Category Archives: Emotions and Feelings

Finding your passion.

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By David Joel Miller, MS, Licensed Therapist & Licensed Counselor.

Finding your purpose.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com

You are told you should find your passion – but how?

Repeatedly we are told that to be successful in life we should pursue our passion. But how do you discover that passion, and once you have found your passion how do you decide if this is a healthy direction? It’s not unusual for someone to get extremely interested in something and for a year or two pursue it with undivided attention only to drop that activity for something else. Some passions are passing fancies. How do you know if this passion will come and go or does it have the substance that can give your life meaning and purpose?

Pursue something you love doing, not something you’re obsessed with.

An obsession is something which intrusively forces its way into your mind when you’re trying to concentrate on something else. It’s an obsession if you’re preoccupied with the activity to a troubling extent.

To find your passion examine your current interests. Is what you are doing things you love doing for their own sake. Is the practice of the skill it’s own reward or has an obsession taken over your life, trying to lead your mind off in another direction? Successful people often make substantial investments in the training, skills, and practice, that leads them to success. You may need to give up television or taking days off to devote yourself to the education and skills development necessary for success. Will this goal be worth the sacrifices?

Make sure that in the process of pursuing a potential passion you don’t neglect other essential parts of your life. Don’t give up relationships, time with your children, or ignore your physical and mental health while pursuing an obsession. The search for your passion is an area where getting outside opinions from people you trust can be helpful. Don’t let naysayers deter you from reaching your goals, but if several people warn you that you’re headed in a dangerous direction heed their warning.

When your purpose calls answer it.

The unhappiest people are those who feel they had a calling they didn’t answer. Neglecting your calling is worse for your mental health than never having found your purpose. If you discover something which gives your life meaning and purpose, and that you would be happy spending your life doing regardless of the outcome, this is probably your life purpose come knocking. Don’t let fear or trivial things get in the way of dedicating for yourself that something is worthwhile.

Persistence without passion will grind you down.

You probably heard that to become skilled at anything you need to put in thousands of hours of practice. The more you practice something, the better you become at it. Repeatedly doing something that brings you joy takes more dedication than effort. Practicing something when your heart is not in it is likely to wear you out rather than build you up.

Be careful that someone else has not selected your passion for you. The long hours of practice required to fulfill someone else’s dream will rob you of your own life.

What you put effort into may become your passion.

If the goal of what you’re doing is worthwhile, do it wholeheartedly. Doing important things can help you discover what matters most in your life. Whatever you do, seek to do it without reservation. If it’s not worth putting in your best effort try to cut it out of your life. Over time you will find the things that are easy to devote your energy to are the things which you’re passionate about.

Do what you believe in, and you may come to love it.

Just loving something is not enough. Many things in life are enjoyable for a season. Beyond temporary satisfaction, you need to have the belief that this is worthwhile. Approach every task in life as if what you’re trying to do matters. The things you put the most effort into are likely to turn out to be the things you become incredibly passionate about.

Staying connected with David Joel Miller

Seven David Joel Miller Books are available now!

My newest book is now available. It was my opportunity to try on a new genre. I’ve been working on this book for several years, but now seem like the right time to publish it.

Story Bureau.

Story Bureau is a thrilling Dystopian Post-Apocalyptic adventure in the Surviving the Apocalypse series.

Baldwin struggles to survive life in a post-apocalyptic world where the government controls everything.

As society collapses and his family gets plunged into poverty, Baldwin takes a job in the capital city, working for a government agency called the Story Bureau. He discovers the Story Bureau is not a benign news outlet but a sinister government plot to manipulate society.

Bumps on the Road of Life. Whether you struggle with anxiety, depression, low motivation, or addiction, you can recover. Bumps on the Road of Life is the story of how people get off track and how to get your life out of the ditch.

Dark Family Secrets: Doris wants to get her life back, but small-town prejudice could shatter her dreams.

Casino Robbery Arthur Mitchell escapes the trauma of watching his girlfriend die. But the killers know he’s a witness and want him dead.

Planned Accidents  The second Arthur Mitchell and Plutus mystery.

Letters from the Dead: The third in the Arthur Mitchell mystery series.

What would you do if you found a letter to a detective describing a crime and you knew the writer and detective were dead, and you could be next?

Sasquatch. Three things about us, you should know. One, we have seen the past. Two, we’re trapped there. Three, I don’t know if we’ll ever get back to our own time.

For these and my upcoming books; please visit my Author Page – David Joel Miller

Want the latest blog posts as they publish? Subscribe to this blog.

For videos, see: Counselorssoapbox YouTube Video Channel

Justice.

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Justice

Justice.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com

Justice.

