The most recent major historical event I remember is the COVID 19 pandemic. Before that it was several protests that turned riotous after several “police brutality” cases that resulted in the perpetrators being found “not guilty” or given lesser charges as punishment for the crimes that were committed.
Before that, there was a major earthquake that caused a few hundred deaths. A couple of major floods that caused some more deaths… I’m beginning to think that all of the historical events that I remember resulted in a multitude of deaths. There was 9/11, when the World Trade Center collapsed resulting in thousands of death.
Before this, I remember the Berlin wall coming down. Everything else in between these are a blur, or there were so many major events occurring that I barely noticed or was unaware, or was too busy to pay attention. I truly don’t understand the purpose of reminiscing on major events while we are presently making history with current major events happening daily, these will be historical events tomorrow.
In conclusion, everything we’re doing today, will be history tomorrow. Whether we remember them and learn from any mistakes of the past is the question. It has been said throughout the ages that “Those who do not learn from the past, are doomed to repeat it.” …Or something like that so I have heard.
“Henceforth is Life” (2023) Creative Emphasis Art by Linda Dawkins
Top Five Tips To Boost Your Confidence
Confidence is the foundation for all other aspects of our lives. It helps us to make decisions, overcome challenges, cope with stress, and deal effectively with others. It also gives us the courage to take risks, face fears, and be bold in pursuing what matters most to us.
If your confidence is knocked, getting it back can be a real challenge – but this is a very important journey to embark upon. To help, we have put together five tips to help you regain your lost confidence, and get back to living your best ever life.
Be Kind To Yourself
It’s easy to fall into a negative mindset when things aren’t going well. You may start thinking that you are not good enough or that no one will like you – and this is where self-doubt creeps in. But if you want to boost your confidence, then don’t let these thoughts hold you back.
Transform your mindset to focus on your achievements and successes, and take some time to count your blessings and good fortunes.
Take Time For Self Care
We often forget to look after ourselves as we rush from one thing to another. This means that we end up feeling exhausted and stressed out, which only makes us more likely to feel low in confidence. So take time out for yourself every day.
Whether it’s having a bath, reading a book, meditating, or just spending quality time with friends and family, doing something nice for yourself will give you an immediate lift. Just make sure it is something that makes you feel great.
Get Rid Of Negative People And Thoughts
Negative people and thoughts can really knock your confidence down, and it is important to reframe the way that you see and experience these interactions.
If someone criticizes you, they are probably trying to protect themselves by making you feel bad about yourself. They might be jealous of you, or they could even be insecure about their own situation.
Instead of focusing on how a negative person made you feel, think about how you can use this interaction to improve yourself and your own life.
Focus On What You Can Control
When you are feeling low in confidence, it is tempting to blame everything around you. We tend to believe that there must be something wrong with us because of the circumstances we find ourselves in.
The truth is that we cannot control everything that happens to us. Instead of blaming others, we need to learn to accept responsibility for our actions and reactions.
Make a list of all of the things that are worrying you, and then cross out all of those that are totally out of your control. Take the ones that are remaining, and consider one thing that you can fix about each of them. This will help you feel more in control.
Make Sure You Look Good
If you look good, you will feel good. So go ahead and spend some time looking after yourself.
Figure out which clothes, looks, hairstyles, and make-up trends look good on you. Spend time getting dressed, applying makeup, and doing your hair. Then smile at yourself in the mirror and tell yourself that you look fantastic.
Final Thoughts
Boosting your confidence doesn’t have to be hard work. Taking the time to implement these simple steps into your daily life will make a huge difference to your confidence levels.
Life is filled with ups and downs that are sometimes overwhelming. Focusing my energy on things that I have some control over keeps me sane and brings me mental clarity.
Creative Emphasis Art by Linda Dawkins
When I seek opportunities that end up eluding me, I avoid feeling disappointed. I remind myself that doing my best is good enough. I choose to focus on the positive experiences I gain along the way.
I am able to control my reaction to difficult experiences. When I respond in a positive fashion, I usually get the best results, regardless of the situation.
Creative Emphasis Art by Linda Dawkins
I have control over my own actions, so I spend energy on being the best I can be. I have a lot of confidence in myself. I am proud to show my strengths to others despite how they feel about me.
Another person’s impression of me is their concern and has little impact on my impression of myself.
