Saturday, March 31, 2018

The Importance Of Keeping Your Focus On Your Positive Habits And Attributes.

I think that most of us can agree that there is a lot of good and positive things to enjoy and embrace in this world that we're living in. There are simple things like laughter, smiling, nature, etc that we can associate as positive things. Though there is a lot of good and positive that comes along with life, we also know and realize that there is also a lot of negativity happening in this world. Beyond the negative events that we often see happening on the news and social media sites that we engage in, negativity often hits closer to home with so many people. I'm not going to address anything in particular that can be attributed to negativity in someone's life. Also, much of that depends on a person's perspective as to what they consider negative and what is not. Furthermore, everyone's circumstances and conditions are different, so what is considered negative and what not in a person's life is totally subjective. The main reason that I bring all of this up is due to the fact that it appears that many of the negative factors happening in life take precedence over the positive. Again this can be argued depending on who you are and how you think, but I do believe that a good portion of us can agree that this is often the case. Now beyond negativity just not being a good thing in my opinion, it can really have a damaging effect on us as people. Specifically, it can have an even greater effect on people that are striving to have more positive things happening in their lives. Because negativity can have a ripple-effect on us as people, it is of utmost importance for us to keep our focus on our positive habits and attributes.

Ladies and gentlemen; people here, people there and people everywhere, welcome to another installment of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! This is Brad H. back once again to hopefully dish out some knowledge and inspiration that can serve as some positive energy that inspires us to become better people. I hope that everyone has been doing great since the last topic as always. Spring is here, so I hope that things are beginning to look up for everyone that has been dealing with tough times as of late. So for this section where I briefly discuss something that isn't related to the topic for the week, I want to touch on the mainstream media and how it is total manipulation. Not unless you've been living under a rock, I'm sure that you've heard of this scandal involving the president of the United States and the adult actress. I'm not going to mention either of their names because we all know who the president is, and I don't want to bring anymore attention to the adult actress than she is already getting. Anyway, I'm sure that most of you have noticed how all of the major news networks have been constantly reporting on this story. Now I know that most people love gossip, etc, but my question is why should any of this matter to our lives personally? I'll admit that it is embarrassing for our country that our president is involved in something of this nature. However, the media constantly reporting on it doesn't do anything for us besides keeping our minds focused on it. In essence, this whole story in my opinion isn't really news, but rather entertainment. Only the individuals involved in this benefit from it, because they are the ones that are getting all of the attention and press that goes along with the media shoving it in our faces. The mainstream media is totally trying to manipulate us with this, so for those of you that really want to be informed about the things that are important in our country, I would advise you to seek out alternative forms of media. That's pretty much all I want to say about that, so now we're going to go ahead and transition in the topic for the week on the importance of keeping our focus on our positive habits.

Before beginning with the topic that I'm addressing this week, I'm going to go ahead and give the usual disclaimer that I give. Every single one of us has different views and opinions on life. We will rarely always agree with another person 100% of the time, and I think this is both normal and healthy. The main focus with this and all of the other topics that are discussed on here is to provide inspiration for everyone, as well as a hub that encourages others to ponder on things in ways they may not have before. I'll never expect everyone to always share in my viewpoints. Of course I appreciate those that do, as well as those that may not. Whatever you feel or believe is totally up to you, and I appreciate everyone regardless of where you may stand on the things I discuss. As for how we arrived at this particular topic, there wasn't anything in particular that happened or I saw that compelled me to want to get this topic out there. This was just something that I had been thinking on one day recently, so I figured that if I were thinking about it, then it may be a good idea to share it with others. Besides that, I feel it is something that can be beneficial to others and myself. If there is so much negativity happening and taking place in this world, then why should focusing on the things that may be good about you be of importance? Most of all know by now that what you choose to give energy to has a great impact on our lives and how we think. Anything that I mention here in regards to this topic also applies to my life as well.

