Feeling Cursed

Feeling cursed makes you feel incapable of being happy or content. You may feel while cursed constantly tortured or be capable of little or no success. This can make living feel difficult. Being hopeless and depressed can result from feeling cursed. This is a casual post about feeling cursed.

When you feel cursed, you feel as if something anyone can easily do is a hassle or near impossible for you. You may also fear there will be that moment where you become broken down and humiliated. That moment may also make you fearful of even leaving your room or even your bed. It is something you may hear a lot among sports circles. It felt like a curse when decades passed from when the Boston Red Sox won the Championship in 2004 after last winning the World Series in 1918, and it also impacted the Chicago Cubs winning the Championship in 2016 after last winning it all in 1908. The thing to take from here is that failure and torture are never eternal.

Everyone is capable of great things; but when you feel cursed, you feel more likely to fail than do anything successful or noteworthy. For example, you may successfully prepare a delicious meal but still feel unable to be happy or satisfied. You may create a great work of art or compose a well-done song and still feel concerned. Feelings of being cursed can take over your life and make you feel less of yourself.

Sometimes, feeling cursed can stem from a host of bad experiences and missed opportunities. If you feel your failures impact you more than your successes, then feeling cursed makes you feel like you are only capable of wrong. You were meant to be amazing and do amazing things. When you feel cursed, the only things you feel you can do is amazingly fail. Any feelings of not being good enough or not being capable of greatness only make us not give full effort often times because the end result of failure is inevitable.

Do You Need Spiritual Guidance If You Feel Cursed?

Some people who feel cursed actually believe in evil spirits impacting their lives. Therefore, some spiritual help can help drive away demons and spirits who feel they are cursing others' souls.

Some Final Thoughts.

Do not ever feel you are not able to enjoy success. Not everyone gets it right or has the best of days constantly. Everyone is going to experience lulls and shortcomings. If you feel cursed, just remember not everything wrong with the world is your doing. Everyone has their demons. Not every demon is focused on you. All you can do is keep going and hope for the best in each moment of your life. Never give up on any opportunities or feel you are not able to accomplish certain things. Everyone who feel cursed will eventually break out of their curses. If you feel you need spiritual guidance to help you break being cursed, seek help from spiritual sources. Everyone is capable of greatness. Feeling cursed can limit your success, but do not let feeling cursed undermine your ability to do great things for yourself and others. Curses do not last forever. You will break free from being cursed with good fortune and luck. Just do not give up in your pursuit of greatness.





I often times do not like discussing tough topics because they sometimes make me feel depressed simply mentioning them. There is a reason for this, though. At least this shows I am mindful of things that impact our lives. Moreover, I care about providing solutions and advice. So hopefully this discussion was to your liking. I also hope I was able to help you any way I could. Subscribe/Follow my blog(s) in any capacity if you love my work. Share my blog post(s) with others if you enjoy my work. Support me further by connecting with me on social media; and if you are inclined, feel free to donate to me (donations are voluntary but would be appreciated). Thank you for reading! Take care and be well.

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Not Your Day

Many days of the year we look forward to and enjoy. Some others, though, not so much. Everyone has certain days of the week or in the year that they fear or have bad memories of. Saying that today is Halloween, this is my day I've feared most. A day that doesn't seem so lucky means you are on heightened alert for trying not to do something that makes you feel horrible inside. Even some simple mistakes can have you feeling horrible.

Always remember each day does not go as planned, and not every day is a good one. It is natural to have good and bad days. What becomes concerning is when a certain day or certain time of year is associated with you having some of your worst memories. My Halloween memories have been bad for me, ranging from being suspended for fighting to having my last day at a university when I was hoping to work towards my previous major of computer animation.

If you are not having a good day, one thing to be happy about is that you are still living, and you did all you could to live a certain day. Things could be much worse than what you experienced or done in a certain day. A bad day should just come and go. Move on to the next day, because tomorrow is a new day. Each upcoming moment should be times for you to try to have better times than what you experienced the previous day.

