Self Help And Psychology
Here are the three things you should know about self-help:
1. You need to be careful that it doesn't become a crutch or an excuse for not trying. Self-help books and apps are tools. Use them as such and don't allow them to become your only coping skill.
2. Don't let anyone tell you what your problems are, in particular someone who doesn't know you from Adam (or Eve). The truth is, the things which people tell you about your problems are not the real problems. As such, you should not listen to them.
3. People will try to sell you products and services based on their own personal experience of their own personal life. They may be telling the truth about themselves or they may have gone a little too far with their own personal opinions. The upshot is that you will never know unless you do it yourself by trying something out for yourself.
If you've seen the movie "As Good As It Gets" with Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt, you'll recall that Jack Nicholson's character Melvin Udall is a self-help book author who hasn't really helped himself yet. He meets Carol Connelly, played by Helen Hunt, in a New York City restaurant. Carol has several issues. She is overweight, divorced and feels as if she has failed as a mother to her young child. Melvin is immediately attracted to Carol and decides to take on her problems as his own, which leads him on a journey of self-discovery.
If you haven't seen the movie, don't worry about it – it's not necessary for this article. I just want you to remember that Melvin was the stereotypical self-help author helping others with his own brand of therapy he liked to call "helping". Melvin's character, and the movie itself, is based on an actual writer named David who wrote a series of self-help books. The movie, "As Good As It Gets", gained critical acclaim but was not a box office success at the time of its release in 1997.
Before I get back to self-help, let me first explain my own personal background as it relates to psychology. When I was fifteen years old, I began working at my mother's art gallery in Sun City West where I live in Phoenix Arizona. I planned to work there for a few years until I was old enough to go to college. That never happened because I was too fascinated with what I was learning. Sun City West is a master-planned community which, in general terms, means that it is an artfully designed town with everything designed around the people who live there. It's an older community but it's very beautiful and has a similar feel as Snowmass Village and Vail Colorado.
My mother's gallery was near the top of a mountain in a resort-style hotel. I walked out of my mom's gallery every day and up the street to attend high school. There were lots of things I learned working at her gallery – but one in particular was that people are very interested in things that help them change their life for the better.
If you're a serious collector, you'll probably remember the name "John Moran". John was a modern master painter and he sold through galleries all over the world. At the time of his death in 2009, he had completed 1,012 paintings. He was also a popular speaker on television and was named one of "the most influential artists of the 20th century". John had been working on his project for forty years until he died in 2009. His work comprises over 2,000 paintings which are now all displayed in The John Moran Museum in Los Angeles California.
John Moran (1948-2009)
John's work is extremely well known and highly sought after. John's paintings are all of people's personal lives and their stories. They are all titled with important questions like "What makes a good father?" "What is the meaning of love?", "Who is God?", and others.
These paintings lead me to believe that John Moran believed that it was better to learn from your own experiences than it was to be told by someone else what you should do.
I've been collecting art since I was a little kid. Most people know of my work as the artist behind www.chucknorrisfacts.com, but they probably don't know that I can trace my love of art all the way back to my childhood. I always had an interest in art and I was heavily influenced by a teacher in elementary school who taught me the value of appreciating art.
As an adult, I became fascinated by John's work because it seemed like such a simple concept. This is how I came up with the idea for this website – www.betterhelp.com .
But let me first explain how I came to self-help.
It was June of 2013 – the day before my wedding. The ceremony had been a bit rushed as my wife and I both had to work that day. We had decided that we would take the time for our special ceremony later in the week. This actually happened because we both found ourselves putting things off – it's a weird thing when you're getting married, but it's also something that happens with all kinds of events in our lives, not just weddings.
Conclusion
After we had had the wedding ceremony and reception, we went back to our hotel room in Aspen, Colorado. We were both tired and we wanted to get ready for bed so that we could be fresh for our "must-see" places in Aspen in the morning. It was a beautiful night on June 26, 2013 but it was also very windy out. This wind in particular wasn't too big of a deal because it was nighttime and people are used to the wind blowing their hair around.
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Self Help And Psychology