We've already established that this world can be a negative place to exist within today's society. It is just one of those unfortunate facts of life that we all have to live with. There are many of us out here trying to help fix the amount of negativity that is going on, but try as we may, it will always exist in some way, shape or form. Although there may be much negativity happening daily throughout this planet, we all have the choice whether to engage in it or not. Now someone out there may be like Brad H., how can a person not engage in something that happens all the time and likely won't stop? What I mean by this is that yes, negativity does exist in our world, but a person that is able to elevate their mind above it won't be prone to engage in it. It's just another anything else in life that happens that most of us would consider to be bad or negative. Ah yes; the mind, something that I frequently make reference to on here. Whether you see the positive or negative in this world all comes down to your mind and how you process things. Now going back to the choices aspect of negativity, I'm going to give an example of choices and negativity. Now we all know that crime is considered to be a negative aspect of life right? Now because we are all exposed to crime in a sense that we hear of it all the time, does that mean that we are going to go out there and do it? Absolutely not right! The same way we make the choices to do the right things in life, we also have the option of choosing not to allow the negative factors of life to affect us. Remember, there are always choices in life.

Now from my perspective, probably the biggest and most crucial way to ward off negativity deals with where we choose to give our energy and focus to. Now I may be in the minority with my thinking here, but I believe that every single person on this planet regardless of what they've done whether for good or for bad have some good attributes about themselves. Now since we live in a world that consists of so many negative forces, most people nowadays are going to focus on the bad in others. I'm sure that most of you can think to a time recently in your life where you heard someone that you were around say something negative about someone else. Whether they were accurate in their criticism of whomever they may have been talking about isn't the point, but the fact that the criticism wasn't positive is what I want to focus on. This is exactly why I think that it is imperative to focus on your positive attributes and habits. When you are constantly giving energy to the positive aspects of your life, you'll find that you're better able to brush off any kind of negative behaviors that others display whether indirectly or not. Because society in general consumes people with the negativity that often happens, those that may not have elevated their minds will often try to tear down those that have expanded their viewpoints of the world. This is a win-win two-fold. Not only are you able to not be consumed with negative forces via television, social media, etc; you also don't allow the negative opinions and criticisms from others to bring you to their level. From my perspective, being able to do this means that you have totally elevated yourself above much of the negativity this world brings.

Now despite my talking of elevating yourself and focusing your positive habits and attributes, achieving an advanced mindset like this isn't always easy. As we have said multiple times throughout this topic, the negative forces of life aren't going anywhere, and the truth is that many of us mentally aren't ready for the elevated mindset that I've mentioned. There are going to be times where you are focusing on your positive attributes, but you'll probably still find yourself at various times in your life consumed with negative thoughts and emotions at the expense of others. We have to learn to think of positive thinking as muscle that constantly needs to be trained on in order to build. What better way than to build a powerful mind than with keeping your focus on the good things about yourself? Whatever habits you have that you think are good about yourself, keep on practicing them. Whatever attributes that you feel are good about you, keep on growing and expanding them. We want to turn ourselves into people that have an almost force-field like aura about ourselves that negativity forces flee whenever they come around us. I know that is a bit extreme on my part, but I'm sure that most of you get what I mean by this. Negative factors won't be going anywhere anytime soon, so it is best that we do all we can to fight those kinds of things off. Otherwise, we're going to find that we're in the same army as those that have allowed negativity to break them down. So with all of that said, keep on focusing on those positive habits folks.

Well it is time once again for me to go ahead and sign off for another week. I want to give extra thanks to everyone that once again stopped by for another installment of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! Per the usual, I hope that there was some understanding and meaning that was able to be gained from this. If anyone has any feedback or concerns, please leave those in the comments, or you can hit me up on my Twitter handle @BradrickH. I hope that everyone is having a great weekend thus far. I know a lot of you sports fans out there are excited since baseball started a few days ago, as well as the NCAA basketball finale being set, and the NBA playoffs starting soon. Good time of the year isn't it? Well I hope everyone enjoys, and I'll see you all in the next topic. Take care, stay strong, stay positive! Peace!

©2018 Bradrick H. All Rights Reserved.

Saturday, March 17, 2018

The Importance Of Why A Change Of Scenery On Occasion Is A Good Thing.

