Tag: self love

Posted in Autoimmune the dis-EASE, The Role of the Immune System, Understanding Autoimmune dis-EASE

Understanding Autoimmune dis-EASE: The Role of the Immune System

Posted on by HOLLY STEVENS

The Importance of the Immune System

The immune system is a remarkable network of cells, organs, and processes that protect our bodies from harm. It is our front line defense against viruses, bacteria, parasites, and toxins, ensuring we don’t constantly battle illness.

Its significance goes beyond defense; it recognizes threats, mobilizes resources, and remembers past encounters to strengthen future responses. Understanding its workings helps us appreciate the balance that keeps us healthy.

The immune system is not just a static defense mechanism. It is a dynamic and highly adaptable system. It evolves to face new threats. It regulates inflammation and influences chronic conditions like cancer and autoimmune disorders. By exploring its components and functions, we gain insights into how our immune system interacts with other systems. This exploration leads to exciting advancements in medical research. Let’s celebrate and nurture our immune system for a healthier future!

Components of the Immune System.

The immune system comprises diverse specialized cells, tissues, and organs that work together to defend the body against harmful agents. White blood cells, also known as leukocytes, are at the heart of this intricate network. They are the primary actors in the immune response. Understanding their roles and functions is crucial in comprehending the immune system’s operations. 

There are several key types of white blood cells, each with its unique role and job. Lymphocytes, like T and B cells, recognize and respond to specific threats. Phagocytes, including macrophages and neutrophils, engulf and destroy foreign invaders. Other immune cells, like natural killer and dendritic cells, play crucial roles in the immune response. 

These immune cells are found throughout the body. They circulate in the bloodstream and lymphatic system. They live in specialized organs like the spleen, thymus, and lymph nodes. These organs serve as hubs for immune activity. They offer the necessary infrastructure for the coordination and execution of the body’s defense mechanisms. 

Besides the cellular components, the immune system relies on a complex network of chemical signals and regulatory pathways. Cytokines are signaling molecules. They help orchestrate the immune response. Antibodies are specialized proteins. They neutralize or mark specific threats for destruction. 

We can gain a deeper appreciation for the remarkable ways our bodies work to protect us. We achieve this by understanding the diverse and intricate components of the immune system. This knowledge empowers us to take control of our health. It can enhance our understanding of how the immune system interacts with other physiological systems. This leads to new medical research and treatment avenues. 

Immune System Functions

The immune system is an incredible network of functions vital in protecting our bodies and enhancing our overall health! Its primary mission is to identify and remove potential threats. These threats can disrupt our well-being, like harmful pathogens, abnormal cells, and other foreign invaders.

A fascinating aspect of the immune system is its ability to recognize these dangers. This recognition occurs through a process known as the immune response. When a potential threat is detected, the immune system enthusiastically mobilizes specialized cells and chemicals to combat the intruder. This dynamic response involves various strategies. It activates phagocytes that engulf and remove pathogens. It produces antibodies to mark threats for destruction. Additionally, it recruits more immune cells to strengthen the defense.

Beyond its crucial role in fighting infections and illnesses, the immune system contributes significantly to our general health and vitality. It helps regulate inflammation, a natural reaction to injury or infection. It plays a role in the onset and progression of chronic health conditions like cancer, autoimmune disorders, and cardiovascular diseases.

One of the immune system’s most remarkable abilities is its capacity for learning and memory. This ability helps the body to respond more effectively and target familiar threats. This phenomenon is known as immunological memory. This fascinating ability is the foundation of vaccinations, which harnesses the immune system’s learning to protect against specific diseases.

Exploring our immune system’s diverse and intricate functions can help us better appreciate our body’s efforts. Our bodies work diligently to keep us healthy and secure. This understanding can lead to exciting new medical research. It can also inspire confidence in our journey toward better health.

