November 2017 – Healing with Harotian

November 29, 2017November 29, 2017

Thank You!

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Today, I woke to find that 21 awesome people decided to follow my blog. It may not seem like a lot to some people, but I can’t tell you enough how excited I am that you guys find what I am saying interesting enough to say, “Hey, I want to know what she’s going to write about next.”

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By simply pressing that wonderful “follow” button, you all have given me, even more, motivation to use this platform to share my life’s experiences in hopes that someone, anyone can relate and learn from my very hard lessons.

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Thank you all so much for reading my words, my thoughts, my feelings, and my struggles. You all have truly become apart of my inspiration. I’m still new at this, so please feel free to leave comments on any opinion you have; good or bad! I love all constructive criticism. It allows me to grow which will lead to a successful career in…..whatever I’m trying to be successful at. Haha 🙂 Thank you, wonderful 21. Our family will only continue to grow from here.

“Here’s to those who inspire you and don’t even know it.” -Anonymous

November 26, 2017November 26, 2017

Sun Ray Kisses

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I feel like today was specifically made just for me.

As I feel the cool breeze shuffling through my soft sweater and baggy sweatpants, the warm sun is adding a beautiful glow to my melanin

The sounds of my little people calling my name is like hearing an angel sing

I no longer take for granted the joy of watching my kids jump, climb, and sprint through the wild dangers of the playground

I can’t help but feel like this is God’s way of answering my prayers in abundance

Today my mountains became ant hills, my worries became ambitions, my fear became non-existent

The sun has risen just for me

The sunlight hugs me, embraces me, to let me know that she has missed me.

I soak up all of her love because I’ve missed her too

“I decided to fly through the air and live in the sunlight and enjoy life as much as I could.” -Evel Knievel

November 23, 2017November 24, 2017

11 Ways to Self Motivation

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One of the struggles that I face dealing with a chronic illness, is the idea that being sick will be the rest of my life. I began to feel like waking up with aching pains, eating only broth because it is all my body can handle, the rashes and constant infections, the extreme fatigue, expensive medications…will be the rest of my life? I slowly began to see more darkness than light. The light became so dim, that I thought I couldn’t see it at all. I even began to allow the darkness to completely take over me, but then I had a quick and swift wake up call. I will share this “wake up call” in a future blog post. Honestly, it’s still so fresh and new, I’m not quite ready to share it with the world. That wound needs to heal first. Although it was a tough lesson to learn, I am so grateful that I learned it. It gave me the push I needed to attempt to climb out of the darkness.

The first step for me was to write down what I want; what are my short-term and long-term goals. I then folded up the ‘long-term’ list and placed it in a safe spot. I didn’t want to obsess about not meeting my long-term goals while in the middle of accomplishing my short-term goals. I am definitely the kind of person that attempts to rush the process. I’m working on that as well. My short-term goals are very simple. Sometimes I feel like they’re too simple.Then I remembered what once I have accomplished even the smallest goal, it will then give me the courage to conquer the next one. I did this to show myself that there are things to live for and not allow darkness to swallow me whole. See, darkness convinces you that you are not worthy of being great. Darkness tricks you into believing that your circumstance will never get better and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. I digress.

One of my short-term goals is to lower my stress. There are many causes of a lupus flare, one being stress. Honestly, I’m sure it is a large part as to why I experience a lot of flares. One way that I am lowering my stress is listening to motivational videos and speakers. I’ve mentioned it in a couple of posts before, so this should let you know how beneficial and awesome I think it is. I’ve honestly learned to have more confidence in my ability to move past what I am going through in this season of my life. I usually listen to random speakers on YouTube, but there is one speaker in particular that grabbed my attention the very first time I heard one of this speeches and I wanted to share it with you. 6 Keys to Self Motivation by Les Brown has given me the motivation is rise above my circumstance and get through this season of my life. Les Brown is a motivational speaker, author, radio personality, former television host, and former member of the Ohio House of Representatives. He has inspired millions of people around the world to improve the quality of their lives. Here I am talking like I’m a walking billboard. Honestly, I’ve just heard of this guy and I want as many people to know about him as possible. If you’re struggling to find motivation for anything, this is definitely for you. Below is a breakdown

11 Keys to Self Motivation by Les Brown

1. Self-Mastery

–You must always continue to work on yourself to achieve self-mastery

-The greatest human ability is being able to become more. Ex. A dog can’t be anything other than a dog. A tree can’t be anything other than a tree.

-You have unlimited potential

-Find something that you’re passionate about

-Find something that gives you a strong sense of completion in order to develop your reputation

-You can work on yourself by reading books that inspire you, listen to motivational audio first to start your day. Your mind is more reception in the morning.