Sunday Inspiration.     Post by David Joel Miller.

“Truth never damages a cause that is just.”

― Mahatma Gandhi

“Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.”

― Benjamin Franklin

“I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.”

― Abraham Lincoln

“To be wealthy and honored in an unjust society is a disgrace.”

― Confucius, The Analects

Wanted to share some inspirational quotes with you.  Today seemed like a good time to do this. There are an estimated 100,000 words in the English language that are feelings related. Some emotions are pleasant, and some are unpleasant, but all feelings can provide useful information. If any of these quotes strike a chord with you, please share them.

Look at these related posts for more on this topic and other feelings.

Emotions and Feelings.

Inspiration

Why you worry so much.

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By David Joel Miller, MS, Licensed Therapist & Licensed Counselor.

Man worrying,

Worried.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com

Excessive worry can lead to poor mental health.

Excessive worry can be a part of generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and can be a symptom of many trauma and stress are related disorders. Life has its problems, and it’s not unusual to worry about the things you need to deal with. An occasional worry is a common thing, but if you find yourself worrying all the time, if worry is taking over your life, you may be on the road to mental health problems. Here are some of the reasons you may be worrying.

If you see doubt as danger, you will worry.

People who learn to focus on the positive aspects of things are less likely to see ambiguous situations as dangerous. When you interpret doubt as danger, the world will become an anxiety-filled situation. Whenever in doubt, look for the opportunities rather than the risks. Sometimes great happiness is hiding behind that question mark.

The unknown is not always dangerous. If you look at life trying to spot every danger, your mind will magnify small challenges into impossible problems. If you look for the positive, you’re likely to find the silver lining.

Is worry is one of your best friends?

If you believe that worry is a good thing, that worrying will keep you safe, you will do a lot more worrying. Worriers tend to think that their worrying will prevent bad things from happening. Unfortunately, many of the worst parts of life are totally outside our control. Believing that worrying will help you solve problems will increase your anxiety. Trying to prepare yourself for every possible bad outcome leads to an increase in worry.

Rather than trying to anticipate every problem, try to focus on the handful of significant challenges. Time spent planning and acting moves your life forward. Time spent worrying but doesn’t lead to a decision to do something is unproductive time.

You may be using the wrong worry rule.

Worriers who try to worry about every possible undesirable outcome become overwhelmed and locked in a repetitive worry cycle. People who are high in perfectionism are far more likely to become worriers. People who adopt the rule “good enough worrying” only worry about the big things that have a high probability of happening. Good enough worriers are less bothered by pathological worry. Learning to stop worrying when you have covered the significant risks will reduce the amount of worrying you do.

Excess worry can be the result of Hypervigilance.

Sometimes, excessive worry is not the result of current problems but has its roots in the past. People with a history of trauma frequently become hypervigilant. Someone slammed the car door out on the street, and the hypervigilant person jumps. Even the smallest unexpected sound can upset them, and their brain adds a threatening interpretation. Because of a history of trauma, the startle response is turned up too high. If you are hypervigilant and are often jumping, examining your history of anxiety and trauma, if you have unhealed wounds from the past, professional counseling may be needed to turn down the level of hypervigilance.

Ask yourself if your worry is helpful or has it taken over your life? Maybe you need to move from worry to action. Stop obsessing about the things that are outside your control and take back control of your life.

Recommended Mental Health Books

David Miller at counselorssoapbox.com is an Amazon Affiliate and may receive a small Commission if you purchase a book or product using the link on this page. Using the link will not increase the cost to you.

Staying connected with David Joel Miller

Seven David Joel Miller Books are available now!

My newest book is now available. It was my opportunity to try on a new genre. I’ve been working on this book for several years, but now seems like the right time to publish it.

Story Bureau.

Story Bureau is a thrilling Dystopian Post-Apocalyptic adventure in the Surviving the Apocalypse series.

Baldwin struggles to survive life in a post-apocalyptic world where the government controls everything.

As society collapses and his family gets plunged into poverty, Baldwin takes a job in the capital city, working for a government agency called the Story Bureau. He discovers the Story Bureau is not a benign news outlet but a sinister government plot to manipulate society.

Bumps on the Road of Life. Whether you struggle with anxiety, depression, low motivation, or addiction, you can recover. Bumps on the Road of Life is the story of how people get off track and how to get your life out of the ditch.

Dark Family Secrets: Doris wants to get her life back, but small-town prejudice could shatter her dreams.

Casino Robbery Arthur Mitchell escapes the trauma of watching his girlfriend die. But the killers know he’s a witness and want him dead.

Planned Accidents  The second Arthur Mitchell and Plutus mystery.

