The Strength Maker

5 Self-care strategies that will keep you and your friends going. Self-care isn't selfish. First let's define self-care. You hear the word a lot these days. It seems that everyone is talking about it, and many people are actually doing it. You may want to join them. It's important to know what self-care is in order to implement it in your life. Self-care is basically what it sounds like: taking action to take care of yourself. Some people think that self-care is selfish. They think that in order to be a good person, we must constantly be working and helping others. They think that taking the time to do something for ourselves takes us away from that all-important task. That is not true. In fact, self-care is essential if we are to continue helping and lifting those around us . The better you take care of yourself, the more energy and clarity you will have for others. As Kerry Washington puts it: You can’t really be present for the people in your life if you aren’t taking ca...

Most people know that having friends adds spice to life. Do you know how to make friends? Do you know how to keep them? Experiences with friends add value to life.  Everyone knows that kids and teens have suffered quite a bit during the pandemic. You have lost days of school and plenty of social experiences, not to mention family and economic hardships that you have had to endure on top of that.  In an online interview in March, Laura Offutt, MD talked about some of these challenges. She pointed out the magnitude of the loss of socialization among teens because resilience--the exact skill that is required to survive challenging times such as these--is built on social experiences.  One thing that I do want people to really think about is that resilience is not just an individual activity. So while it's absolutely true that overcoming hardship and coming through traumatic times is something that builds your resiliency bank, resilience is also contributed to by the social s...

How to make sure you know where you’re going and how you’re going to get there. Pinpoint your destination. Who doesn't like to travel? Most people love the adventure of seeing new places, eating new foods, and making memories with people they care about. Not to mention the fact that adventures make for great posts on social media, and sometimes even bragging rights! But do you approach your life with the same careful planning and excitement that you apply to road trips? You may want to. Read on to find out how to make sure you know where you are going in life, and how to map out your journey to ensure that you arrive at your destination safely. First, Find Your Vision Focus on what you care about. The first thing that needs to happen in your purpose-journey, is to find a vision. You need to be able to see in your mind's eye where you want to end up. Yes, that can seem very intimidating. How do you know where you want to end up? You may not be able to pin down the exact details,...