Approximately seven weeks ago I met a twenty-five-year-old woman named Rachael who is bipolar and who is also dependent on alcohol and drugs.  I remember hearing that under such circumstances, a person needs to get counseling for both medical problems and that mental health problems and chemical dependency commonly occur in the same person.  What is more, I recollect hearing that a history of hazardous and abusive drinking, drug addiction, and/or mental health issues quite often take place in the same family.

Obviously, Rachael is so overwhelmed by both of her medical problems that she in effect has no ambition to complete much of anything.  What is particularly sad about this is that earlier in her life, Rachael managed to complete one-and-a-half years of college.  Rachael’s condition makes me wonder if she is an example of an individual who has to hit life’s bottom before he or she gets alcohol and drug dependency treatment that results in lasting sobriety.

The Need For a Healthcare Professional She Trusts and a Counseling Protocol She Can Believe In

If I were in communication with Rachael I could advise her about a number of websites that could possibly help her learn more about addiction and alcoholic behavior, relevant chemical dependency information, facts about alcoholism and drugs, and more information about addiction symptoms and alcoholism warning signs.  From where I stand, however, Rachael needs to locate a psychologist she trusts and a rehab regimen she can believe in and follow through over the long haul.  I could be in the wrong but it seems to make sense that Rachael more likely than not needs to accept the fact that she cannot drink in moderation or use drugs if she wants to get sober, remain sober, and start on the road to long-term recovery.

I am aware that there are more than a few newly produced doctor-prescribed medications that can help Rachael avoid a drug and an alcohol drug relapse, help her through the drug and alcohol detoxification process, and help her through her withdrawal symptoms.  Clearly it would be in Rachael’s best interests if she became familiar with these drugs.

It is apparent that Rachael needs to accept the fact that there is absolutely nothing positive about hazardous drinking and chemical dependency and that engaging in one or both situations is the path to financial difficulties, shattered relationships, poor work and school performance, legal problems, deteriorating health, and a premature death.

The Relevance of Support Groups Such as Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous

There are feasibly several persons such as family members, other people, and friends who would love to help Rachael but she more likely than not would experience greater sympathy from a support group such as Narcotics Anonymous or Alcoholics Anonymous rather than listening to individuals who drink responsibly or who have never taken drugs.

When Individuals Do Things They Love and About Which They Are Fervent

There’s a philosophical outlook that states that people who accomplish things they love and something about which they are fervent reach a fantastic place in life.  Stated more specifically, when people do what they love, they rarely if ever go through an uneventful life or boredom.  If they get involved in something that is gratifying, what is more, they become more whole and experience more happiness and delight in life.

To me, this sounds like the exact opposite of a life that is centered in drug and alcohol addiction because such a lifestyle removes the satisfaction and delight that life offers.

Because Rachael lacks the grit to succeed at doing much of anything in her life, it is evident that she badly needs a little hope for a better life.  And the unfortunate thing is that hope is all around Rachael if she could only get to the place in life to get the counseling she needs for her mental illness and drug addiction and alcoholism and stick with her treatment protocol.

A Wonderful Life, Self Respect, and Beneficial Change Are Possibilities

Rachael is clearly too young to be defeated in life.  She doesn’t understand this at this time in her life but if she can learn how to refrain from drugs and alcohol through alcohol and drug rehab and get the counseling she needs for her manic depression issue, she can reorient her life and start living with self-respect, passion, and direction.

Productive change, self esteem, and a wonderful life are certainly a reality for Rachael if only she could get motivated to get the medical treatment she needs, follow through with her treatment regimen, live her life in a drug and alcohol-free and healthy manner, and acquire a more positive attitude about her life.

It took many years but Emily at long last decided that she had it with her husband’s negative drinking. She was sick of seeing Barry come home in the early hours of the morning from drinking rather than spending time with her and their three daughters. She was also fed up from the DWI Barry recently got. Moreover she was weary from generating excuses for her spouse when he couldn’t make it to work due to his problems with drinking. In a similar manner she was nervous about the fact that their relationship was going downhill due to Barry’s excessive and careless drinking. And finally she was sick and tired of the uncertain financial quandary into which he had placed his family because of his hazardous and careless drinking behavior.

When Hazardous and Excessive Drinking Inspires a Person to do Something Helpful About an Individual’s Problem Drinking

One Tuesday afternoon when Emily was pondering what she could do about her husband’s abusive and unhealthy drinking, she got to the point that she honestly had to do something positive to cut into the negative cycle of Barry’s abusive and hazardous drinking behavior.

So she looked on the Internet under “alcohol treatment” and discovered scores of treatment centers that were all located less than 35 miles away from where she and her husband resided.

Since she didn’t know a great deal about these rehab centers, she finally decided to call some of them and ask some important questions.  When she called each treatment center she introduced herself and said that her husband was exhibiting excessive and hazardous drinking behavior. She also mentioned that her husband had a quality health insurance program at work and that residential or outpatient alcohol treatment would be covered if a health care practitioner in the company health plan authorized the rehab.

