Its Thanksgiving week everybody! This is the time to think about everything you have instead of the things you don't have. We all have to take time to recognize all the little things that we don't even think about, and give them a moment of appreciation.

The top ten things I'm thankful for:

.
10. Thanksgiving turkey! (And all that other good stuff)
9. Not having many injuries, pains, or medical issues in my life.

8. All the decent and good hearted people in the world.
7. My education and intelligence.
6. The luck of being born in America.
5. Being lucky enough to have the material things that I do have.
4. My pets always greeting me, loving me, and cheering me up.
3. The love, respect, joy, and help of my awesome boyfriend.
2. All the work that my mom has done to keep our family strong and happy.
1. Having a family that I can always trust and count on.

Stress

Stress is Stressful

I have a lot of stress in my life. Being a 17 year old girl that is about to graduate and have to face life is stressful enough on its own, but I have a ton of other things added on top of that. I want to graduate at semester so I have to make sure I'm passing all of my classes. I have all kinds of tests to study for, papers to write, and presentations to prepare for. Now is the time that I absolutely have to decide if I am going to go to college so I can apply for scholarships, but that's a hard one for me because my family and I have absolutely no money. Money is a big stress for me. My dad is waiting for disability money and currently has no income. My mom works at a factory and makes very little money. We can't really afford to buy groceries so I mostly rely on food from friends and school. And I'm trying to loose weight, but its difficult because I can't really choose what I eat, I just have to be happy to have something. I don't have money to buy Christmas presents, even for the people that are going to buy presents for me, which makes me feel completely terrible. I want to get a job but I don't know how to do that without having a vehicle (I live far from the nearest town and wouldn't be able to walk there). Also, my brother is doing national guard training. He only gets to call home about once a month, and I have to worry about him because I know he is having a hard time over there. Not to mention a very close aunt of mine just died out of nowhere and every time I think about her I start crying, no matter where I am or what I'm doing. And I have 4 pets that I can no longer afford to feed, but I love them too much to get rid of them. My life seems to be an endless cycle of stress.

People get stressed. It happens. When it does happen, its good to have ways of dealing with it. We all have our own ways of dealing, coping, calming down, and relaxing. Some people exercise. Some paint, sew, listen to music, all sorts of stuff. When stress is really getting to me, I talk to myself. I talk myself through whatever situation I'm in. It may be weird, but it helps. Except when I'm just completely overwhelmed and nothing is going to help. Then I just break down and cry. 

The point is, you are going to be stressed sometimes. You just have to find your own ways of coping with it. Remember that things will improve eventually and appreciate all the good things in your life while you have them.

Self Esteem

http://www.simplypsychology.org/self-esteem.html

Self Esteem

     I recently read the article, Low Self Esteem, by Saul McLeod. This article is very informative for an individual who would like to know more about low self esteem. Even people that don't think they have low self esteem should read this article. It is important that a person knows information about low self esteem so that they can understand how other people might be feeling. The article Low Self Esteem informs the reader about the causes, affects, and statistics of low self esteem.

     There are many causes of low self esteem. Most people develop their low self esteem during childhood. The cause can be different for everyone. Some common causes include: physical punishment, neglect, being singled out, and poor and unfair treatment. The article explains this well.

     Most people have a low self esteem occasionally, whether they realize it or not. A person looking in the mirror and judging themselves negatively could be classified as low self esteem. Any person that has ever felt that they aren't good enough, or won't be good enough has experienced low self esteem. Low self esteem is very common and effects everyone somehow. Though it may occur in everyone, some have it far worse than others.

     The people that have a low self esteem on a regular basis tend to be effected by it. Many tend to feel unhappy, unmotivated, insecure and angry often. They appear to be shy, dependent, negative, underachieving, and fearful. A constant low self esteem can contribute to major life changing issues such as different types of depression and anxiety. Once a person reaches these stages, it is no longer just a low self esteem they have, its a serious mental illness.

     A low self esteem has negative effects on a person, but a very high self esteem may have negative effects as well. Individuals with an overly high self esteem have a habit of getting into fights/arguements, because they always think they are right. Also, they have trouble with friends and relationships because they don't apologize or admit that they were wrong. So, its best to try to keep your level of self esteem to a medium level. The article Low Self Esteem can give the reader all the information he or she needs on the subject.

    

                                                                 

Goals

Its important to set goals. Without goals, your life would just be an aimless mess. Even if you don't think you have goals, you probably do and just don't realize it. Goals can be big, but they can also be very small. Maybe you're trying to do better in school, or maybe you are just trying to get one assignment done. Maybe you're trying to get set up for college, or maybe you're just trying to decide what job to get. Those are all goals. 

Having trouble accomplishing your goal?

First, state your goal. What is it that you want?

Okay now that you have that, think of a series of other, smaller goals needed in order to accomplish that goal.

Now think, what changes are going to need to be made with your daily life? How will you cope with these changes? This may be a trial and error situation, or it may go smooth the first try.

I'll give you an example.

What's my goal? - My goal is to find a way to make good money without a college education. (For now anyway)

Now, what smaller goals do I need to accomplish that will help with my main goal?

   #1: Research. Pick several job opportunities. Study them.

   #2: Start at a random low level job for experience.

   #3: Teach myself useful information and talents that might be needed.

How will I need to change? - I'll have to give up free time for research and studies. Also, I will need transportation for the job. 

How will I cope? - I will wait until I graduate school and then begin the goal process, so I won't be stressed.

Trial and error? - I may go through several low level jobs. I might not like the major job once I finally get it.
   

What if...?

• Your marriage is headed for divorce. 
•  How would you settle property, custody, that kinda stuff?

If I were in that situation, I'd have the kids and let him see him however many times a week. I would want the house, so if he didn't want to give it to me I'd give him some money for it.

• Your elderly parents need to move in with
• What conflicts and adjustments arrive?

Personally, I would hate to have my parents move in with me. I wouldn't mind living close to them, but with them? No thanks. We'd have to find a place for them, maybe the basement, depending on my house size. They'd expect me to cook for them, do their laundry, and clean up after them. I'd have to buy the things that they are used to like their shampoo, toothpaste, foods, things like that. Not to mention trying not to fight with my dad, or get annoyed with my mom.

• You are a single mother. 
• How will you cope emotionally and financially. 

If it were me, I'd probably have a lot of help from my mom. She loves kids so she'd babysit a lot, giving me free time and the ability to work. As far as coping emotionally, if my husband/boyfriend were the type of person that would leave his wife/girlfriend and kid behind, I wouldn't be sad and I wouldn't miss him. I'd look at the bright side of the situation, which is that I would be free to date and go have fun (still being a good parent).

• You just remarried. 

• How will family discipline be handled with step children? Chores? Space?

For me, it all depends on how old the step children are. If they were ten or younger, I would treat them like they were my own. I would yell if I needed to yell, assign them chores, they could call me mom if they wanted to, but I wouldn't care either way. Now if they were older than ten, I would leave the discipline to their dad, I'd suggest chores for them to their dad to give them, and I know they wouldn't call me mom. When it comes to space, we'd find a place for everyone and find a way to make it all equal, like if there were two rooms but one was bigger than the other, I'd say that the one that got the smaller room could could have a tv (or something like that) to avoid argument.