Up and coming to you soon:

Understanding Autoimmune dis-EASE:

The Role of the Immune System: Autoimmune disorders and immune system dysfunction 

Posted in Confidence

Finding Your Voice in Confidence #5

Posted on by HOLLY STEVENS

Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.

ee cummings

Have you been able to connect with and hear your inner voice? Have you taken time to get quiet? Have you discovered your choices or decisions that align with your highest good?

We are blessed with an amazing guidance system. It is absolutely amazing. In truth, it is so much better than any other personal GPS!

It is so easy to get caught up in our daily routines and habits. We often ignore the messages that our Intuition is providing us. Again, if we choose to get quiet and listen to these messages, decisions come to us faster. We feel movement ahead as never before. Knowing that we can choose to get quiet, and listen to ourselves in the most external chaotic of situations. We can choose to take a breath and to quiet our internal chaos, while we listen for/to our inner voice. Sometimes we have to physically get away to be in the quiet to get quiet. Other times, we just need to take a deep breath and consciously quiet our mind while we listen.

Having freedom from the opinions of others is especially important. One of the greatest GIFTS we received at birth is the capacity to CONSCIOUSLY ponder within our OWN Self. Each and everyone of us can think our own thoughts, considering those thoughts BEFORE actually acting on them. We can unlock the freedom to follow our desires. We can also get warnings when something is not in harmony with our being.

We DO NOT need to look for, or have the approval from others. Authentic Self-Confidence can ONLY come from WITHIN US. The opinion of others is not truth – the TRUTH is WITHIN US. Developing Rock- solid Self-Confidence will support us through any challenges we face in our journey of life.

As we get in touch with our CORE being, the source of our Confidence. Discovering, and allowing our inner voice to speak, while we truly listen, THIS is what makes us feel ALIVE.

We are now learning the secret of where to find our Authentic Self-Confidence when we need it most. This involves making a strong, deep, loving connection with our inner voice. By doing so, we can call upon it anytime we need to be liberated from the opinions of others. When we are “FREE to be ME”, we are our OWN SELF. We can be confident. We feel comfortable and at ease, no matter the situation.

Discovering the formula that the world’s most successful people have chosen is life changing. They develop their confidence in the most heart-felt ways for decades. I will share these steps shortly. We can walk through them one by one. We will apply them to each part of our lives. We put them into practice regularly. Our passion for life will amplify. We will share this confidence from within ourselves with those around us.

The capacity to consciously ponder within our Self is one of life’s greatest blessings. We have the ability to consider our own thoughts. This is a unique gift. We are gifted the ability to first, think our own thoughts, then considering those thoughts BEFORE we act on them. We know this knowledge gives us the freedom to pursue our own desires. We also understand that we can be aware or alerted when something is not in harmony with our being. Being aware of both internal and external influences, and how they are affecting our Authentic Self-Confidence.

Since we can remember, we have been taught to look outside ourselves and to others for approval. Seeking a smile or nod from our parents. Seeking good grades from our teachers. Seeking the glances from our romantic partner. Listening for words of approval from our spouse or partner. Seeking the promotion from our bosses. These are activities and moments that build our confidence. They seem helpful in some way or another, yet they are only external, not Authentic Self-Confidence.

Authentic Self-Confidence comes from ONLY ONE PLACE: from WITHIN. Allowing the approval of others to build us up, allows their criticism to tear us down just as easily. The fact of the matter is: the opinion of others is not truth. TRUTH is INSIDE each and every one of us. Confidence is from the inside out, THIS is what we are developing the AWARENESS of: CONFIDENCE IS FROM THE INSIDE!

Once we realize and accept that confidence is an inside job, it becomes deeply ingrained in our being. Nothing anyone can say or do will manage to negatively impact us. No one can tear us down for any length of time. We are UNSHACKLING from WITHIN us, something we have ALWAYS had, an UNSHAKABLE AUTHENTIC TRUE SELF-CONFIDENCE. This unshakable Self-Confidence will see us through ANY of the challenges we face. It will also guide us through anything that comes our way from here onward.