At one rehab facility, Emily was astonished that she was able to converse directly with a physician who suggested that she come to the treatment clinic to describe her husband’s careless and excessive drinking behavior in much greater detail.

Emily Talks to a Therapist About Her Husband’s Hazardous and Irresponsible Drinking

When Emily got to the rehab center, she filled out some required forms and then after around five or ten minutes got to see a psychologist.

After listening to Emily describe her husband’s negative drinking, the counselor in a compassionate but resolute way explained to Emily how she probably adding to her spouse’s excessive and careless drinking through the years by justifying his behavior instead of letting him experience the outcomes of his abusive and unhealthy drinking behavior.

Emily Learns That She Has Been Enabling Her Husband’s Abusive and Hazardous Drinking

Stated somewhat more forcefully, the therapist stated to Emily that she may have been inadvertently enabling Barry’s careless and excessive drinking behavior. The physician also highlighted the fact that even though Emily would not be able to control Barry’s behavior, with the encouragement and guidance of the treatment team at the healthcare clinic she would not only be able to learn how to refrain from contributing to Barry’s excessive and careless drinking but she would also be able to learn how to motivate him to make an appointment at the treatment clinic so that he could discuss his careless and hazardous drinking behavior with a physician.

Fortunately after Emily mentioned this to Barry, and he saw that she was serious, Barry told her that he had been quite disturbed by his excessive and hazardous drinking behavior and that he was somewhat relieved to realize that Emily wanted to do something helpful about his hazardous and excessive drinking behavior. Consequently, he scheduled an appointment to see a physician at the local alcohol rehab center.

Barry Agrees to See a Healthcare Practitioner About His Careless and Excessive Drinking

While simply calling a rehab center does not guarantee that a person’s harmful drinking behavior will end or that one’s warning signs of alcoholism or the alcohol abuse signs one exhibits will simply vanish, scheduling an appointment is clearly an indispensable feature in the treatment process. And since Barry was serious about getting treatment for his unhealthy and abusive drinking, the likelihood of a successful recovery was substantially increased.

The fear of flying is one fear that almost everyone who has flown has experienced to some degree.For a large number, it is no more than an annoyance; perhaps disagreeable but nothing too troubling. 

Others, however, experience physical and mental symptoms that can range from simply “tense” to “outright panic”.There are a number of useful treatments for the fear of flying.What will work for you will probably depend on where you are on that scale. 

Fear of flying symptoms often have real life causes that, if identified, may help a person with mild fear of flying overcome their anxiety.  What often happens is a person encounters a symptom, and assuming it is caused by fear of flying, they get more and more upset until major panic sets in.  If they can recognize that pattern early on, they can stop the cycle in its tracks and overcome their mild fear of flying. 

For example, unstable air pressure in the aircraft cabin often results in inner ear problems.Inner ear problems can result in a wide variety of unpleasant symptoms, including nausea, tingly ears and skin, dizziness and loss of orientation.These are the same symptoms that occur when a person is anxious, and if they don’t recognize the source of the symptoms they may psyche themselves out and accelerate their fear beyond a normal level. 

Additionally, spending long periods in the tight seats in an airplane cabin can cause muscular pain, joint pain, and tingling from lack of blood flow.  These too are all symptoms often experienced during panic or severe anxiety attacks.  Therefore, the passenger who feels these symptoms may misdiagnose a mere physical reaction to small seating quarters as a fear of flying. 

Clearly, there are those whose fear of flying is more significant than the mild fear described here.  For those folks, mere recognition that the physical symptoms could be coming from other sources than the fear of flying may not be enough.   But for some, this awareness is the first line of defense in combating their fears for good. 

To learn more about the fear of flying visit here to receive a free twelve part audio tutorial that will share simple, effective techniques and facts to conquer your anxieties and get rid of your chronic fear of flying. 

Do you possess low self-confidence? Is it actually restricting your from fulfilling your full potential? Do you frustrate yourself when you don’t feel like you can really go for it? If so then here are seven top tips for boosting your self-confidence whenever and where ever you may be. Here they are:

Regardless of your current feelings view yourself in your minds eye in the situation you wish to be in. If you are nervous and anxious about beginning a new job then visualise yourself entering into the office on that first day with confidence walking upright with a good positive posture. If you are pursuing success on the sports pitch then see yourself in your minds eye playing the match precisely as you want it to go. Before the game why not visualise making that big tackle, dribbling around that player or scoring the winning goal. Doing so really helps build your self-confidence as you can actually see yourself getting the required results and it is a very easy positive thinking technique.

If as will happen from time to time a negative thoughts gets into your mind and starts to pull you down, then consciously release the thought, let it go. You can perform this by letting go of the last thought and simply focus on the next more positive thought or you can carry a picture around with you of something that gives you positive thoughts and feelings like a picture of you on holiday with your family.

