Four Rituals that Will Make You Happy

From "New neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happy", Eric Barker
May 19, 2017

1. The Most Important Question To Ask When You Feel Down: What am I grateful for?

2. Identify my emotions. Suppressing emotions doesn’t work and can backfire on you. But labeling, on the other hand, makes a big difference.

3. Make That Decision. Ever make a decision and then your brain finally feels at rest?

4. Touch People. Touching someone you love actually reduces pain.

Sex is a sacred way to build a strong marriage

Here is the book, Good Pictures Bad Pictures: Porn-Proofing Today's Young Kids.

Another great article, 3 Secrets to Porn-Immune Kids

A helpful concept. You Have Two Brains!

I love this quote

Let’s inoculate our children against the pornography that is ubiquitous in our culture by teaching them that: 

Sex is a sacred way to build a strong marriage.
Normal sex is kind and loving.
Sex is only one part of who they are. Their intelligence, musical abilities, and all of their unique gifts are just as important to their happiness. 

These messages will counter the lies they will certainly see and hear as they grow up and are assaulted by pornography in magazines, mall ads, billboards and the internet.

If physical diseases were treated like mental illness

 

(click to enlarge)

This cartoon reminded me of a recent talk from Elder Holland

The Apostle Peter wrote that disciples of Jesus Christ are to have “compassion one of another.”1 In that spirit I wish to speak to those who suffer from some form of mental illness or emotional disorder, whether those afflictions be slight or severe, of brief duration or persistent over a lifetime. We sense the complexity of such matters when we hear professionals speak of neuroses and psychoses, of genetic predispositions and chromosome defects, of bipolarity, paranoia, and schizophrenia. However bewildering this all may be, these afflictions are some of the realities of mortal life, and there should be no more shame in acknowledging them than in acknowledging a battle with high blood pressure or the sudden appearance of a malignant tumor.

Another useful story about handling depression



The message to me seems to be we must be willing to face the shame, real and perceived of depression and its relations. Be courageous. Be gentle. Be persistent.

Like a Broken Vessel

In October, Jeffrey R Holland gave good counsel about mental health.

In preventing illness whenever possible, watch for the stress indicators in yourself and in others you may be able to help. As with your automobile, be alert to rising temperatures, excessive speed, or a tank low on fuel. When you face “depletion depression,” make the requisite adjustments. Fatigue is the common enemy of us all—so slow down, rest up, replenish, and refill. Physicians promise us that if we do not take time to be well, we most assuredly will take time later on to be ill.

I love the promise he gives here.

Trust in God. Hold on in His love. Know that one day the dawn will break brightly and all shadows of mortality will flee. Though we may feel we are “like a broken vessel,” as the Psalmist says,10 we must remember, that vessel is in the hands of the divine potter. Broken minds can be healed just the way broken bones and broken hearts are healed. While God is at work making those repairs, the rest of us can help by being merciful, nonjudgmental, and kind.