You can never dim your light to make someone else feel more comfortable. Your gifts and your light are yours alone.

What does it mean to love yourself? It doesn’t mean being full of yourself or thinking you’re better than anyone else. Self-love means respecting yourself.

Try to incorporate some of these suggestions into your daily life. Little by little, I believe you’ll see improvements in how you approach each day.

What helps you with the following?

• Releasing endorphins

• Improving brain functionality

• Stimulating creativity

The answer, believe it or not, is—--Play!

The spirit and practice of play also keeps you energetic and feeling youthful.

Studies support these findings, plus the improvement of

memory and the stimulation of the central cortex.

Stuart Brown, MD, has spent decades studying play. He has a book, aptly called ‘Play,’ and a Ted Talks on the subject. He has broken play down into several components:

• Rough-and-Tumble Play

• Ritual Play-both board games and sports with set rules and structures.

• Imaginative Play-arts, storytelling, acting, improv, and coloring are examples

• Body Play-Examples include yoga, Pilates, hiking, whitewater rafting, surfing, snorkeling, and carnival rides

• Object Play-Includes building with Legos, blocks, building kits, and Jenga blocks

Other ideas for play are going to a playground with kids, blowing bubbles, and indulging in childrens’ games such as Hopscotch and Jacks, and childrens’ board games.

Play is a great way to ‘get lost’ in the enjoyable chosen activity to tune out the rest of the world for a while.

During these overwhelming times, I often feel that I’m balancing, (somewhat precariously), on a thin wall. What to do?

Next time your hear yourself say ‘argh’ take stock of these suggestions and see how you can reframe for a better and stronger mindset leading you forward to a great day!

Wherever dreams come from, it’s as if a spark ignites and fills your brain with exciting possibilities. These thoughts can fill you up and the results can seem like an endless journey to the outcomes you desire.