Banana-Goji Smoothie

I usually hate bananas and I'm not fond of drinking smoothies to begin with. But this one I really like. :-)

You need:

4 ripe bananas, peeled
2 handful dried goji berries
2 cups of water
a blender

Soak the goji berries in the water for about 10 or 15 minutes. Put the berries WITH the water in a blender. Add the four bananas. They need to be well riped. Blend. That's it. :)

Are You Taking Energetically Strategic Action?

When we have a goal that we want to reach, we can take different kinds of third-dimensional action towards our goal. One of them is energetically strategic action. I have learned about it from my teacher Andrea Hess and have been using it since then. I totally love it!

How does it work?

When we take "normal" action, aka linear action, we do things that make logical sense and will probably bring us closer to our goal. For example if you want a great relationship, some linear action could be to ask someone out.

Energetically strategic action on the other hand makes no logical sense. Our rational mind usually doesn't see how taking this action would bring us any closer to our goal. That's because the link between our action and our goal is not a causal one. It's an energetic one.

Our goal has a certain energy to it. This energy is not fully expressed in our life yet (or else we would already have reached this goal). So in order to bring this energy into our life, we take actions that carry the same energy. These actions don't need to make logical sense or to have anything to do with our goal. What's important is that they have the same energy as our goal. By taking these actions, we align with the energy we wish to create in our life. Then it's only natural that our goal manifests, as an expression of this energy, that is now already in our life.

One explanation is the law of resonance, also called law of attraction: like attracts like. Put yourself into a state that is energetically aligned with what you want, and you will attract it. I don't really like the word "attract", though. It suggests that I don't have it yet. I prefer to think that I already have it, it's just a facet of me that isn't revealed yet. I am the one who's broke, and the one who has lots of money. I am the one who's single, and the one who is in a great relationship. By taking energetically strategic action, I just reveal a new facet of what I already am. I shine light on some previously hidden aspect of myself. I sculpt myself.

How to do it?

Step 1: identify your destination energy.

The same goal can mean completely different things to different people. Being in a great relationship can be about love, it can be about connection, about fun, about sensuality, passion, intensity, partnership, adventure, etc. It can be about many things. Making more money can be about freedom, about power, expansion, security, happiness... Whatever.

Identify what energy your goal is about. What does it represent in your eyes? What energetic characteristics does your desired outcome have? When you close your eyes and imagine having reached your goal, how do you feel? What quality would be present in your life that you perceive to not be there yet?

Give your destination energy a name, or a color.

Step 2: take appropriate actions

Take actions that energetically align with your goal. Can you think of small actions that would express your destination energy? It doesn't need to be big things. Small actions have the same powerful effect as long as they carry the right energy.

For example, if your destination energy is love, you could write a friend of yours a letter to tell them how wonderful they are and how happy you are that they are in your life. Or send flowers to your mom. Or pay someone a compliment. Or hug someone. If it's about expansion, you could buy some food that you have never eaten before, go sit for an hour in a café you never were in, learn a new foreign language, befriend one new person a day on facebook or take classes in something you had never tried out before. If it's about adventure, you could take a new way home and get lost in a neighborhood you don't know. Or go to the station and just jump on the first train that leaves for an improvised trip to a random place. Or go on a blind date, or wear a disguise in public for one evening.

You get the idea. Finding appropriate actions is what I think is the most difficult part of the process. When my destination energy is quite far away from where I am now, I find it extremely difficult to even think of appropriate actions. What I find helpful then is to observe other people who already embody this energy in my eyes. I check how they express it and get inspired.

Why do it?

Because it works. I have found it to be highly effective. Not only does it work, it's a lot of fun. You get to wear wigs, go rock climbing, dance, eat exotic foods, buy beautiful skirts and such. And it makes things so much easier than when you only take linear, logical actions.

