Sayre Counseling Services LLC

10/25/2022

01/15/2022

Motivation is not something that is delivered to your door by Amazon. It is something that you choose and work for. Take action, feel the reward, that is the path to motivation.

01/15/2022

Changing any habit is hard. Our brains are wired to adopt habits with repetition of behaviors. And, if some action gives you momentary pleasure, such as eating cake, gambling, smoking, hanging out on social media for hours, then your brain releases the “feel good” hormone, dopamine, which strengthens that behavior and makes you crave another release of dopamine. So, you have another piece of cake.
What helps you be successful with change?

1. Prioritize. Pick the most important or the easiest habit to change.
2. Break the overall goal down into smaller pieces and focus on one piece at a time.
3. Make sure each piece is realistic: make small likely-to-be-achieved pieces.
4. Set a date for completing each piece. Put it on your calendar like you would any important event or appointment.
5. Replace an unhealthy habit with another behavior that is pleasurable but healthier.
6. Have a relapse plan. How long did it take you to learn something that seems automatic now? Be patient with yourself and know that set backs are normal.
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01/01/2022

Everything is easier said than done, both the bad and the good. Going on a vacation? Fun times, but easier said than done. Make the choices that benefit you, NOT the choice based on how easy it is to do.

12/16/2021

It’s Never Too Late
As the end of the year approaches, people frequently breathe a sigh of relief or a sigh of regret – or both!
And we think about New Year’s resolutions, the ones we made, the ones we kept, or, more likely, the ones with which we fell short.
It’s easy to be discouraged. Maybe you try to “settle” for what is. You might find yourself trying not to hope for more.
But we cheat ourselves – and others – when we do that.
While we often remember the child wonders, in fact 80% of the super-overachievers – such as Henry Ford, Colonel Sanders, Grandma Moses – never even knew what they really wanted to do until about the age 50.
Georgia O’Keefe got serious about her paintings in her early to mid-50s and began going to the southwest every winter in order to get serious about her work. When Stieglitz (her photographer-husband) died, she permanently relocated to the Santa Fe/Taos area. She lived to age 99 and painted to the last year of her life. In her very late years, she was running off vandals who wanted to steal her garbage and sell it. The going rate was $25,000 per scrap. She died with an estate worth $70 million.
Astronaut John Glenn returned to space at age 77. Juila Child had her tv debut at age 51 and wrote a cookbook at age 87. Frank Lloyd Wright, the architect, was still working at age 91.
Robert Marchand set a world record in cycling at age 105 by bicycling over 14 miles in one hour. He was told as a young man to give up cycling because his small size would prevent him from being successful. He didn’t take up the sport again until the age of 68.
So, act on your dreams!

01/01/2021

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.
ALBERT EINSTEIN

10/05/2020

CHANGE WHAT YOU DO.
To work for change — in our personal lives or in the world — we need to find the ordinary things that can help us sustain our energy and optimism.
Put down the remote; walk away from the computer; get up off the couch.
• Spend time in Nature: An April 2019 study published in the Frontiers in Psychology suggests it takes just 20 minutes of nature time to noticeably reduce stress hormone levels.
• Keep Busy: Concentrate on a project you have been meaning to do. Clean one drawer every day. Organize your coat closet. Make a donation to Goodwill. Diversion is a great way to stop upsetting thoughts from flooding in.
• Find Encouragement and Inspiration: Seek out the podcast, movie, or book that lifts your spirits, gives you a role model, or offers practical advice for moving forward.
• Music: New research shows that even sad music can lift your mood, while other studies suggest music can boost happiness and reduce anxiety. Research suggests music helps to manage stress, enhance memory, and alleviate pain.
• Do Some Small Act of Kindness for someone else: “be the change you want to see in the world” Gandhi. Kindness also triggers release of “feel good hormones.” And feeling useful helps you feel better about yourself.
• Laugh: find something that makes you laugh. This also releases “feel good hormones” and brightens your spirits. Check out your fav sitcom, stand-up comedian, or call that funny friend.
• Actively Practice Positivity: Our brains are wired to protect us from danger, so we have an automatic negativity bias and are thus more attracted to troubling information. Deliberately choose to look for something positive, however small. What are you looking forward to; what are you grateful for; recall a success or recall a calm and pleasurable time in your life.

10/05/2020

CHANGE HOW YOU THINK
There is hope in remembering that, over the course of your life, or over the course of the history of the country and of the world, things have been bleak before, even bleaker than they are now. Pause a moment and think about your own hard times. And, you are still standing. This country was born in turmoil and survived chaos and destruction throughout its history.
Remember to remember your strengths and your successes, however small those successes might seem now.
We are all stressed at times, all fearful and sometimes despondent. And even if we know what could help us move away from these hopeless feelings, we often don’t do them unless we are reminded to do so by being with others in the same situation. Feelings of despair and inadequacy are part of the human condition. And when you find community with others, you know you are doing the best you can with what you have.
Seek community. Community of thought. Community of support.
You are strong, and there is much within you that responds well to adversity. There is hope in that confidence. Do the best you can. Live according to your values and intentions, while knowing that you may not always succeed in your aspirations.

10/01/2020

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” MLK

10/01/2020

"We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” Martin Luther King Jr.

How do you look to the future when the present seems so hard? How do you nurture a small flicker of hope when it all seems so impossible?

Life feels so hard. Maybe you and others around you are feeling powerless. What to do? Where to start? Is there any point? Are these thoughts familiar to you? Whether it is your personal life, the state of your country or the changes in the world, people are struggling to find solid ground.

But there are still babies to rock, meals to prepare, dogs to walk, and laundry to be washed.

It is the task of each individual to find joy and to make meaning of their life. This has always been true and will always be true.

09/26/2020

“An abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is normal behavior.”

09/26/2020

"When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” Victor Frankl

09/26/2020

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
― Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning

08/22/2020

We know the damage that sadness and stress can cause our bodies. It's important that we take time out of our day to breathe, be present, and find joy somewhere in our lives. We also owe it to ourselves to avoid situations that cause us undue pain and suffering. What will you do today to nurture yourself?

05/17/2020

MAKE IT RAINN 👋

05/03/2020

The Upside of Being Down. What a timely title of a book for our current circumstances! This is on my to-read list of books. What appealed to me, in addition to the title(!), are some of these quotes from the author.

“This forced solitude is an opportunity to practice introspection because when things do get back to whatever the new normal is going to be, there are still going to be times where you feel lonely or isolated. And knowing you come equipped with ways to fight your own anxiety and ways to bring joy – that will help.”

“Understand your fear-based thoughts are not necessarily true. It they are trying to lead you to a possible future event that isn’t here, you don’t have to follow. When I hear mine [thoughts]heading to those scary places, I talk to it [my mind] like it’s the person I want to leave the room. I’ll say, ‘Thank you. I’m fine right now. I don’t need to join you.’”

In this except, she references what it is like to grow up in an era when there was no access to 24 hour news, just the morning, the noon, and the evening news. “IF something drastic happens, you’re going to hear about it. I think what we’re not realizing is you can actually be putting your mental health in danger when you’re just turning on the news.”

Finally, and best. “A lot of times, people don’t want to dance because they don’t want anyone to see them; they don’t think they’re good enough. But I have found – and it is scientifically proven – that dancing releases hormones that help you feel joy. I’ve always leaned into that.”