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.

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!

When is the last time you heard someone say “I will never forgive my ex-wife. She can rot in Hades for all I care.” Or, “If Joe wants me to forgive him he better crawl on his hands and knees begging for it.” How many of us have un-forgiveness in our hearts? We just can’t let it go of the pain someone caused us years ago. It’s all too painful to dwell on the past so we try to forget and move on with our lives but we can’t.

We avoid thinking about the incident and refuse to get help with counseling or coaching and live day to day with unforgiveness in our hearts. We’ve all had someone in our past hurt us in one way or another. Perhaps your parents were critical of you growing up or a teacher wasn’t fair about your grades in high school.

These painful memories still can haunt you and leave you with anger, rage, or even bitterness. The purpose of forgiveness is to release the inner struggles that you are having with a specific person. You have to decide if you’re willing to let go of any and all resentment that is holding you back emotionally. Part of forgiving is not seeking revenge against the person who has wronged you. You have to let it go and move forward with your life. Can you do that? Yes you can!

Definition of forgiveness: Forgiveness is the renunciation or cessation of resentment, indignation or anger as a result of a perceived offence, disagreement, or mistake, or ceasing to demand punishment or restitution.[1][2] The Oxford English Dictionary defines forgiveness as ‘to grant free pardon and to give up all claim on account of an offence or debt’.

I have heard men and women who have gone through a hard break up or divorce who hate their ex’s. The offended person seems to hold on to a grudge and can’t let it go. Many of these break-ups have one of the parties wanting to get even and seek revenge. I think there are better ways to deal with anger than hold on to the past and look for ways to get even. When you forgive someone that doesn’t mean you forget what they have done to you or their responsibility for their actions. It simply means you are acknowledging the hurt but you are moving on with your life.

I know some people who thrive on being angry and bitter and they are difficult to be around and actually seem to love carrying a grudge. What happens when you bring unforgiveness into a new relationship? Usually the new relationship is destined to fail. The right person may come along and you miss out on meeting that person or having a new and great relationship because you’re holding a grudge.

“But understand that the reason it is so difficult to extend forgiveness to those who have failed us is because we are unable to receive forgiveness for our own failures.”
― Emily P. Freeman

“Forgiveness is beautiful and it feels good when someone gives that gift to you. But it’s one thing for someone you wronged to forgive you. It was another to forgive yourself.”
― Kristen Ashley

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!

I was six years old when our military family made the long drive from Fort Lewis, Washington to Fort Slocum, NY. My sister Deb had a knack for picking fights. My dad didn’t tolerate fighting in the car and my sister, who was 5 years old at the time, was looking for trouble. She was bored on this leg of the trip, however, I was content just trying to color in a coloring book.

At one point during the drive, my sister kept pinching me. Even though I told her to stop and pushed her away she kept pinching me. I begged her to stop. About that time, my dad yelled at both of us to stop and settle down. She pinched me once again and that’s when my dad told us we had better behave or we would get spanked. Once again, my sister placed a painful pinch just behind my arm. I let out a yell and punched her in the shoulder.

Within minutes my dad pulled over to the side of the road and drug me out of the car and began spanking me. Even though traffic was going by, I was getting a good paddling. When he finally stopped spanking me he told me that I was to get in the car and say nothing or I would get another licking! I was crying hard and didn’t stop until he finally said “why are you still crying?” after about 30 minutes down the road. Between my crying and trying to breath, I told him that when he was spanking me my shoe fell off. That didn’t go over very well and he was upset that I didn’t tell him sooner. My sister provoked me and I ultimately paid the price.

I see people provoke others in all kinds of relationships including marriage, family, work and school. How we respond is key in keeping peace and moving on. When couples come to counsel with me and I hear one person telling me that the other is looking for faults in their marriage, they seem to constantly repeat the history of mistakes. The person who is on the receiving end of takes that as being provoked and feels the need to defend themselves. Then the war of words and history grows into a full argument. I tell my clients not to go there, walk away and take time to think about what is causing the argument. Don’t provoke arguments. I have seen many divorces happen because of anger and provoking someone into an argument.

