“If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” –Vincent van Gogh
How do you make your mental health a priority in your life? How can you support your child’s mental health?
“Don’t waste your energy trying to change opinions … do your thing, and don’t care if they like it.” –Tina Fey
Does it help to have someone else believe in you when you are down? How do you tell your adolescent that you are behind them when they are not feeling good about themselves?
Sometimes we all need a little extra help with something hard. Many people, including youths, start smoking and find it incredibly difficult to quit. 
DoSomething.org currently has campaign to for people to help other people quit the deadly habit. It’s called “Quitters Always Win” and you can win a $5000 scholarship by signing up to send a card to someone trying to quit! You can sign up here!
Do you think this kind of positive encouragement is useful? Where in your life could you use a card? Tell us about if you signed up and made a card or if you need a little extra boost in your life!
ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” -Leo BuscagliaNow when you’re outta your mind
Working that blind
To turn it around you better trust somebody
Look at yourself you like what you see
If you want something else you better trust somebody
Ain’t no one but a stranger to you
But I can show you what love can do
What do you think of this song? Have you trusted someone before with awesome results? How can we cultivate a trusting relationship with adolescents?
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
― Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of “A Course in Miracles”
What do you think? Are you letting your light shine?
How did this video impact you? What makes a day good for you?
We believe we should work hard in order to be happy, but could we be thinking about things backwards? In this fast-moving and very funny talk, psychologist Shawn Achor argues that, actually, happiness inspires us to be more productive.
What helps you to be more productive? What makes your day fly by?
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain
What brings Joy into your life? What makes you happy? Would puddle splashing also make you happy?
Martin Seligman talks about psychology — as a field of study and as it works one-on-one with each patient and each practitioner. As it moves beyond a focus on disease, what can modern psychology help us to become?
Have you talked about positive psychology with your child? With mental health professionals? With your friends? What were some responses you received?