When it comes to a certain day of the year or days of the year where you begin to cringe, don't look at those days as opportunities to fail. Instead, treat them like you can have a better time on that specific day than you've experienced in the past. For example, you may fear April Fool's Day (which I think should be banned, but that's another story), but the next April Fool's Day could possibly go great for you instead of adding to a certain day being a nightmare for you. All you got to do is just live life as best as you can. It will not be easy, but it is better than cowering in fear or feeling like the heavens do not like you on that day.





That's it for another post of "John's Life Space." This is a blog where I am real and transparent discussing various life issues. I am here to discuss life issues with you all and offer help where I can. If you appreciate this effort, please Subscribe/Follow this blog and my others in some capacity. If you enjoy my work, please Subscribe/Follow my blog(s) in any capacity if you love my work and want to support me any way you can. Share my blog post(s) with others if you enjoy my work. Thank you for reading! Take care and be well.

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Anxiety Attacks and Panic Attacks

There will come a time where we reach a breaking point that drives us into a state of madness or a loss of control. When that moment happens, we enter a moment where we psychologically break down and in worse cases, experience body pains and anguish that drive us over the edge. Such attacks can last from a few minutes to even up to a half hour or longer. When faced with these moments of vulnerability and weakness, we are powerless to do anything about it. While I don't have any helpful advice, I at least want to discuss this matter with you all.

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Anxiety Attacks and Panic Attacks

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Though anxiety attacks and panic attacks seem the same, they are actually two different, yet similar things. Such moments in life can lead us to feeling broken down and weak. How we handle ourselves despite these moments can help determine whether or not we get through these attacks quickly or over time.

An anxiety attack stems from a brief moment that makes someone break down physically and mentally. An anxiety attack can be something triggered inside of us. These attacks can make anyone feel broken down and rendered helpless. People who suffer from anxiety may have a moment where are unable to perform and focus. The height of anxiety can come in the form of an anxiety attack. Certain techniques can help to ease anxiety attacks before they get potentially worse.

A panic attack, however, can be more serious. Panic attacks happen in much the same way as anxiety attacks, but effects such as nausea, shortness of breath, sweating, and more can result from a moment that brings fear. Panic attacks can happen without any trigger or warning. It is almost as if the mind decides when to get someone in fight-or-flight mode.

Either of these moments can make all of us be vulnerable at any given moment. At worst, having these attacks can lead to us being in an unstable condition or even lead us to hurt (or even kill) ourselves or others. This is very much a potentially serious situation that needs to be addressed.

Triggers of Anxiety Attacks and Panic Attacks.

Some people develop these triggers based on what is going on in their lives, certain mindsets people have, pressure to perform, and things of that nature. When there is a moment that brings us to insanity, we often act in ways that bring us down. Two serious triggers can also include not knowing what to think anymore or fear of impending doom. Someone may also have these attacks in the wake of feeling like you let a loved one down. In the wake of the COVID-19/Coronavirus pandemic, such mental issues can also form from all of the restrictions and such from this pandemic.

In these cases, it is important to try to recognize these triggers and try to find a way to restore control in the event of such attacks.

Treatment for Anxiety Attacks and Panic Attacks.

Self-treating anxiety attacks and panic attacks can be difficult. What you can you is practice breathing exercises, eat food or drink water. You may want to pull over if you are operating a vehicle and experience an anxiety attack or a panic attack. If someone of legal age is with you as you operate a vehicle, have that person take over duties. If you can and if you are able to, you may even exercise to try to bring yourself together better.

If panic attacks happen, medicine may be taken to lessen the effects of whatever is causing the panic attack. If you fear you may have panic disorder, you may want to consult with your doctor, as you may be facing serious physical and mental breakdown. Medicine can help to ensure your body and your mind remain intact.

It may also help to consult a psychotherapist for your anxiety or panic issues. See if you can schedule sessions to talk out your issues with a psychotherapist or any other mental health professional.