One thing that I believe that we all can agree with is that we all change as we get older. The changes that we all experience come in a variety of both good and bad things, but the idea of we as people staying the same way that we were when we're younger is just an illusion. Of course there are going to be traits that are particular about us as individuals that we will maintain even with age, but the acquisition of life experience and wisdom that we gain throughout our lives will naturally change us. I think that people for the most part grow into a certain state of monotony as we become older. What do I mean when I say this you may wonder? I think that we as people become accustomed to doing and seeing the same exact things on a daily basis. Our reality at various stages of our lives becomes somewhat of a comfort zone for us. We somewhat fall into a stage where we've become accustomed to doing and seeing the same things over and over again, and this becomes a repetition for our lives. Now this is totally fine and works for some people, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. There are some people that have seen and experienced so much in their lives that they're content with their reality. However, there are also those people that aren't totally at peace with whatever reality that they find themselves living in, and there is something inside them that is telling them that there is something more to experience. In today's world that we're living in, not everyone is able to constantly be on the go and seeing new things. However, a change of scenery sometimes can totally help with unrest of the monotony that many of us find ourselves in.

Greetings to everyone out there! This is your guy Brad H. back at it once again, and I'd like to welcome everyone to another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! Thank you in advance for everyone that stopped by for another week of positive vibes and and inspiration that can hopefully be some positive food to feed our spirits. Hopefully everyone has been doing pretty good since the last topic, and as always, keep your head up if that hasn't been happening for you as of late. Try to keep in mind that things are never as good or bad as they may seem. So there wasn't any specific news or event that I wanted to bring up in this portion of the topic, so I figured I would address something that happened to me personally this past weekend. I celebrated another birthday last Sunday, so I am now officially 37 years old (young). I must say that this was probably one of the more memorable birthday's that I've had in recent years. The reason I say this is due to the fact that this was one of the few birthday's in recent memory that I spent out of town. When I say spending out of town, I mean spending the night in another city rather than just going away for the day. So I spent the weekend in Ft. Worth with family, and I must say that although I'm not normally one to make a big deal out of my birthday, my folks really went above and beyond to make the weekend enjoyable for me. I finally got to see the movie 'Black Panther' in 3D, and I got to spend time with my folks that I only see a few times out of the year. The reason I bring all of this up for you guys is to remind you all that although people like myself see birthday's as just another day, many people do not. While your birthday is primarily about celebrating another year of being alive, it's always thoughtful to keep in mind what you mean to those that care for you. You being alive to see another year is not only a gift in its own right for you, it is also a gift for those that care about you. With all of that said, I want to thank all of my family and friends for a great birthday. Alright, now it is time to get into the topic for the week of why a change of scenery is good from time to time.

So now that I've gotten on my soapbox for the week, it is now time that I go ahead and get into the usual disclaimer that I give weekly before addressing the topic at hand for the week. I'll start by saying that we all have different viewpoints when it comes to life. None of us will always agree or see eye-to-eye, so the goal here isn't to focus my ideas and beliefs on anyone else. The primary goal here is to provide inspiration for us all, but also to hopefully encourage others to maybe see certain things in a manner in which they may not have before. I totally get and understand if others may not agree with me, and that is fine. If you happened to find yourself here reading this, I appreciate your coming by no matter what you happen to believe in. So how did I happen to arrive at discussing the importance of why a change of scenery is a good thing? Simply stated, it goes back to last weekend being my birthday and spending it away from my normal surroundings. Because I was in a different area besides what I am normally accustomed to, I was able to see things and meet people that I more than likely would not have had I not had that experience. Now as I mentioned previously in this topic, people that are used to traveling a lot will likely not be able to relate a lot to this topic. Just like the monotony of many of our lives is surrounded in one particular place, traveling frequently to a lesser extent probably feels somewhat monotonous for those that do it on a regular basis. For this week, I am mainly talking to those people that are stuck in the realm of monotony, and are finding that they aren't fully satisfied with it.

