Let Go and Forgive, Brought to you by ARISE Life Skills & Training

A few weeks ago, ARISE founder Edmund Benson came across a fantastic article entitled “How To Let Go and Forgive” by Leo Babauta. The concepts in the article are so crucial to happiness, yet so difficult for most people to grasp. We have all been hurt by someone at some point in our lives. Everyone experiences pain; not everyone deals with it in the same way. Certain people make a conscious CHOICE to let go and forgive. It’s not easy, but the results can be liberating.

In his article, Mr. Babauta explained the following important points about holding onto anger and resentment:

1. You must commit to letting go.  It is a constant, conscious process.
2. Think of the problems that arise from holding pain inside you. Then think of how good it would feel to not have those problems any longer.
3. Realize that you have a CHOICE. No one is forcing you to harbor negative feelings. You can control your actions AND your thoughts. Remember that.
4. Put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Try to understand and empathize.
5. Try to understand your own responsibility for the situation. Could you have prevented it from happening?
6. Focus on the present. There is an old chinese proverb that says “the past is gone, the future is uncertain…but the present is a gift.” When you start dwelling on the past or worrying about the future, stop yourself and live in the moment. Find the joy in life NOW.
7. Breathe. Think of each breath as a vessel, moving positive energy in and negative energy out.
8. Feel compassion. Realize that by forgiving and moving on, you are allowing yourself happiness. This is not easy, especially when you harbor so much anger towards the person. Take the high road and wish happiness on the other person. Realize that when you hold anger inside, you are only hurting yourself.

ARISE understands the power of forgiveness, positive thought and making a choice to dump negativity. In fact, we created a training workshop called Drop it at the Door just for this purpose.  Drop it at the Door is a two-day workshop with the power to change your entire life. It was designed to help juvenile justice employees and those that work with at-risk and troubled youth, but it can work for anyone. If you find yourself bringing workplace frustration and anger home to your family, or dragging financial or relationship stress to work, CHOICES can help you. Learn how to manage your stress and anger, control your thoughts and make a choice to live a happy, healthy, positive lifestyle.

To learn more about the Drop it at the Door Training, visit the ARISE website.

Red Light Affirmations, brought to you by ARISE Life Skills & Training

Think of how much time you spend each day sitting at a red light. What do you do with that time? Most of us just sit there, staring at the stoplight with our foot hovering over the gas pedal.  The average red light lasts three minutes and the average commuter spends about an hour in the car every day. What if you used the time spent at every red light to think positive thoughts? How about making red lights a time for reflection?

ARISE Red Light Affirmations are little laminated cards you can keep in your wallet. When you catch a red light, take it out, read it and think about the positive things in your life.  For more positive affirmations, click here.  To order a box of red light affirmation cards, click here.

Smile! The many benefits of a big grin, brought to you by ARISE Life Skills & Training

“What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but, scattered along life’s pathway, the good they do is inconceivable.”  - Joseph Addison

Has this ever happened to you? You’re having a terrible day. Everything is going wrong. It seems as if the universe has pitted itself against you. You walk into a coffee shop, or your dry cleaners, or a gas station. You go up to the person at the cash register and encounter a dazzling smile.  The smile is so warm, so inviting and so sincere that you can’t help but smile back.  All the negative thoughts that crowded your mind dissolve, even if just for a moment. You smile unconsciously and hold open the door for someone coming in. That person sees your happy grin and is compelled to smile in return. And so, one smile creates a chain of good will.  Just a simple upturn of the lips and crinkle of the eyes—that’s all it takes.

Beyond the good cheer a smile can bring to those around you, a smile has numerous health benefits. Being optimistic can help you live longer! Here are just a few examples:

1. Smiling helps you fight off disease.   “The research is very clear,” says Christopher Peterson, Ph.D, a University of Michigan professor, “There is a link between optimistic attitudes and good health. It has been measured in a variety of ways. Overall, we have found that optimistic people are healthier. Their biological makeup is different. They have a more robust immune system.”
2. Smiling helps you live longer.  According to a study published in the November 2004 issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, elderly optimistic people, those who expected good things to happen (rather than bad things), were less likely to die than pessimists. In fact, among the 65- to 85-year-old study participants, those who were most optimistic were 55 percent less likely to die from all causes than the most pessimistic people. What’s more, after researchers adjusted the results for age, smoking status, alcohol consumption, physical activity and other measures of health, the optimists were 71 percent less likely to die than the pessimists.
3. Smiling is better than chocolate.  According to The British Dental Health Foundation, a smile gives the same level of stimulation as eating 2,000 chocolate bars. Eating chocolate is said to give you the same feeling as being in love. So the conclusion could be drawn that smiling gives you the same rush you get from being madly in love. Who wouldn’t want that?*

Having a hard time finding that elusive grin? Try visualizing things that make you happy. Listen to your favorite music.  Take a break and walk barefoot on the beach. Share a hot fudge sundae with a friend. Make a child laugh. Remember that everyone gets the same 24 hours in a day. It’s your choice to spend that time in a good mood or wallowing in unhappiness.

SMILE!