I am guided by principles that enrich my life and take pride in the person I am today. It feels good to like myself through and through.
Practicing “Once Upon A Lowly Stable” Children’s Songbook Hymn, (it’s the only song I’ve learned to play to the end on a guitar, while waiting for paint to dry.
Everyday, I avoid putting a burden upon my heart with things outside of my control. I choose to live a life free of anxiety and worry. Life is positive and rich when I channel my attention to the things that I can make an impact on.
The final result in this project is that when it comes to a discrepancy in which water is the foe, apparently the water wins. Creative Emphasis Art by Linda Dawkins
Self-Reflection Questions:
How would your life change if you focused on those things you have some control over?
How do you respond when you are bombarded with challenges?
What are some techniques you use to maintain a calm spirit?
“Unfinished”… Creative Emphasis Art by Lind Dawkins
Which Task First? A Practical Process to Get More Done
This is one of the biggest questions facing anyone that is facing a long to-do list: which task should you complete first?
For most of us, a typical working day – or even a typical weekend of chores – is going to involve a number of different tasks, each of which will challenge us in unique ways.
We might have a few big jobs to complete which may include things like filling out spreadsheets, clearing an inbox, tidying a room, or reading a book.
On top of this, we might also have a bunch of smaller tasks, which can include such things as:
Answering emails
Making calls
Fixing errors from yesterday
Taking out the trash
As well as varying in size though, these tasks will likely also vary in terms of importance and urgency.
Faced with such a huge list of tasks, it can sometimes be hard to know where to begin. And this indecision can lead to options paralysis – basically preventing us from doing anything even moderately useful.
So, how do you prioritize and approach such a list?
Urgent versus Important
One thing to consider, and this is an idea that is popularized by Tim Ferriss, is which of your tasks are important versus which are urgent.
Important tasks need to get done, yes. But urgent tasks need to be done sooner.
So, an urgent task in this case might mean responding to an email regarding a decision that needs to be made in the next hour. An important task might be reaching out to a potentially lucrative new client.
Tasks that are urgent and important are the ones that should be completed first.
But after that, you should give priority to your urgent tasks.
And of course, once you’ve completed the important tasks next, you can then go on to look at your frivolous tasks.
Close Open Loops
Another tip that Tim Ferriss advocates is to “close open loops.”
What does this mean?
Essentially, it means ticking off those small unnecessary tasks at the start of the day that are going to nag at you.
Some jobs are quick and easy to complete, like responding to emails. However, they can nevertheless cause us anxiety and make us stressed. This, then, actually ends up stealing our attention away from the more important tasks that require more attention and focus.
Closing open loops helps you to stay fixated on the most important tasks – and that is crucial.
Zombie Mode
Finally, consider that at two points during the day, you are likely to be in what is referred to as “zombie mode.” Zombie mode occurs first thing in the morning (before that coffee kicks in) and at the end of the day.
With lowered mental faculties at this point, it becomes more appropriate for you to complete tasks that require less focus. Zombie mode tasks include things like responding to simple emails, entering non-critical data, and stuffing envelopes.
A zombie-mode task is anything that you could complete while holding a conversation.
Schedule these for the times when you aren’t firing on all cylinders.
Leaving Things Unfinished
Finally, once you get to the end of the day, start tomorrow’s most urgent task but don’t finish it.
Why? Because it creates a new open loop. But this time the open loop is a positive thing. That’s because we have a natural inclination and urge to want to finish tasks that we’ve already started. So, if you begin the next project, it will be that much easier to pick it up again tomorrow. In fact, it will be hard not to!
Use this process each day at work and each time you have a long to-do list. You’ll enjoy less
As a kid, Oscar the owl spent much of his time hanging out with older owls observing how they did things. He gained a lot of wisdom that way. One day, his vigilance came in handy when he needed to take quick action to save his family…
“You’re so boring, Oscar!” his best friend Lester commented one day. “Why don’t you come and fly around with us?”
But Oscar never took his friends’ criticisms to heart. He knew that pretty soon, he’d be old enough to have to rely on the wisdom he’d been gaining from the old folks.
His favorite lesson was how to keep watch at night for predators.
While everyone was relaxing at home one night, he went to meet the senior owls who were on nightwatch. “I want to learn as much from you guys as I can,” said Oscar. “Pretty soon, I’ll be the one in charge of protecting my family.”