The most important thing to remember is that you will get through most any anxiety attack or panic attack. It is very unlikely one will die from an anxiety attack or a panic attack.


Let me try to offer Final Thoughts.

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Panic Attacks and Anxiety Attacks: Final Thoughts

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Life is tough as it is. Having to deal with panic attacks and anxiety attacks is equally tough. We all have our moments where panic or anxiety strikes us. Whether they last for a few minutes or over an hour, they do put an impact on our mental well-being. If you suffer from panic disorder (or even anxiety disorder), you may want to meet with your doctor to possibly get some medication to treat your disorder. The most important thing to remember is that you can't die from these attacks. You will get through anxiety attacks and panic attacks. Just be sure to take it easy and seek help when you can.





When I post topics like this, either they are based on thoughts of mine or on recent experiences in my life. Even if I don't go into details about most personal issues, I do have my fair share of issues. I want to try to help anyone who reads my blog posts. Hopefully I have helped someone through the means of blogging. If you enjoy my work, please Subscribe/Follow my blog(s) in any capacity if you love my work and want to support me any way you can. Share my blog post(s) with others if you enjoy my work. Thank you for reading! Take care and be well.

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Coping With Sports Losses

Your favorite sports team or athlete lost. Maybe they lost the championship. How do you take these losses? A lot of us in sports believe in "wearing our heart on our sleeves." We are so invested in wanting our favorite teams and athletes to win. Then when they don't win, you feel like trash. So for this blog post, I will discuss dealing with sports losses.

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Coping With Sports Losses

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No one obviously wants to see his/her favorite team or athlete lose. Just like there is success in life, there is also failure. Failure WILL happen. Do not believe your favorite team(s) or athlete(s) are impervious to failure, because that moment will come when losing will cloud a team or athlete's mind once it happens.

As a Houston sports fan, I am used to seeing pro sports teams constantly fail in major settings. I've seen my Houston Texans get ousted from the Playoffs and not even reach the Super Bowl. I've seen my Houston Rockets miss out on the NBA Finals when they won it all in 1994 and 1995. I seen my Astros have three straight seasons with 100+ losses before finally (controversially) winning the 2017 World Series. It becomes too redundant seeing my beloved teams and athletes fail as much as I've tried to cheer them on. Most sports fans are what are considered "fair weather fans," meaning they only are happy with sports teams when they are winning. Even fans used to futility even stand behind their teams in spite of failure.

Some teams and athletes may experience long periods of futility or never get to be on the highest stage in the most challenging events. The New Orleans Saints, who have been around since 1967 for example, have never played in the Super Bowl until the 2009 Season, when won Super Bowl XLIV in 2010. There was a time where Prairie View A&M lost 80 straight games in football before finally winning again. The Beavers of CalTech hasn't won a conference game until 2011, having a streak of 207 straight losses before finally winning a game in 2007. There was a time where the Chicago Cubs haven't won a World Series in over a century until they won it all in 2016. The Boston Red Sox haven't won the World Series in over 80 years until they finally won it all in 2004 (last title then was in 1918). The Sydney Swans of Australian Rules Football won the championship in 2005 after their last championship was back in 1933. The most important thing to remember is that each team will eventually have one of their strongest seasons and reach the top of the mountain. If you stay with something, you can always improve, and you will have a day that feels like your greatest achievement after so much futility. Long story short: "patience is a virtue."


I will now go into discussing how to cope with sports losses.

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Coping With Sports Losses: Things to Remember

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Here are some things to remember when your favorite teams or athletes lose, and I will begin with one thing very important to remember...

It's Just a Game!

Some people take sports TOO seriously. Sports are a means of having entertainment and performing hard. Some others think about sports as being as important as any governmental, ethnic, or religious connotations.

Life Goes On.

How do you think I feel when I see my beloved teams and athletes lose? It isn't the end of the world or life as we know it just because a sports team loses. You should consider seeking some professional help if sports futility takes over your mindset.

