The Hello Hand is a symbol for The Hello Movement

Well, I’m at it again. I’m starting a movement. I watched a documentary last night that was actually shot in the 60s and it followed the lives of a few of the hippies. I must admit I learned a great deal. Like many of us, I was getting my information about who the hippies actually were, and what their message was, from opinions and media that exist today. The thing that stood out for me the most was the statement, “these people weren’t concerned with themselves”. There was a lot of love and a lot of giving going on during that period of time with the people who chose to associate as hippies. We have created a somewhat different viewpoint of who the hippies were, and what they were giving, even those of us who are sometimes considered hippies nowadays.

I started thinking about how we are all so separate now. This became very noticeable to me when my son was about 3 and began talking with anyone and everyone he could find. It is most uncomfortable for me when we go into a restaurant and he wants to talk to people who are eating quietly at their own ’separate’ table or booth. I always get the overwhelming feeling that we are bothering people, and to my surprise, most of the time people open up and have a conversation, beginning with him and moving to me.

I want to break free of this unspoken separateness that has been created. I’m speaking here only of love. The kind of love that we are missing as a society. Just love. Read my writeup below for a bit about what we are aiming for with The Hello Movement.

The Hello Movement began with an inspired thought about the 60s hippies and their loving spirits. This kind of free-spirited and unconditional love is sometimes far removed from the current path of our own human spirits today. We have been conditioned as a society to become separated, not only from our fellow humans, but also from ourselves. We are continually striving for that which we do not possess, rather than taking advantage of the personal gifts and material possessions that we do have, and using them to spread joy and peace throughout the world.

If everyone gives, there will be no reason to take. If we reconnect our human spirits to one another, we will feel less alone, less empty and less apt to spend every waking moment searching and striving for that which we do not have. What we are missing is love. A high-definition television and a new car stop very short of filling that void we are feeling, but yet we keep trying to fill it with these material things.

The human spirit wants to connect. We find this happening commonly when we encounter another person with whom we have something in common. If you bump into someone who drives the same vehicle, or someone wearing the same shirt, someone who’s from your hometown or any other similar connection, you feel the need to say hello. We all want to connect, and we all feel the void and disappointment of having lost the ability to comfortably do so at will.

This is where The Hello Movement comes in. A symbol of communication has been developed and we aim to spread this symbol all over the world. When you encounter another person who is wearing or otherwise displaying this symbol, you will feel comfortable enough to shout out a Hello. This will begin to reconnect us to the pure love that we are meant to experience.

As the author of this writeup, I can already hear some of you associating hippie love and free spirits with all things that are frowned upon in our current society. The one and only thing this movement is designed to encourage is love for your neighbor. The word ‘love’ has many connotations nowadays and has been redesigned and redefined to associate with many different things. Taken from Wikipedia, love is “a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection; the unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another.” This love is the kind of love we are promoting. A kind of love that many of us can’t remember even exists.

The Hello Movement symbol is that of a hand, symbolizing giving, reaching, holding and touching, in all senses of those words. The spiral in the middle of the hand symbolizes our growth and evolution as humans on this Earth. We are here to expand and create. This can rapidly move forward as we regroup together and form partnerships as people.

You are welcome to create your own clothing, stickers, art, etc. symbolizing that you choose to become a part of this movement. Clothing and other items will also be made available for those who would like to get involved. Wear your Hello Hand proudly and give a shout out to others who understand the importance of reconnecting our spirits.

I’ve already created a Facebook group, which you can join here: The Hello Movement on Facebook. I think it’s wonderful that we are able to connect on social networks like Facebook. I am now connected with people all over the world and people from my childhood who I never thought I’d see or hear from again. I want to amp this up a notch and connect on a physical level. I am planning to start wearing my Hello Hand just as soon as I get one created. If you see me, Say Hello!!

I’m also planning to create videos explaining the Hello Hand and how you can make one of your own. If you’re not in the creative spirit, you’ll be able to get Hello Movement gear by checking out the Zazzle Store: The Hello Movement on Zazzle. And in keeping with the hippie spirit, there will also be one of a kind, handmade, upcycled Hello Movement gifts and wearables on Etsy very soon.

Say Hello! Leave a comment! If you’re grumpy and you don’t want to join, that’s ok, too, but I think you’ll find, joining us will take the grumps away.

