Since then I have regained my health, grown my business, and actively involved with my church. I feel great and I’m happy with where I am in my life. I will share some tips that worked for me for climbing out of the bottom of the barrel. Try them – they work!

·Realize that once you have hit rock bottom or you realize are headed that way, you don’t have to stay there. Nobody can get you out of there except you and the help from God.

·Be honest and ask yourself how you ended up at rock bottom. Did you get there by your own hand or by circumstances out of your control? What immediate course of action do you need to take to get yourself out?

·First of all, make a plan of action. Start with week one, then move on to your plan for the next 30 days then an extended plan for the next 12 months. Include the steps you need to take and what you need to do to make them happen. It might mean leaving a destructive relationship or finding a way to avoid loaning money you don’t have to friends who have no intention of paying it back.

·If you need to meet with professionals, such as financial planners, marriage counselors, pastors, or lawyers then do so! Only you can make these calls. Don’t rely on others to do the work that you need to do. You will grow and learn as you begin to the damage to pick up the pieces of your life.

·If you have harmed anyone in the process whether in word or deed, take ownership and do the right thing. Right the wrongs if possible

These tips have worked for countless people that have I counseled. Try a few of them and see for yourself. All it takes is the effort and determination and a little sweat to dig yourself out of the bottom. For some, it will be scary. For others it will be nerve racking and hard work.

There are many people who will not budge or lift a finger to dig themselves out of the hole. They spend their time complaining about their life situation and do nothing to change it. Do you know anyone like that?

Do you wrestle with not knowing what to do when confronted by life’s struggles? Are you afraid to move forward because your past mistakes keep holding you back? Do you need help in deciding your next steps to get out from rock bottom? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then give Dr. Mike a call at 303.456.0555

In the middle of the night I heard that voice again. “Make a plan!” I had a notebook by my nightstand and started to write down what was laid on my heart. Here is the list that we came up with:

·         Make a menu that is based on healthy foods, fresh vegetables, fresh fruits. Fish baked, poultry baked, nuts and grains, and lots of water and hot teas.

·         Rest and sleep, have a regimented time you go to bed. Mine was at 9:30 PM, and I had two 20 minute naps one in the morning and one mid-afternoon. No TV in the bedroom.

·         Have healthy people in my life, ones that care and want to do something with their lives.

·         Exercise, when I started out I could only walk 15 minutes twice a day. The exercise was a big boost for me because I got to go outside when the weather permitted. Fresh air helped a great deal.

·         And renew my relationship with God. We started talking everyday through praying and getting back into the word again.

I have to tell you these simple steps really turned my life around. I hit rock bottom and was tired being there. My health was gone, my finances were a mess, I couldn’t work. I started planning my next steps as to what I had to do to upright the ship. It was hard but necessary to move forward. If you’re struggling on what you need to do to regain control of your life, your family and or business just remember you can do it. If you know how to plan and work out a step by step process in making changes. This will be very helpful. Yes it takes time and energy to map out your plan, but in the long run it’s worth it.

I have watched others fail to move forward after they hit rock bottom and I wasn’t going to be one of those victims. Nor should you. Determination is very important and if you know what your plan is you’re way ahead of the game. I say plan and plan well. You can do this!

Part four will continue in next weeks article.

Do you struggle with not knowing what to do when confronted by life’s struggles? Are you afraid to move forward because your past mistakes keep holding you back? Do you want help in deciding your next steps to get out from rock bottom? If you answered yes to any of these questions then give Dr. Mike a call.

What Does It Mean To Hit Rock Bottom? Continued from last week.
I went back to the clinic and started seeing my afternoon patients. Near the end of my patient schedule, the muscles in my legs and lower back began to ache. I thought that maybe I was coming down with flu. I checked out of the office and started walking across the street to my car.

Then it hit me! It felt like I had been hit over the head with sledge hammer and had a pounding headache. My vision instantly blurred and my muscles ached even more. I drove home and barely made it to the driveway. Shivering all over, I made my way to the sofa. As I lay there, I wondered what was going on with me. I slowly got up and after almost falling on my face, I walked over to the thermostat to turn the heat on high. After that I crept to the bathroom and lay on the floor by the heating vent.