If you are experiencing difficulties then rather than focussing on the difficulty itself switch your focus on to the helpful tools and positve possibilities that you do have at your disposal. Make a list of the positive assets that you have going for you however small you may deem them to be and bear in mind that: ‘If you think you can, you can’

Get a grip of yourself. Through our own fear and worry it is easy to build up a problem into much more than it really is. You may find it helpful to physically write the problem down, doing so can sometimes aid you to put it into perspective and take away a lot of the anxiousness straight away.

many people find it very helpful to learn a few affirmations that they can run through their minds and say to themselves when they are struggling for confidence. Repeating affirmations focussing on what the words mean and not just mindlessly repeating them can help inject positivity into your actions immediately and start to trigger the effect of the law of attraction.

Give yourself more credit than you previously did, you are more capable than you even know. Take a look now and assess your strong points, your skills and abilities. Once you have done this then add another 20% onto what you previously thought you were capable of for we all know that the whole is greater than the sum of its individual parts, why ought this then to be any different for you or I?

If you have any belief in a higher power, God, or whomever relax and remember that their love is surrounding you, guiding you and providing you with opportunities which ever way you look. Allow the power and feeling of security to flow through you and feel it build up inside you and raise your self-confidence.

So, there you have seven quick power of positive thinking tips to boost your self-confidence. If you want to be a confident positive person both now and in the future then try and adopt the above guidelines into your daily routine and make them habitual. Please bear in mind that there area also many personal development products that can help you greatly with this also.

There are times when we all face our share of hurdles and get demotivated. The list below is a reminder of some easy, but impactful things we can do to overcome our barriers.

1. Embody who you want to be right away – don’t try, just be.

This is where most people stunt their personal growth. I’m not saying don’t try or work at anything. I’m only referring to the mindset.

Now the mindset people often have is that to be someone or achieve something, they must first try and work hard at it and only then will they be who they want to be.

Let me give you an example. Say you want to quit smoking. Instead of telling people and especially yourself that you are trying to quit smoking, just say, “I’m a non-smoker.” Do it immediately.  Don’t wait around “trying” and then say that you are a non-smoker. You want to embody and internalize the change and the faster you do it the faster your growth will be.

So instead of telling people you’re going to try and meditate everyday, say, “I practice meditation everyday.”

2. Read, read, read – keep an open heart and mind

Well, you don’t have to just read. But watch videos, listen to audios, attend seminars, visit workshops. What I’m saying is that one of the keys to personal growth is education and keeping your mind open to all possibilities.

You won’t hit your unifying life philosophy the first time round but if you keep at it and open your mind and heart to all the research and ideas that are whirling about us, you will eventually find where you belong and what works for you.

“In addition to reading ten pages a day of a motivational or inspirational book…listen to a self-improvement CD for at least 15 minutes every day… If you spend that time listening to educational and self-improvement material, you’ll have the equivalent of a Ph.D. on any subject you choose in just a few years. That’s the Slight Edge.” ~Jeff Olson, author of “The Slight Edge: Secret to a Successful Life”

Be patient and persevere. Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither will your enlightenment.

3. Be grateful – appreciate what you have

This is one critical aspect thing that most people ignore. In all the rush to develop, grow, and increase self-awareness, many people often leave behind one of the most important things in life and learning. And that's real gratitude.

Gratitude gives you perspective. The mental attitude of gratitude draws the mind into closer touch with the source from which the blessings come. It is a powerful tool and will boost your happiness levels.

Just the act of expressing gratitude daily can increase your happiness by 25%.

4. Leave time to self reflect – recuperation time

In this crazy world of information overload it can be hard to disseminate all the data coming in. Like I said earlier, one should do everything to open their hearts and minds to all the ideas in the realm of personal development. But having said that, you need to take some time and self reflect.

This is where the true self-discovery happens. This is where you find who you are. Use meditation, visualizations, or even just quiet contemplation. Your brain is an amazing and wonderful tool. It will piece together everything you’ve ever learnt from before you could remember to right now.

I strongly suggest meditating to let your brain work itself out. You don’t want to overload yourself with data. Like a runner who sprints for 3 minutes and rests for 9, you must do the same.

5. Discipline – make personal growth a habit.

Personal development like running a business or completing a PhD requires discipline, perseverance, and patience. I know I sound a bit like a mother right now but discipline will become your best friend.

Personal growth may come with the image of carefree hippies frolicking in a field of daisies but it couldn’t be farther from the truth. Although daisy-field frolicking is fun.

Personal growth comes with reshaping your mindset, creating new habits, resetting your routine, and changing your perspective.

You cannot do all that without those 3 annoying syllables: discipline.

So create a new habit. For example, tell yourself, “I will meditate every morning for 15 minutes at 8 AM.” Now do it. Everyday. Or read for 30 minutes every evening on personal growth.