He had a good night of observation training with the senior owls and was on his way home when he noticed that something wasn’t right.
He put his lessons in vigilance to use and identified a cat lurking in the shadows of his family’s home.
Without a second thought, Oscar released a loud alarm call that got the attention of the senior owls on duty. “Sounds like the alarm is coming from near Oscar’s home,” announced one of the owls. And with that, they rushed to the location and scared the cat away.
“That was quick thinking, Oscar,” remarked one of the senior owls. “You bravely put your training to good use and protected your family from danger.”
Oscar felt proud that his lessons in vigilance paid off.
Moral of the story: When wisdom guides your actions, it is easy to sense when danger is near.
The Wise Young Owl Self-Reflection
There was a lot that Oscar liked about being a kid. But something told him that there was value in gaining wisdom from senior owls in the community. He believed that sooner or later, he would have to call on the lessons learned.
As he sensed, a potentially dangerous situation arose involving his family, and he used what he learned to keep them out of harm’s way.
Like Oscar, it isn’t always easy to tell when quick thinking is required. Sure it’s nice to have carefree days, but preparation for the unexpected is also important.
Wisdom comes from various sources that you encounter each day. From parents’ advice to experiences you have on the train, there are always lessons from which to develop your own wisdom.
One wise piece of advice is to remain vigilant at all times, even when you feel comfortable in your environment.
When things are going smoothly, it’s easy to let down your guard and openly trust what’s around you. But sometimes danger lurks where you least expect it. Keeping in touch with your instincts is the way to identify when something isn’t right.
Just like in the fable, the lessons you learn come in handy when you need them!
Just as you dedicate some of your time to enjoying your life, reserve some time for lessons in wisdom also. They’re there to guide you through those times when your instinct is needed to overcome a worrying challenge.
“The Young Wise Owl” Creative Emphasis Art by Linda Dawkins
Self-Reflection Questions:
What are my primary sources of wisdom?
What are some of the lessons I learn from spending time with older people?
Life has probably thrown you a curveball or two along the way. You’ve likely had times when you felt unsettled by past events or things to come. That amount of discomfort can lead to inner turmoil.
It’s completely natural to be affected by what’s going on around you.
However, it’s possible to separate how you feel about something from your inner calmness and peace. The minute you start letting emotions take constant hold of your soul, life suddenly becomes chaotic.
When emotions constantly dominate a person’s inner landscape, life can certainly become a little more chaotic because emotions often fluctuate and that can be intense. Most likely leading to impulsive actions, clouded judgment, and heightened stress levels.
However, individuals can cultivate the ability to separate their emotional responses from their inner calmness and peace through practices such as mindfulness, emotional regulation techniques, and self-awareness.
By acknowledging and understanding their emotions without being controlled by them, individuals can maintain a sense of equilibrium and make more reasoned decisions, even in the face of challenging circumstances. This separation allows for greater resilience and adaptability in navigating life’s ups and downs.
The key is to learn what it means to find true inner peace.
You can experience the joy of inner peace by following these simple guidelines:
Accept your limitations. As much as you sometimes feel the urge to give everything you have to pacify a situation, there may very well be some things that are beyond your ability to resolve.
Learn to accept what you can and cannot change. It’s okay to not know all the answers!
Keep your conscience clear. Nobody promised that life would be a bed of roses. But as long as you act according to what your conscience dictates, you can hold your head high and be proud of your actions!
The heaviness that you sometimes carry around with you is really unnecessary, especially when you know you haven’t purposely wronged anyone.
Exhibit kindness. Try this and take note of the outcome. Before every interaction with another person, remind yourself to be kind. At the end of the day, you’ll be surprised at how much more peaceful you’ll feel!
The basic courtesies like “Please” and “Thank you” really do go a long way! Spend more time using those terms and see how at ease it makes you feel.
Appreciate your blessings. Unfortunately in life, some desired achievements may elude you. At times like these, take a moment to look at what you’ve actually attained and received. The extent of those blessings might surprise you!
The saying, “The grass is greener on the other side” is usually true, but everything isn’t always as it seems. Instead of bemoaning what you haven’t achieved, consider what you already have. Doing this helps you feel more content with your life.