Six hours later I woke up, stilly laying on the bathroom floor and still hurting all over. I managed to get up and drive to the hospital. When I got to the emergency room I was taken immediately to the patient examination room. They did all kinds of tests and asked lots of questions. Eventually they found out that I had a rare form of food poisoning and was hospitalized for several days. That’s when my downfall started to happen. It’s when I lost my health and believe me, when that’s gone, you know it. I couldn’t work for several weeks so earning an income was out the door. I couldn’t pay my bills which damaged my good credit rating. My fitness center suffered because I wasn’t able to work with my staff. I felt like giving up. I was at rock bottom. Several weeks later, I woke up with the realization that it was up to me to get out of this mess.

That’s when I heard an inner voice talking to me. “Not so fast Mike! What about me?” I remembered that still small voice, the one that was always there when I needed direction or encouragement along life’s path. It was the voice I needed to hear.

My future looked bleak and without a game plan for my life I was going to forced down a path I had no control over. Keep in mind, my health was at rock bottom, I had lost a great deal of weight, was exhausted all the time, rarely got a good night’s sleep and I couldn’t work because of lingering side effects from the food poisoning. I was depressed and in utter despair.

Next week we will continue with part three of “What it Means to Hit Rock Bottom”.
Do you struggle with not knowing what to do when confronted by life’s struggles? Are you afraid to move forward because your past mistakes keep holding you back? Do you need help deciding your next steps to get out from rock bottom? If you answered yes to any of these questions then give Dr. Mike a call at 303.456.0555.

What does it mean to hit rock bottom?

I want you to think over the years how many times have you hit rock bottom and how did you get there? At some point in our lives we will be at the bottom of life looking up. What did you learn while free falling to that point in your life?
Rock bottom should be a learning lesson for all of us who have survived that bad time in our lives. Not everyone survives the fall. Many will die from broken hearts do to loss of a loved one, by divorce or separation, from drug and alcohol abuse, or loss of a job. Let’s just say there are many reasons why some people don’t survive, while others do.

On the other hand, there are those of us who have hit rock bottom and begin to realize we have been given a second opportunity in life. It’s what we do with that opportunity that defines us. I hear stories of people who have had horrible situations happen in their lives. The death of loved ones, the loss of jobs due to heath issues, the loss of homes due the bad economy, etc. Yet through the ashes of despair there are many success stories that encourage me. I want to share with you my game plan so that if you hit the bottom there are critical steps you must follow to come out ahead and regain control of your life.

I can remember when I was in the prime of life and everything was going my way. Life was good, family was good, my heath was great, and my outlook on life was bright as could be. I had the world by the tail. I had no complaints whatsoever.
I woke up one morning ready for the day and I called Dave, the manager of a fitness center that I was a part owner of and scheduled a business lunch with him. I had a full day ahead of me with my patients and was looking forward to sitting down with Dave and seeing how the center was doing. As we talked over lunch, he assured me the center was doing very well financially. I was on cloud nine after we left that meeting.

I went back to the clinic and started seeing my afternoon patients. Near the end of my patient schedule I started to get achy muscles in my legs and low back. I thought that maybe I was coming down with something. I checked out of the office and started walking across the street to my car. Check in next week for part two of “what it means to hit rock bottom.”

Do you struggle with not knowing what to do when confronted by life’s struggles? Are you afraid to move forward because your past mistakes keep holding you back? Do you want help in deciding your next steps to get out from rock bottom? If you answered yes to any of these questions then give Dr. Mike a call.

The Voice Of Hope “Lost In A Blizzard” (4)

The storms of life are beginning to take shape and I had no clue what was only hours away could be my final hours of living. We turned in about 9:00 in the evening, I was pumped for the hunt, and I fell asleep dreaming of big bullsand nice mule deer. I was sleeping nicely until I felt drops of water hitting my face, and wondered what the heck was going on. I felt my nose, and then reached up to feel the ceiling of the tent, which by the way were only inches from my face. I realized that the tent was caving in from 10 inches of snow that had fallen during the night. I woke Mark up and we both were shocked, we never checked what the weather would be, who would have thought of that! I got dressed in my wet jeans and checked outside the, tent poles we bent and some broken. When I got back into the tent, I then realized that all of our clothes and gear was soaked from the rain that changed to snow. I was not prepared for this. The snow continued to fall, normally I would have been thrilled, but not this time.