The ARISE Choices: Drop It At The Door program is designed specifically to teach participants how to choose their emotions and leave stress and negativity “at the door.” For more information, visit the ARISE website.

*special thanks to sixwise.com for providing info on the research study about smiling.

10 More Quotes to Help You Stay Positive

Here are 10 more quotes to make you think and put your mind in a positive place. We are what we think. For more positive quotes and valuable tips and advice for living a happier life, check out the ARISE Get Smart series.

1. “To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless.”
—Gilbert K. Chesterton

2. “If the wind will not serve, take to the oars.”
—Latin proverb

3. “Behold the turtle. He only makes progress when he sticks his neck out.”
—James Bryant Conant

4. “When you come to the edge of all the light you know, and are about to step off into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing one of two things will happen: There will be something solid to stand on, or you will be taught how to fly.”
—Barbara J. Winter

5. “Never regret. If it’s good, it’s wonderful. If it’s bad, it’s experience.”
—Victoria Holt

6. “There is a thought in your mind right now. The longer you hold on to it, the more you dwell upon it, the more life you give to that thought. Give it enough life, and it will become real. So make sure the thought is indeed a great one.”
—Ralph Martson

7. “If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place.”
—Nora Roberts

8. “Never part without loving words to think of during your absence. It may be that you will not meet again in this life.”
—Jean Paul Richter

9. “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
—James Baldwin

10. “Obstacles cannot crush me. Every obstacle yields to stern resolve. He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind.”
—Leonardo da Vinci

10 Quotes About Attitude, Brought to you by ARISE Life Skills & Training

The world we live in is never black and white. The universe is colored by the way you look at it—attitude determines whether you see just the black cloud, or its silver lining. Attitude isn’t determined by how much money you make, how you were raised, where you live or the people around you. What makes a positive attitude so powerful is its ability to exist independently, and sometimes in spite of, the world around you.

Here are 10 quotes about attitude.

1. “The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves happy. The amount of work is the same.” —Carlos Castaneda
2. “The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen.” —Frank Lloyd Wright
3. “Thought is the sculptor who can create the person you want to be.” —Henry David Thoreau
4. “If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.” —Marcus Aurelius
5. “The greatest part of our happiness depends on our dispositions, not our circumstances.”      —Martha Washington
6. “Everything can be taken from man but the last of human freedoms—the ability to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” —Victor Frankl
7. “The greatest discovery of any generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude.” —William James
8. “An optimist is the human personification of Spring.” —Susan J. Bissonette
9. “Sooner or later, those who win are those who think they can.” —Richard Bach
10. “To different minds, the same world is a hell, and a heaven.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson

Changing your attitude can be difficult. If you need a little help, try taking an ARISE CHOICES: Drop it at the Door workshop. The CHOICES training teaches you how to let go of anger, resentment and stress, especially in the workplace. The goal of the CHOICES training is to stop the “boomerang” effect of taking work-related stress home, and carrying worry about home issues to work. CHOICES participants learn how to drop stress, anger and negativity “at the door,” improving both their work and home lives.

To sign up for the DIATD training or find out more information about ARISE Foundation’s other programs, visit the ARISE website or call TOLL FREE:  1 (888) 680-6100 .

Need a Little Inspiration? ARISE Introduces New “Combination Pack.”

The world needs affirming thoughts now more than ever. It’s easy to dwell on the negative and be swept into the flood of turmoil and tragedy. It’s more challenging to stay positive and look for the good in others. ARISE has three products that provide a daily nudge toward positivity. Until now, those three products were only available separately.  You can now purchase all three in a handy “combination pack.” Here is what you will receive, for the astounding price of $15.00:

• Stop!  The average person spends an hour in a car during each weekday commute. When you find yourself with an idle moment, choose to use your time wisely and build a more positive outlook for yourself. The ARISE Red Light Affirmation cards can be placed on the dashboard and read at every red light. Instead of staring into space or fiddling with the radio, use every red light as an opportunity to fill your mind with positive thoughts, such as “I look at what is right in people, not what is wrong.” Look at red lights not as roadblocks that keep you from moving forward, but as blessings for yourself and others.
• Look! Positive Cards are thoughtful ways to salute someone else’s selflessness. When you notice a random act of kindness, give ’em a Postive Card. They make excellent morale-lifters in the workplace. Use them at home if you catch your children doing something right.  Give them away to total strangers you catch in the act of doing something good. It’s amazing how your entire world view shifts when you purposely look for the good around you. Everyone involved will be happier, and we can’t get enough of that, can we?
• Pray! Give a little bit of yourself by offering a prayer for a youth who is struggling. This card can help you with the words. It will only take a moment, and you could bring some peace to a troubled heart. 

Each package of 30 cards, 10 of each, comes with directions on how to use them effectively. Each set of cards is bound with a special wrapper containing an inspirational message. If you need more cards, they are for sale individually on the ARISE Website, 50 for $9.95.  The website is also a great place to find new ideas, sale items and free downloads.

MAKE EVERY MOMENT OF YOUR LIFE COUNT.

“Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’ into the future” -Steve Miller