no need to be skeptical. You join and try and if you do not achieve a significant change in the 60 days you just return your watch and keep the rest of the bonus pack. How good is that.

The other reason not to join is because you still hope that there is something that does it for you. The magic pill. I thought I had filtered you out on the first page. But here is the link again. Google. Have fun!

Dreamers are usually quite content in their dreams and it takes quite a while to wake up. No wonder there are so many of them and in a way they are happy to stay where they are. It’s kind of cool to complain and associate with other losers dreaming of the big shot they are going to make ONE DAY. IF they wake up.

OK, so here is a short description of MindWatch.

1. It’s a cool looking stylish watch with a lot of karisma.

2. If you don’t want to show what you do with the watch there is no reason for anyone to see anything else then a stylish watch. Its your perfectly secret personal coach.

3. MindWatch has a built in reminder system that records your progress towards your goals in an easy to read bar graph.

4. The sharp laser display helps you to monitor your progress in a daily, weekly or monthly graph.

5. MindWatch is equipped with all the useful functions like stopwatch, countdown, progress memory, date & calendar.

6. MindWatch has a built in Meditation timer. A handy tool if you are on tour and want to time your timeout.

7. MindWatch is based on the 7 areas of life and allows you to monitor your progress for each area of life individually.

And here is what you get when you order MindWatch NOW.

Well first of all, there is no need to rush. We have plenty of Watches on stock as we plan to stay around for much longer then we already are. No last minute sale because we are not a scam or fraud. Our reputation is built on a long term relationship and we want to enjoy your recommendation also in the future.

Second there is no need to Pay more then what you should. MindWatch is sold for $199 and will not be offered anywhere else for more or less. It’s a high quality Stainless steel watch with a specially designed processor that accommodates the MindWatch reminder functions. The stylish watch comes with a choice of a white or black Napa leather strap.

This Watch is so cool that even without all the special Coaching program and MindWatch functions you are in the league of a Billabong or Puma or Tag Heuer watch, which are sold for over $1000. Not to mention the difference in usage. One is built to waste you money in the skirt of decadence and MindWatch is used to make you money and improve your life.

Third is our 200% 60 day Money Back Guarantee which is described above. There is nothing to add to this.

The NOW makes the difference

Well we have created a bonus pack for you which will change from time to time as we believe in incentives that support and help you. If you make it, we have made it. And therefore we have packed a few Extras into your Shopping bag .

*

The MindWatch

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The 80 page Hand book “7 Steps From Dream to Reality”

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A hard Copy of the best selling book “LIFESPARK” by Marcus Freudenmann

*

Full on Email Support with our MindWatch community.

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Access to the Member Area to learn all about the different ways to use MindWatch for maximum profit.

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The famous Science of Getting Rich E-Book by Wallace D Wattles. It’s one of my favorites and just worth reading a hundred times. Every single page in this book describes the use of MindWatch in a way, that I can’t do it better. Just follow the book and use your watch accordingly and you will see how fast your life can change.

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As a Man Thinketh By James Allan. This is a classic you have to read as often as you can. In this book you will find many descriptions leading you to a use of MindWatch like nothing else. Alan describes the universal laws in a way even DREAMERS will understand.

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I will also include a Goal Card which will help you to stay on track. Use the Card in conjunction with your MindWatch and NEVER, NEVER, NEVER give up.

Learn more by visiting: .mindwatch.com.au

On the surface, a glimpse into the life of Dara Stewart reveals nothing unusual. She’s got a job she likes, friends and family who love her and a big, dumb Akita named Jake. But after a brush with death from a brain hemorrhage in 2002, Dara’s recovery included having to learn to walk again. For Dara, the normal life she has now, for which she is profoundly grateful, required an astonishing degree of effort and focus.

Relying on simple but powerful life and stress management techniques, she was able to not only recover from what her doctors had expected would be a disabling medical catastrophe, but to go on to find her life’s purpose and to discover a peace that far exceeded what she had known before.

These techniques are available to all of us.

• Manage stress: “Meditation was my initial way to relieve stress,” said Dara. As she recovered, she found that a connection with nature calmed and focused her. She combined hiking and meditation into mindfulness walks and volunteered at the Desert Botanical Garden in order to stay in touch with nature.

• Exercise: Dara found that yoga, in particular, helped keep her balanced. “It really made a big difference in the stress and the body tension that I was having and also it decreased the numbers of headaches that I had,” she said.

• Reach out to friends and family: “The immense support that I got from friends and family reminded me that no matter what happened to me, I was going to be ok,” Dara said. “Whether I died or became handicapped or lived an absolutely normal life, I would be ok.” Diagnosed immediately after a move to an unfamiliar town in California, Dara found additional community in her church and support groups.

• Practice self-acceptance: One side effect of Dara’s life-threatening illness was increased clarity of purpose. “It wasn’t a matter of knowing the exact career I was going to have, it was knowing that I was supposed to be here and that there was a purpose for me,” Dara said. “And I didn’t feel at all worried anymore.” Her mantra became, “I am enough, I am everything I need.”

• Purge negativity: “I would go so far as to not watch scary movies,” Dara said. “I even limited the amount of news I watched.”

• Set boundaries: Initially Dara was careful to surround herself with people who had a positive outlook, and even now, when working in the mental health field makes that harder, Dara says that “what I’ve learned to do now is deflect to some degree. If it starts getting too intense, I take a break.”

According to Dara, the key for having the life she wants is maintaining focus in her day-to-day activities and goals. “As I pursue things, I’m also listening for what I need, which is positive energy in my life, what I want, which is a peaceful life and what fulfills me, which is giving to the world in some way.”