So as I have stated and established already for this week, many of us fall into a level of monotony as we get older. Some of you may find that you almost become ritualistic in the way that you go about doing things in your life. You probably watch television at the same time everyday, or you may eat dinner or go to sleep at the time that you're accustomed to. Now in talking about monotony when it comes to things such as this, I don't necessarily see it as a bad thing. I believe it can be beneficial to us to practice certain habits at specified times. I say this because when you find that you do things on a set schedule, you often know where all of your time goes, and you're able to plan your time more wisely. When I refer to monotonous behaviors, I'm in no way saying that they're bad. However, from my perspective, a life of monotony can be unhealthy to a certain degree. When I say this, I'm speaking in terms of being stagnated to the point where you're not experiencing anything else in your life besides the monotonous activities that you engage in daily. Now I want to stress again that living in this manner works for a lot of people, and that is totally fine. That said, there are also those out here in the world that live in this manner, but they are not truly happy and fulfilled living in this way. The reason that I say this is due to the fact that just a few years back, I was exactly this kind of person. I was living a life of monotony thinking all was good, but there was something inside of me that just didn't feel right. I didn't quite understand it at the time, but there was a desire to see and try out different things.

Since I frequently use health and fitness comparisons as examples on here, I'm going to go ahead and switch it up and do it again (sarcasm). Yes I was trying to be funny there. But I want you all to imagine someone that runs a few times a week at a track that is just one big circle. This runner goes round and round and doesn't see anything new or different during their workout. Now lets take that same runner and say that he or she decides to run in an area that is different from the track. Lets say they're running in an area where there are different sights and views around each corner, etc. Now of course everyone is different, but I'm almost willing to bet that the runner that we're using as an example in this scenario will find that their more invigorated after having that experience of seeing something different besides their normal routine. This is exactly why I think a change of scenery on occasion is a good thing. A change of scenery can help be a spark to help us become more alive on the inside. Also, a change of scenery or experiencing things that we're not always accustomed to can be a form of growth. From my perspective, life should always be about growing and learning new things. The problem for many of us is that when we become a certain age, we often feel that there is no need to for growth. I can't speak for anyone else, but this is a notion that I totally disagree with. As far as I'm concerned, regardless of your age or how much you've seen, there is always something new to learn as long as you're alive.

I get that monotony and being set in our ways with age is something that is part of life, and I'm in no way saying that anyone needs to switch up their lives or routines completely. I'm simply trying to encourage us all (myself included) to not be afraid to try and see new things every now and then. Again, from my perspective this is important because growth comes from experiencing things that we're not accustomed to. If you're the kind of person that only sticks to events in your area, try to go outside of your area and experience some of those things if you're able to. If you're trying to get into shape and you're doing the same exercises to get fit, I encourage you to try and learn of other exercises that can help keep you motivated to keep sticking with it. From my perspective, we should strive to be people that are constantly trying to grow and expand, so I believe that changing things up sometimes is one of the best ways that we can do this. For me personally, my birthday this year represented a change of scenery, and I am personally happy with the outcome that came from it. It was just another one of the many reminders that I've had over the years to remind me that there are so many things to do and experience in this world outside of what we're used to. So with all of that being said, a change of scenery is important to personal growth in my opinion. Be mindful that no matter where you are or what you're doing, there are so many things outside of your personal realm that are happening. You don't have to be a part of it all, but there is nothing wrong with sometimes making the effort to be a part of it as much as you can.

Well that is all that I got for this time around my people. It is time for ya boy to go ahead and sign off for another week. As always, thanks go to all that took out the time to read another installment of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! That is really something that can't be said enough. I hope that there was some understanding and meaning that was gained from this that served as being helpful to someone's life. Any and all feedback is welcomed, and if you have any questions you can hit me up on Twitter @BradrickH. I hope everyone is having a great weekend, and I'd like to give thanks to my family and friends for a wonderful birthday last weekend. I'm truly grateful. I wish everyone out there the best, and I hope everyone has a good week ahead. Take care, stay strong, and I'll see you all in the next post! Peace!

©2018 Bradrick H. All Rights Reserved.

Saturday, March 3, 2018

The Reverse Psychology Of Doing What Is Hard Compared To Doing What Is Easy.