I personally love it that it makes no sense. It's so awesome to do crazy things that make no sense at all and whoops, everything flows! It makes life a wondrous, magical adventure instead of a boring, predictable project based on hard work. Eew

For me, energetically strategic action is the real action. Linear action is just like opening a door. When we want something, it's easier for us to allow it to happen when our rational mind sees some ways how we could logically get it. We are more ready to believe in finding a partner if we go out, socialize, ask people out, join dating websites or interact with others professionally. We are more ready to believe in making money if we start a business or apply for jobs.

It's awesome and important to open these doors. However, what really gets us where we want to be is the energetic state we are in. Taking energetically strategic action is one of the ways we can shift this energetic state, especially combined with choosing our beliefs wisely.

If you want to learn more about taking action in an energetically meaningful way, I highly recommend Andrea, who is a master at that. What I just wrote about is only a tiny part of her wisdom. Lately she has been focusing on teaching specifically how to create financial abundance. However, I have found her methods to be applicable more generally to pretty much every goal I have.

So, what's your destination energy and how will you bring it into your life right now? :-)

Readings Now Available! Get 25% off!

Hey, you know what?

My readings page is up! From now on, you can book a Soul Realignment reading with me. :-)

So today is the official start of my new business. I'm so excited! This is the beginning of a great story. A love story, between me and you, my future clients. :-) I wish us lots of fun together and many highly interesting readings. <3

To celebrate this exceptional day, I'm extending my special introductory rate until March 12th. If you book a "Who am I?" reading now, you get 25% off. Check it out!

Today is a very happy day for me. I'm feeling madly in love, and full of overflowing joy. I wish you a wonderful, wonderful day as well!

Much love to you all. <3 <3 <3

Are you Building Yourself or Sculpting Yourself?

I'm fond of personal development. But there is one thing about personal development that irks me a bit. It's this habit of "building". Building courage. Building self-discipline. Building self-confidence. Building personality. Building skills. Building, building, building.

I did adhere to this kind of mindset in the past too. I used to try and "build". The more I grow though, the more I think this approach is disempowering.

Building implies that you don't have it yet. It's not fully there, you need to build some more of it first. So basically, building means believing you're not whole, perfect and complete yet. To me this feels like lack and conditionality.

I prefer to believe that we are already whole, perfect and complete. All energies are at all times available to all of us. When we choose to expand in a new direction, we simply reveal this aspect of us - which was already present.

Everything you could ever wish to be, you already are! You just don't notice because of the negative stuff covering it: for example, your fears, and your limiting beliefs. Some old pain. Attachment. Emotional blocks. Maybe some negative stuff going on at soul level.

Maybe you also choose not to see what you already are. After all, seeing it would mean going a scary, uncomfortable path. It's more convenient to buy into the belief that you "don't have it" yet and first need to "build".

Wasn't it Michelangelo who said about his David that he already lived in the stone, and that he just freed him by taking everything away that wasn't him? It's the same with you. The you that you would like to be already lives inside the big, rough stone that is your current you. There is nothing here to build on top of that. You just need to free yourself. Chop all the stone off that is not truly you. Reveal the diamond.

You already have all the courage, confidence and all the other good qualities that you wish for. It's all there in the stone, just covered by a layer of something that is not truly you. You already have a wonderful personality. When you release fear and negativity, it will shine through bright and clear.

You even already have the skills. They're not apparent yet. But they're present in the realm of potential realities, in the stone. If you feel drawn to them, then they are available to you. Every time you practice, you learn to connect with them. Every time you practice, you chop some stone away, and reveal this facet of you a bit more.

The real you is already there. You don't need to build anything. Just to take away what's too much. Throw out what hides you. Chop off what prevents you from freely expressing who you are at your very core. Shed all this unnecessary stuff - and let us see who you truly are. :-) The great thing about it is that you are both the artist and the sculpture.