2. Live with Passion and Energy

-Make a conscious effort to be lively

-Stay away from negative and toxic people

-SMILE!

-We have a lot to be grateful for

-Your level of passion and energy determines how much you will accomplish and how well you can do it

3. Know What You Want

-What do you want? Be specific

-The more you are aware of what exactly you want, your subconscious will begin to align with what you want

-Write it down and keep it with you. Writing is an exercise that engages your subconscious mind

-Read it every morning, noon, and night. Reading causes you to focus and concentrate on what you want

-When doubt begins to cloud your mind to tell us we can’t accomplish our goals, this practice will help you focus and discipline your thinking to more positive thoughts

-You are powerful!

-You are a miracle worker!

-Self-doubt has conditioned your mind to forget this

4. Develop a Health Plan

-You can’t feel well and do well if you’re not healthy

-Respect your body because you are worth it

-Your body is the only vehicle you have to get you through this life

5. Monitor Your Inner Conversations

-Take charge of your inner thoughts

-Don’t listen to self-doubt

-When they pop up, change your thoughts

6. Visualize

-See yourself beyond your circumstance with the challenge already resolved

-Think about how you will feel once your goal has been accomplished

7. Know That You Have a Purpose

–Write down 5 reasons why you deserve your goal

-When your having self-doubt, read your 5 reasons why you deserve your goal as a reminder

-Know that life can be tough with challenging moments

-You need a purpose in your life to get through the tough times.

*Your purpose can be anything. God speaks of serving others if you need a place to start*

8. Master Your Skill

-Increase your level of confidence by finding something that you are passionate about and become the best at it

-Only compete with yourself and no one else

9. Be Relentless

-Recognize that you will go through hard times

-It doesn’t matter how hard you get hit, but that you get up to continue the fight

-In the face of hard times, BE RELENTLESS!

10. Take Action

-Don’t wait for the “right time”

-The ideal situation does not exist

-Take action now towards your goals

-If you believe it, you can see it

-Don’t become discouraged if others do not see what you see

11. Focus On Something Larger Than Yourself

-Find a cause to contribute to that makes a difference

-It will drive you to become more, to become better.

“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” Les Brown

November 16, 2017April 10, 2018

Need Fuel? 12 Inspiring Quotes To Get You Through the Day

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We have all bad days, don’t we? You guys know I have. One way that I have shared getting through difficult moments in my life is listening and memorizing motivational speeches and quotes. It helps replace my negative thoughts with positive ones. Since I’ve been practicing this, I find myself being more positive whenever a discouraging thought pops into my mind. Experts now say that it takes 21 days to form a habit. So, 21 days of replacing negative thoughts with more inspiring ones are definitely something that will help defeat depression in the long run.

Some people believe that words are powerless, but we should know better by now that words have the power to hurt, heal, hinder, harm, humiliate, and humble. We all have heard the saying “sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” This couldn’t be furthest from the truth. Hurtful words having started wars, destroyed families, and has caused unimaginable pain.

We now live in a world where everyone’s words are being read online every day, all day. In my opinion, we have more social interactions online than in-person interactions. Think about it. We communicate a lot via social media, blog outlets, emails, and text messages. We have the ability to communicate with millions of people simultaneously in a matter of seconds. What a time to be alive, right? We spend a lot of time reading other people’s thoughts and opinions, good and bad. My experience with social media has been egregious. It is actually one of the reason’s why I decided to start a blog. I want to spread more positivity vibes online, since as a society, we spend so much time on here. I’ve noticed that there a lot of people who would rather spread more negative energy than positive energy, but that’s not what I want for our children and the following generations to come. I want them to understand that words are powerful; written, typed, said aloud; they are powerful. As human beings, we should uplift and help each other get through this thing called life. Below are a few words by some really awesome people who figured out how to overcome the negative energy and push forward. Please judge the message, not the messenger.

“Once you choose hope, anything is possible.” -Christopher Reeves

“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. only through experience of trial and suffering can the Soul be strengthened, Vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” -Helen Keller

“Getting better from depression demands a lifelong commitment. I’ve made that commitment for my life’s sake and for those who love me.” -Susan Polis Schutz

“A positive attiitude gives you power over your circumstance, instead of your circumstances having power over you.” -Joyce Meyer

“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to continually fear that you will make one.” -Elbert Hubbard

“Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.” -Thich Nhat Hanh

“The greatest glory in living lies not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail.” -Nelson Mandela

“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning how to dance in the rain.” -Vivian Greene

“Always remember you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think, and twice as beautiful as you’ve ever imagined.” – Dr Suess

“Never be limited by others people limited imaginations.” -Dr Mae Jemison

“Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.” -Booker T Washington

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person and some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” -Former President Barack Obama

November 11, 2017

Ah Ha! There’s My Motivation!