Think About How to Improve.

If it is a regular season game or non-critical sporting event one loses, look for ways to improve when suffering a loss. If it is a major event or some postseason event one loses, first celebrate reaching the highest level of competition, then think about how to improve for the next time. Maybe new players, better players, coaching staff, or some newer strategies should be implemented to improve the team for the future.

Accept Your Punishment (If Betting).

If you lose a friendly bet and have to face some kind of punishment, accept it and move on. Granted the punishment is wholesome and not overly damaging, of course.

(For Parents and Family Members) Keep Your Player Positive.

This is if you are the parent(s) or a good friend of an athlete. Keep a player positive after suffering a loss. There may be some players who may be crying or bitterly upset after a loss. When faced with something like this and if available to help someone, do what you can to help that frustrated athlete cope. If you are a parent, don't try to punish your child because they were supposed to win but didn't. Winning a sports game is not as important as passing your classes in school or college/university. So be considerate and mindful in these regards.


If you consistently get your mind racked by losing sports teams and athletes, there is one "extreme" move to take:

Stop Following or Stay Away From Sports.

I know there are some people who simply just give up on being a sports fan. That's okay. Some people are not fans of certain hobbies. Some people do not like reading or music much. Sports is the same deal. You don't NEED to be a sports fan if you do not want to. Perhaps follow sports again when something gets you excited again for sports.


I will go with some Final Thoughts in the next section.

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Coping With Sports Losses: Final Thoughts

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Sports bring us together and gets us excited. When our beloved teams and athletes win, you feel great inside. When our beloved teams and athletes lose, however, it becomes damaging to take and accept. Sports shouldn't be taken too seriously. If you suffer from depression based on sports, you will need to get some kind of counseling or consolation from loved ones. If you are an athlete, you are often taught to play the next game and have a short memory. Try not to let the desire to win take over your life and your way of thinking.

In addition, don't criticize other people for being fans of certain teams that keep on losing or do not usually win games and championships. A fan decides whom he or she loves most and will root heavily for those teams and athletes. Sports fans do not need to be fans of only successful teams or teams and athletes currently doing well to be worthy of respect.

If you are an athlete yourself reading this, remember you will win and lose. Be happy when you win. Think about how you need to improve when you do not do well. Sometimes even after victories, find out what you can do better to keep winning. Just keep trying to improve. Stay in good shape as well.

Winning is natural, and so is losing. It takes a lot to accept failure and learn from it. You can still make yourself stronger and better whether you are an athlete or a sports fan.

GOOOO... (your favorite team(s)/athlete(s)!)





That's all for this blog post. Hopefully you have found some sound advice from me and even gotten some insight. Please have yourself a great day/night. Thank you for reading! Take care and be well.

Visit my JohnMarineDesigns Weebly site, subscribe to My Blog(s), and/or Follow on Bloglovin! Let's connect:
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Survival in Life

Today, June 2, 2021; marks 20 years since I graduated from High School. This gives me an opportunity to express some motivational content. It was a long road ahead, especially in my Senior year. I will use this time to offer hope for people who fear they will not graduate or fulfill any major goal. So welcome to my "John's Life Space" blog, a blog regarding life issues.

Before I Begin...

If any of you have recently graduated from grade school or college, congratulations!

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Survival in Life!

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Before I get into sharing my main advice, let me share a story with you. This will help set the tone for me offering advice on trying to get through some of life's toughest moments.

My Life Survival Story.

The setting is 1997. I began High School after facing a lot of troubles in Middle School. Halloween 1997- I was suspended for the first time ever, as I was suspended for fighting. I started feeling down on myself and hating the outlook I had on life. This was where I began developing depression in my life. Fast forward to 1999. I got suspended one last time and was sent to an alternative High School. Some of the ones who hated on me attended that other school. As I did well in my classes, I then was offered to go to an alternative magnet High School mostly devoted towards technology later that year. Yes- THREE High Schools in one year!