Please share The Hello Movement with your friends! The best way to do this is by getting or making your own Hello Hand and by sharing the Facebook group on your wall. Let’s create a world filled with love.

The great thing about writing a blog is that I can give all the unsolicited advice that I want, and if you don’t want it, you don’t have to read it. Today I want to talk about the pain that comes with personal growth. If you’re like more than half the people around, you already live with some kind of chronic physical pain. You’ve gotten used to it, you deal with it and hopefully, you’re doing some research on holistic prevention and methods to decrease the pain. There’s a difference between physical pain and pain that comes from a personal development journey. With physical pain, your body is trying to tell you that something is wrong that needs fixing. Emotional pain can be taken as a sign that things are actually on track.

The above only applies if you have already become aware that you are, indeed, on a personal journey. Many people are still in the dark, living their lives like there’s no purpose. Going to work, going home, feeling disappointed with life, but doing absolutely nothing to change things for the better. If you’re still reading, you probably already know that you want things to be different, and you might even know that it’s entirely possible for you to find the peace and happiness that already lives inside your soul. I’m going to share a little something about what kind of emotional pain you could face while you’re on the journey.

Not many people in the personal development industry talk about this. The emotional downs that come with growth are extraordinary. We all want you to believe that you can just snap your fingers and have everything you ever wanted. It DOES work like that, but evidence of all the changes don’t happen in that instant. Go ahead and snap your fingers now. Let’s get that part out of the way.

Now that you’ve snapped your fingers, asked for what you want and repeated all the positive affirmations you can think of, now the joyride begins. It’s up to you to pay attention to how the universe is moving in your favor. Things can begin to shift right away, and not all of those things will be wrapped in a bright, pretty little package. This is where the emotional pain comes in. You are stepping outside of your comfort zone. All the things that you’ve encountered up until now, those things that have created your personal history, you’ve gotten used to them. Just like any chronic pain you might experience, you know how to deal with your life as it is. Even if things are bad, you’ve created your coping mechanisms and you could really handle it for its duration. But you don’t want to… you know there’s something better out there for you.

But when you want change, you’ll have to work for it. I don’t mean work in the sense of physical labor. In fact, once you’ve snapped your fingers and put your wants out into the universe, you’ve pretty much marked it down in stone. The work I’m talking about is adjusting to all the lovely changes that need to take place in order for you to get from point A to freedom, love, happiness and peace; all those things that your soul is really craving.

Doors will begin to shut right behind you and others will magically appear. Keep your eyes open or you’ll miss those magical new doors. The part of this that seems unfortunate is that when you see an open door, it looks all scary and dark from where you’re standing. But remember, the door you came out of is closed now so the only option you really have is to walk through it. As long as you are paying attention, what’s going on will be crystal clear to you. You might lose your job. You might lose your home. Your best friend might decide to leave town. It will be up to you to deal with the grief and then figure out what this loss is making room for. You have lost something in order to gain something greater. I promise.

So, if you’ve asked for change and now your entire world seems to have turned upside down, this is such good news! I’ve experienced this first-hand myself. I can give you a personal guarantee that the growing pains you’ll feel while your life is in its transformation period will be greatly rewarded. If the universe hits you with a whammy, feel blessed that the cosmos recognizes that you are strong enough to handle it. Hang in there, pay attention, keep your thoughts positive and the other side of adventure will reveal the reasons that you might feel like you’re hitting brick walls.

Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot about telling the truth, being authentic and releasing resentments. There have been so many clues that I thought I might share this scenario, in case there are others who may benefit.

Resentments can get stored in your body and create many health problems. Resentments also are the result of not opening up and being truthful about your feelings, over which you have complete control.

This means, it’s up to you.

Please listen to my video and then leave a comment sharing your story or your secrets. I’d love to have your participation on this, and I encourage everyone to refrain from responding to others.

This is a sharing session, for our own personal development. If you want advice, please ask for it. Otherwise, we’ll all just try to listen and be supportive.

Peace and enjoy!

Over the past couple of days, I’ve discovered something about my relationship with money. I share this with you because I believe it to be a powerful step in manifesting money and overcoming hidden issues with our relationships to money and bringing forth abundance.

So many times, I’ve read about possible fears and blocks around money. If you know about the law of attraction, you know that what you put out into the universe you receive back. Like ripples on a lake. So, those of us using the law of attraction to bring forth all the good things in life sometimes wonder where we are going wrong when it comes to money.

