Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Motivation.
Self-Love
This is by far one of my favourite subjects and yet I am still learning about it everyday. Despite being of an utter importance – it is a subject that is often overlooked and even more often misunderstood in our society. Self-love. I was familiar with the concept for years, yet it remained just that – a mental concept in my head with no idea on how to apply it in real life. And for some reason finding it out was not high on my priority list. Most likely because nobody told me just how important it is. It was a somehow mysterious thing, one that sounded vain and liberating at the same time and one that some people seemed to just magically have. It was almost like you had to be born with it in order to grasp it. Little did I know at the time – we were all born with it, it is our very essence and birthright. The problem is what happens after we are born – namely being shown and told we are not good enough. By our parents, by our teachers, by other kids and eventually by ourselves as we start to believe it. It has to be said that more often than not the message is not delivered on purpose and most of the time not in a direct manner either. It is more the case of us arriving to that conclusion just by living and observing the world around us. Every time we are told that we need to have good grades in school in order to be rewarded, every time we are compared to other children, every time we are punished for misbehaving – we learn that love comes with some conditions attached. And every time we fail to meet those conditions, we end up feeling not worthy of that love. The examples mentioned above are quite common and hence are something the majority of people can relate to. Then, there are those of us whose stories were far more traumatic and abusive and the consequences more pronounced, but the bottom line is that almost no one reaches adulthood without having had at least one experience that made them feel not good enough.
By Eva Smitte8 years ago in Motivation
Kill Your Inner Critic
The best New Year's Resolution any of us can make is to kill our inner critic. We hold ourselves back and sabotage our best intentions when we allow our thoughts to constantly criticize and belittle us. When I first heard about this idea, I thought to myself, "I don't do that!" Then, I started paying attention to my thoughts. WOW! That was an eye opener! I couldn't believe how awful I was to myself.
By Becca Willson8 years ago in Motivation
Lost
Since the year 2001, I have always been able to maintain a job. The first job I landed was for a market research company. I am grateful for this opportunity because it helped build confidence and interpersonal skills over the phone. In December of 2002, I went to work for a theater company doing sales and marketing. For the first few years, I thoroughly enjoyed working with other staff members and collaborating on new marketing ideas for growth in sales. I also had the privilege of seeing productions for free on opening and closing nights.
By Janelle Ouellet8 years ago in Motivation
Vision (Without the Vision Board)
New year, new me. Isn't that the whole thinking behind new years' resolutions? That maybe, at this arbitrary turning over of the calendar, we could do all the things that we said we would do last year and didn't? We could become someone better than who we were before.
By Chelsea McBride8 years ago in Motivation
Be Younique
Life is like a cookbook. There are so many choices on what to make. And every choice has a recipe made by someone who's lived before you. There's instructions for chocolate cake, strawberry, vanilla, coconut, cotton candy, ice cream, cheese, coffee, even carrot and fruit cake. There's teeny tiny ones, extravagant ones. Plain or decorated. For every occasion from birthdays to weddings, graduations, and all celebrations. Or just because it's yummy. Whatever the reason, there's options available. Sometimes it feels like you don't have the confidence or desire to make one of these. But there are people saying that this one is great and that one is good, amazing, delicious. But what if you don't WANT to be making ANY of those cakes? What if you decide to create; let's say something completely original. Like... a beef flavored cake. Or hamburger cake. Everyone says that idea is stupid or disgusting or weird. Some may say it's impossible or that it might take a long time to figure out how to make one that's actually tasty. But you decide anyways to not be bound by anyone's rules. You go crazy! Baking all types of mysterious things. It might take 10 times as long than just following someone else's opinion, but you come to realize it's not ABOUT them. This cake is for you and you only. YOU have to think it's wonderful. Because you want to be unique. You want to be different. Not like everyone else who takes the easy way out. So life is like that.
By Chasity Sosa8 years ago in Motivation
25 & Adulting
Here's the thing. You're in high school wondering what to do after graduation. They tell you to follow your dreams and life will be alright. Well, last night I had a dream that I was exploring abandoned houses and caves with a very handsome stranger who turned out to be my cousin. Let's not follow that dream.
By Sasha Marlowe8 years ago in Motivation
A Short Realization
At sunrise, you wake up in bed, you look in the mirror and wonder what the day will bring. You decide to be nice for the next 24 hours, only to be stomped at from every angle that you are too nice. You come home only to look at yourself in the mirror wondering why you were stupid enough to be nice when no one else will be.
By Hélaina Makkink8 years ago in Motivation
More Confessions of a Shopaholic
Do you ever read about a debt free life and feel that you will never be able to get there yourself? I have read hundreds of articles on snowballing your debt, consolidating, selling old things that you no longer need. I know the steps to becoming debt free, yet I just don't follow them. When I'm not reading about getting out of debt, I'm shopping online. See the problem? Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's true, I am a full blown shopping addict.
By Kimberley Workman8 years ago in Motivation
How to Make Peace with Your Inner Self
You would be surprised how undervalued routine is. How much calm and happiness meditation can bring into your life. How much you will look forward to being yourself every one of 1,440 minutes of the day if you put momentary emotions aside.
By Olga Kuznietsova8 years ago in Motivation
Why Your New Year's Resolution Probably Won't Stick
Every December, we make decisions we don’t intend to keep. Of course, we don’t necessarily decide not to keep them in that moment, because of course we don’t exactly know that just yet. Despite that, every year we resolve to do or achieve something that we didn’t achieve that year. Thus, the great New Year’s Resolution.
By Delilah Jayde8 years ago in Motivation
Float On
Just a few months ago I was driving in my truck with my boyfriend and said, “You know what? I really feel like I made it in life.” I had a full-time job doing what I love. I had a brand-new truck that I was paying for on my own without parental help. I had my own health insurance. I recently started traveling and had seen damn near almost all the United States. I saw all the major landmarks that were on my bucket list: the Grand Canyon, the Redwoods, Las Vegas, the Hoover Dam, Washington D.C., and basically all of New England. I started hiking and set goals for myself that I reached easily within a few short years. I hiked Mount Washington, I hiked in Zion, I hiked nearly every trail in my home state of Massachusetts. I hiked so much I ran out of places to go locally. I really felt like I had found my niche in life and that I really made it. Even if I was living paycheck to paycheck, I had enough to pay bills and still go out every weekend with friends for lunch, or travel up north to hike. I recently graduated community college with an Associate’s degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences. I transferred to a state school to complete a Bachelor's.
By N.R. Skinner8 years ago in Motivation