In no way was I happy with myself or where my life was headed. I already missed many of my friends from my first High School. And as my mother was constantly upset about my rough progress through High School, I felt like I had to make graduation happen at this alternative magnet High School, because I'd hate to have to look to later in my life to get my GED. It was tough, but I pulled through the 1999-2000 school year. This even included completing my Science Fair project.

Then came the 2000-2001 school year. OH, boy... The early part of this school year was pretty okay as I managed to put forth decent grades. Then came a shock in 2001- I might not graduate because of two classes I failed at my first High School. This meant that instead of going to school just Monday-Friday, it meant I basically went to school EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK. The two classes were at a community college I would eventually get my Associate's in the Arts from later in my life. The schedule in 2001 was Monday-Friday, Friday nights, Saturday mornings, and Sunday afternoon- just to get enough credits to graduate from High School. I felt even more hopeless knowing what challenges I was facing. If I failed to make it through High School, I'd never hear the end of it. I will have failed my family if I was unable to overcome these obstacles. All I could do was try to pass all of my classes so I could graduate. That's even if I barely squeak by. At this point, I cared more about defeating my demons rather than try to chase perfection. I ended up passing my extra High School classes well. Now it's about trying to get enough passing credit to somehow graduate from High School. Even as I was rewarded at the Texas Scholars banquet in April 2001, I felt further motivated to pass my remaining classes. As late May casted its shadow onto me, I was hoping my hard work to defeat my demons and try to stand tall would be worth it. Turns out...

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!

On June 2, 2001; I would see many of my new friends and fellow Class of 2001 for maybe the last time in person. More importantly, getting my cap, gown, and class ring proved that I made it. I faced all kinds of pressure in my life as well as things outside of my life and survived. This was the day and the moment I never thought would happen. I almost felt too disappointed in myself to feel I would never graduate from High School. Would it have been better if I had graduated impressive grades? Absolutely. However, when you've experienced some of the ugliest circumstances and have only little hope or encouragement, you'll gladly take victory over defeat. I was told by my Principal that there was "a surprise for me." So at the graduation ceremony, I was wondering what the surprise was. Turns out... even though I ranked dead last among my 15-Senior class, I was the Most Improved Student! When I found this out, I was SHOCKED! I couldn't believe my hopeless self graduated from High School while becoming the Most Improved Student of my class. I immediately went up on stage to receive my honors when I was called up. This remains one of the biggest accomplishments in my life even today. A depressing chain of events took me under, but I ultimately rose up to reach glory. Moreover, a burden on my (then) 18-year old self was lifted.

Looking back on my life now, I wished I didn't face such tough circumstances. I wished I didn't have to even go through going to two different High Schools besides the one I always wanted to graduate from. Sometimes in life, you don't always get what you want, and conditions will not always be favorable for you. The most important thing is that I worked to try to instill confidence in myself as well as try to prove to my parents that I am not a failure (as I was thinking at the time). I wanted to prove that my parents I was taught well to overcome any obstacle regardless of how successful I am. The point was- I made it. I survived. I am not afraid to admit I was a failing student when my life took a turn for the worse. What would have made me less of a person is if I quit and allowed my demons to win over me. I'd rather just squeak by rather than completely give up. You only get one chance in life, and if you blow it, you'll have to live with the consequences forever. It's why I tell people I am not any real success story. I am someone who found a way to win, even if it isn't an impressive one. A sports analogy would be that I managed to win a game by only a few points or win a race by less than one second. My victory wasn't impressive, but I achieved victory nonetheless.


Now that you know my story, it is time I offer some advice.

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Survival Lessons Learned

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What can you learn from me? How can I help others in a similar bind? Let me try to offer some points to help you.

You CAN Pull Through.

When faced with adversity, it is natural to feel as if you are completely hopeless. However, you are NOT! Even unconventional and unlikely methods of survival can be enough to help you deal through tough times. Once I felt my life go downhill, I had feelings that I would never again succeed. I felt I could never please myself or my family and friends. Athletes know this feeling of being down and needing some sort of run to reverse misfortune.