We’ve looked at our fears. We’ve believe we’ve released our blocks. We are positive and recite affirmations about abundance and prosperity. We want wealth for ourselves and others, we understand to have gratitude for what we already possess and we affirm daily that we are magnets to money and abundance flows easily, but where the heck is that money?

So I had a revelation the other day about my relationship with money. This may sound strange, but if you know me, this will not be surprising. I decided to view my relationship with money much like anyone would view their relationship with a person for which they have affection. A spouse, significant other, etc.

I decided to write down some pointers about myself and money, as though we were in a relationship. I realized many things by doing this. I realized that money probably thinks I’m a crazy, desperate and jealous person trying grip onto it for dear life. No one wants a girlfriend like that!!!

Here is why I say this, and I share these things in case you may be going about the manifestation of money in quite the same way.

1. Problem: I was jealous of money. Each time I had to let go of any amount, small or large, I was upset that it was leaving me and resentful that it hadn’t stayed long.

Solution: I realized that no one likes to be suffocated or resented. People need to be themselves and so does money. We cannot stifle our spouses when they want to go to a game or go shopping with girlfriends. When I send money out into the world, by paying a bill or buying something I need, I bless it for having visited me and look forward to seeing it again.

2. Problem: I was resentful that there was never enough. When I received $50 and what I needed was $100, $50 wasn’t enough. I would be disappointed. When I found a penny on the ground, I would pick it up but scoff at it for being such a small amount that couldn’t pay my bills.

Solution: I decided to view money as a universal whole, rather than individual parts. A penny is a penny, but it’s still money. All money is part of the huge fund provided by the universe, or the government or the banks….however you want to look at it. A penny is money and a billion bucks is money. Each time money comes into your life, it’s money! It’s a part of the whole picture. Just like each of us is a reflection of the whole universe, a penny is a reflection of the entire sum of money available to each of us. I decided to be as happy to see money as I would be a significant other who had just returned from a long trip. No matter if he was returning for 5 minute or 5 months…no matter if it’s a penny or 10 dollars.

3. Problem: I was not attentive to the needs of my money. Money has needs. Money needs us to appreciate it, enjoy it, spend it, admire it and use it for its other positive intended purposes. If you don’t understand that money is just a tool for which we trade time, it’s easy to wage a war with it.

Solution: I decided to appreciate, enjoy, admire and thankfully spend the money that comes my way. I had to pay rent today. As I stood in line forever to get a money order for my rental office, I had time to ‘be in the moment’. I realized that today was the perfect opportunity to take advantage of my new relationship with money and here’s what I did:

I stood in line and realized that I had several $100 dollar bills in my hand. I had just pulled these from the ATM only minutes earlier and normally I would just pay for my money order and go out the door, grumbling that the majority of my money was already gone.

Instead, I gazed at those $100 dollar bills and realized that these were $100 bills that I had manifested into my life. No matter that they would be leaving my hands very quickly, they were IN MY HANDS for those few moments. I looked them over, and thanked them for allowing me to live in my apartment for one more month. I enjoyed the beauty of these $100 bills, which have previously been quite rare in my life.

As the long moments in line went on, I created a joyful relationship with this money and though it’s been transferred over to the apartment office at this point, the image of those $100 bills is still fresh in my mind. I think I stumbled onto something here. I enhanced and enriched my relationship with money, simply by admiring it and being grateful directly.

Now anyone would feel better to be around you if you admired and showed gratitude toward them, right?

I’d love to hear your comments and thoughts on this revelation.

Also, I’d like to let you know about a contest that I’m running on my blog. This contest is for 3 months free in our law of attraction membership community. You’ll get access to our awesome members who are living the law of attraction, weekly personal development calls by the industry’s top leaders, like John Assaraf, free vision board training and so much more.

3 months is sufficient time to really get the ball rolling in your life. Whether you want changes to relationships, health, money or career, we can help. It’s easy to enter and easy to win. Visit this link for details and to enter.

Why Vision Boards Work

Vision Boards are personal development tools that have recently been revived and brought to the attention of the public through magazines, internet articles and high profile TV shows. Many of you may be interested in making a vision board, but feel wary about actually doing it because you don’t fully understand why vision boards work. So how do they work?

