I came across this site and read about the You Are Beautiful Campaign

You Are Beautiful is a simple, powerful statement which is incorporated into the over absorption of mass media and lifestyles that are wrapped in consumer culture.

You Are Beautiful uses the medium of advertising and commercialization to spread a positive message.
Projects like these make a difference in the world by catching us in the midst of daily life and creating moments of positive self realization. 

Please feel free to forward this post to everyone you know. This is a powerful message. I remember many years ago learning a technique where you stand in front of the mirror and tell yourself that you are beautiful.  At first it didn’t sit with me and I didn’t believe it but I did this for a year and you know what….. IT WORKED.  Society sense a message to us  you have to be success by having money, super slim,big house, fancy stuff etc.  By doing this exercise I reprogrammed my brain to think differently.

Handling Difficult People

Let’s face it, hard as we try, none of us can avoid contact with difficult people.

Some people just seem to savor unnecessary and unhealthy conflict; they don’t seem to be happy unless they are driving those around them crazy.

Best-selling author and noted relationship expert, Dr. John Townsend, helps us better understand what makes “button pushers” act the way they do-and why they want to elicit a negative emotional and even behavioral response from us. He challenges readers to take personal responsibility and stop responding to difficult people in ways that just don’t work!
He then offers a whole new repertoire of responses, including specific guidance on body language and verbal scripts, which will allow us to confront and negotiate with “crazy-makers” on a brand new level.

Learn More and to Purchase Book Click HERE 

Safe People – Book

How to find relationships that are good for you and avoid those that aren’t.

Countless individuals have invested themselves into people who’ve shipwrecked their lives in return. They’ve been abandoned or taken advantage of, and left with little to show for what they’ve given. They’ve lost the sense of security and personal value in the process. If you’re one who has chosen the wrong people to get involved with or makes the same mistakes about relationships over and over again, then the Safe People book offers you a remedy.

Dr. Cloud and Dr. Townsend walk you through frank, soul-searching questions into active changes and practical steps for growth.

Safe People gives you solid guidance that will help you:
-Correct things within yourself that jeopardize your relational security
-Learn the twenty traits of ‘unsafe’ people
-Recognize what makes people trustworthy
-Avoid unhealthy relationships
-Form positive relationships

Safe People, Drs. Cloud and Townsend offer solid guidance for making safe choices in relationships, from friendships to romance. They help identify the nurturing people we all need in our lives, as well as ones we need to learn to avoid.

To learn more and to purchase book Click HERE

Boundaries With Kids

When to say Yes, when to say No; to help your children gain control of their lives.
Boundaries with Kids by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend, addresses the critical issues involved in learning when to say “Yes and when to say No” to help your children gain control of their lives.
For anyone in a parenting or teaching role, helping children learn responsibility is a key issue.  From temper tantrums and attitude problems, to drugs and sex, learning limits and becoming responsible is a major part of growing up.

Kids who haven’t learned these skills often struggle in:

Relationships
School
Conduct
Work
Spirituality
Morality

As any parent knows, simply telling kids to “do the right thing” isn’t enough And ‘making them mind’ is often futile. Boundaries With Kids helps grown-ups teach children how to become stewards of their lives, behavior, and values by establishing healthy boundaries with them. As parents learn to set appropriate boundaries and consequences with children, the kids begin developing:
ownership of their lives
discipline and self-control
respect for others
love and freedom

Based on some of the same biblical principles found in the best-selling Boundaries, Boundaries With Kids will help your child learn responsibility by teaching you how to:

Recognize the boundary issues underlying child behavior problems Set boundaries and appropriate consequences with kids.

Get out of the ‘nagging’ trap.

Stop controlling your child and start helping your child develop self-control.

Apply the ten laws of boundaries to parenting
Take six practical steps for implementing boundaries with your kids.

To purchase book, workbook, Cd etc. Click HERE 

I have added Cloud-Townsend to the resource section. This is a great website for self improvements.

I have read the Boundaries book that these two authors have wrote and it has done a world of good for self improvement.
In church you usually have heard the message to be nice at any price. Sometimes nice comes at too high a personal price.
In the book I learned how to identify when someone is crossing over a personal boundary I have set, and how to deal with that to send a message to that person that is not acceptable. “Teaching people how to treat you.”