Do you think this is pointless hair splitting? Just a matter of words? Well, personal development is all about words. The words you use daily to talk about yourself, about others, about the world, the words you use to describe your goals, your beliefs, your actions: all these words, that is an important part of what shapes your reality.

I personally feel very differently about myself and my goals since I switched from building to sculpting. It makes a huge, positive difference in my mindset, and leads to better results.

Next time you want to develop yourself in some area, ask yourself carefully: do I really want to build it? Or do I want to sculpt it?

Happy sculpting! :-)

Are You Highly Sensitive?

I am a HSP (Highly Sensitive Person). HSPs are people whose nervous system is particularly developed/sensitive. They perceive more details than others and are said to process input more deeply.

It's a bit like lacking filters. Other people's brains discard "useless" information and regulate the sensory input they get. HSPs are not able to do that. As a result, they are easily bothered by loud or repetitive sounds, background noise, strong smells, flashy lights... They also need more time than others to process their experiences, like conversations or movies, and those tend to affect them deeply. HSPs get easily over-stimulated or overwhelmed when too much is going on at once.

Do you wonder if you are a HSP? I cannot speak for others since we are all sensitive in different ways, but this is what it looks like for me:

I can't stand loud or repetitive sounds. Listening to loud music while dancing around in the living room for twenty minutes is okay, but that's about it. I suffer a lot at night clubs or loud parties, which is why I almost never go there. Even at the cinema, the sound is usually outrageously loud to me. Sometimes I wonder if everybody else is deaf or something. I tried to go to a big concert twice in my life and collapsed both times despite the earplugs.
I have a hard time with flashy colors. Most websites look way too aggressive to me, including my own! Fortunately I don't have to look at it much. The internal wordpress interface is decent.
Strong smells affect me a lot. When someone has a lot of perfume on them and comes too close, I almost faint.
I am very sensitive to physical sensations such as pain, cold, heat, hunger, clothes and materials...
Especially food has a huge effect on me. Eating unhealthy things like animal products or grains makes me feel very miserable very quickly. It leads to sickness, sleeping disorders, nervousness, etc. On the other hand, I also feel much better very quickly when I eat fruit and veggies.
I don't tolerate the anti-baby-pill, antibiotics, or other allopathic drugs. Even painkillers are a problem, I have found only two kinds that I can take. I avoid all kinds of pills and only take painkillers once a month when my period would drive me insane if I didn't.
I am prone to addictions. Since my nervous system tends to over-react, addictive substances have a huge impact on me. I get drunk from drinking half an alcohol-free beer (seriously!). I tried to smoke pot a few times in my life and got extremely sick from it. When I start eating sugar, I feel very crappy, but even crappier when I stop eating it. That is something I need to be watchful for.
I am sensitive to energy. As a side-effect, I have strong empathy and can feel other people's emotions. Electric devices make me nervous. I am easily unsettled by negative energy in places or people. When they are scared, aggressive or angry, it truly feels like a physical aggression to me, even when their emotions are not directed at me at all.
As you can imagine, I dislike crowded places. I'm not scared of other people. It's just... too much input! Too overwhelming. Sometimes I get nervous breakdowns in crowded places.
I totally hate having conversations in places with a lot going on around or background noise/music, like bars or streets with lots of cars. I am unable to switch the background stuff off in order to focus on the conversation. In such situations I often can't hear what they're saying. Or I hear it but somehow just don't understand it. My brain is too busy processing everything else. I can do it, but it costs me a lot of energy and is extremely stressful for me to follow a conversation under such conditions. This too can sometimes lead to uncontrollable crying, panting or nervous breakdowns.
When a police car or ambulance with a siren drives past me, I usually protect my ears with my hands and whine, or scream "Aaaaahhhh!!". It's so stressful that I get totally aggressive and feel like killing everybody in that moment, especially the car driver.
I startle easily. Don't shout "Boooo!!!" behind my back! I'd immediately turn around and hit you on your nose, or alternatively have a heart attack. ;-)
I am unable to watch violent or scary movies. When I say violent, think Lord of the Rings... Usually, movies recommended for children above 12 are too violent for me. I'm easily scared and hide. When it gets too violent, I just can't stand it, I cry and run out. When I watch any movie, it resonates in me for days until I have fully digested it.
Music moves me to tears! Or books, movies, art, nature...
I feel emotional pain as physical pain in my chest. When I am very happy, it can be so strong that I cry or puke. I am easily over-excited, over-stimulated, and also very easily bored!
I need a lot of time to do nothing, recover and process input. I totally freak out when I don't get enough time alone, when I get repeatedly interrupted or woken up, or when too much is going on at once.

