When hope dims, affirmations rekindle the flame. Here are my six favorite affirmations. Exerting effort at anything and not seeing positive results can be discouraging, I learned this after job rejections, friendship losses, breakups, poor grades, and failure to meet personal goals. Perhaps you’ve had some of these experiences, too. …

Although mental health stigma has declined over the last year, it is still a major issue. Here are some ideas on how to recognize and reduce it. Mental health stigma affects how we perceive psychiatric disorders. It also affects self-esteem and progress in mental health treatment. …

A Children’s Story about Coping with Change — Six-year-old Timmy loves warm and sunny weather! On those days, he gets to play at the park with his friends. But some days, the weather is cold and rainy or snowy. Timmy has to stay inside. Timmy doesn’t like staying inside. But his friends help him find fun things to…

Feeling sad or stressed out? Here’s a two-minute story for some laughs. — Let’s face it. Adulting is hard! Sometimes, there are so many responsibilities that we forget to laugh. Luckily, children can bring humor into our lives. Here are some quotes from my nieces and other children. Note: My oldest niece is a 9-year-old named Carmen. …

This week, my pastor talked about our identity in Christ and how we can influence others. Here are three points. Our identity is in Jesus. Jesus gave us light to shine upon others. We must not conform to nonbelievers. My pastor used two metaphors for our influence on the world: salt and light. Salt symbolizes our display of faith. Just the right amount of salt makes food taste better. Expressing our faith an appropriate amount can help us improve morality and spirituality.

Getting my degree was a huge accomplishment — This story is part of The Daily Write. Today’s prompt is about my greatest accomplishment. Here is a story about graduating from college. Many people have college degrees. Some of them consider it an expectation instead of an accomplishment. …

A challenge to help me reduce overthinking — Usually, it takes a long time for me to write a story. It can take up to several days because I have to come up with an idea, write a story, edit it, and sometimes rewrite it. This challenge was inspired by an online writing group. “Okay, class! I want…