Letters from the Dead: The third in the Arthur Mitchell mystery series.

What would you do if you found a letter to a detective describing a crime, and you knew the writer and detective were dead, and you could be next?

Sasquatch. Three things about us, you should know. One, we have seen the past. Two, we’re trapped there. Three, I don’t know if we’ll ever get back to our own time.

For these and my upcoming books, please visit my Author Page – David Joel Miller

Want the latest blog posts as they publish? Subscribe to this blog.

For videos, see: Counselorssoapbox YouTube Video Channel

Loneliness.

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Loneliness.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com

Sunday Inspiration.     Post by David Joel Miller.

“The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved.”

― Mother Teresa

“If you’re lonely when you’re alone, you’re in bad company.”

― Jean-Paul Sartre

“The trouble is not that I am single and likely to stay single, but that I am lonely and likely to stay lonely.”

― Charlotte Brontë

“If one’s different, one’s bound to be lonely.”

― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

Wanted to share some inspirational quotes with you.  Today seemed like a good time to do this. There are an estimated 100,000 words in the English language that are feelings related. Some emotions are pleasant, and some are unpleasant, but all feelings can prove useful information. If any of these quotes strike a chord with you, please share them.

Look at these related posts for more on this topic and other feelings.

Loneliness

Emotions and Feelings.

Inspiration

What loneliness is trying to tell you?

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By David Joel Miller, MS, Licensed Therapist & Licensed Counselor.

Lonely person

Loneliness.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com

There is more than one type of loneliness.

As many as one in five people may be experiencing harmful Loneliness. Like other emotions, loneliness can sometimes be a good thing and other times be a significant emotional disturbance. Recently researchers examined harmful loneliness, its impact on psychological health and its connection with early childhood trauma.

Loneliness is not one of those disorders for which we have a test. The only way to measure loneliness is by personal report. While loneliness can cause significant mental health issues, the way the professional knows the client is lonely is when the client says they are lonely.

People who are low in loneliness.

Some people report little or no Loneliness. These people are generally satisfied with both the quality of their relationships and the quantitative of relationships they have. In a survey of the general population, close to 60% of people reported that they rarely felt lonely.

Social loneliness is a result of not enough personal contact.

Approximately 8% of people report having social loneliness. They are satisfied with the quality of the relationships they do have but feel they don’t have enough close relationships. Social loneliness is sometimes seen as a helpful thing. It tells you that you don’t have enough contact with other people and you need to expand your social circle.

Emotional loneliness is the result of poor-quality relationships.

Approximately 25% of people report being emotionally lonely.  They have enough friendships and other social relationships but are frequently dissatisfied with the quality of their close relationships. How supportive your close relationships are, determines whether feelings of loneliness may result in emotional issues.

Some people are both socially and emotionally lonely.

About one in eight people report that they are unhappy with their close relationships and that they also do not have enough friendships and other social relations. People with both types of loneliness are also more likely to have been the victims of trauma and to report Trust issues.

Who suffers the most from loneliness?

A little more than half the people in one survey reported that they were rarely lonely. They were neither socially nor emotionally isolated and lonely. Loneliness had the least impact on these people.

People who had good close relationships, but not enough social contact were slightly bothered by their loneliness. People who had social relationships but were unhappy with their close personal friendship were more likely to suffer from the ill effects of loneliness. Those people who were most likely to report suffering because of their loneliness were those who are both socially and emotionally lonely.

People who were either emotionally lonely or both socially and emotionally lonely are much more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, and were more likely to have another emotional disorder. People who had been the victim of an early childhood trauma were far more likely to report poor quality personal relationships and resulting emotional loneliness.

Having high quality close emotional relationships is most likely to buffer someone from the ill effects of loneliness. Not feeling close to your romantic partner or your family is most likely to create the kind of negative loneliness that is harmful to your mental health.

If you are bothered by loneliness, ask yourself whether it is the result of too few friendships or not feeling close to your partner or family. Improving the quality of the relationships you do have is most likely to reduce your loneliness. If loneliness is dragging you down, consider getting professional help. Professional counseling can help you improve your part of the relationship and couples, or family counseling may help improve your close relationships.

Staying connected with David Joel Miller

Four David Joel Miller Books are available now!

Bumps on the Road of Life. Whether you struggle with anxiety, depression, low motivation, or addiction, you can recover. Bumps on the Road of Life is the story of how people get off track and how to get your life out of the ditch.

Casino Robbery is a novel about a man with PTSD who must cope with his symptoms to solve a mystery and create a new life.

Planned Accidents  The second Arthur Mitchell and Plutus mystery.

Sasquatch. Wandering through a hole in time, they encounter Sasquatch. Can they survive?