We had dilemma on our hands, so Mark and I started a fire to get warm and dry some of our clothes. As dawn finally arrived we talked about what we needed to do. He wanted to go get some supplies and let everyone know we were OK on top of the mountain. I stayed behind to watch our gear and gather firewood and kept a fire going. I stayed by our tent and hunted. The snow came down heavy; I was watching a game trail that had been used during the night. I could hear some shots down below me, and wondered what was happening. That’s when I heard the hoofs hitting some rocks close by, the fog was so thick, and I had no clue where these animals were. I was at the ready, and waited for several minutes to see if anything would come by. I went back and added wood to the fire and waited for Mark. It was afternoon, when Mark showed up. He brought in some supplies, food and beverages.

The wind and snow picked up, with fog as well. I have hunted in some pretty nasty stuff, but this took the cake. It was getting dark and I was starting to get cold and the shakes. I added wood to the fire and earlier in the afternoon, I built a lean to for Mark and myself. I couldn’t find any small pieces of wood, I kicked around in the snow for logs in which I could drag over to the lean to. I had a good pile stacked up. My sleeping bag was soaked and never dried out. I lay on the packed down snow, with wet clothes as my base, and covered up with my wet sleeping bag.. I tried going to sleep, but couldn’t because of the shivering and shaking. I was exhausted from being cold. I got as close as I could to the fire and it didn’t warm me at all. I told Mark that I was going to head down to the base camp below us. I had no clue how far away that was, but I was going down. I probably was 100 yards from the lean to, when something told me not to go any further. I went back and got Mark, and insisted that we go down together. The trip down was awful, we got lost, and the snow was blowing and became a blizzard. There was white out conditions, we didn’t know where we were going. We kept going along the side of the mountain. The snow was waist deep in some areas.

It seemed like hours we wandered, It was now 2:30 AM and I suggested to Mark that we fire three shots for distress warning. I did and no one responded, we did this a total of three times, and continued on. We fell over down trees that had sleet turn to ice, and then covered with the snow on top of them made them slick as grease. We fell often and hard. We took breaks and told each other that there was hope and we would be found constantly reassuring each other. I think Mark was as worried as I was about not surviving this hunt. Next week we will continue “Lost In A blizzard.”

“You can’t eat hope,’ the woman said. You can’t eat it, but it sustains you,’ the colonel replied.” ― Gabriel Garcí¬a Márquez

Do you have a situation in the home where you have lost your hope and need to learn how to find it again? Do you feel hopeless and are afraid of what tomorrow brings? Are you afraid to hope again after a personal loss? What scares you about hoping for things? If you answered yes to any of these question Dr. Mike can help you find answers to finding peace in your life. Call him at 303.456.0555

The Voice of Hope

Many people today have given up on their hopes and dreams. They have stopped believing in themselves and have waited for years to have someone tell them that their situation is not hopeless. The good news is there is hope for them. When we’re down and discouraged just a friendly, encouraging word helps us get through our tough times.

When someone gives us hope it can be just the right words we need to hear. We all want to hear encouraging words (verbal life preserver) in the midst of life’s storms. When we’re going through a divorce or separated from our spouse, the pain we go through is unbearable at times. We hope that the pain will go away.

Fortunately, it does eventually. The sleepless nights, the weeping, the sad thoughts of failure ease over time. The one thing I have noticed in most people is the hope that people hang on to. Hope is something we anticipate or long for. As children we hoped for many things; in marriage we hope for a bright future with our loved one; in our careers, we hope for promotions and pay raises.

The brokenness I see in my office from clients waiting for just one word of hope or encouragement would amaze you. I can think of many who want to hear a doctor give them hope for a cure or a surgery that would resolve their health problem. The parent who hopes that they will hear from a wayward child or the spouse whose partner has left them hopes that they will soon return home. Those who are looking for work to support themselves or their families hope to find a job. There are many who live on hope just to keep them going!

I remember meeting a woman with brain cancer who was told she had a few months to live. She was desperate to live and hoped they would find a cure for her cancer. She went from doctor to doctor just hoping someone would give her the right advice so she could be cured. She contacted several doctors and people who cured cancer with food and exercise. She even went as far as Chinese medicine for help. Sad to say she passed away a few months later.

So, the million dollar question is – what is hope? Where can I find hope? Is there hope for me? I hear a lot of people who want hope in their lives and are searching for it.

Hope is the state which promotes the belief in good outcomes related to events and circumstances in one’s life. Despair is often regarded as the opposite of hope.[1] Hope is the “feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best” or the act of “look[ing] forward to something with desire and reasonable confidence” or “feel[ing] that something desired may happen”.[2] Other definitions are “to cherish a desire with anticipation”; “to desire with expectation of obtainment”; or “to expect with confidence”.[3] In the English language the word can be used as either a noun or a verb, although hope as a concept has a similar meaning in either use.