Vision Boards work because they are based on the “law of attraction” which has assisted many people in accomplishing some some very great things. The law of attraction is based upon the combined outcome of three specific principles; Ask, Believe and then Receive. By asking the Universe or Higher Power, (depending on what you believe), and then believing that it is true and real, you will then receive what you have asked for. By focusing your mind with positive thoughts about a goal you may have or a dream that you want for yourself, then imaging yourself doing those things via images, you will then accomplish them as you are lead in the right direction to your goal or dream. This all works because you are able to access your subconscious mind which holds the key to your intuition and belief that you can have what you want.

Have you ever heard the phrase “money attracts money”? Well, this is the same for other things; positive attracts positive and negative attracts negative. Within ourselves, we all have issues, memories or problems that have enabled us to carry negative emotions around for years. Feelings of unrest, poor personal image and a feeling of not being good enough or deserving good things are the most common. Because of these negative thoughts we often, without realizing it, are sabotaging our chances at happiness, wealth and good fortune. How many times have you said to yourself “Now why did I just do that?” It is because of these negative thoughts kept in your subconscious mind. By opening up your mind and changing these thoughts into positive ones, great changes can be made and success can be found. Vision Boards are perfect for this task, as they are very basic, but very powerful in their effect on our lives and in our minds. Anyone can make one and everyone can benefit from one.

Vision Boards use images, sounds, smells and positive words to focus our minds and change these negative thoughts into positive ones. Accepting that this is a task that will not happen overnight is important, as real change takes time. Do not be disappointed after a short time if nothing happens, as this will only feed back into the negative that you have been trying so hard to eradicate from your mind. Keeping faith and belief will carry you through, making sure that your positive thoughts attract the positive things you are trying to achieve. Vision Boards work!! Millions of people can back that up and have found the inner self confidence to reach for more. You can do it, too. You deserve it.

For free vision board training, visit Vision Board How To

Find out more about vision boards and how you can create one to make changes in your own life and those lives around you. Get your Vision, Inspiration, Strategy and Support.

10 Tips to Make Sure The Items on Your Vision Board Come True

Vision boards are a fantastic way of using your inner power so that you can attract all of the things in your life that you have always wanted for yourself and for your family. Everyone, no matter at what stage in life they are, wants to change something about his or her life. A vision board is the perfect way of making it happen! There are some definitive ways of making sure that the items you have placed on your vision board come true. After sifting through hundreds of different ideas with this in mind, a rock solid and powerful top ten has been created. So if you want to make sure that what you want does come true then follow these tips.

1. Just for you – This is one of the most important things that people do not realize when they are making their own vision boards. Many people often use images that they think others would approve of or of things that society tells us are the right goals that we should be striving for. Make sure that you choose wisely what you want and that each picture, sound or word comes from within.

2. Listen to Music – Before and during the creation of your vision board it is a good idea to play a piece of music that makes your heart feel warm, it will allow you to put aside your “ego” as such and enable you to hear what your subconscious is trying to tell you. It also allows you to embed the images into your subconscious in a clearer way.

3. Belief – Making sure that you truly believe is also important as negative thoughts will make the process take longer. Understanding that things will not happen the very next day or even maybe at first is an important part, so that you do not get disheartened.

4. Use Affirmations- Using affirmations to work alongside your vision board will super charge it with extra power allowing you to bring your hopes and dreams into fruition more quickly and on a larger scale.

5. Surround Yourself – Surrounding yourself with reminders of your vision board and your goals is very important, as it allows you to keep your mind “topped up” with the sight, sounds and even in some cases, smells, of what you want to accomplish and bring to your life.

6. Add mood colors – Adding colors that represent your goals can help in a fast acting way. It is said that certain colors help us to feel a certain way. For example; blue is known to be a calming color, yellow, friendly and happy, and red is associated with excitement.

7. Make one at a time – Having too many vision boards can distract your mind from the goal you are trying to achieve. This can effectively splits your visions and the power to make them happen splits, too. By sticking to one specific board, you make sure that the full power is on it and not just a slice.

8. Meditate- Meditation is another fantastic way to help you while using a vision board. Imagining that you have this specific life, career etc., and seeing yourself do things, helps to push your mind into the image, sending out very strong signals.

9. Make things specific – Too many different ideas on your board can create a conflict, and you will find that you become stumped as you only find part of each one materializing. Keep your theme constant, this makes it powerful.