Doubting Yourself NEVER Helps.

While it is okay to feel you will not pull through, it is important for you to avoid feeling down and out when there is still time to improve. If you feel down on yourself, it just gets tougher trying to get back to a respectable base. Time you could spend loving yourself and giving yourself a chance ultimately adds to why you will never succeed in the eyes of others. All doubting yourself will do is only make accomplishing your goals [unnecessarily] harder. Remember- you are your own worst critic. Which leads to my next point...

It is Never Over Until It's Over!

Sports athletes and sports teams don't give up when there is still a chance to win. That is, unless there is no hope of actually coming back to win (for example, bring down three touchdowns in football with one minute left in the game). Even having little time to make a run at winning is still enough time to make magic happen. You must always give yourself a chance and make the most of your situation.

Celebrate Small Victories.

Completing long-term goals often includes succeeding at short-term goals. If you lost some weight by exercising or eating better, those are victories. At least they help towards a goal in having a certain body or being able to fit into certain clothes again. Small victories for me was in having decent report card reports towards passing classes. Work to accomplish your small goals to eventually accomplish the larger goal at hand. When you accomplish one task, keep accomplishing as many tasks as possible to reach your ultimate goal. Do not give up until you reach that ultimate goal.

Eyes on the Prize!

If you lose sight of your main objective or feel victory is out of reach, you will have already failed. The greatest individuals are celebrated most when they face adversity and defeat their demons. A sports team that comes from behind to win a game (and even a championship) are often the most revered and respected than someone who completely gives up. You can let your demons defeat you, or you can toughen up and try to win at any cost. Just remember- keep your eyes on the prize! You worked hard to get to this level; finish the fight.

Do YOU, Not Others.

Okay- this is going to sound selfish, but it is better you do for yourself rather than try to impress others. You are not going to impress everyone. Only you know you best. So make sure to take any measures to take care of yourself and build up your confidence so you can accomplish your tasks. If you focus too much on trying to impress others or feel like you have to constantly feel you have to prove yourself every time, you are only making it easier to fail. Just worry about your own needs and try to get the job done as best as you can. As the saying goes, "If you want something done right, do it yourself."


And finally...

Victory is Victory.

I did not graduate with impressive grades. I did not graduate with being happy and having high self-esteem. I basically survived and ultimately defeated my demons in High School. I will gladly take victory after having worked for it. I accomplished my ultimate task even if it was not pretty. My ultimate task was to graduate from High School, and I did just that. Work to achieve victory and regardless of style points, achieve victory nonetheless.


These bits of advice can help you when you are down. However, what if you tried you could and still fail? That will be answered in the next section...

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What if You Do Ultimately Fail?

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You did your best. Beating yourself up over failure is not going to help you in the future. You just need to think about what you need to do to learn from your fail and try to do better next time in a similar situation. Even if the pressure to perform is self-inflicted, you have to love yourself enough to feel you can accomplish anything. I did not have the best life as a High Schooler, and I'd be lying to you if I told you I had life easy and always made the best results. I even look back at bad experiences in my life and thought about how I could have done better if I faced the same situations again. There are even times I work on my computer and feel sad knowing I could have done better even if I barely succeeded in life. I didn't ask for the tough circumstances I faced, but I came through regardless, even if not in any impressive way.

Most importantly, do not let yourself be defined by your failures. No one is going to win every battle and every contest all the time. We sometimes need to experience failure to better appreciate being successful. Let failure motivate you, but not define you. Don't have a stigma of failure that curses your ability to ever be as great as you want to be. If you develop this stigma, you feel every attempt to make yourself better is a foregone conclusion that you will fail no matter what. Having this stigma only makes it harder for you to feel happy or feel you will ever become any kind of success.