Well, I think that is enough. You get the picture. :-)

Do you recognize yourself in this to some extent? Then you could be a HSP too. If you want to investigate the topic further, see this website. There is a self-test you can take as well as some resources. I haven't read her books, so I don't know if I recommend them or not. If you happen to speak German, I recommend this book. It has helped me tremendously to acknowledge my high sensitivity and deal with it in a practical way.

Verbal Self-Defense Techniques

In my last post, I said that being different often means taking flak. I shared some tips on how to become invulnerable to it. Now I feel inspired to share some techniques that can help you to cope with verbal aggressions. This is the art of taking flak elegantly.

Verbal punches can be anything from insults and yelling, aggressive comments or reproaches to demeaning "jokes" or subtle, nasty insinuations. (Note: To defend yourself specifically against manipulators, see here.)

Just like in martial arts, on the verbal level there are different ways to react to a punch. For example you can hit back, avoid it, bring your opponent out of balance, etc. Here are my favorite verbal kung fu tricks!

Hitting Back (or Blocking and Hitting Back, or Hitting Faster)


I won't even go there! This might give our ego a short-term sense of satisfaction and pride, but it solves nothing, on the contrary. Aggression is disharmony. Hitting back only propagates more disharmony. More disharmony cannot heal disharmony.

We are all one. Someone attacking you is like your right hand pinching your left hand. Your left hand can grab a hammer and crush your right forefinger with it. But then both hands are hurting, and what good does it do?

Ignoring

When you sit inside a tank and someone throws a rotten tomato at you, you can just ignore it.  So if you are as invulnerable as a tank, you don't need to react to verbal attacks at all. Just ignore them! After all, it's just the other person struggling with their own issues. This results in them lashing out at you, but doesn't truly have anything to do with you.

However, if the punch does affect you, don't ignore it! Feigning indifference when you really are upset will only put you in a very weak position. They will notice it's fake.

Hugging

When someone tries to hit you, you can hug them. Feeling attacked, in itself, implies feeling vulnerable and separated from others. That is your choice. Let's switch your perspective! You are not being attacked. You are a powerful, shining soul, connected to all others. You currently experience some disharmony in your consciousness, which manifests as people doing you the favor to seemingly be affronting you. The answer is to  love and heal the disharmony inside and outside.

This can mean physically hugging them, or simply saying something nice to them. Pay them a compliment!

The Compliment Method:

Opponent: You are late again! Are you too deaf to hear your alarm clock?
You: Hi, I am happy to see you. You look great today. :-)

Do this only if you feel genuinely loving towards them and truly feel like paying them a compliment. You can use the compliment technique when you don't mean it, but then it is sarcastic and falls under the "hitting back" category, where we don't want to go!

Practicing forgiveness and love towards those who lash out at you is very powerful. If someone upsets you, sit down and send some love to them. List four things you love about them. Visualize four good things happening to them. (No, burning in hell is not a good thing...) Do the same with yourself. Sit down and send some love to yourself. List four things you love about yourself and visualize four good things happening to you. Smile at yourself in the mirror and tell yourself that you approve of yourself.

Pulling

Okay, all that is nice, but we are not Jesus. We're human. Sometimes we're not invulnerable enough to ignore a mean comment, and not loving and forgiving enough to say something kind in return without being a hypocrite. What to do in such a case?