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Recently, I’ve been pushed to the edge. So far so, I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it back. Then, I was given a sudden reminder of why I’m fighting this fight in the first place; my family. It may sound a little cliche, but my children are the most important aspects of my life; emotionally, physically, spiritually. God trusted me to raise these beautiful people to value their lives and to serve humanity as instructed by God. But I can’t do any of that if my head is unstable. I’ll admit it. I’ve allowed people and circumstances to stress me out so much, I lost sight of why I was fighting. Now, after support from my husband, family members, and God, I was able to see why I NEED to fight.

I made a list of Daily Goals that I have to do no matter what, no excuses. There are only about 7 small tasks, but when I accomplish one, I feel even more inspired to accomplish the others. Hopefully, this will lead to my list growing with more difficult tasks that will lead to accomplishing my goals, thus getting the breath of air I spoke about in my last post Living with Depression. I know, once I catch the first breath after drowning for so long, I will be able to swim to land in no time and that moment….that moment is THE MOMENT! that will define the rest of this journey.

One item on my list is to listen to motivational speeches. It’s a way to get pumped up in the morning to start my day. When I’m in pain, I’ve begun a terrible habit of concentrating on that pain and the more I would concentrate on it, the more it would hurt. Then I would give myself excuses as to why I shouldn’t get up. Then…my mind would wonder to even darker places. It was a bad cycle. So, motivational videos help replace those negative thoughts. I’m too busy listening to what they are saying to listen to my own thoughts. Eventually, my thoughts will become those of the motivational speakers and I would no longer need to listen to them, well, maybe not as often.

I would like to share a video that really helped me get over a couple of fears I am having about moving forward. Take a listen and maybe it could help you as well. Sorry, I could only post the link that’ll take you to YouTube. Thanks for understanding 🙂

FIND YOURSELF MOTIVATIONAL VIDEO 2017

“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” -Francis of Assisi

Side Note* I just became extremely overwhelmed while writing this. I began thinking, “what am I doing?” ,”whos going to read this?”, “people won’t like this”, “this is too much information I’m sharing.” <—– It’s these thoughts that confirm why I should continue to share my thoughts, as crazy as they may seem. There has to be someone out there that can relate, right?

November 7, 2017April 10, 2018

Living with Depression

Emotionally, today was a rough day for me. Lately, I’ve been feeling this doom cloud hovering over me every second of every day. Depression is apart of my life, full time. Meaning, it is something that has not gone away and most likely will not go away. Like any illness, it can be a struggle if not properly maintained. People who don’t understand try to offer what they think is great advice; “pray, think happy thoughts, try not to stress, try not to worry.” Anyone who lives with depression knows it’s not something you can “get over”. It is literally a chemical imbalance in the brain. Some are fortunate enough that they don’t have highs and lows. They can change their diet, meditate a little and they’re back to normal. People like me, it’s not so easy. Sometimes the emotions are so strong, it feels like daggers are constantly moving in and out of your mind and body.

Today, I had a bit of a meltdown. I’ve always been pretty good at explaining my feelings, but for the past couple of weeks, I’ve been at a lost for words, until today. It was something that my husband said that made the floodgates open and my emotions and words were finally in sync.

Have you ever felt like you were drowning? Like, your entire life is engulfed in water and you fight every day, all day just to try to get your head above water. Not even your head, maybe just your face. You know that if you get one breath, one inhale, then you’ll have more strength to pull yourself out of the water completely. You have people around you who try to understand by throwing you a life jacket, rope, anything that they feel you need to pull yourself out, but you know you need more than that. At this point, it’s either fight or flight. Giving up isn’t an option, but you’re getting so tired. The more tired you get, the further you sink into the ocean. Slowly watching the light from the sun become further away. It’s so dark and so cold. This is what I was able to explain to my husband after weeks of not knowing.

He then explained that he knew exactly what I was going through because he has been there, feeling the exact same way. It gave me a lot of hope because he is in such a great place and if God could do it for him, then I know he would do it for me. At that moment, I felt less abandoned by God. He reminded me, through my husband, that He has not forgotten me. He sees every tear and hears every prayer. During this storm, He has made it abundantly clear, that I will be clear of any illness and disease and I will be blessed beyond my wildest dreams.

Even though some people may not understand what I am going through, I have family and friends who constantly throw a life jacket or rope to help save me. Those are the ones that I think about when I am unable to see through the darkness. I am truly blessed to have people who want to see me succeed. When I become better and I’m able to look back at days like today and laugh, they will be apart of my “road to success” story; how I fought the depression and lupus demons and won! Until then, I will walk this journey and trust God’s process.

“Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them — every day begin the task anew.” -Saint Francis de Sales