If we're being completely honest with ourselves here, I think that most of us can agree that if given the option between doing something an easier way vs. a harder way that most of us would prefer the more easier way. Why is this the case for most of us? I don't know the scientific answer to this, but in my opinion, I just think that we've been conditioned over time to do what is considered the most convenient and quickest way possible. Now in saying that, I'm not implying that choosing the more easier way of doing something is always bad. There are always some instances where choosing the easier route is the best way to go. For example, if you were taking a trip and there were two ways of reaching your destination with one way being longer than the other, it would make the most sense to go the way that gets you to your destination quicker right? While taking the more easier path of doing things generally may be the most convenient and quicker way of making things happen, certain aspects of life can be more beneficial if we choose the road that is often less traveled. There is somewhat of a reverse psychology when it comes to this, but as I have pondered on this after hearing it, I do believe it is something that holds to be the truth. Although most of us prefer the easy way in most situations, we can't always see the potential betterment of our lives in this manner if self-improvement is one of our goals. In order to improve as a people, we have to realize that if we do what is easy, then our lives while be harder, and doing what is hard will often make our lives easier.

Yo! What is going on everyone? It is I Brad H. coming back at you all once again, and like always, I would like to welcome you all to another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! Big ups to everyone that stopped by again for another week of potential knowledge and inspiration that will hopefully feed our souls a bit. I hope that things have been going well for everyone since the last topic that was addressed. In the event that hasn't been the case for some of you, just keep on holding your head up and work towards trying to change that. This is the section of my topics where I normally talk about something related to sports or world news. However, there wasn't anything that was noteworthy happening that I felt was worthy of bringing up. So for my soapbox that I normally use for this section to talk about something off the cuff, I'm going offer a bit of advice to some of you that may be in your 30's and up. So earlier this week I was out taking a routine jog right? There has been quite a bit of rain falling in this area during the month of February, so it kept me in from running for several days. So I'm out on this run, and although it was a fairly sunny evening, there was still water puddles on the street. So I'm nearly a mile into my run, and my left foot ends up going over some water that had dirt mixed in it from the grass right? Next thing I know I slip and take a tumble. My hands and my right arm were scraped up, but the brunt of the punishment went to my right knee, which was bruised and scraped up pretty good. Of course that ended the run, and I walked back home. The important thing about this story is that I hadn't planned on going running that evening, but I decided to do so since it was such a pretty evening. However, my gut told me not to go, and if I would have listened to my gut, the injury would not have happened. So the advice that I'm offering for those of you that may be a little older, always be careful when you are being active. Everyone needs to be careful regardless of age, but we all know that it takes a little longer to heal when you are older. Finally, and this applies to everyone no matter your age, always trust and listen to your gut. Your instincts will rarely fail you. Just something to keep in mind. Alright, now it is time to transition into the topic of the week on the reserve psychology of doing what is hard compared to easy.

It is now time for me to give the usual disclaimer that I give before delving more into the topic at hand. We all have various ways of seeing things, and the same applies to how we view serious topics. The standard that I've tried to set here isn't to force my beliefs on anyone else, but rather to hopefully to encourage others to maybe view things in a manner in which they may not have before. For those that may not share in my beliefs on this or anything else that I discuss on here, I still appreciate you stopping by. There is nothing wrong with agreeing to disagree when it is done in a dignified way. My hope is that these words that I write are able to inspire others, as well as myself. So how did we arrive at this particular topic? I was on Youtube watching a video, and I heard the person in the video say something that I thought was pretty profound. I can't quote it word for word at the moment, but he stated that if you do what is easy your life is gonna be hard, and if you do what is hard your life is going to be easy. I'm sure that many of you have heard some iteration of this phrase before. Me personally, I hadn't up until I encountered the video. After I pondered on those words, I thought it would be an interesting topic to explore a bit. Rather than just saying what he said, I want to expand upon it and give examples of what I think he could have been referring to in what he mentioned. Since he didn't go more in depth of what he meant in saying that in the video, I figured I would give my own personal take on it. For those of you that are aiming to improve yourself, this is probably something that will touch you.