Boundaries Book

When to say YES,
When to say NO; to take control of your life.

Boundaries, by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend, addresses specific issues that confront today’s Christians. Issues such as:
-Living a life out of control
-Having people take advantage of us
-Having trouble saying no
-Being disappointed with God because of unanswered prayers
and Many more vital issues

A boundary is a personal property line that marks those things for which we are responsible. In other words, boundaries define who we are and who we are not. They impact all areas of our lives:
Physical boundaries help us determine who may touch us and under what circumstances.
Mental boundaries give us the freedom to have our own thoughts and opinions.
Emotional boundaries help us deal with our own emotions and disengage from the harmful, manipulative emotions of others.
Spiritual boundaries help us to distinguish God’s will from our own and give us renewed awe for our Creator.
Having clear boundaries is essential to a healthy, balanced lifestyle, isn’t it? Often, Christians focus so much on being loving and unselfish that they forget their own limits and limitations When confronted with their lack of boundaries they ask:
-Can I set limits and still be a loving person?
-What are legitimate boundaries?
-What if someone is upset or hurt by my boundaries?
-How do I answer someone who wants my time, love, energy, or money?
-Aren’t boundaries selfish?
-Why do I feel guilty or afraid when I consider setting boundaries?

To purchase Boundaries Book, workbook, CD etc. Click HERE.

Excerpt from Boundaries Book

Aren’t Boundaries selfish?

No. Many people think that boundaries are about selfishness and are at their root, self-serving. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Boundaries are about freedom, and freedom is always meant to have, as it’s ultimate fruit, love.

I like to help others but sometimes I feel like I am being used. I have a hard time saying “no” when someone asks me to help them. What should I do?

This problem is one that many people have. Sometimes it because of pushy person who is insensitive and does not really think how their behavior is affecting you. But often, it is the miscommunication of the one who is “giving too much.” The miscommunication is this: my heart is saying “no,” but my behavior is telling you “yes.”

Regina was a sweet woman I worked with many years ago. I walked into her office one day and asked how she was doing. Immediately her eyes welled up with tears, and she began crying. At first she tried to hide it, but then she spilled her guts. She was feeling overwhelmed with the amount of work she had to do, fearing that she would never get it all done.

Although I was not her direct supervisor, I knew what her responsibilities were and it did not seem to me they were past her abilities. I could not understand why she was cracking. So, I told her that. Then she revealed more. It was not her work that was killing her; it was the work of one of her co-workers. It seemed this person was always asking her for little favors, “could you drop this project off for me?” or “can you finish these proofs for me and get them to the printer?” And being the “sweet Regina” she was, she always said “yes.”

But, while her behavior was saying yes, her heart was screaming, “leave me alone.” I have heard the same stories from single women who were having sexual relationships that they did not want to have, but were not being direct with their boyfriends. I have heard it from friends who were being drawn in to being someone’s entire support system in time of need getting burned out in the process. The contexts are different, but the issue is the same.

Are you giving more than you feel comfortable with and not telling the other person? Have you asked yourself “why?” There are several reasons people do this:

• Fear of facing conflict.
• Fear of not being liked.
• Fear of being abandoned and rejected if they do not comply with another’s wishes.
• Fear of being perceived of as “selfish” by God or others if they say “no.”
• A history of controlling relationships.

If you can identify with any of these fears, you have to address them first. But even if you get past the fear, there is still the problem of communication. Remember, the Bible does not have any problem with your saying “no,” and having a limit on what you want to give to someone. What God does have a problem with is saying “yes,” and meaning “no.” (Matthew 5:37; James 5:12) It is at that point we have lost integrity in the relationship.

The sad thing about most of these situations is that the person on the other end “just didn’t know.” They often say: “Gosh, I never knew you felt that way. Why didn’t you tell me?” If that is their reaction, then you have finished the circle of communication and they accept your limits, like a good friend should.

If they don’t accept them and begin to get angry, you have another problem. At that point it is not a communication problem, it is a problem of freedom and control. You probably need to stop giving altogether until the issue is faced.

Until then, “let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes,’ and your ‘no’ be ‘no’.” Then both of you will know what the truth is in the relationship. And, painful as it is sometimes, the truth will set you free.

I have created this section to help us with Solutions For Our Lives.  Self Help, Self Improvements.