Cecilia's Top Five Values

1) Family

Family is what I value most. I'm grateful for the love and support Nathan and Eliza provide. I would like to openly express my appreciation for my family more often.

2) Patience

Nathan is one of the most patient people I know. I would like to work on developing this trait, as I value it so highly. If I had more patience, I know I would be much happier at work and at home.

3) Communication

I know all relationships improve with good communication skills, whether it be a marital relationship, friendship, or even work relationship (as in your relationship with your employers/boss). I would like to be more verbal and express my opinions more often. Although this seems overwhelming sometimes, I know only good can come from honest communication.

4) Understanding / Listening

I always appreciate it when Nathan and/or my friend listen to my problems and do their best to understand my situation and where I am coming from. I would like to become the person who listens and empathizes, rather than the person who always has something to talk about. I know this would only deepen my respect and love for those who have supported and listened to me.

5) Love

I definitely value love. Sadly enough, I think of myself as less loving these days. Love is a strong, positive emotion of affection. And while I still need this in my life, I have been less giving of love. I would like to work on becoming a more positive person again in order to be capable of giving and receiving love to the fullest capacity.

Stress Free Self-Reflection

Anonymous asks...
"I know there are a lot of things I need to change about myself, but thinking about it just stresses me out, so I do everything I can to just overlook my shortcomings and pretend they’re not there. How can I get over this and start making the changes I need to make?"

Stress is a reaction to something we perceive to be negative. In most cases, if you can remove the negativity, you also remove the stress. So far, you’ve removed the negativity by just not thinking about any problems. Unfortunately, ignoring a problem doesn’t make it go away. Try some different methods to take the negativity out of your self-evaluation.

Focus on the Future
Sitting down and listing everything wrong with you, doesn’t sound like much fun.  It won’t be motivating and at the end you’ll be left to wonder if you’ve ever done ANYTHING right in your life. Instead, try writing down everything you want to be. Imagine a better you, and write down the qualities you see in your future self. Seeing yourself as this person, and believing that you can become this person will give you hope. Hope will motivate you.

Be Happy, Not Complacent
Be happy with who you are, and also be happy with who you WILL be. Enjoy the present. You already have so many strengths and talents that others wish they could have. Being happy with who you are doesn’t mean
being complacent; however. You CAN be happy with who you are while striving to be better.Don't be afraid of change. Embrace it! 

Take Small Bites
Sadly, science still hasn’t figured out a way for me to watch every episode of Seinfeld simultaneously. I have to take it one episode at a time. Thanks for nothing, Science. Similarly, we can't change every aspect of our lives at the same time. Start with one quality you would like to develop and focus your energy there. Take small bites, as in, “don’t bite off more than you can chew”.