Creative Emphasis Art by Linda Dawkins entitled “Is The Grass Really Green?”
In a nutshell, true inner peace comes from being sincerely happy with who you are and what you have. Remember that there are always people who yearn for what you have. That should be enough to tell you that you have a lot! Contentment is the key to true inner peace.
No matter how confident we may feel, there are moments when we start to doubt our abilities. They can be fleeting moments, but they happen all the same, and they can both damage our mental health and our self-esteem.
Sometimes, we just need to take a moment to address these feelings of self-doubt and try to deal with them before they make us feel bad.
Let’s take a look at a few simple ways you can kick self-doubt out of your mind and get on being your usual positive and productive self!
Although I completed my first commission, I felt it necessary to have one of that particular design for myself, to hang on my wall. So I sketched another design on an 11×14 canvas. The design is similar to the king sized project that I finished earlier this week. Except that there are two adjustments I made in the design.I added two extra palm trees and tried to get a furnace in there. I was doubtful that I would be able to create it as close to the original as possible. Nevertheless, I tried.
5 Ways To Overcome Self-Doubt
Here’s where I ‘actually’ started seeing what I sketched out.
Remind yourself of your goals. Next time you feel a little bit low and lack confidence, take a look at one of your projects or a goal that you have set.
Consider the short-term impact of your goal, the mid-term impact, and then the final result.
By breaking down your goals, you can take a moment to look at what you have achieved and what you are continuing to achieve.
If you see real, tangible progress, you will be less likely to doubt yourself and more likely to push toward the next opportunity.
Make a list of your achievements. Lists are healthy because they allow our brains to organize and condense our thoughts, rather than getting muddled and spiraling around in our heads.
Sit down and grab a warm beverage if you’d like. Write down everything you are proud of. Be specific, or be generic, it’s entirely up to you.
Your achievements can be significant ones or small wins that allow you to take control and smile.
Even if one of them is getting out of bed, it’s an achievement, all the same, so make sure you write it down.
This can remind you of your self-worth and just what you are capable of!
Do something you love. If you are having moments of self-doubt, take yourself shopping, or to the theater, or an art gallery, and revisit a passion of yours.
By allowing yourself to explore your interests, you can remove self-doubt. You’ll appreciate that you are knowledgeable about something.
By recognizing that you have interests, you’ll generate some enthusiasm, revitalize some passion, and realize that you are an interesting and valuable person to be around.
Ask yourself why you are feeling self-doubt. Give yourself a good talking to. Sit down and consider what it is that you’re feeling doubt about.
Which part of your personality or which part of your life is causing you to feel this self-doubt?
By writing it down, you can then offer yourself solutions. Suddenly, problems can become fixable goals to work toward.
Surround yourself with supportive people. If you’re feeling a lot of self-doubt, surround yourself with friends and family to remind you how much you are loved, and how people value you.
Remember, your friends and family take time out of their schedule when they visit you, so remind yourself that they must appreciate you and recognize your worth.
Just recognizing the friends and family you have will make you appreciate your support network and, hopefully, make you feel wanted.
Self-doubt is very common. But it doesn’t have to overcome you. All you have to do is remind yourself that you deserve happiness, success, and inner peace!
“If you don’t at first succeed, try, try again… because the third time really is the charm,”
I didn’t know whether or not to add color to the bottom… This is where I quit… If I find that it needs any adjustments, I’ll make them. But for now, this is going on my wall.
If you enjoyed this read and have any suggestions or requests, please feel free to leave a comment below, I’ll do my best to respond to your messages and give you recognition for your suggestions!
Linda Dawkins Artist, Author
Thank you very much!
Creative Emphasis Art, which is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Smiling might be one of the most underrated things in life. It might not seem like it, but a smile can influence our mood. Most of us have had someone tell us to smile more often.
Smiling triggers the release of endorphins, neurotransmitters that act as natural painkillers and mood elevators, leading to a sense of well-being and relaxation.
Additionally, smiling can reduce levels of stress hormones like cortisol, which can help lower blood pressure and improve heart health.
Furthermore, smiling is contagious and can improve social interactions, fostering better connections and relationships with others. Overall, smiling more can contribute to a healthier and happier life.
Smiling has been related to many positive things and influences our outlook on life. So, if you are looking for ways to grow, consider smiling. Something simple can help improve your life directly or indirectly.