10. Forgive yourself – By forgiving yourself of any past problems that carry any guilt or pain you are able to eradicate the negative from your subconscious mind for good! This is a pivotal point because without it you will only be held back. So give yourself a break, relax and let the negative past wash away from your mind for good.

For free vision board training, visit Vision Board How To

Developing patience can have significant long-term benefits for you, your family, your friends and your health. It seems the most common and quite possibly the easiest way to lose patience is around people, especially our children. It is possible to develop extraordinary amounts of patience with little effort. Really, the bottom line of patience is an awareness of yourself, your situation and your thoughts. Once you’ve mastered this, having patience is easy. But how to you develop awareness?

Awareness comes from the realization that there is something at work which is larger than ourselves. Each of us is not the center of our own universe, but rather a small part of something very large that works in harmony with what we present to it. In other words, you get back what you give. If you are impatient, you’ll attract a million reasons to be impatient. You’ll be surrounded by disgruntled people, situations that do not flow properly and bad energy. Change your reaction and you’ll experience magic.

Here are 5 tips to develop more patience in any situation.

1. Become Aware of Your Impatience

Throughout any given day, each of us experiences many different emotions and feelings. The first thing you must do to begin developing patience is to recognize impatience. If you are feeling stressed or frenzied, figure out what feelings and emotions are present. Do you feel anxious, guilty, angry, resentful or impatient? Once you pinpoint the feeling, then look to see what is causing it. Decide if the feeling is necessary and how much your could improve this moment for yourself and those around you if you choose a better feeling.

One example that I can think of is with children. My child takes forever getting himself into our vehicle. I could become impatient, yell, physically put him into the car, berate him for lollygagging and create and entirely unnecessary situation. Sometimes I do become impatient when this happens, but I think about why I am in such a hurry that would require me to squash my son’s playful moment of lollygagging. As adults, and for the benefit of quality of life, some of us should do much more lollygagging than we do. Therefore, when I become aware of my feelings, I either stand there quietly and wait, knowing that he will get himself situated at some point, or I lollygag with him, fully enjoying this fleeting moment of joy.

2. Bring Yourself Back to the Moment

The moment you are living, right now, is the only moment you can control. What happened yesterday cannot be changed, and what’s happening tomorrow hasn’t yet arrived. When you feel yourself losing patience, try to figure out what’s causing it. Are you in a hurry? Why? What do you expect from rushing something or someone? Do you believe 5 extra minutes of time that could be gained by rushing is really going to make or break you? Bring yourself back to right now and be here, in the moment. No matter if you are at work, at home, with your children or with your friends, this moment is precious. Live in it.

3. Breathe and Count

The whole business of counting to 10 when you are stressed or impatient works wonders, but only if you actually do it. Counting to 10 actually can help you come back to the moment. It stops the racing thoughts and gives you a quick time out, a breather, a mini-meditation session. Counting to 10 will allow you to stop and regroup your thoughts and actions, hopefully giving you the benefit of choosing an emotion that feels better and improves the situation.

4. Assess Your Situation and Create a Distraction

One great way to develop more patience is to avoid situations that may cause you to become impatient. Whenever you blow your cool, assess the situation that you are currently in and figure out if you can safely remove yourself from it, or if that option is worth it. If you’re sitting in rush hour traffic, attempting to make it to work on time, your impatience will not make traffic move any faster. In fact, if you’re in an angry and bitter mood, your time will seem even longer. You don’t have much choice, unless taking the day off is an option for you. So, create a distraction. Turn on the radio, watch the clouds or put in a CD on developing more patience! If you can avoid the situation, walk away.

5. Blow Off Steam

If you are looking for ways to develop more patience, chances are you are looking for ways to improve your overall quality of life. Everyone has tough days. If you’re experiencing a day where you just can’t bring yourself back to the moment and be cool, go and blow off some steam. Do some exercise, dance, take a bubble bath or go roller skating. Figure out if you need to find an activity in which aggression is acceptable, like boxing or football, or if a relaxation technique would be more suitable. Either way, you must take a break from whatever is causing your impatience. When you must return to the situation, you’ll find you are better able to be patient with whatever is going on.

For updates on articles designed to help you find joy, peace, happiness and freedom in your life, please sign up for my email updates. You’ll get access to cool free stuff as it becomes available, starting with a free law of attraction ebook download.