The Agreement Method:

This technique is like pulling their arm even more when they hit you, so that they fall on their nose.

Just agree with what they are saying. Wanting to be right is an ego thing. There is no right and wrong. We each have our very own perception of this 3D reality, that reflects our consciousness. If they perceive it this way, then it is true. For them. If you switch perspectives, I'm sure you can even see how it could be true for you too in some way. Acknowledge that their point of view is valid.

Opponent: You are so lazy!
You: I agree. :-) I can see that in me.

or

Opponent: I'm fed up with correcting your mistakes.
You: Absolutely. Correcting other people's mistakes must be really annoying for you. :-)

The Exaggeration Method:

You can even exaggerate your agreement in a playful way to bring some humor into the situation. (No sarcasm, just humor, with a big smile please!)

Opponent: Your idea is crap.
You: I so agree! It is totally shitty, I must have been on acid when I had it. It should get a prize for the crappiest idea in the world. :D

Your agreeing will confuse them and leave them helpless. It's difficult to keep seriously beating someone up who does not offer any resistance. I mean verbally, of course. Physically it's a different thing.

The Satisfaction Method

You can even be proud of it!

Opponent: Ugh, you're totally hairy!
You: Yes, like a wookie! I'm glad you noticed. Wookies are so sexy! :D

Dodging

Instead of pulling their arm, you can get out of the way and avoid their punch.

The Changing the Subject Method:

Opponent: I can't believe you are being so immature!
You: Ah. This reminds me that last week, I saw a very nice pair of boots at the mall. I wonder if I should buy them?

Please note that this method is NOT about pretending you haven't heard the comment and just talking about something else. You do acknowledge that you have very well heard and understood what they said - and you look straight into their eyes, and you deliberately talk about something else. Preferably something that is neither charged with conflict nor important. Like boots.

Aggressive people, when they attack you, want conflict and negativity. It resonates with them. For some it can even be an addiction. This method clearly signals to them: "I won't go there with you." while still being peaceful.

Taking the Punches like a Rock

When you hit a rock, usually, it hurts. And the rock won't move. I can see two verbal implementations for that:

The Repetition Method

It consists of repeating what they said, then add "and", and repeat what you want or don't want. It might not sound very logical, but it's effective. If there is nothing appropriate that you want or don't want, insert "I love myself" or "life is great".

Opponent: You never think!
You: I never think, and I love myself. :-)

or

You: Would you please get out of the way?
Opponent: Fuck you!
You: You fuck me, and I want you to get out of the way. (Said without aggressiveness)

Note: This method is great if you want to assert yourself and get something! Just keep repeating both their counter-arguments and what you want until they give up.

The Appreciation Method

Simply express appreciation for their effort to talk with you and for being such a perfect mirror of your consciousness.

Opponent: You're totally gay!
You: Interesting. I appreciate your feedback.

or

Opponent: You do it all wrong!
You: I'm glad we talked about it.

Confusing

My favorite one!

You can also confuse your adversary! That's like performing some funny moves, waving some colorful flags around and whoops, making them lose their balance. My favorite way of doing this is to use...

The Proverb Method:

Opponent: You idiot!
You: Like they say, an apple a day keeps the doctor away! (Forefinger up)


or

Opponent: Looks like you ate a bit too much over the holidays, huh?
You: All roads lead to Rome. (Wise nodding)


Of course, the whole point is to choose a proverb that does not make any sense! So, don't use the apple proverb to reply to the overeating comment, for example. It must not fit. Also don't use proverbs that could be interpreted as aggressive, such as "He laughs best who laughs last" or the like.

But I won't win the argument this way!


No, you won't. :-)

The point is not to win the argument. It's to fend attacks off without giving in to the negativity your opponents are trying to build up. Without arguing, without getting hurt, without getting angry, without feeding the conflict. These techniques allow you to remain poised and escape playfully. Nothing forces you to see verbal affronts as something to be taken seriously!