**Here are four reasons that you should smile more often: **
It will improve your mood. When you smile, your mood isimmediately improved, and you feel lighter and happier, even if it is for a moment. Try it and enjoy the feeling!
When your mood is improved, it affects everything you do. You seemmore positive, and it also helps to ease a tense situation. It can also influence those around you to smile.
**Remember to think about positive memories and smile whenever youfeel sad,** then see how that suddenly improves your mood.
It helps reduce stress. When you smile more, you releasehormones called endorphins. The release of endorphins helps manage stress effectively and prevents pertinent health issues like heart attacks, strokes, and more.
Smiling makes you feel good. **When you feel good physically, youare likely to feel better mentally.** The impact of smiling is like going for a good workout, taking a run, swimming, or spending some time in the sun.
Avoid situations and people who only make you stressed, but if youfeel sad, smile; it’s free and easy to do!
It helps you focus. Stress makes concentrating difficult, and wenow know smiling helps lift our mood. When you reduce your stress, you increase your chances of focusing on the task.
**Smiling increases the combination of dopamine and serotonin, whichimproves your overall mental health.**
For instance, If you find it hard to focus on work, try watchingsomething funny or listening to a song that makes you smile and then go back to work. You’ll see an immediate improvement.
It improves your immune system. Studies have shown that peoplewho smile or laugh often have more white blood cells than people who don’t smile and often. Hormones like dopamine work to activate the immune system and increase the production of antibodies and other illness-killing cells.
**Our immune system works more efficiently when we are in a goodmood.** This means they are stronger as a result. So ultimately, a happy person is a healthy person.
If you want to improve your health by boosting your immune system,try smiling more and engaging in activities that only serve you well.
Remember, smiling is free, and you can do it anywhere. It’s a ticket to improving your life and mental health. So, if you haven’t smiled today, try smiling right now! Smiling cheers you and those around you up and can improve your day.
Do you know your life’s purpose? Most people don’t. In fact, few people have even considered it. That’s a shame, because knowing your life’s purpose makes life more exciting and satisfying.
Imagine being excited to live each day! Most people dread getting up and spend the week waiting for the weekend.
Determining your life’s purpose is worthy of your time and consideration!
Consider these ideas:
It’s easier to plan your day. Most people spend their day trying to figure out what to do. When you don’t have a clear objective and purpose, it’s easy to become lost. What are you attempting to achieve each day?
It’s easier to resist distractions. Your life’s purpose is something that’s compelling to you. Distractions are hard to resist when your life feels meaningless, or you feel bored. Your ability to focus is enhanced when you know your purpose.
It’s easier to make decisions. Your purpose is the overriding consideration in your life. Decisions are much easier to make when you clearly understand what you’re trying to accomplish.
For example, if your purpose is to be a world-class marathoner, the right diet choices become much clearer. You also know that getting to bed on time each night is more important than running around all night with your friends.
Fun. For most people, a fun activity is just something done for distraction. It’s not something you would want to do all day, every day. Riding a rollercoaster is fun, but you wouldn’t want to do it for eight hours every day. Eating ice cream is fun, but it’s not enjoyable to eat five times a day.
When you know your purpose, the activities associated with that purpose can be “fun.” You know you’re living the life you’re supposed to live. That’s the ultimate source of fun. Imagine having fun at your work!Contentment. You feel content when you know and live your purpose. The nagging feeling that you should be doing something else with your life dissipates. Contentment is what remains. This is the emotion that most people crave, even if they don’t realize it.
Enthusiasm. You feel much more motivated. You feel less internal resistance. Knowing your purpose unleashes your enthusiasm. In fact, enthusiasm is one clue that you’re living your purpose. Are you enthusiastic about going to your job each day?
You make meaningful progress in your life. Happiness is largely the result of making progress toward meaningful goals. You have a much better chance of being happy when you’re aware of your life’s purpose.
Do you have goals? If not, why? If you do have goals, how do you feel when you’re making progress toward them?
You become more interesting to others. Have you ever known someone that was clear on what they wanted from their life? It’s exciting to be around someone like that. You become much more interesting and magnetic when your life has a clear direction. Your social life improves in many ways.
Your creativity is fully utilized. Pursuing anything meaningful will involve overcoming obstacles. When you’re fully energized, your creativity can operate at full power. You’re surprised by your ability to solve problems.
