President Barrack Obama spoke words of wisdom to hundreds of graduates this past week but I honestly believe that President Barrack Obama was talking to every single person that is making changes in their life right now.

“It is clear that we need to build a new foundation — a stronger foundation — for our economy and our prosperity, rethinking how we educate our children, and care for our sick, and treat our environment,”

President Obama then went on to talk about the need to cut down on material things and focus on the nation as a community. This is something that we all need to talk about. For so many years the people of our nation have been chasing after material things. We have been focused on the big house, the two cars, the picket white fence, and the great big yard. We can all see where this has gotten us in life and in our relationships.

President Obama’s speech about the economy and prosperity is a lesson to us all. For me, his speech was all about helping another person and building up the nation that we live in. Focusing on solving another person’s problem is a great way to ease the stress we have in our lives. We are no longer focused on the problems that we have but on creating solutions in our life and in our relationships.

So I urge you to take President Obama’s speech to heart and do what you can to help us build a stronger foundation. You might find that what you have created is actually a stronger foundation in yourself.

What is the fear in your life? How can you stop fear in your life and relationship? Fear is simply the mind on overdrive feeding on negative thoughts. Fear is a misuse of the imagination. What happens when a person fears something? The imagination is thinking about a negative end result. For example someone who fears spiders will freak out by a spider. Their mind is telling them that they are going to get bitten, the bite is going to be painful, and they might even die from the bite.

The reality of this fear is that most spiders are not even poisonous to humans and just want to be left alone. I’m not picking on people who have a fear of spiders. I personally can’t stand them because I was bitten by one and now have a healed over scar on my leg from it’s bite.

So how can you stop fear in your life and relationships? You can change your way of thinking, educate yourself, and remind yourself.

Remind yourself to stop fear
Many people use mantras or symbols to stop being fearful. These are short saying or items that allow people to recognize that they are being fearful of something and then quickly change their thinking. I have seen several forms of mantras or symbols. For example a wiccan might use the word “Abeo”. Abeo means vanish hence you want the fear to vanish. Someone might use a bible scripture. While another person might rub their temples.

Educate yourself
Lets take the fear of spiders as an example. People do not have to live with fear in their relationships and life. Find out what spiders are native to your area. Find out which spiders are harmful to humans, remember what they look like, and then find out what to do if a bite does happen.

Stop fear by changing the way you think
Instead of allowing your mind to imagine the negativity, focus on the positive outcomes instead. There are always going to be things that you cannot control. You may lose your job but this job lost could lead to a new business or even a new career. Plus we can always turn negative events around and learn from them.

It is my greatest hope that these tips on how to stop fear in your relationships and life will help someone. Remember that life is about experiences, sharing, and learning. If this post has helped you please past the link to a friend.

The book Deuteronomy 1:21 give a prime example of why we should not let fear stop us in our relationships and in life. Look, the Lord your God has set the land before you; go up and possess it, as the Lord God of your fathers has spoken to you; do not fear or be discouraged.

Even though Moses was filled with uncertainty and his fellow friends were filled with fear, Moses encouraged the Israelites to have faith and to push against the obstacles that stood before them. People are unable to reach their goals without taking the first step towards that goal.

This is the life we have right now. If the things that we want to do are not governmentally illegal, morally illegal, do not harm others, and do not harm ourselves then people should not let fear stand in their way.

I actually believe that people can learn about relationships through all relations but right now I just want to focus on the Nelson Study Bible.

Along with other posts I’ll be doing a series on the relationships recorded in these 66 books, the positive relationships that this religion has created, the negativity this religion has spewed onto the world, and what the bible says about the emotions we face each day in our life.

I hope that you will enjoy the posts about life and relationships. I hope that each new post is one step forwards in all of your relationships and life goals. For me personally, one new post at Relating Today is another day I can help someone and I just love doing that.

One new post also means another day of helping my family take a step towards our ultimate goal of opening a non-profit and doing nothing but helping people and animals for a living. So I hope that you will come back every day and always feel free to comment and discuss what I’m writing.

Last night Donald Trump announced that Joan Rivers was the 2009 Celebrity Apprentice. Based on the name calling that Joan Rivers did during the weeks of show, I think that Annie Duke should have won. Flat out name calling inside a board meeting should not be allowed. It happens in a relationship but it should not be allowed period.

Why does name-calling hurt a relationship? Name calling in a relationship usually happens when one person doesn’t know how to communicate exactly how they feel so they resort to degrading the other person.