Besides, if you apply these techniques, there's no way they can win the argument either.

But I will just make a fool out of myself!

What others think about you is none of your business. It's not important whether they think you are a fool, right, wrong, a genius, or whatever. What's important is that they have no chance in a verbal fight against you. :-)

What if they continue anyway?

Continue as well. Pick the same method or another one and keep going until they give up. They will quickly grow weary of being confronted with a bunch of insane answers.

Example

- Come with me to the party on Saturday.
- No, thanks.
- Why not?
- I don't like loud parties.
- You could do it for me!
- I could do it for you, and I don't want to.
- You are such an egoist!
- You look great in this shirt today. :-)
- Come on! You never do anything with me that I like!
- Ah. This reminds me of the eBook on Linux shell commands that I am writing. I wonder if I should include bash scripting.
- Don't change the subject! We never go out together! You are just boring!
- I'm glad we talked about it.
- You are such a jerk.
- Yeah, my grandmother always says: one swallow doesn't make the summer!
- What are you talking about??
- I love you. :-)

And so on. They will just get nowhere this way (unless they switch to a healthier communication style).
-
Happy fighting! ;-)

-

How To Be Invulnerable to Affronts

Being "different" often means taking flak. How to deal properly with insults, verbal attacks, demeaning comments, or simply with non-constructive critics? And how not to get hurt by it? Here are a few tips on how to become invulnerable in such situations.

Never Take Anything Personally

That's one of my mottoes. Never take anything personally. When other people criticize, dislike, or attack you, that is an expression of their state of being, a manifestation of what is going on inside them. Others tend to dislike in you what they dislike about themselves. They see their beliefs either mirrored or challenged by you, that is what they criticize. They resist their own reality. They attack you because of the fear and insecurity inside of them. If they had no fear and no self-rejection whatsoever in their heart, if they felt completely safe and at peace with themselves, they would be at peace with you, too, and would not feel the need to belittle you.

It is interesting to observe how others react, it says so much about them! You can learn a lot about someone by just listening to what they say about you or about the world. So, when someone treats you in a way that you find hurtful or offensive, don't take it personally. It's not about you, it's about them.

Just switch perspectives and see where they are coming from. What must their world look like? What kind of values do they have? What pain, insecurity or fear can you perceive in the way they treat you? What is going on inside of them, that leads to such a behavior?

Over-analyzing other people's behavior is futile and irrelevant. What counts is how you respond, not why they do what they do. However, it can be really helpful to remember that what is happening is always primarily about them, not about you. Having a look at their perspective enables you to gain some distance and understanding.

Btw, this also applies the other way around, when you dislike or attack others, and it also applies for positive feedback, which also says a lot about the one giving it and is more about them than about you. Never take compliments personally either. ;)

See Everything as Feedback

Now when I say it is about them, not about you, that's not entirely correct. It does say a lot about you, too. Just not literally. When someone calls you lazy, it does not mean in the slightest that you are lazy. But it definitely means that you have some negative beliefs around being lazy, or this person, or this situation, etc.

Everything going on in your life is a reflection of your current energetic state of being and of your belief system. You get to see what you believe in. You also attract experiences that match your vibration. If something totally does not resonate with you at all, it cannot show up in your reality.

So, when you are confronted with critics, attacks, animosity etc.,

ask yourself what kinds of beliefs you have about yourself, other people, this person, the situation you are in, etc., that manifest this way. Where is the fear in you, where is the insecurity? Where are the negative thoughts about yourself?
Ask yourself why you attract such people and situations into your life, to begin with. Maybe you believe that this situation/project/goal would be very difficult - and that is how it manifests. Maybe you believe that the world is a harsh place to live in, or that other people are mean. And so on. There must be something in you that calls such experiences.
Also ask yourself what kind of vibrations you are currently sending out. Are you dwelling on negative thoughts, or in a bad place emotionally? Is there any aggressiveness or violence inside of you that the world mirrors back to you this way? Do you feel any contempt for others?