The world is full of people aimlessly drifting through life without a purpose. Most people have never taken the time to consider what they want their life to be about. This is a huge mistake, because there are so many benefits to knowing and living your life’s purpose
If you don’t know your life’s purpose, stop everything you’re doing and give it some serious thought. You only have one life to live!
Who doesn’t love a story with a successful hero? Heroes have been around since the beginning of time, in real life and within stories.
What if you could be the hero in your story? What if you simply adopted the mindset of being a hero? Your life might get a whole lot more fun and exciting. This is easier to do than you might think.
Imagine a brave and intelligent character faced with your challenges. What would such a character do in your situation? What are the logical first steps to solving your challenges and creating an adventure for yourself?
List the thoughts, mindset, and behavior of a hero in your situation. Imagine the perfect hero for living your life. What would they think? How would they behave? What skills would they have?
Ignore your past failures. We’re talking about the hero version of yourself, not yourself at your most vulnerable, least successful, or least resourceful. We’re talking about right now. The past has no place in the mind of a hero. Leave the past behind.
List things you won’t tolerate from yourself. Would a hero sit on the couch, eat a bag of chips, and watch the entire Breaking Bad series for the third time? Would he feel sorry for himself? Would he procrastinate? What are the thoughts, habits, and other behaviors that you need to eliminate from your life to become the hero of your story?
Visualize yourself being the hero in your story. Take a look at the first steps you need to take. Imagine yourself taking them. See yourself thinking and behaving like a hero. Get used to the idea of being heroic.
Let go of your ego. A big part of your ego’s job is to keep you where you are. It’s all based on consistency and fear. Allow yourself to think the thoughts you need to think and to do the things you need to do. Free yourself from the concern of what others think. You can be much more than you’ve been demonstrating recently.
Thinking of your life as a story is liberating. It makes it a little less personal and a little more like a challenge to conquer. It creates a little distance, which is helpful. It allows you to better see the truth of the situation and to make better decisions.
Be active. Heroes don’t sit around waiting for things to happen. They make things happen. The average person is passive, so stop being passive. Take control of the situation and of your story. What can you do right now to get started? Just do it.
Heroes don’t accept mediocrity. One of the greatest causes of misery in first-world countries is settling for mediocrity. The average person knows in his heart that he could be much more, but he can’t quite get himself to do it. It’s a tragedy that only becomes more painful as one ages.
Refuse to accept mediocre goals, effort, and results from yourself. Raising your standards is a necessary first step for enhancing any part of your life. You get what you’re willing to tolerate.
There is no one rushing to save you from your circumstances. Your salvation ultimately lies with yourself. Few people develop themselves fully and live their lives to the fullest.
Be courageous and willing to pay the price that life is asking of you. You can have anything you want if you’re willing to step up your game. Rise up from the ashes and be the hero of your story.
Like this…
Title: The Brave Explorer
Once upon a time, there lived a young adventurer named Alex. Alex had always dreamt of exploring the mysterious forest beyond the village where they lived. However, tales of wild beasts and treacherous terrain kept most villagers away.
Despite the warnings, Alex’s curiosity burned bright. One sunny morning, with a heart full of courage, Alex set out into the unknown forest. The dense foliage enveloped them, but Alex pressed on, guided by the thrill of discovery.
As Alex journeyed deeper into the forest, he encountered challenges at every turn. Yet, with determination and ingenuity, he overcame each obstacle, learning valuable lessons along the way.
Hours passed, and the sun began to set, casting long shadows across the forest floor. Just as doubt began to creep in, Alex stumbled upon a hidden clearing bathed in golden light. At its center stood a majestic waterfall, its cascading waters a symphony of nature’s beauty.
Overwhelmed with awe, Alex realized that the real treasure of his journey was not the destination but the journey itself—the courage to pursue dreams, the resilience to overcome challenges, and the joy of discovery was all it was all about.
With a heart full of gratitude, Alex returned home, eager to share his tale with the villagers. His bravery inspired others to embrace adventure and explore the world beyond their doorstep.
And so, Alex’s journey became a legend—a testament to the power of courage, perseverance, and the boundless possibilities that await those who dare to dream and take the first step into the unknown.
Creative Emphasis Art 