Mental Health - Widower Experience (WX)

Optimist Day is celebrated on the first Thursday of February and takes place on February 1 this year. The day focuses on building and sustaining a positive future. Are you wondering how this is possible? Well, anything can be achieved as long as you stay focused and optimistic. And for me it is part of being stoic. Pessimism and optimism from the perspective of a stoic depends on our / your perception of the bigger picture – our place in the grand scheme of things. Stoicism Isn't Pessimistic. I see it as boldly optimistic. One of the most common myths or misconceptions about Stoicism is that it advocates the suppression of emotions. Critics often misinterpret Stoicism's emphasis on emotional self-control as advocating for a numb, cold or unfeeling existence. People who know me or just met me knows that I am far from suppressing emotions :-)  How do I explain Stoicism to people in my life who are not familiar with philosophy and are looking for a simple explanation?  One valuab...

Life is challenging - if it would not be challenging - I firmly believe life would be boring. I have and everyone has power over my / their mind (in most cases - and if not it's OK as well) ... but I do not and nobody has this power regarding outside events. Realise this, and you will find serenity, patience, and resilience - at least I believe so. Behaviours, beliefs, values, biases and perceptions of other people are outside the reach of our control, and as such they are things that we need to learn to accept. My understanding and learning of life is that we can’t escape these things, we can’t escape contact with people we disagree with, we can’t escape people we find rude or abrasive, all we can do is learn to accept them so that they lessen the impact on our peace of mind, while at the same time working on developing ourselves to act in a way that aligns with who we want to be. These thoughts came to my mind while I have to deal once again with lost, suizid events next to me an...

Thoughts that are "positive" are not a good way to approach life, in spite of common sense and self-help advice. Friends advise you to "hold out hope." Gurus of self-improvement advocate for "the law of attraction." My heart and soul are filled with 'Aye' and 'Nae'. Because thinking like this only breeds disappointment, despair, and anxiety. (Why, in your opinion, do most people lack productivity and low self-esteem?) Instead, I developed a life strategy that is actually much more effective for me: I began practicing stoicism without realizing it was that. This article will outline / list five essential Stoic concepts which helped me and I hope that they will help you "upgrade" your thinking and gain confidence in your ability to accomplish ´'challenges of life'. Develop mind power All humans possess the ability to think, feel, and use their minds. Thoughts give us opinions about other people, things, and ourselves. These ...

Rules of life - there are several one. But the main one for me are the three As ... A wareness         A cceptance         A ction Or in other words, getting aware, then accepting and our understanding that there is a way through any situation In my private life, in my decades as competitive sportsman, and on my jobs as craftsman, paramedic, architect or now as designer - I never call it in question that I have to be aware of, review, comprehend and perhaps dig into the circumstances, driving and influencing aspects and use my empathy. And that is even more true when it comes to self-awareness. The first step toward change is awareness. If we feel that something as it should be, can be, might be ... that we suffer, that we are not happy, or can not accept something any longer ... and I firmly believe that is true for personal life as well as professional life. I verily believe that our mental health needs this as a basement and that...

Situations that are out of our control and / or cannot be changed - are challenging - but obstinately fighting or trying to change them most often all in all causes will only causes pain and frustration. As ... surprise they are out of our control and / or cannot be changed. Letting go is not giving up - it is part of awareness and self-awareness - Letting go stands for gaining deeper understanding and acceptance of yourself - it is part of recognizing our own needs and values, and gaining insight into what really matters in life for you and as well for yours. So when we have the courage to let go of the things that cannot be changed, we open a new door for ourselves to greater happiness and growth. We learned to accept it, focus on what we could control, and create a better future for yourself. “ Patience you must have, my young Padawan, ” says Yoda once to Luke Skywalker. And I am pretty sure we all know the serenity prayer: “ God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I can...

“Patience you must have, my young Padawan,” says Yoda once to Luke Skywalker. Patience is a virtue that we often lack today. We seem to be constantly pressed, pushed for time - scampered and rushed - and when we have to wait, it drives us crazy.   But that doesn't help - it never helped, and it will not help. On the contrary, when we feel stress, we only harm ourselves.  Following you will find a few tips on how you can learn to become more patient, persistent and relaxed. Serenity and Patience With more serenity and patience, you can go through life much happier. You can deal with stress better, which can even save you from burnout in the long run and make you a happier person. What you should know: The decision whether you continue to rush through the day stressed out and being in a rage and you hit the ceiling at every opportunity is something you alone can do and you allow or not. Wouldn't you rather convert this negative energy into something positive? Serenity ...

When I tell the people - that I discovered that I am stoic - they often say: "No not you! You are not a sourpuss or grinch!". And stoics are often seen as selfish and introverted to others.  Then I tell the people that I discovered that not long ago and that stoicism has nothing to do with being grim, sober, or humorless – a suppressing of emotions and withdrawal from the world – it is, in fact, a simple and immensely practical set of ways to deal with challenges in my point of view.  I see stoicism as a way of life, and by the way there is no formally agreed definition what it means in particular and for everyone. And a number of people think that stoicism doesn’t sound a laugh a minute, you might like to read what Seneca once said, “Laughter, and a lot of it, is the right response to the things which drive us to tears.” (Lucius Annaeus Seneca, known simply as Seneca (or Seneca the Younger), was a stoic philosopher and rhetorician). Stoicism means to me living in acknowl...