Is there something you are hoping for today? You can’t take your mind off of it and you pray and wish for it. I think each one of us today honestly have something we are hoping for. Hoping to restore your marriage or relationship with a family member is on many hearts. Have you ever been in a survival situation and hoped to be rescued? Some of us can say yes, that has happened. Hope can produce in us how to be resilient, a survivalist, tenacious, and a fighter if we need to be.

I want to share my story of hope in a life and death situation. I use this story to let people know there is hope even in life and death struggles.

I was scared, worried, frightened, fearful, and yet through it all I still had hope for surviving and learning that giving up would have been the end for me and others. In the following articles you will find out how hope played out in my near death experience. Many would have just given up and died never knowing how hope could have saved them. Next week I’ll share my story, “Lost In A Blizzard.”

“The road that is built in hope is more pleasant to the traveler than the road built in despair, even though they both lead to the same destination.”
― Marion Zimmer Bradley

Do you have a situation in the home where you have lost your hope and need to learn how to find it again? Do you feel hopeless and are afraid of what tomorrow brings? Are you afraid to hope again after a personal loss? What scares you about hoping for things? If you answered yes to any of these question Dr. Mike can help you find answers to finding peace in your life. Call him at 303.456.0555

Dr. Michael Brooks is the founder of Applicable Life Coaching and Counseling Services. His services are affordable, accessible, anonymous and available by appointment from the privacy of your own home. To avoid travel time and the comfort of home, many clients prefer to meet with Dr. Mike over the phone or via Skype. The convenience of this type of coaching is the most effective means of Life Coaching and counseling for those who live out of the Denver-metro area. Give Dr. Mike a call! You’ll be glad you did!

What does forgiving someone do for me? There are many benefits when we forgive someone that has hurt us. Once you let go of the anger and bitterness, healing starts to take place. You don’t dwell on the person or seek getting revenge. You free yourself of focusing on someone who has hurt you. Your emotional health will return and life will open up many missed opportunities of new friendships. There will be less stress and worries in your life. Once you let go and forgive the person who hurt you then, if you have been dealing with depression, you will start to see life differently and embrace new experiences.

Remember, forgiveness is an act on your part. It’s making a change from being a victim to gaining your freedom and moving on. I know some people who are known for the way they handled their separation and divorce who let their actions define who they were within their circle of friends and co-workers. Is that what you want? People will avoid you at all costs. Make a choice to forgive and move on.

So you know you should forgive the person who hurt you, but what if you can’t or don’t want to? That, my friend, is your decision. In that case, and it’s only my opinion, that person still controls you emotionally and holds the cards on how you feel about certain people. Is that what you want? I doubt it. So the benefit of letting go means you regain control of your life and move on.

I know that it’s hard to let go especially when justice has not been served. Case in point, I have a close friend whose sister and brother in-law were sitting at a stop light on their motorcycle waiting for the light to change. They were rear ended by a driver of a pickup truck who didn’t see them. His sister died on the operating table from massive trauma and his brother in-law was in ICU for weeks and is now learning how to walk again. Needless to say my friend was demanding answers from the local officials and sheriff’s office. He wasn’t getting answers and was extremely bitter about the accident and her death. For weeks, I listened to him share his anger each time we talked. I saw the un-forgiveness taking place in his heart. I decided it was about time I shared with him my experience of anger, bitterness and unforgiveness and how I dealt with it.

“Forgiveness is really just another word for freedom.”
― Julie Lessman

“Sometimes a person needs to hear you forgive them so they can start to forgive themselves.”
― Rachel Gibson

Are you harboring unforgiveness and want to get rid of the heaviness it causes you? Do you have someone you need to forgive and just can’t let it go? Do you need to seek forgiveness and need to know how and when? Do you want to mend a relationship with a friend or family member and have hard feelings that you’ve been carrying for some time? If you answered yes to any of these questions give me a call at 303.456.0555.

Dr. Michael Brooks is the founder of Applicable Life Coaching and Counseling Services. His services are affordable, accessible, anonymous and available by appointment from the privacy of your own home. To avoid travel time and the comfort of home, many clients prefer to meet with Dr. Mike over the phone or via Skype. The convenience of this type of coaching is the most effective means of Life Coaching and counseling for those who live out of the Denver-metro area. Give Dr. Mike a call! You’ll be glad you did!