In short, what in you is a good match for what is happening to you? We reap what we sow. Everything is feedback, your whole life is a giant mirror. Look into the mirror. By becoming aware of what you reap, you learn about what you sow - and then you can choose different seeds. :-)

Heal your Belief System

The very best way I have found to become invulnerable is to change my beliefs, be it about others, about life and the world in general, and about myself.

Only the truth hurts. Or, to be more precise, only what you believe to be true can hurt you. If someone told you that you are ugly for having green hair, and you have no green hair, you would probably just think they are weird. Only what you think is true can touch you. If you have green hair but you think it's great to have green hair, someone telling you that you are ugly for having green hair would not hurt you either. Only what resonates with some painful judgment about yourself inside of you can cause you any damage.

For example, I have a problem with my being overweight. I'm currently working on that, so in a few months it won't be true anymore - but for now, it still is a huge issue for me. Incidentally, I have been repeatedly criticized in the past for being overweight, and it hurt like hell. That is NO coincidence! It is also no coincidence that I never get criticized for being, say, short. I am very short. The "perfect women"in the media are tall. Yet nobody ever tells me that I am too short. But too fat, yeah, even though I'm certainly not obese. Why? Because fat is exactly what I have a problem with, whereas I have no problem at all with being short. It would feel so weird to me to believe that being short is unattractive that this just never shows up in my reality.

When you heal your beliefs, especially your beliefs about yourself, what other people say to you or about you cannot hurt you anymore. They will even probably stop saying negative things anyway.

Not taking the affronts personally, seeing them as feedback about your belief system and vibrational state, and working on shifting both, that is the basis if you want to become invulnerable. I have worked so much on myself in the past that now, my overweight is the only weakness left that you can really hurt me with. (But not for long anymore! So if you want to insult me effectively, you better hurry up. :D )

Here are a few more things that help, additionally:

Approve of Yourself

Loving ourselves and approving of ourselves are two different things. I can love someone dearly, yet disapprove of their actions. Recently I have discovered how much it helps to approve of ourselves unconditionally. For example, it didn't help me with my overweight to love my body. I totally love my body! But I was still disapproving of its annoying fat storing habits. I feel so much better now that I approve of them! Yes, I approve of my body storing fat. :-)

Just try it out. Choose to approve of yourself, no matter what you do, no matter what mistakes you make, no matter how <insert negative judgment about yourself here> you are. Look at yourself in a mirror and say out loud "I approve of myself! <Your first name>, I approve of you!". It feels great. :-)

Approving of yourself does not mean that you can never change anymore. It simply means acknowledging that you are always doing the very best you can with what you are given. That IS the case. So, approve of it. It will make you even more invulnerable. The more you approve of yourself, the less other people will feel the need to disapprove of you. :-)

Raise your Vibration

To not resonate anymore with bad stuff, raise your vibration! Do things that make you happy. Deliberately think thoughts that make you feel good. Focus on the positive, always on the positive, and always on what you like or want, never on what you dislike or don't want. Put some clean food into your body. Dance, sing and rejoice! Fall in love! Randomly tell someone something nice! Smile! Laugh! Send love to others! Hug!

Love and joy are the best shields there are. :-)

Respond with Love

At the beginning of this post, I wrote that when people criticize, insult, attack or offend you, that is because of some crappy stuff going on inside of them. Knowing this, you could send some love to them. Love heals everything, especially fear. You won't completely heal them by sending some love once, but it can only help. They might not notice, but they receive it. Aggressiveness is disharmony. Disharmony can be healed with lots of love. When you love them, you make them more loving and harmonious, and as a pleasant side-effect they will go around attacking others (including you) less.

Be loving to yourself and others, and your world will be loving too. :-)