Nurturing Your Soul

Number Yourself: Count yourself as an important individual. You are important. You need to be counted and acknowledged especially when you are helping others. One way that you can do this is by taking proper care of your self (having enough sleep, food, exercise and relaxation). Then you will have enough energy to help others and live the rest of your busy life. Sounds too basic? It's supposed to be. It's the basics that hold daily life together.

Understand Yourself: Think about how this fits into your self-care. If you understand when you are hungry, then you will eat and renew your energy. This happens with any other activity, such as sleep or exercise. Likewise, when you know your needs, you can take action to meet them, instead of ignoring them, and making your helping work and your daily life that much more difficult.

Respect Yourself: Believe in yourself, your talents and your abilities. Focus on the times in your life, when you know that your actions or words helped someone else to change their life. Helping others is not about being compensated by material rewards. It is about being compensated by experiencing intangible rewards, including high self-esteem, confidence and satisfaction of a job well done.

Take Care of Yourself: To help others, you do need to take care of yourself. I've already mentioned some ways that you can do that. Work toward maintaining balance, emotionally, physically, socially, mentally and spiritually in your life. Then you will be able to help others with more energy as well as not depleting your own resources.

Unburden Yourself: It's important to have support, during the fun times as well as the tough times. A wide base of support may consist of friends, family and community resources (e.g. church, synagogue, support groups and healthcare professionals) and keeping a personal journal. There are many resources available to address difficult areas that arise while doing your work. It's important to maintain a balance when you are helping others. Make sure that you are receiving support from others on a regular basis.

Rule Yourself: Work regularly toward keeping your internal life in order. Reach out to your support system. Reach out if something is out of order, if you have a question or concern, and yes, to celebrate the good times, too. If you have a particular spiritual discipline that you follow, make sure to devote some regular time to that practice as well as to the community that shares that practice with you. This will energize you and help you keep your focus on the bigger picture.

Embrace Yourself: Hug yourself. Take mini-breaks and vacations. Plan for fun times for yourself and with your favorite people. Laugh. Take a humor break. Act like a child. Surprise yourself. Surprise yourself again! Keep smiling.

Lael Johnson, owner of Writer's Eye Advisory Service, offers creativity coaching services and additional writing resources. This article may be reprinted as long as the text is unchanged and the author is notified by placing the title of the article in the subject line.

no-contract cleaning service Des Plaines ...

In The News:

Researcher Peter Garrigan says Moonshot AI's Kimi model was manipulated into providing instructions for biological weapons and assassination plans.

iPhone, Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy phones now offer call screening that asks unknown callers to identify themselves before your phone rings.

Ransomware can lock your irreplaceable photos and documents in seconds. A tested backup strategy and stronger cybersecurity habits are your best defense.

ShinyHunters claims it breached FBIJobs.gov and stole Social Security numbers, home addresses and sensitive assignment details of FBI personnel.

Find My iPhone, Google Find Hub and Samsung Find have critical tracking settings to enable now, before your phone ever goes missing or stolen.

The FTC proposed a new enforcement policy on personalized pricing, warning companies that hide how personal data shapes the prices shoppers see.

The $250 million Apple Siri AI settlement is now accepting claims, with eligible iPhone owners potentially receiving up to $95 per device.

ShareAScan turns T-shirts into scannable digital business cards with QR codes that link to profiles the owner can update anytime they choose.

BragJack research reveals how a single malicious browser extension could hijack Gemini, Perplexity Comet and Edge AI agents with zero clicks.

A phishing campaign impersonating OpenAI uses fake ChatGPT billing emails with a convincing login page to steal credentials and payment details.

Startups are helping modernize America’s defense industry with new technology and innovative ideas as the War Department diversifies its inventory.

New account fraud victims jumped 31% in 2025, reaching 5.4 million. Criminals open accounts you may never see on your regular bank statements.

Flytrex says its AI-powered Rooftop Dock system in Dallas-Fort Worth positions drones at restaurants before orders arrive, cutting delivery costs by 60%.

Samson Sky's Switchblade flying car secures $80 million from Dubai's Matin Group, but the redesigned hybrid-electric aircraft still needs more testing.

The Fox News AI Newsletter covers the latest artificial intelligence technology advancements, including the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

CenterPoint Energy confirmed customer data was stolen, while a hacker claims 7.49 million records with partial Social Security numbers were taken.

The $59 Brick device promises to help curb phone addiction, but free iPhone and Android tools may already do the job. Here's what to try first.

Epsilon Data Management's "opportunity seeker" lists helped scammers target millions of older Americans, DOJ court filings reveal in detail.

HBO Max's verified Reddit account was hijacked to push 108 malicious ads using ClickFix, a technique that tricks victims into running dangerous commands.

Flash Shelton reveals how home security cameras and alarm systems can stop squatters before they claim tenant rights in your vacant property.

WIM-Z's AI dog training robot uses on-device processing to detect barking and dispense treats autonomously, with field trials showing up to 83% reduction.

Google's Threat Intelligence Group found PROMPTFLUX malware that uses Gemini to rewrite its own code every hour, raising urgent cybersecurity alarms.

Your VPN may quietly drop protection when switching between airport Wi-Fi and hotel Wi-Fi. Key settings like auto-connect and kill switch help.

A South Carolina caregiver allegedly gained power of attorney over a 75-year-old with Parkinson's, then transferred his home via quitclaim deed for $5.

Joby Aviation flew its eVTOL air taxi into DFW Airport's busy airspace as Texas launches Project Nexus, a three-year advanced air mobility program.

Nurturing Your Soul

Time Management