I encourage you to leave comments about your experiences with developing patience and further advice that you may have for others. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

You keep hearing that meditation is extremely important to well-being, stress relief and reaching your highest goals and dreams, right? Years ago, the concept of meditation was considered by many to be some kooky, new-age nonsense that was practiced by people very different from ourselves. No longer is this the case. The HUGE benefits of meditation are being discovered, discussed, practiced and realized by many, many people, including people just like you.

But it can sometimes be difficult to get the hang of meditation.

When you first decide to hop onto this meditation bandwagon and see what the fuss is all about, you’re probably going to wonder if you’ll ever understand exactly what meditation ‘feels’ like. As you sit and attempt to become ‘quiet’ your thoughts get louder than they’ve ever been before and you begin to realize just how powerful your mind might be. And how on earth will you ever get control of it?

Here are 5 tips to improve your experience with meditation and get better and more effective results. Discover the power that meditation can bring into your life.

1. Practice, practice, practice…

Everyone says it. This analogy has been used a million times. It’s like riding a bike. In order to master the art of meditation and discover the extremely powerful benefits that this practice can bring to your life, mind, body and spirit, you absolutely have to practice. Not many of us got on a bike and just rode off into the sunset. Meditation is the same way. The first couple of time, 5 times, 20 times that you sit and attempt to quiet your mind, you’ll probably want to give up. But just know that if you keep at it, there will be a lightbulb at some point. Make the commitment.

2. Make the Commitment

Speaking of commitment, you’ll want to try and harness all the self-control you can muster and make meditation a daily part of your life. This is much easier said than done, because we can think of a hundred things to do that we already think are working for us, like cleaning, running after the kids, working, eating, sleeping and watching the tube. If you’ve only read about the benefits that meditation can have, but have never experienced it yourself, you may be more apt to shrug it off. If you make the commitment to work 20 minutes to a half hour of practice into your daily schedule, only then will you reap the rewards.

3. Remove Distractions

In order to effectively meditate, especially for a beginner, you’ll want to create an environment that’s distraction free. Shut off the radio, television and cell phone, wait for the kids to take a nap and find a spot that is quiet, peaceful and serene. If you don’t know of a spot like that, find one or create one. Go sit outside, lie on a park bench, sit in the bathroom or hide under your bed. The best thing to do is to create a ’space’ in your favorite room. Light candles, incense, play soft, rhythmic music or open a window to feel a cool breeze. Get around things that make you feel at ease and make that your place to attempt meditation.

4. Count Your Breaths

When you are first beginning meditation, counting your breaths is said to be the best way to get into your ‘zone.’ I usually start at 10 and work my way backwards. Try to take deep breaths that you can feel in your abdomen. Count these and try to focus only on the number and your breathing. Whenever I begin to meditate, I still find other thoughts getting in and taking me away from my counting. When this happens, I start back and 10 and try to refocus. After a while, you’ll find that you are able to connect to a deeper place within your mind as you count. That’s the beginning of the fun!

5. Look for Images, Listen for Sounds and Enjoy the Peace

Meditation results in many different experiences for many different people. No one outcome is something that should be expected. You’ll find that your own experience with meditation may be quite unique. As you learn to quiet your mind and look beyond your surface thoughts, you may notice images, sounds and memories come to the surface. Meditating is a bit like dreaming. If you can stay with these waking dreams, you may find answers to current problems, healing opportunities and pleasant memories of old friends appearing for your enjoyment. No matter how your personal meditation experience plays out, you should feel less stress, the discovery of inspiration and a calm and present peace of mind when you are finally able to get into the zone.

For updates on articles designed to help you find joy, peace and freedom from worry, please sign up for my email updates. You’ll get access to cool free stuff as it becomes available, starting with a free law of attraction ebook download.

I encourage you to leave comments about your experiences with meditation and further advice that you may have for others. Please contribute below.

With all the recent interest in vampires, I thought I would talk a bit about vampires that are a little less sexy, a little less interesting and a little less fun to watch. These are emotional vampires. We’ve all got them in our lives, and it’s important to our own health and well-being to become aware of their presence.

What is an Emotional Vampire?

An emotional vampire is a person who brings you down. Someone who affects your mood, your level of energy and sometimes your whole day (week, month?) If you think about it right now, I’ll bet you can identify someone whom you may try to avoid or don’t like talking to because when it’s over you feel worse than before it began. These people may complain all the time, use guilt to get what they want or become downright devious. They may create drama where there was none, start rumors, cry, whine, insult, argue or complain excessively. Let’s hope you don’t identify this person as yourself, but if you do, that’s actually good. We can get to work on changing that behavior forever once you’re aware of it. As for other people, well, here are 5 tips for recognizing and releasing emotional vampires from your life.

