Tell the world that you are beautiful.

    

Yesterday I saw the newest Dove’s campaign video Choose Beautiful. The video was shot in San Francisco, Shanghai, Delhi, London and Sao Paulo. They made an interesting experiment, setting up signs above side-by-side doors in these five cities around the world. In each city, one door read "Beautiful" and the other "Average." A camera crew observed the way women reacted to the marked doors and in which one they ultimately walked through. Most of the women walked through the "Average" door. Some laughed and walked through their chosen entrance quickly, while others paused and thought about the choice they were about to make.

   Some of the women who were part of this experiment, in the video they discussed about their thoughts that they had before choosing a door.

   One woman said: “Am I choosing because of what's constantly bombarded at me and what I'm being told that I should accept? Or am I choosing because that's what I really believe?" she asked. Another woman who also went the average route said: “Beautiful to me… it’s too far out of reach.”

7 things you can do for your mental health.

1. Value yourself.

   You need to treat yourself with kindness and respect. Try to avoid self-criticism. Find time only for yourself. Make time for your hobbies and favorite projects, or broaden your horizons. 
   Sometimes it's really easier to love others, than yourself. Maybe you don’t have a problem to be good to others, but it’s hard for you to be good to yourself. Why? What makes you so self-critical? Try this 7 DAY- love yourself challenge and see how good it feels to appreciate and value yourself. 

2. Take care of your body.

  Taking care of your physical health, improves your mental health. Try to:
- Eat nutritious meals.
- Avoid cigarettes and drugs.
- Drink more water.
- Exercise.
- Get enough sleep. 

How heavy is your glass of water?

   A few days ago, one of my friends sent me this interesting story. I don't know who is the author of this story, but I really liked it. So, I decided to share it with you today.

A University Professor of Psychology walked around a room full of students while teaching about stress management.

To begin his lecture he grabbed a glass of water. As he raised that glass of water, everyone expected they’d be asked if the glass was half empty or half full as part of the lesson. 

Instead though, with a smile on his face, the professor asked: " How heavy is this glass of water? ".

Students called out answers "6 ounces" and "10 ounces" but he shrugged them off.

He replied, " The actual weight doesn’t matter. What really matters is how long I've been holding it. If I hold it for just a minute it feels very light. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my arm. If I hold it for a whole day, my arm will feel numb and paralyzed. Any longer than that and I will be very tempted to give up and drop it. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn’t change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.

    Yesterday was a beautiful and an amazing day. I was part of a humanitarian action in one non-government organization. Actually, it's an organization that is a counseling center for women that are facing unplanned pregnancy. We made an event- open house time in the center and we invited many people to donate clothing and other baby items. We encouraged everyone to show their care and love for these mothers and babies and donate anything that can be helpful for these families. 

During this open house time many people came and brought a lot of clothes and other things. We were so happy to see people come with full bags with clothes and other things and want to help and donate. We are sure that all these families will be really happy and thankful when they see what everyone brought for them.

Тhis event was a really beautiful experience for me that awoke my curiosity to research more about what is that makes some people give and help and what are the health benefits of helping others?

There are many reasons why people give and help. People often say that they want to help and give because…

How to take a compliment?

  Many people don’t know how to take a compliment. Sometimes I am one of them. There is something in our mind-set, an extra critical voice that says we don’t deserve positive feedback and anyone who is giving us a compliment must lie or maybe feel sorry for us.

The compliments are a kind of gift, and turning down a gift insults the person giving it, suggesting that we don’t value them as highly as they value us. When we receive a compliment, that means we have earned someone's respect and admiration. So, it's time for us to learn how to take a compliment. 

· According to lifehack.org, there are a few things that you and I need to stop doing.

- Putting yourself down: Stop thinking that you don’t deserve the compliments you get it.

- Assuming the other person doesn’t really mean it: You may be right, sometimes, but it doesn’t matter. Responding as if they did disarms whatever ulterior motive they might have. On the other hand, acting as if they didn’t mean it when they did is insulting and makes you come off as either a jerk or a basket case. Stop doing it.

Top 10 myths and truths about the people with Down syndrome disorder.

  Do you know that today is a World Down Syndrome Day? 

  There are still many myths and misconceptions about this disorder and people who have it.  Don’t allow them to form your opinion about these people. Here are some facts that you should know about them, which probably will break your myths about this disorder.

MYTH #1: Down syndrome is a rare disorder.

TRUTH: Down syndrome is not rare disorder. Actually it's the most commonly occurring genetic condition.  There are more than 400,000 people, only in the United States, who are living with this disorder.

10 ispirational quotes about happiness.

Today is the international day of happiness. Celebrate this day of happiness with these beautiful and inspiring qoutes.
Don't forget to also read our post about "the daily habits of the happy people".

1. Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”- Mahatma Gandhi

2. “Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go”
- Oscar Wilde

3. “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.
- Herman Cain

Anxiety disorders: What is a phobia?

      If you read my last blog post (What is anxiety and how it can be treated?), you already know that anxiety is a really common disorder that affects millions of people. There are several types of anxiety disorders: panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, specific phobias and generalized anxiety disorder. 
Today I want to share with you something more about the phobias and fears. But first, we need to define what phobia actually means.

A phobia is irrational and strong fear of a thing or event. People who have phobia realize that their fear is unreasonable, but still can’t control their feelings. A phobia starts when they begin to organize their lives around avoiding the object of their fear. Sometimes, even thinking of the feared situation makes them anxious and nervous. Their fears control their lives and they are not able to lead a normal life.

What is anxiety and how it can be treated?

     

   Everyone experiences anxiety from time to time. Maybe you feel nervous when you need to speak in public, when you need to make some important decision or when you face some school, work or relationship problems. We can say that the anxiety is normal human emotion and a natural alarm system in your body that can be activated when you are dealing with dangerous situations in your life. In these situations, the anxiety in your body is there to protect you from the danger, not to hurt you. But, anxiety can become a serious problem, if your anxious feelings don’t subside or if your body reacts as if there is danger when there is no real danger. The people who experience anxiety imagine that things in their life are worse than they really are. They can’t control these anxious feelings that start to limit their ability to lead a normal life.

What is a defense mechanism?

The defense mechanisms are part of our life. We use defense mechanisms to protect ourselves from feelings of anxiety or guilt, unpleasant thoughts and behaviors. They are natural, normal, non-voluntaristic, not under our conscious control. When they get out of proportion, neuroses develop, such as anxiety states, phobias, obsessions, or hysteria.

Sigmund Freud was one of the first proponents of this construct. His daughter Ana Freud was the first one who defined these mechanisms in her father’s book.

Some of the major defense mechanisms are the following:

1. Denial

Denial is the refusal to accept reality or fact, acting as if a painful event, thought or feeling did not exist. It’s one of the most primitive of the defense mechanisms. It’s characteristic of early childhood development. Many people use denial in their everyday lives to avoid dealing with painful feelings or areas of their life they don’t wish to admit. For example, smokers may refuse to admit to themselves that smoking is bad for their health.