Annie Duke did the right think on Celebrity Apprentice when she tried to talk to Joan Rivers again and again about being referred to as Hitler. Of course Joan Rivers did not want to mend the relationship and continued with the name calling to the point of calling poker players white trash. Not a smart move Joan Rivers, there is over 40 million poker players in the world today.

So how can two people quit calling each other names and mend the relationship? My husband and I have made a pact with each other. We have promised to point out if name-calling has happened and then find ways to stop it.

Don’t be afraid to point out what is happening. Name-calling can kill any relationship if it goes on for too long.

One way is by not talking in anger. If either of the people in the relationship is unable to discuss how they feel then step away for a bit. It’s better to say I need to collect my thoughts than to let poison spew from your lips.

What if you’re the person that is doing the name-calling and you want to stop? It takes a conscience effort to stop name calling in a relationship. By wanting to stop, you have taken the hardest step. Now all it takes is a conscience effort to tell people why you are angry with them instead of calling them names. With time, you will realize that it is no longer happening.

If you are struggling with name calling in your relationships, I hope that you find this blog post helpful. I personally have been in relationships where name-calling and personal attacks have killed it. So it is my hope and prayer that you are able to mend your relationship with this new found knowledge.

In my last post I talked about catching the early signs of Depression but what about the people that are not diagnosed with Depression? It’s important to think of all the other relationships that the person with Depression has. It’s important to find a place where they can be open about how they feel about their loved one who is dealing with Depression.

Family members, loved ones, and friends who have a person in their life that is dealing with Depression may feel abandoned, confused, angry, sad, and an array of emotions.

An eminent child psychologist once observed that all children need at least one adult who is irrationally enthusiastic about them. I agree with this completely. When my mom started showing signs of her medical diagnosis, the feelings that came up inside of me really turned me upside down. Unfortunately I played the role of the strong one in the relationship and did not find a place where I could deal with the situation. At that time, I didn’t even know if there were places for people like me to go.

Thankfully in the twenty years since my mother’s Depression diagnosis, places for family member to open up like flowers in spring. I want to focus on teens and children at the moment because they seem to be the ones most affected by a parent who has Depression.

Discuss the Depression
One of the worst things parents and family members can do is keep the children in the dark. I remember that being kept in the dark only made me angry and defiant. By discussing the illness and its results, it allows a child to prepare for a situation to arise.

Discuss the Depression more
Find a place where teens can be part of a group and discuss freely what is going on at home. Every school has a school nurse or counselor that can help teens find a location to openly discuss their feelings. Check with county medical clinics and local hospitals. The Technical Assistance Partnership has a vast amount of resources dealing with Depression, mental illnesses and family cases.

Develop and maintain relationships outside the home
This is crucial for teens and children who have a parent dealing with Depression, especially a teen that has a single parent dealing with Depression. If the parent does not recognize it himself or herself, then a family member or teacher needs to take the initiative to make sure that a teen continues to grow.

I’ll be honest for the first few years of my mother’s depression, I felt like I was stuck at the age 17. At times in my educational goals, I still feel like I’m stuck at the age of 17. I believe this happened because I was not able to build relationships outside of the home.

Teens not only need to have these relationships but they need to learn how to be open about what is going on at home. It’s difficult to tell someone that is to be your friend that you’re Mom or Dad is dealing with Depression. A teen may not say anything at all because they could be afraid of being rejected by friends.

Keep an eye out for the signs
Some teens deal with Depression in the family with no problem. Other teens may become depressed themselves. A family member should always keep an eye on a teen just in case they also start showing signs of depression.

Those signs of Depression could be:
Frequent vague, non-specific physical complaints such as headaches, muscle aches, stomach pains or tiredness.

Frequent absences from school or poor performance in school

Talk of, or efforts to run away from home

Outbursts of shouting, complaining, unexplained irritability, or crying.

Lack of interest in playing with friends

Alcohol or substance abuse

Social isolation, poor communication

Extreme sensitivity to rejection or failure

Difficulty with relationships

It’s my hope that this information helps at least one person that has a family member dealing with Depression. I remember how it was when my Mom was diagnosed with Depression and I just want everyone to get the help that I ignored in the past.

How do you judge in success in a relationship? How do you judge success in all the relationships that you have in the world? Do you let the other people in the relationship judge how successful you are? Or is it an internal gauge that tells you when you are successful any relationship?

The picture about relationships and success above reads “Some people dream of success, while other live to crush those dreams.” It’s true that we will always have relationships and circumstances in our lives that will try to crush our dream. Who really tells use when we are successful in the first place?

