How are your resolutions coming along? Even though we’re still hanging on to January, it can be difficult to maintain momentum at this point in the year. The routine has started again, the stresses have returned. Winter has now arrived, so we often end up just wanting to do what is comfortable and familiar.

I’m sure many of you have set goals about improving fitness and exercising more frequently. Perhaps your body is something that brings negative thoughts to mind and you want that to change. Dieting and diet related products are a forty billion dollar a year industry—this speaks loudly to the truth that you are not alone—many people want their bodies to change!

It is very easy to be critical of ourselves–especially when we’ve set goals that aren’t turning out the way we had hoped. Thoughts of “I’m failing at this too” or “I knew that I would mess up, what’s my problem” start to take over the adrenaline and motivation we were experiencing a couple of weeks ago.

I want to encourage you to re-focus. Not just by doing more, by checking off that daily workout on your to do list, but by focusing on what is going on inside of you. Allow yourself to tune in to the chatter inside of your mind. Take a moment to ask yourself if the way that you talk to yourself is helpful and encouraging—to you and to others. When we are self critical, we often become more critical of others.

Attempting to re-focus might look something like this…if a typical thought of yours in response to a recently set goal is “I knew I wouldn’t be able to do this, why am I even trying,” attempt to put the feeling that underlies that comment into a statement that is self affirming and motivating. This could include statements like “This is hard, and I am learning how to be determined.” Another example could be “The effort put into this change is helping me become a stronger person.” Getting away from self criticism can be one of the first steps at becoming successful with the goals we set for ourselves.

For more information on behavioral health issues, or to seek assistance, go to www.pinerest.org.

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This time of year, many people make resolutions to rebuild broken relationships in their lives, or to reconnect as a family.  Ryan LaRue of Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services has some thoughts on where to begin.

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Maranda talks with an expert from Pine Rest on adding a child to the family.

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When it comes to tests, many kids get nervous and have anxiety.  Maranda talked with kids to see how they feel about tests and then got input from our experts on calming those fears.

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Kids are heading back to school next week and for many families the stress is already building.  We spoke with Tom Karel of Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services and got some advice on starting the school year stress-free.

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Do you consider yourself to be creative? For a lot of people, just being asked this question brings up feelings of inadequacy. Maybe you’ve always thought of yourself as the “non creative type.” Maybe you used to have time to express your creativity but now you are busy with children, with your job, with accomplishing day to day tasks, so collapsing on the couch at 9 pm is more where it’s at for you.

 There are a lot of myths that we often associate with creativity that keep us from being creative . For one, we believe that creativity is a rare find. The truth is, research shows that everyone has creative abilities. Despite what you’ve read or have been told, scientific research shows that creativity is not located in one particular area of the brain. So, claiming that we’re “just not right brained” doesn’t cut it anymore!

 So, if we all have creative potential and abilities, what gets in the way of nurturing our creativity? The risk of social disapproval is a major deterent to creativity. We’re scared of being made fun of, of looking silly, of messing up. Nurturing our own creativity involves taking a risk and being vulnerable and also being open to making mistakes.

 One of the main ways you can access your inner creative spirit is to let go of comparing yourself to others. The comparison game doesn’t really get us anywhere. In fact, it paralyzes most of us. There have been many times when I have thought about taking risks and have been stopped dead in my tracks when thinking of someone else who took a bigger or better form of the risk I am considering…the thoughts of “I’m not good enough” start to creep in and my creativity crawls right under the covers.

 Another way of growing creativity is to challenge yourself and to broaden your exposure to new areas of interest and knowledge.

When you think about yourself as a creative person, what thoughts arise for you? What gets in the way of you nurturing your creativity? How might growth in this area be helpful for you and for your roles and relationships in your life? What is the first step you might take towards growing in this way?

For additional information on this topic and similar issues mentioned in this blog entry, check out The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown. It’s a wonderful resource! 

For more information on behavioral health issues, or to seek assistance, go to http://www.pinerest.org

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Finances are a topic that can cause families a lot of stress.  We talked with Kristin Kuipers of Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services and got some advice on ways to ease the tension this issue causes in many families.

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Many parents that I see are frustrated that their children are so selfish. Always texting. Never wanting to eat supper with the family. Yelling “me first” so often it makes your head spin. Spending excessive amounts of time in the bathroom. Wanting more clothes or more drive time. The truth is, developmentally, children are very egocentric. They think about themselves a lot, if not most of the time. Really, their worlds revolve around them.

For parents who want to nurture the value of altruism in their children, this reality can be frustrating. We want our children to desire to give to others, we don’t want to have to make them do this, which can take the joy out of giving and seems to create one more thing for us to nag about, right?

There really isn’t any magical way to create or nurture this value, but what we do know is that children learn best through consistency, role modeling, and hands on experiences. In my last blog I talked about keeping our own social networking habits in check as we model to our children what a healthy relationship with technology looks like…and it is the same with service.

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In the coming weeks many high school seniors will be heading south for spring break unsupervised.  Do you trust your teenager to go alone?

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Whether it’s with a spouse, a child or grandchild, most people are looking for ways to strengthen their family relationships.  We went to the experts at Pine Rest Christian Services to answer questions our Facebook Fans submitted.

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