For these and my upcoming books; please visit my Author Page – David Joel Miller Books are now available on Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, Barnes & Noble, and many other online stores.

Want the latest blog posts as they publish? Subscribe to this blog.

For videos see: Counselorssoapbox YouTube Video Channel

Want the latest on news from recoveryland, the field of counseling, my writing projects, speaking and teaching? Please sign up for my newsletter at – Newsletter. I promise not to share your email or to send you spam, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Insight.

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Insight.

Insight.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com

Insight.

Sunday Inspiration.     Post by David Joel Miller.

“A stumble may prevent a fall.”

― Thomas Fuller

“I used to say to my classes that the ways to get insight are: to study infants; to study animals; to study primitive people; to be psychoanalyzed; to have a religious conversion and get over it; to have a psychotic episode and get over it, or to have a love affair with an old Russian. And I stopped saying that when a little dancer in the front row put up her hand and said, ‘Does he have to be old?”

― Margaret Mead

“I’m simply interested in what is going to happen next. I don’t think I can control my life or my writing. Every other writer I know feels he is steering himself, and I don’t have that feeling. I don’t have that sort of control. I’m simply becoming. I’m startled that I became a writer.”

― Kurt Vonnegut

“Special insight arises from its cause, correct view, which in turn arises from listening and contemplation.”

― Dalai Lama XIV, Stages of Meditation

Wanted to share some inspirational quotes with you.  Today seemed like a good time to do this. There are an estimated 100,000 words in the English language that are feelings related. Some emotions are pleasant, and some are unpleasant, but all feelings can provide useful information. If any of these quotes strike a chord with you, please share them.

Look at these related posts for more on this topic and other feelings.

Emotions and Feelings.

Inspiration

Humor.

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Humor.

Humor.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com

Humor.

Sunday Inspiration.     Post by David Joel Miller.

“Never put off till tomorrow what may be done day after tomorrow just as well.”

― Mark Twain

“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.”

― Groucho Marx

“Two wrongs don’t make a right, but they make a good excuse.”

― Thomas Szasz

“Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.”

― Mark Twain

“There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.”

― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Wanted to share some inspirational quotes with you.  Today seemed like a good time to do this. There are an estimated 100,000 words in the English language that are feelings related. Some emotions are pleasant, and some are unpleasant, but all feelings can provide useful information. If any of these quotes strike a chord with you, please share them.

Look at these related posts for more on this topic and other feelings.

Emotions and Feelings.

Inspiration

Giving.

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Giving

Giving.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com

Giving.

Sunday Inspiration.     Post by David Joel Miller.

“For it is in giving that we receive.”

― St. Francis of Assisi

“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”

― Winston Churchill

“It’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.”

― Mother Theresa

“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.”

― Charles Dickens

Wanted to share some inspirational quotes with you.  Today seemed like a good time to do this. There are an estimated 100,000 words in the English language that are feelings related. Some emotions are pleasant, and some are unpleasant, but all feelings can provide useful information. If any of these quotes strike a chord with you, please share them.

Look at these related posts for more on this topic and other feelings.

Emotions and Feelings.

Inspiration

Friendship.

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Friendship.

Friendship.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com

Friendship.

Sunday Inspiration.     Post by David Joel Miller.

“Friendship … is born at the moment when one man says to another “What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . .”

― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

“A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.”

― Elbert Hubbard

“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”

― Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People

Wanted to share some inspirational quotes with you.  Today seemed like a good time to do this. There are an estimated 100,000 words in the English language that are feelings related. Some emotions are pleasant, and some are unpleasant, but all feelings can provide useful information. If any of these quotes strike a chord with you, please share them.

Look at these related posts for more on this topic and other feelings.

Emotions and Feelings.

Inspiration

Encouragement.

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Encouragement

Encouragement;
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com

Encouragement.

Sunday Inspiration.     Post by David Joel Miller.

“Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.”

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Thirty years ago, my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report written on birds that he’d had three months to write, which was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books about birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said, “Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.”

― Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

“The noble-minded encourage what is beautiful in people and discourage what is ugly in them. Little people do just the opposite.”

― Confucius, The Analects

“For the rest of his life, Oliver Twist remembers a single word of blessing spoken to him by another child because this word stood out so strikingly from the consistent discouragement around him.”

― Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist

Wanted to share some inspirational quotes with you.  Today seemed like a good time to do this. There are an estimated 100,000 words in the English language that are feelings related. Some emotions are pleasant, and some are unpleasant, but all feelings can provide useful information. If any of these quotes strike a chord with you, please share them.

Look at these related posts for more on this topic and other feelings.

Emotions and Feelings.

Inspiration