Some of you may know that I have another blog on Today.com, the blog is about movie releases and DVD rentals. I’m trying my best to be in the top ten of Today blogs. I continue to strive to build a relationship with all the other people in the forums. I continue to strive to be Editor’s choice for at least once in my lifetime.

What I realized I was doing was trying to be successful in other people’s eyes. I wanted the people in the forums and the Editors to say “Job well done”. My gauge of success has to come from inside of me. I have to be proud that I’ve nearly doubled my visitors in a month without getting a word from someone else.

It’s an easy thing to do because from a child we are taught to obtain recognition from other people and most of us lose the chance to have that gauge of success come from ourselves. I think it’s important for everyone to set goals in their relationships and in themselves. By doing this and achieving this goal, you’ll build a better relationship with yourself.

So I hope that you will take up this post about relationships as a challenge. Stop looking to other people for recognition in a relationship or at your place of work. Set goals for you to be successful. When you’ve achieved those goals, then you will have a stronger sense of success in yourself.

A relationship with oneself is the most important relationship and form of success to have.

The pathology of depression is a low state of vital powers and functional activity. It’s a sadness that lasts longer than expected. That is why many people who have the onset of depression stay to themselves, sleep more than usual, and suddenly quit activities that they once enjoyed.

The later hits home with me because my mother was diagnosed with clinical depression many years ago. The change was nearly from day to night with my mom. The vibrancy for life was once there because my mom wanted to travel, see new sights, and experience new things. None of that happens now.

Thankfully there are always signs that show up in people who are experiencing depression in their lives. People who are experience an episode of depression may have:

Increase in negative moods
Inability to concentrate
Loss of interest in favored activities
Withdrawing from social activities
Reduced sex drive
Increase inability to sleep
Loss of appetite or increase in appetite
Increase feelings of sadness, guilt, helplessness and hopelessness
Increase thoughts of death
Increase in fatigue
Increase of headaches
Increase of digestive problems
Increase of chronic pain

Depression symptoms and what to do

I personally think that if a family member sees signs of depression that they should act immediately. I would rather have a family or friend dealing with depression angry with me then have to experience them trying to commit or successfully committing suicide.

Many city websites and county hospitals will direct you to a place where a screening could take place. Offer to drive your friend or family member to the depression screening location. It’s better to take an active role when dealing with depression even if it means stress in the relationship

Anyone that has dealt with Alcohol Addiction could see the signs on The Celebrity Apprentice. Denis Rodman has a drinking problem and needs to get help for it. I have to be honest that I’m irate with The Celebrity Apprentice because I don’t think it was as much of an intervention as the stars claim it was.

I’m sure that Donald Trump and the cast of Celebrity Apprentice 2 care deeply for Denis Rodman but at this time of his life, he needs more than confrontation and a pat on the back. If they really cared about Denis Rodman as a person, then we would have seen one of the other stars offer a place for Alcohol Addiction treatment. Instead we saw Denis Rodman walk off the set of The Celebrity Apprentice, get into a limo, and drive down the road to feed his alcohol addiction.

It’s great that the show flashed the telephone number for AA on the television screen but it really isn’t enough. I hope that more was done behind the scenes of The Celebrity Apprentice for Denis Rodman alcohol addiction. I pray that telephone numbers were exchanged. I pray that information about treatment centers were given to Denis Rodman.

I know that this seems like a post that is trashing The Celebrity Apprentice and Denis Rodman for having an alcohol addiction. I’m not trying to do that at all. I simply wish that fans of Celebrity Apprentice could have seen more done on the air other than a heart felt send off and Denis Rodman will be in my prayers until the end of days.

My wedding anniversary just passed recently with no fanfare at all. I would expect that family members would at least say “Happy Anniversary!” What a messed up family relationship. There was no response at all until we sent out pictures on how we spent our first Anniversary.

I have to be honest. It ticked me off a little bit. I’m the type of person that would at least send out an email when someone had a birthday, special holiday, or anniversary. I did get a card from my father in law. I was just mad that my biological family couldn’t even lift a finger to wish me well.

Lately it’s almost been as if I was the black sheep of the family and that they want nothing to do with me.

After a little consideration I gained a little wisdom and realized that family is what you make it. If someone is having a negative relationship with family members then we all have the option of building better relationships.

Family changes with time. What once use to be your aunts, uncles, sisters, and brothers is now a melting pot of friends, co-workers, and family. So when you’re in a tiff because your first family members forgot to say “Hi!” remember that your family is what you make it and enjoy the company of the relationships that your involved in.