Power For Positive Living

35+ years of developing this positive living website by sharing myself with others has given me many specific personal guidelines that I have found to be most helpful with my life choices.  My personal choice guidelines for relationships with self and others allows me to better understand the individual positive-living journey that I have chosen over the years.    Wellness psychology encourages the processes of introspection and experimentation for each individual to develop, understand, implement and share personal guidelines that support positive living.  

The United State Surgeon General has issued a health warning about an "epidemic" of loneliness among seniors who have lived many years.    We each face the reality that our family and friendship circle membership tends to diminish as you and I age. We all face personal individual decisions on how we wish to manage this isolation situation for today and tomorrow for as long as you and I continue to live this gift of life.  Being able to emotionally connect with other humans where we can openly and honestly share our hopes, fears, and concerns is one way to manage loneliness and find individual positive answers to this important question. 

Aging allows us to strengthen the value of our time currency.  We learn that the gift of time is probably the most precious gift we have to give/receive with others each day that you and I live.Reaching the 'front of the line' also gives us the opportunity to realize the reality that we are going to die.  The varied physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of the death process while we live one day at a time are no longer an abstract to handle sometime in the future. With this awareness of reality, what specific choices do you and I want to make for spending whatever time currency is left in our account?   What is really important to us at this stage of living?   Can we finally let go of the 'small stuff'?  

Wellness psychology teaches that we humans want to be heard and accurately understood by others.  Whether we wish to be known for the "real" us or some modified version is always an individual's personal choice.  Just because you and I want to know someone does not guarantee that this individual wants to be known by others or by me specifically. They may also want to be known generally but not in specific life areas.  After listening to many life stories over the years, one can learn there are many foundations on which a person may decide to view personal information as worthy to be a "secret".  Listening to personal secrets can be a responsibility for us to communicate effectively:  Do I want to accept this responsibility of learning and maintaining your secrets?

 I recall a song from my youth that encouraged me to maximize giving to persons who I loved while we were both still alive and able to give/receive personal gifts.   The song's theme was: "Give me my flowers while I am living so I can enjoy them while I can. Please do not wait until I am in my casket to slip some lilies into my hands."   We have the choice to give loved ones gifts that they value more than flowers at their future funeral.  Can we make the transition to give the gift of our "flowers" while a loved one is alive to enjoy them?  Have we given the gift of our presence by visiting for lunch or sharing a trip?  Have we made a gift of our time with a phone call? The time to choose the spending of our time currency for 'flower gifts' by how and what we give to loved ones is today!   Yesterday is gone.  Tomorrow may or may not arrive for any one of us.