Encouragement

When visiting http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary I found the following definition for "encourage,"

Main Entry: en·cour·age

Pronunciation: \in-ˈkər-ij, -ˈkə-rij, en-\

1 a : to inspire with courage, spirit, or hope : hearten encouraged to continue by her early success> b : to attempt to persuade : urge encouraged him to go back to school>

2 : to spur on : stimulate weather encourages plant growth>
3 : to give help or patronage to : foster government grants designed to encourage conservation>

Today I felt encouraged by friends and co-workers on many levels. Let me tell you some of the ways:

1 a: to inspire with courage, spirit, or hope

My friend, Cyndi, whom I have a lot in common with and had lost contact with encouraged me with scripture and the invitation for a good talk. (Cyndi, I will have to find a moment to get a phone call in! SOON!) She gave me hope and lifted my spirits!

2: to spur on

I have been put under a new supervisor at work. Theresa is so encouraging with the way she "spurs" me on, that we are a team and that we can do anything by staying positive and working together! She has encouraged me to move on and keep going!

3: to give help or patronage to

I have had several different people come up and offer me help when I have been struggling to figure out a problem with my family and my health. I have been encouraged by their love and support.

I hope to be an encouragement to others!

Blessings!

Stress

I handle stress badly.

I tend to either:

• Retreat into myself and hide. I curl up into a ball, sleep too much and avoid contact with everyone.

OR

• Spew out all of the ugliness that I feel! I yell, cry, stomp my feet and generally act like a 4 year old in need of a nap.

If I take the first approach I hurt myself, the second and I hurt those around me. My goal is to now handle stress better. I hope to continue growing and learning how to better handle it. Stress is inevitable in anyone's life. We are bombarded from every direction, and sometimes we have no control over it.

I have started a new thought process, if you will. I want to control things in my life, as I have stated before. Now it is time for me to control the way I respond to stress.

These are some of the steps that I am going to take:

• I will take walks, exercise has been shown to lower stress levels.
• I will laugh more regularly. Laughter can change your mood, even if it starts out forced.
• I will talk with friends, even when I want to hide and withdraw.
• I will blog more. Getting my thoughts out has already helped me conquer many anxieties.

If you would like to join me on this new quest, leave me a comment, "friend me" on Facebook or follow me on Twitter. We can start a wave of positivity!

Loneliness

I feel very lonely right now. There is no rhyme or reason for it. I have friends that would love to talk with me and hang out. I have a great group of co-workers, and I have a fabulous family. But I sort of feel like I am drowning in the loneliness. I try to talk things out with people, and to journal about the irrationality of it, but it is just not going away as easily as I'd like it to.

It is so hard to talk about my feelings when I don't know anyone that is dealing with these issues.

Then again, maybe I do. Are you suffering? Do you feel alone in a room full of people?

There are some great things that have come about in the last 20 or so years. The internet has obviously changed everyone's lives. I have re-connected with people from West Elementary School, Mt. Vernon Middle and High Schools, and the Knox County JVS as well as Mt. Vernon Nazarene COLLEGE (yes I still say College ;)). Not to mention friends from Missouri and Nebraska. The internet has brought new people into my life, people that I went to school with but barely knew. These people now are some of my biggest supporters.

I think it is time to take advantage of the internet. By sharing our stories and struggles, we can lighten each others' burdens. I would love to make this blog more interactive.

I am still trying to get an appointment with a doctor to really work on this loneliness, but would love to start a dialogue with you, my readers.

If you are not following my blog or following me on Twitter, go ahead and do so! I would love to see what kind of community we can get going!

Blessings!