So as I referenced to earlier in this post, for most of us if given the option of taking the easier option compared to the harder option, most of us would choose the easier option right? The more easier option often sounds more convenient and doesn't require the level of work that the harder option, but is the easier option really what is good for us in certain aspects? Again, there are certain times in life where you may not want to go the harder route as I touched on earlier with the traveling example. However, there are going to be situations in your life where doing what is harder will help your life drastically compared to taking the more easier route. This is where the reverse psychology aspect of what I'm talking about comes into play. If you think of it in standard and straightforward terms, you'd think that the easier choice is the best option compared to the harder option. Of course the easiest option is better because doing what is easy is exactly that; easy. We'd rather avoid doing something that is harder because it requires more effort right? Now I don't want to lump everyone into the same category, so I will acknowledge that there are some people out there that prefer the harder option because they already understand this psychology. These are the individuals that are already ahead of the curve. But again, most of us prefer the easier way if given a choice, so that is what we're going to focus on here. I want to hopefully show others examples of how the easier option isn't always the best choice.

Now what exactly does it mean when we say that if you do what is easy your life is going to be hard, and if you choose to do what is hard, then your life will be easier? We're all free to form our own opinion on this, but simply put and from my perspective, the easier choices of life will often be the ones that are hurtful to us in the long run. I know this may not sound right for many people, but it is a fact. As an example, think about it in terms of our health. I think we can all admit that sitting on the couch watching television is a lot easier than going to the gym or going for a walk daily right? Now there is nothing wrong with watching television, but imagine someone that watches television constantly without ever working on their health compared to someone that runs several times throughout the week. Watching television is the easier thing to do compared to actually going out there and exerting effort right? So who is really benefiting the most? Since working out requires effort and some discomfort to do, it may not necessarily benefit you at the moment. Of course relaxing and watching television is a more laid back activity, so of course it will likely be more beneficial to you at that particular moment. The problem with this is if you do it constantly and without balance, it hurts you in the long term. The person that is putting in the hard effort has to suffer for awhile, but this person knows that the investment that they're making at the moment, although it may be uncomfortable will benefit them down the road. It's all about what is best in the short term vs. the long term. The easier options often benefit us in the short term, while the harder route is better in the long term.

What I'm trying to get across this week is that while doing what is hard often comes with pain and suffering, it is the best choice if you're thinking long term. Doing what is hard isn't easy within itself, which is what the reverse psychology that we're addressing is about. Every time you lie to or manipulate others, you may often find that you'll get away with it in the short term. Being honest with others and having integrity can be a tough thing to do in this society, and it is something that many of us struggle with because we're focused on the short term. Lies, deceit and manipulation are all easier options compared to doing what is right. Sitting on the couch eating all the time is easier compared to putting in the effort that is required to stay healthy. None of us are perfect, and we all fall short at times of doing what is hard. The goal here is to inspire others (myself also) to focus more on making the harder choices for a better long term. Yes, there will be times when doing this is going to be downright painful and hard to do, but I do believe that it does pay off in the long run. One thing that I try to frequently mention on here is the promotion of self-improvement. We're not trying to be perfect people, we're trying to become even better people. So with all of that said, just keep in mind the importance of doing what is hard compared to what is easy. Everyone is different, so evaluate your life and try to determine what is beneficial for you personally. If you do what is easy your life is going to be hard, and if you do what is hard, then your life is going to be easy. Try and keep that in mind folks.

We have once again come to the end of another edition of 'Brad H's Perspective'! It is time to sign off once again, so big thanks as always to those of you that stopped by to check out my thoughts. As always before I end, I hope that there was some meaning and understanding that could be gained from this, as well as the previous topics that I've addressed on here. Any feedback and comments are welcome, and you can allow follow or hit me up on Twitter @BradrickH. Well I'm going to get off here and try to enjoy this beautiful weather that we're having. Spring is definitely right about the corner. Hope the weather is nice wherever you all are, and I hope you all have a great weekend. I wish you all the best, and hope you have a good week ahead. Take care, and I'll see you all in the one! Peace!

©2018 Bradrick H. All Rights Reserved.