We may have had a very specific, damaging, life-changing moment. It was a situation or circumstance. Someone said something that cut us to the core. This happened as a child or as an adult. KNOW THIS: that was something that happened. What was said was not truth or what happened has a positive seed planted within it! Each of us is deserving of HAPPINESS. By BIRTHRIGHT, we are entitled to a Authentic Self-Confidence, freeing us from the opinions of others!

Spend some time one-on-one with your Self. Really get in touch with your core being. It is the very source of YOUR Confidence. Practicing these five steps with dedication will expand your Self-Confidence. Use true attention and diligence to reach a new awareness.

Napoleon Hill studied many successful people. He is famously known for his research and findings. He formulated these steps which are proven to build Self-Confidence.

Napoleon Hill's Formula for Building Self-Confidence:
   Step ONE:    Believe that there is a power in you great enough that you can achieve what matters to you.
   Step TWO:    Concentrate your thoughts on creating a clear mental picture of you being the person who is living the life you desire.
   Step THREE:  Trust that the desire you hold in mind, if kept in mind, must, by invisible law reproduce itself in the world of form.
   Step FOUR:   Promise yourself to keep at it until you have developed a sufficient Self-Confidence to reach your goal.
   Step FIVE:   Commit to not only being the person who's living this life, but doing that with truth and justice in all that you do, so that all that's required to bring about this goal becomes yours.

When we are faced with overcoming failure, facing fear or there is a decision weighing heavy on us. When we feel stuck in the pursuit of our purpose, passion or life dream, go back to these five steps. They will guide you. Print them off and keep them with you. They serve as a reminder of how to access YOUR Authentic Self-Confidence. Be open to YOUR INNER VOICE. Allow it to do the talking while you do the listening. See the opinions of others diminish as you engage in YOUR TRUE AUTHENTIC SELF-CONFIDENCE.

Here is a recap of what I have personally learned and use myself and would like to share with you:

  • The ‘self’ with a little (lowercase) “s” is our personality and all the things we have achieved or not achieved. Some recognize this as our ego.
  • The ‘Self’ with a big (uppercase capital) ‘S’ is the power. This intelligence is here in us at ALL times.
  • Trusting my Self is the ultimate in Confidence.
  • Confidence is not built from the outside in. It is built from THE INSIDE OUT!
  • Self speaks to us in the degree of OUR WILLINGNESS TO LISTEN, always in the here and now.
  • Utilizing Napoleon Hill’s proven Five step formula for Building Self-Confidence. Believing, Concentrating, Trusting, Promising Self and being Committed to the Self that is created in/of/for ME.
  • There is an art and a science to reaching our passion, purpose and dream. The art is the visioning. The science is the vibration.

The suggested actions that I do take action on each and every day are:

  1. Adopting and practicing Napoleon Hill’s Formula for Building Self-Confidence
  2. Remembering daily to place my Confidence and trust in the Power breathing me. NOT in my personality, history or talents.
  3. I write a clear and detailed depiction of the image I want. I write it in the current tense as if it is real right now!

This is #5 of #5 in this series of Authentic Self-Confidence. Please join me for a review of everything I have shared with you. It is about Unshackling an Unshakable True Authentic Self-Confidence. Find more at https://www.facebook.com/unshackledhappiness/. Empower yourself to turn the key. Break free of your shackles with belief in your Self. Trust your abilities to live your life with passion on purpose, starting TODAY! This is my true, given passion. My purpose is to empower others to be the best they can be. They can achieve this in any moment, situation, or circumstance they face.

GO! DO! BE! with TRUE AUTHENTIC SELF-CONFIDENCE. Embrace all that YOU have been CREATED to DO and BE. Act with PURPOSE and PASSION from WITHIN YOU!!

Cheering you on every step of the way,

Holly

Confidence #4
Posted in Confidence

Becoming a Clear Decision Maker: Confidence #4 Insights

Posted on by HOLLY STEVENS

Once you make a decision, the Universe conspires to make it happen

Ralph Waldo Emerson

You can discover that you are MORE than any failure you have ever had. Feel renewed knowing that you have the power to overcome any obstacle that comes or is put in your way. Having that amazing feeling knowing you are GREATER than ANYTHING you ever face. Consider this thought. You wouldn’t be here if you weren’t given, or didn’t have access to the ability to be an “over-comer.”