Can you name the things which commonly provoke arguments? Can you add to this list?
•    Money
•    Family
•    Friends
•    Fob
•    In-laws
•    Politics
•    Religion
•    Sports
These are just a few and I am sure you can add many to this list. I have friends who point out incorrect statements of others during simple conversations. You may pronounce the name of a city one way and your friend may correct you in front of a group of people because they pronounce it a different way. I have seen it happen. To others it looks like a provocation and someone that is mean spirited.

I suggest that if you are the one who likes to provoke disagreements, then stop. It’s unattractive and pushes people away from you. If you are on the receiving end, then just walk away and don’t get into it. Keep the peace in your sphere of influence.

Do you feel that you are easily provoked and lose control and want help? Do you enjoy provoking others and want to stop? Do you need help in making the right decisions when provoked by others? Call Dr. Mike and he can help you with some of these problems.

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!

As I was driving from south central Wisconsin to Arvada, Colorado, I had hoped the 20 hour drive would be a relaxing and a break from the business I had been dealing with. After 16 hours of driving, I was exhausted when I got to North Platte, Nebraska and could barely keep my eyes open. I desperately needed to pull off at a roadside rest area and close my eyes for a few minutes. As I started to relax I heard the horn blast of an 18-wheeler truck that startled me. I was now fully awake! I saw the shadow of a women who had walked in front of the truck then stopped, frozen in place.

It’s a good thing that the truck driver was paying attention and didn’t hit her, but it scared her pretty good. I ran over and got her out of the way and walked her over to the waiting area by the restroom. She was tired and didn’t realize she had walked in front of an oncoming 18 wheeler semi-truck.

How many times in our lives do we get caught in the headlights of life and really mess things up? I have been there and have learned to be aware of my surroundings: socially, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Knowing the pitfalls of life can keep you out of trouble. No one is immune from disasters in life. Preventing them is key to staying out of trouble. If you feel awkward in a social setting, just watch your P’s and Q’s and watch what you say. I remember one event where I happened to meet Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits (for you younger people a well known British music group like the Beatles). As we stood there talking with him, my girlfriend at the time blurted out, “We love you Peter!” I looked at her then at him and felt so awkward! Then I said, “Well Peter, she loves you and I think you sing pretty good!” He burst out laughing as I felt my face flush red, and my girlfriend stood there grinning ear-to-ear. Looking back, I should have just kept my mouth shut. I look back today and laugh about it.

Many of us hate to admit that we have been caught in the headlights and are unaware of what’s going on around us. A client of mine wanted some ideas on how to get out of a bad relationship. We discussed what would happen if she stayed in her unhappy relationship. She went through all the possibilities of being financially destitute and losing her peace of mind. She agreed with me and assured me she would look at all of her options. She delayed making any decisions then when the moment of truth came upon her, she knew her life was going to change, she acted as though she was caught off guard. She called and told me how upset she was and wished she had listened to me and acted sooner. This was entirely preventable but her indecision got her into trouble.

Getting caught in the headlights of life is preventable. If you plan for the bumps in the road you will not get caught off guard. You may ask how can I prevent getting caught off guard. Here are a few of my suggestions.
Make a list of areas that you often find yourself being caught off guard. My list looks like this: Social, emotional, spiritual and physical.
•    What is the worst that can happen to you if you’re not prepared? What is the best that can happen to you if you are prepared? This way of thinking can prevent unexpected problems, so plan ahead!
•    Who causes you the most grief? Who brings you the most joy and happiness? There are times that you may need to eliminate high maintenance people out of your life and that’s ok. It will pay off in the long run. You have heard me say this before, “hang around people that are better then you are. They will set the high standards that will keep you on track.”
•    Take notes about past failures. Journaling is key to helping you see the patterns that trip you up.
These are pretty simple steps to help you stay out of the headlights of unexpected issues that come your way.

Do you fail to see bad situations that come your way and need help in seeing them from afar? Do you often get caught unaware? Do you keep looking back at past mistakes trying to figure out what happened? Call Dr. Mike and he can help you with some of these problems.

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!