Monday, 20 January 2014

Life is an Attitude - If you Don't Like your Life, Change your Attitude



For some, the January Blues are really here - good and proper.

It's the time of the natural down turn after all the hype and frenetic lead up to Christmas; the weather's cold,wet and dull and the next payday seems YEARS away.

This is the time of year when those who are prone to depression can experience their lowest of lows, and even some naturally cheerful souls struggle to keep their chins up.

It is human nature to have the tendency to point fingers and to heap the blame for how we're feeling onto something or someone else. How often have you heard yourself saying 'Life would be so much easier if only I just had more ...(money/time/etc)' or 'I'd be so much happier if my ..(job/partner/car/etc) wasn't so rubbish' and so on.

None of those things are MAKING us feel the way we do - we're actually doing that all by ourselves. It is us, and us alone, who are solely responsible for the way we feel. We're the ones doing the feeling - nobody else is doing the feeling for us.

So - how to change?

Here's where the change in attitude comes in. Focus on the positives - the things you HAVE got and the things you HAVE achieved. OK, so things perhaps aren't perfect and there may be room for improvement - but equally things could be far worse.

Accept yourself for who you are - be a bit more forgiving of yourself and others. None of us is perfect and the sooner we realise that, then the easier life becomes.

Praise yourself for doing the best you can at any one time. Keep your expectations more realistic and aim for 51% achievement - that's enough to start with.

Subtle changes in the way you relate to others can bring about significant changes in the way others relate to you - sometimes you have to be the bigger person and make the first move (if you don't, then you may have to wait a lifetime for other people to make the changes in themselves that you're looking for!)

Five Element Acupuncture treatment can facilitate change and support you through a period of transition. If any of the above resonates with you and you would like to work on your own changes, then please don't hesitate to contact me - www.jobanthorpe.co.uk

Monday, 6 January 2014

New Year's Resolutions: Good Idea/Bad Idea?



Well, here we are - we've made it through the silly season and into the New Year. We may have over-indulged slightly (understatement!) and are probably feeling unfit, unhealthy, fat and frumpy. And then, lo and behold, before we even realise what has happened, in a moment of emotion-fuelled, good intention and madness - there! It's been said - the dreaded NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION!

Soo - what has been your tipple this last year? Alcohol, smoking, drugs, energy drinks, junk food, cake, chocolate?

And which of these have you pledged to give up, as of the first of 2014? One week in - how's it going?

If it's all going good guns - then well done you! Way to go!

If you're starting to weaken, or have thrown in the towel already, then don't be too hard on yourself because chances are, you were probably not destined to succeed from the very outset. 

And here's why.

Consuming any of the above-mentioned tipples may have started out as being a bit of a treat, a spot of harmless indulgence. They can pick us up when we're feeling a bit down, or give us a bit of a boost when we're feeling flat. But before we know it, the harmless indulgence has become a habit - and we need more and more of the same in order to achieve anything like that original 'buzz'. Habits can be very difficult to break - and there is a fine line between a habit, an excess and an addiction - it's all down to quantity.  

If a tipple is proving difficult to give up then it may be because it is being used as a coping mechanism, serving to fill a void left empty by a very stressful, traumatic or unhappy time in life. Quitting will always fail unless we go some way to resolving the source of unhappiness or stress, and our body starts to regain a better balance. 

So we shouldn't beat ourselves up for not succeeding - we have to be in the right place emotionally for anything to stick. Five Element Acupuncture can be a very beneficial treatment regime to help reconcile emotional issues. For more information or to find out whether you might benefit from a course of treatments, then visit www.jobanthorpe.co.uk. All enquiries in strictest confidence.