We have the ability to connect with an inner source to allow us to be a clear, confident decision maker. We have access to our own GPS. It is a guidance system that we can turn to and listen to any time. It helps us with choices that guide us to our purpose with passion.

When we explore our Intuition and let our inner voice guide us, we will automatically feel it. We will know when a choice we make is in harmony with our highest good. Learn to pay attention to your inner voice. It will give you the confidence to make any decision in your life.

We are all given a purpose in this life. This is a purpose that serves our highest good. We are given the true Authentic Self-Confidence to pursue discovering that purpose. When we discover this purpose, we develop a passion and love that fills us from within. No one or anything can give us this from the outside. Unlocking confidence in our decision making is yet another stepping stone in our path to our purpose, passion, and dreams.

Being really clear on what we would love our life to be, making confident decisions from that very place. We must realize, there are many different types of decisions we make in any given day. These decisions can and will impact our self-confidence. This provides a new level of understanding. It builds trust in how making those choices can help our purpose, passion, and dreams.

We develop an understanding and trust. This development guides us to know when we are operating for our highest good and when we are not. We discover two secret keys to get in touch with our inner voice. These keys help us know with Authentic Self-Confidence that we are making the best possible decision. This assurance applies no matter the situation or circumstance we face in that moment.

So, what do we do when we want a bowl of ice cream? We get up and go to the freezer. We grab the container of vanilla and the ice cream scoop. Sometimes, we grab a bowl and a spoon. We are ready to enjoy! We made a decision and took the steps needed to achieve the goal. That was a simple one. Yet, if the chocolate ice cream had also been in the freezer, the decision would have been made more challenging. We make decisions every day of our lives; some are easy, others more difficult.

We have all found ourselves in situations where we had no clue what to do. We didn’t know what direction to take or what move to make. We just couldn’t decide what the best thing to do was. We all feel that way at times. We have options and opportunities before us. We just don’t know what the right choice would be. We get stuck in the “thinking” about decisions. This keeps us stuck. We do not move ahead to our purpose, passion, and the life we love living. This is NOT the place we would like to stay for any time. Instead, we want to connect with the source within us that will help us become clear, confident decision-makers.

As part of the human experience, we all make decisions. Most of the decisions we make are done without thinking about them, they come out of habit, or by default. Some decisions need much more consideration and planning. We debate with ourselves back and forth on what the “right” thing to do is. We even turn to others for advice. During all this, there is ONE (GPS) guidance system. We can each turn to it at any point and time. When we really listen, it helps us make the choices. These choices propel us in the direction of being the person who CAN, DO, and BE whatever we choose.

The key is strengthening our personal relationship with the part of us that already knows ALL THE ANSWERS, our Intuition. When we allow our Inner Voice to guide us, we sense when a choice aligns with our highest good. We can tell when a decision matches our best interest. We become more aware of what the cues are. When we pay attention to them, they will guide us toward freedom. They lead to happiness in all areas of our life.

There are times that we feel that we haven’t made the best choice or decision… We just need to take a breath. Send a kind glance toward that thought. Look at life through a new lens, the lens of clarity. Focus on our inner Self, Intuition, the one who is here to give us confidence. We need this confidence to make any choice or decision, whether great or small.

Here is a recap of what I have learned, utilizing myself and also want to share with you so you can do the same:

  • I have the ability to make a snap decision, or a considered decision.
  • Confidence in decision-making comes with knowing what I really want, and serving it with my time and attention
  • The most important decision I will make is to choose where within myself I find the place to make choices. These choices must matter to me.
  • If I make a decision that matters to me, it is okay to get it wrong. It is part of the process on the way to getting it right.
  • No one else can know what my Inner Voice is telling me. Not even a trusted advisor, or someone close to me.
  • Deep down, there is only one thought that really matters: “I would really LOVE to do this.”
  • The voice that assists me in making decisions about an idea offers guidance. It provides either feelings of greater expansion or contraction.
  • Confidence in my ability to make decisions is something that can absolutely be grown and developed.