1. Check Your Mood

If your mood is consistently worsened by the presence of one or more people, you might check to see if the emotional vampire phenomenon is to blame. You may sometimes hear that darkness is destroyed by the presence of light, but I can tell you from experience that some people can’t be lit. If you’ve tried to use your wit, charm, positive talk and smiles to lighten up someone else, and it just ain’t workin’, you might have an emotional vampire on your hands. Try to avoid them if possible. If it’s not possible, it’s likely you’ll end up needing counseling.

2. Check Your Progress

Do you have somewhere you need to go or be? Do you have something you need to get done? Are you running late or completely distracted because someone is doing, saying or acting a certain way that is interfering with your life? It’s important to understand that this isn’t about blaming others for your actions, but emotional vampires have a way of keeping you from your best moments. They don’t particularly like anything shiny. If you’re trying to shine and you’re feeling particularly dull, check back with step one and see what your mood is like. Step away from the emotional vampires and get on with your day.

3. Are You Involved in a Crisis that You Didn’t Create?

Emotional vampires have a way of involving you in their misdeeds, possibly without your even being aware of it. Think of any drama that you’re currently involved in and check to see if it’s yours. Have you been guilted into helping someone with a situation that didn’t have anything to do with you? Are you being blamed for something that you didn’t do? Are you trying to fix someone else’s problems while they sit around and just complain? Stop it. Stop it right now.

4. Do you Feel Depressed?

Do you avoid going home, or going to work, or going to visit your family? Do you get depressed when you are faced with a particular situation or event because you dread having to deal with a particular person who makes you feel miserable? Though our feelings are our own, and we really do get to choose which ones we latch on to, emotional vampires make this choice much more difficult than it needs to be. If you are genuinely happy for most of your day, but find yourself feeling depressed at the thought of coming into contact with someone specific, that person may be an emotional vampire.

5. Check Your Truth

Truth is relative…even your truth. If you are constantly fighting and arguing with someone over big things, small things, petty things or even no things, you might want to take a moment and check your truth. Just because you believe something, doesn’t necessarily make it true for everyone else. Fighting and bickering is not likely to change someone else’s truth. Emotional vampires come in all shapes and sizes and are sometimes difficult to detect. Your actions, no matter how noble, may just be interfering with someone else’s day, making you a potential emotional vampire for them. This life is just too short to be miserable. If you are genuinely trying to become less miserable, you need to stay true to yourself and only yourself. There are plenty of people in the world that will resonate with your truth, no matter what it is. Seek out those people, often referred to as like-minded, and you’ll find yourself feeling happier, getting more accomplished and truly looking forward to being in the company of people who don’t suck the life right out of you.

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I encourage you to leave comments about your experiences with emotional vampires. Please feel free to add anything that I may have left out. Let’s pour sunlight on these emotional vampires and put an end to this type of behavior for good!

So if you’ve been following, you’ll already know that I just released the free ebook download version of Hugs and Popsicles a couple days ago. This is a book of children’s poems with full-color illustrations, and the title poem is about how hugs and popsicles can cure just about any ailments you may have. Just today I’ve been further enlightened by a free hugs movement that’s being spread all over the world!

Not only did I hear about this campaign, but someone I know actually got to experience some free love today while he was driving his cab. He was circling the downtown square in Springfield, Missouri, while waiting for his next Taxi call, and he spotted a large group of people with Free Hugs signs! He said he pulled over, jumped out and was swarmed by people wanting to give out free hugs. What an emotional experience, both for him and for me as he recounted the story.

I am simply thrilled to know that people are banding together to change the world with love. What an amazing concept! These are people who truly understand that giving away love doesn’t take anything from a person’s soul. In fact, quite the opposite. Giving love creates more love, which fills the world with warmth and happiness. THIS is where we’re headed.

So drop all your stress, all your woes and get real for a second. Watch this video clip and if it pulls a string in your heart, watch it again. Decide today that you’re going to do your part to spread the love, even if it’s just a simple smile at a passing stranger.

You can also see more about the Free Hugs movement by checking The Official Home of the Free Hugs Campaign website.

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