(Q: I have always found it difficult to give expression to
my most important feelings and needs towards other people.)
Expressing your deep feelings and needs is extremely important to
good health because bottled up feelings weaken the immune system and
cause circulatory problems. Learning to express your feelings takes
practice just like any other skill. Just as with physical exercise, you
must start with easy challenges and work up — pushing yourself just
enough that you gradually build up strength.
Start today to be sensitive to your own inner feelings and to
express them gently yet firmly whenever you feel them. THINK about some
feelings you may not have expressed recently and IMAGINE scenes where you
do express them. When the opportunity arises, this rehearsal will make it
easier to do it in real life. The important thing is to develop a
continual alertness for your own deep feelings that will remind you
whenever an opportunity to express them is being missed.

(Q: Usually I manage to avoid psychological or physical
demands that are too taxing.)
Taking care of yourself sometimes means disappointing other
people’s expectations. This is a healthy thing that you should learn to
do with some delight. Your parents and teachers may have taught you too
well to do what is expected. Somewhere there is a balance, where your own
health and happiness counts for something. Remember that the ancient part
of you that is tied so intimately to your heart and immune system must be
taken care of and respected because without good health you will
accomplish little.

Puffy Pix Page

The only advantage of being a pessimist is that all your
surprises are pleasant. But that’s pretty small change
compared to the big payoff that comes from projecting positive
expectations.

Much of our happiness or unhappiness is caused, of course, not
by what happens, but how we look at what happens. In other
words, by our thinking habits. And habits can be changed.

George Walther, in his book Power Talking, shows how you can
foster the mind-set that interprets setbacks as positive
opportunities. He believes this is a skill that you can
develop-one word, one phrase, one sentence at a time.

For starters, purge the words “I failed …” from your
vocabulary, Walther urges. Replace them with “I learned …”
to help your mind focus on the lessons involved.

Similarly, you might want to get in the habit of using
“challenge” when others would say “problem,” “I’ll be glad to”
instead of “I’ll have to,” and “I’m getting better at …”
rather than “I’m no good at …”

The subliminal effect of changing even a few words, Walther
says, can prompt your mind to come up with creative solutions
rather than dreading or fleeing the problem.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Soul singer Barry White, battling kidney failure, is resting comfortably while doctors conduct tests to find a suitable transplant donor among his eight children, a spokesman said on Thursday.

The 58-year-old entertainer was hospitalized last month for kidney dialysis, but he is now at home and undergoing dialysis every other day on an out-patient basis as his condition improves, White’s manager, Ned Shanker, told Reuters.

“He’s doing really great. I was with him last night, and things are going really well,” Shanker said, adding that the hefty singer has been dieting and has gotten his high blood pressure under control.

He said tests were being performed to determine whether any of White’s children would make a suitable organ donor to provide a kidney to their father for a transplant.

“He’s got eight kids,” Shanker said. “They’re doing tests. I don’t think we’re going to be doing a nationwide search (for a kidney). I think we’ve got it pretty well covered.”

White’s label, the Island Def Jam Music Group, disclosed in September that White was undergoing dialysis for kidney failure caused by a history of high blood pressure.

The singer, known for his rich bass vocals and musical love-maestro persona, has provided “the mood” for countless candlelight dinners and late-night trysts with such ballads as “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe”, and “You’re the First the Last, My Everything”.