There are three things that were suggested that I do to help me become a Clear, Confident Decision Maker:

  1. To consider some decisions I am making and notice the feeling I get while making them. Am I feeling expansion or contraction? What do I sense about those feelings?
  2. When I am making a decision, I lean in to the voice of truth. It is the part of me that already knows the answer.
  3. Each day, I pay attention when I am making decisions. I notice if there is a gravitational pull toward the familiar. I also observe if there is a feeling of contraction or one of expansion.

We are moving into the final step of Authentic Self-Confidence. This is Confidence #5. I will be sharing about Freedom From the Opinions of Others. This was a huge one for me. We have built a belief in ourselves. Anytime we face criticism or discouragement from outside sources, we CAN STAND TALL, STRONG, and CONFIDENT anyway. Many powerful people have utilized this secret formula to grow their authentic self-confidence. Now, we are unshackling and developing ours too!

Here’s to listening and hearing our inner voice!!

Holly

Posted in Confidence

Discover the Power of Authentic Confidence #1

Posted on by HOLLY STEVENS

If one advances Confidently in the direction of his dreams, he will meet with success. By endeavoring to live the life he has imagined, he’ll meet with a success unexpected in common hours.

~Henry David Thoreau

Connecting with your TRUE SELF, this is your internal power connecting with the Infinite. The Infinite gives us Confidence, because it IS Confidence. When open to this connection with the Infinite, we can expand our personal awareness. We experience our TRUE SELF. This allows us to live a life of TRUE LOVE.

Knowing that Authentic Self-Confidence is our birthright, because we are alive and breathing, creates a deserving of Confidence. We deserve to be empowered to speak and act on our TRUE SELF. Having trust in ourselves. Doubts come up, we recognize them and let them go. We can take a deep breath and stay in our calm, and open state of mind. When we trust the Infinite, we trust ourselves.

Something to remember: We do NOT generate our Self-Confidence, we draw from our Authentic Self-Confidence.

Thinking back to your childhood, what did you want to be when you grew up? Do you recall what it was? How about after graduating from high school – was there a passion for career plans? Did you ever pursue that dream? Or as for many of us grown-ups, did your confidence in those ideas just fade away as did the time? As the time goes by, it seems our ability to dream and have belief in ourselves can just dwindle away. Outside forces often stop us from doing what we would love to do. They prevent us from being who we would love to be. We must choose to awaken our TRUE SELF. In doing so, we discover that we have unshakable confidence inside ourselves. This confidence is in our very DNA. So, you ask, if confidence is IN us, how do we access it?

Let’s start here, with another common questions: What exactly is self-confidence and self-image?

For many of us, self-confidence and our self-image are formed by outside influences. Our parents and school teachers train us to “think” we must live a particular way. Even people in popular culture influence us to behave, act, or try to look a certain way. Maybe unskilled people made insensitive comments when we went out on our own or tried something different. They did the best they knew at the time. These comments harmed our confidence, allowing us to settle. We went on feeling unworthy to live the life we were dreaming of and meant to live. We need to know in our minds and hearts that there is MORE IN US deep down! Something GREATER, something that IS full of the confidence we’ve been freely given and we deserve. Our SPIRIT is calling us, desiring us to realize that WE ARE CAPABLE of MORE, simply because WE ARE MORE!

Whatever you choose to call it – Spirit, Source, Being, or simply Self. Whatever its name, the internal power is in connection with the Infinite. The Infinite breathes us and beats our hearts. The Infinite provides our unending supply of confidence because it IS CONFIDENCE. We need to be open to connecting with the Infinite. This openness will expand our awareness. Then, we experience the life we desire.

