Stress & Performance Center LLC

08/14/2024

The only thing over which I have control is what I do, say, think, and feel - and THAT keeps me busy. No control at all over what others do, say, think, and feel - so why worry about it? THEIR CIRCUS - THEIR MONKEYS!

03/05/2023

01/27/2022

“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.”

Kahlil Gibran

10/31/2019

My latest acrylic painting on a river rock capturing ancestry and present struggles and likely important to no one but me. Like the rest of us, I’m a mutt; a mix of nationalities and races. The one with which I most identify is the Native American origin - the Wolf Clan (Aniwaya) of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee (Tsulagi) Nation. My Native American name is ‘Wulaptonachgat’, a name I’ve struggled - and too often failed - to live up to since it was given me. It’s rough English translation is ‘Good News’. The painting captures my ‘spirit animal’, the wolf. Yes, God has wolves in His flock. The presence of a light and a dark wolf in the painting represents the constant struggle within me - and YOU - best described in the Cherokee legend about an old Cherokee teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.” The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?” The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

09/22/2019

What would you think if a runner in a race told you she ran halfway to the finish line but was afraid she wouldn’t win so she turned around and ran back to the starting gate? I’m a swimmer and was asked last week how far I’d swam as I walked from the gym. I said, “I wanted to swim a mile but swam a half mile and realized I was too tired to finish, so I turned around and swam back the same distance!”. The person, mindlessly but with good intent, responded, “I’ll bet you’ll swim that mile next time”. 😳

Fact is people do it all the time, running half-way or better to their goals, becoming fearful and unsure, then running back the same distance. The same energy is expended but goals are not achieved ... and we wonder why? In Second Timothy 4:7, the Apostle Paul said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful”. He’s saying he has fought the fight, not that he was victorious. He’s saying he finished the race, not that he won it. Stopping short of your goals and going back is NOT finishing, but takes just as much energy because your spirit is always moving in one direction or the other.

09/03/2019

06/19/2019

Narcissism is a term too easily and too generally employed to describe people who are annoyingly confident. Genuine narcissism is, in fact, a highly egregious disorder. Narcissists believe very strongly indeed that they are exceptionally special, often asserting how much smarter, better, more deserving they are than anyone else. When anyone or anything attempts to dispel that belief or call it into question, narcissists famously fly into a rage and become very hostile, very angry, and potentially VERY DANGEROUS. Sadly, narcissists can too easily attract the support of weak-minded, victim mentalities who desperately wish to believe the narcissist’s insane claims.

02/07/2019

amen!