Yesterday my son posted on Facebook about how things in our society were bothering him and his fear of becoming disintegrated in a nuclear holocaust.

Can it happen?  Sure.

Can we control it?  Nope.

You may disagree with me on this.  You may say you can go get a sign and go protest somewhere and yell and burn stuff and something will change… and, maybe it will.

As a matter of fact, that was the impression of the kids he is friends with, kids that grew up in my home, and have just become so angry and aggressive.  I believe that there are so many incredibly angry people out there.  Maybe their views are justified.  Everyone’s opinion matters.  But there has to be a point where people realize the impact their emotions are having on their own health and well-being.  There are tons of articles and research out there about how worry and anxiety and negative emotions effect our health.

But, after 53 years of life, I have learned the only thing I can change is me.

It has taken me too long to realize that MY LIFE is beautiful, special, amazing, extraordinary.  It has taken me this long to realize the amount of gratefulness I have in this and every waking moment.

Am I perfect?  No

Do I get angry?  Do I slip up?  Do I think negative thoughts or make a judgement though about something or someone?

Yes.

But, everything I have been learning points to self-awareness.  Self-awareness is a key and the foundational step in our own emotional intelligence — which, by the way is learned behavior that NO ONE teaches us.  Emotional intelligence is a skill our parents didn’t know, and you can’t teach what you don’t know.  Lack of emotional intelligence creates “broken” people who create “broken” kids and the cycle continues as I had written in my book If I knew Then What I Know Now a few years ago, (www.ifiknewthenbook.com).

Any time we can get awareness about our self and tools to control our thoughts — to STOP and take a moment to shut our unconscious downward spiral down — to recognize the thoughts that help us or hurt us, and to shift our thoughts to something that will better serve us, is an amazing thing.  Self-awareness makes our shift possible.

It saves us precious time worrying or thinking about things that, yes, may be happening, but we personally cannot directly control.

I choose to focus on things that I can control and enjoy my moments.

Can I burn up in a nuclear holocaust?

Sure.

But I’ll be happy that I spent as much time as possible enjoying my moments when I go.

I believe that it’s time to enjoy your life.

I believe that it is TIME to Play <3

Love,

If you need help stopping the downward spiral and need some inspiration to get “unstuck”, give us a call 631-331-2675 or email doreen@timetoplay.com.  My vision has been to create a community where we can empower each other to live the best life ever for ourselves, our family and our community.  I continue to strive forward to do just that.

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Doreen Guma, MA, FACHE, CPC, CLC:  Doreen holds a Bachelor of Science in Management, a Masters in Business and Policy Studies, is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, a Certified Social and Emotional Intelligence Coach, Certified Professional Coach, Certified Life Coach, and the author of the book, If I Knew Then What I Know Now, Our Quest for Quality of Life.

Doreen is the founder of the Time to Play Foundation, a 501c3 not for profit organization with the mission and purpose to enrich the lives of others through programs, public awareness outreach activities, events and learning opportunities that further the concept of enjoying life.  The Foundation’s website, www.TimetoPlayFoundation.org, has resources, events and articles for a person to learn what they need to know for a better life.  Contact Doreen at 631-331-2675 or email: doreen@timetoplay.com

The Foundation offers an unconventional approach in a non-threatening manner to provide solutions for the life situations that people may encounter.  Working in healthcare since 1987, and with her background in quality improvement, she has followed statistics showing our society’s current evolution to be more “sick and sad”.   She developed the Time to Play Philosophy:  you have to be happy, healthy, have money and a work / life balance for quality of life and believes everyone has the ability to enjoy life.