We are DESERVING of Authentic Self-Confidence, it is our BIRTHRIGHT! simply by virtue of being born and alive. When we draw from this self-confidence, we feel safe to speak and act on OUR truth. No one is entitled to override this. Not even ourselves. This is a deep sense of trust in our SELF, then by extension, the world. Restoring the trust in ourselves allows us to be still within our self. We can listen from within our self. We give our self permission to be quiet and be connected with the Infinite. This connection helps us to know and share our TRUE SELF.

Something to remember: We are ALL brought into this world in the same way, we are each a blessing born! We had only the Infinite to trust to “interpret” our communication to our caregiver getting our basic needs met… when we were hungry, “I am hungry” cry. When we were wet, “My diaper needs changed” cry, something is uncomfortable, “I’m not feeling good” cry. We trusted, as we knew no other way, it was our only option. As we’ve grown, we received grace from our caregivers as we learned to crawl. Then, we learned to walk. We began to talk with many ups and downs. Then as we got older, that trust was channeled to our earthly ways and our earthly understandings. We became molded to our earthly mind, generating our confidence. We did not draw from the confidence we have already been given.

Here is a recap of what I have learned, utilizing myself and in addition want to share with you:

Confidence is NOT based in our behavior, past, talents or IQ!

Confidence IS based in knowing and trusting there IS a power within US that gives us life!

We are human, and we are NOT able to feel 100% confident 100% of the time!

Everyone of us feels less confident at times than we want to.

So this is when we need to “borrow” confidence and strength from another. I have been so blessed and fortunate. There are people in my life whose confidence I have borrowed. This confidence has provided the strength to reconnect to my Infinite. I LOVE to pay-it-forward, giving to others what has been given to me!

Our Spiritual DNA is PERFECT, and inside of that spiritual DNA is PERFECT CONFIDENCE!

We have to CHOOSE to re-access the confidence we were born with. Confidence has already been GIVEN to us, as our BIRTHRIGHT. In the unconscious detour in life, we were NOT meant to “generate” confidence. Creating an ego gets in our way and creates a dead end on our detour.

Our longing for a greater confidence is actually the echo of the very Power breathing us, and beating our hearts.

Confidence comes from a source INSIDE us. This source is GREATER than any opinion. It is much STRONGER than any circumstance or situation.

Knowing and trusting your AUTHENTIC self that YOU are doing YOUR BEST in ANY moment, circumstance, or situation. I know and trust that I can consciously check in with myself, accepting that I am not perfect. However, this perfect moment is here to be, and to do my best!

No one else is you. No one else cares exactly the way you care. No one else is wired exactly the way you are wired. YOU ARE UNIQUE!

Unshackling an unshakable confidence helps us to overcome difficulties and master fears!

Our body is a GIFT. This is true regardless of our opinions about its size, shape, color, or being. It also holds true regardless of the opinions others have had.

Opinion is NOT truth!

Most of the time, everyone has an opinion—that is just what it is—an opinion. We only need to be concerned with our own opinions. They come from within our core, authentic, true self.

There are three things that have been asked of me to do on a continual basis, reminding me of MY AUTHENTIC TRUE SELF, that NO ONE else can do FOR ME:

  1. Make a list of my successes and recall the feelings I FELT with each of the achievements.
  2. Look myself in the mirror. I remind myself WHO I AM. I acknowledge the POWER that is IN ME. I have been blessed with this power as MY BIRTHRIGHT.
  3. Use the words “up until now” when recalling negative comments and opinions. These include situations and circumstances that I or others have related to ME.

The next step I will share with you in Confidence #2 post is Feeling the Fear and Doing it Anyway. Realizing when we feel afraid of something, we are NOT alone. The Power inside of us is willing to empower, participate, and encourage us EVERY STEP OF THE WAY! As we face that fear and befriend it. We MUST remember that it was ONLY UP UNTIL NOW that it tried to hold us back. Exposing the symptoms of fear, makes it loose its effectiveness. I have learned one very significant step that I have taken to redirect my fear into my personal power. I am so blessed to share with you my journey to Authentic Self-Confidence.

To Your Authentic Core Self, having Authentic Self-Confidence,

Holly