Now, I know the title of this may seem a little confusing after emphasizing the importance of positivity in my last post, but believe me when I say there is a huge difference between letting yourself be upset and drowning in negativity.

I often see people struggling to stay strong during an emotional period, whether it be as minor as a bad day or as major as the death of a loved one. While there are times where you need to stay strong (say, to support another family member during a loss, or to do well at your job), you also need to allow yourself to feel those emotions. Grieve. Vent. Whatever, just don't keep those emotions bottled up.

If you don't give yourself the chance to go through all of the emotions inside of you, they're just going to fester. And they're going to keep building up and up and up until you just explode. If it gets to that point, you could hurt yourself, you could hurt relationships—it's just bad. All around bad.

No matter the situation, you don't always have to put a brave face on. Let yourself be angry. Let yourself be sad. Let yourself be annoyed. Let yourself feel! We were born with emotion for a reason. Don't block them out for fear of being judged.



The bottom line? It's okay to be upset!




Stay Alive,

Lindsey

If you all recall, I once wrote a blog about looking at the bright side of things. While that is a wonderful thing to do when things are tough, it goes so beyond that to having a happy (or, happier) lifestyle. You can't rely on looking for that tidbit of light, you have to create the light.


I'm talking about thinking positively.


The amount of power your mind holds over every thing you do is incredible, really. It can influence who you're friends with, what you wear, everything! But if you fill yourself with negative thoughts, everything you do will reflect that. You could be making friends with people who thrive off of misery. You could be wearing frumpy old sweats when you're usually wearing a nice pair of slacks and a polo. All of this can leave you feeling downright miserable. You can even go as far as changing the reality around you. I've seen good friends truly believe that all of their friends are against them, doing anything they can to harm them, when in reality, those friends were just trying to help. These people let the negativity dig so deep into their minds that they couldn't even see how their friends cared about them anymore.


Honestly, I'm having trouble even putting my thoughts into words on the power of your mind. So here's some input from Stay Alive co-founder, Kevin:

the power of your mind is, well, mind blowing. you can literally make anything real with your mind. if you think that you're going to have a bad day, you will. if you think that you're going to have a great day, you will! this is called the law of attraction. whatever you focus on is what will become your reality! you could say "today im going to receive a friendly greeting from a foreigner", and odds are, you will receive a friendly greeting from a foreigner. literally anything you focus on is what will become. so are you a good person? a bad person? is your life horrible? is it wonderful? you get to decide.


But you have the power to change all of that negativity! Just think positively! When you wake up, tell yourself it will be a good day. Look in the mirror and tell yourself you look good. Leave the house believing you will rock the socks off of this day. Say all of that even if you don't fully believe it, because it's at least a start at thinking positively.


You have no idea how many times I've tried helping someone who seemed really down only to be greeted with negativity. I've given examples of things they could do to help themselves feel better (such as the things I listed in the previous paragraph), only to have each suggestion shot down with a negative thought on it. Don't get me wrong, I understand depression and other mental illnesses are just that, illnesses. It's more than just how you think; it's physical. But why not take control of what you can? If you have an imbalance of chemicals in your brain making you feel down, why not try battling that with positive thinking? While positive thinking won't heal that*, it can help you stay away from those lowest lows.



So take control. Embrace the power of positivity.


Stay Alive,
Lindsey


*the main thing needed to help heal depressoin and other mental illnesses is professional help, not the words on my blog

With today being Suicide Awareness Day, I decided I needed to get my butt on this computer and actually write a blog for you guys! (I've really been slacking lately.)

I know there are many of my readers who have dealt with suicide, whether it was through someone they knew or even thinking about/attempting it themselves. For all of you, I want you to realize the word I used in that sentence--many. You are not  alone. You are not the only gone going through this. Let that piece of knowledge help you when you feel like no one will ever understand. People do. There are even people who haven't had those thoughts or experiences that understand. Groups like this one right here exist to help you realize you are and never will be alone.

If you have never been affected by suicide and/or don't know much about it, take the time to educate yourself. Don't let yourself become the ignorant person making jokes about people killing themselves. Believe me, suicide is anything but a joke. And if you already know about it, then you can help raise awareness, too.

I know there isn't much content to this post, but I did talk about it in more detail back in 2010, on my personal blog. I'd like it if you all took the time to head over there and read it (click here for post).

If you didn't head over to my personal blog, here's some websites that can help:
http://www.twloha.com/
http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/


So spread the word, everyone. This is a very important issue.
Stay Alive,
Lindsey