Be sure to always give yourself a chance even when you feel hopeless and/or worthless. Not everyone can stand for themselves, and if you can't fend for yourself, it is always okay to ask for support from family and friends. Get all the motivation and hope you need. Having a support system will help make life better and better your chances of accomplishing a goal.

No matter what life throws at you, it is best you are well equipped and prepared to take on life's challenges. You must love yourself before you expect anyone else to love you. You must believe in yourself before expecting anyone to believe in you. Survival is possible. You just need to work to make it happen. Somehow, perhaps even you too will be able to accomplish goals despite insurmountable odds.





These brought back some difficult memories for me, but I always try to provide happiness and hope while discussing tough matters. I hope you can appreciate my efforts in this blog post. I also hope you can stay with my blog(s) for more content and for more advice. I want to help make the world a better place any way I feel I am capable of doing so. Care to discuss? Here's my question for you:

How did you overcome obstacles you felt you couldn't win? Or did you experience any extreme circumstances in your life that you were able to overcome somehow?

I'd like for you to Subscribe/Follow and support my work any way you can. I would greatly appreciate your kindness and support. Thank you for reading! Take care and be well.

Visit my JohnMarineDesigns Weebly site, subscribe to My Blog(s), and/or Follow on Bloglovin! Let's connect:
Contact Me via E-Mail	Contact Me via Discord	(donations are voluntary)

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Cracked Mirror, Clear Reflection

Julie Barbera's "Cracked Mirror, Clear Reflection: Shatter an Illusion of Perfection" is a book about trying to live our best lives without being fixated on perfection. If the Barbera surname sounds familiar to my readers, that is because Julie is singer Amy Barbera's sister. This blog post features her book released in September 2019. It has garnered positive reviews from many people. What do I think about it, though? Find out in this blog post!

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Cracked Mirror, Clear Reflection

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Let's talk about this book!


^ from: (Amazon) - Want to take that bold step but perfection and the need to be perfect getting in your way? This book might help you defeat the desire to be perfect and take that big step in your life!

Back in September 2019, I decided to take advantage of getting "Cracked Mirror, Clear Reflection: Shatter an Illusion of Perfection" offered for free on Amazon then and give it a read. I do not consider myself a good reader or a good writer. Despite this, I felt it was best to try this book out. I am going to try to explain my reading experience here while being careful not to spoil certain details of this motivational book. I began developing this blog post back in September 2019, but I never got to read all of the book any quicker. So it is now March 2020 as I finally prepared a review for this book after reading it more often.

Julie Barbera is a motivational speaker who is behind the initiative known as "InspireU2Action." Outside of her initiative, she has developed this book to help motivate people into action. This book hopes to get people to take bold steps while not being intimidated by being perfect. This is now my moment to talk about this book.

Lessons and Moments.

When you think of a mirror, you think of seeing a reflection of something. An eye-opening moment of Julie Barbera's past has given her memories of her former self as a teenager. The book goes into detail about the many thoughts and experiences of hers going from teenager to adult to mother. Each experience leads up to slowly getting a major point across. Even when a chapter or an experience seems like rambling, everything eventually happens for a reason, and you can learn from Julie's experiences as to why she mentioned such items and what to learn from them.

This book also makes mentions of perfection. When we want to do something, we are most satisfied when we do things to perfection or near perfection. Wanting to achieve perfection is a key element of success to almost all of us. However, at what expense do you take into account to achieve this perfection? Also, do you let perfection get in the way of trying to accomplish your goals? These are all things to take into consideration as this book progresses.

The expressed points come in the form of various experiences, and it also features religious references including verses from the Holy Bible to help further express certain points and to provide thoughts. So you get a little of everything as you read along with Julie's experiences. Once done with the main portions of the book, some extra thoughts and extra bits of motivation follow.

Book Impressions.

From mostly reading "Cracked Mirror, Clear Reflection," the main sort of idea expressed here is on Julie Barbera wanting to make a big leap, but hesitates fearing her best won't be good enough to truly accomplish what she wants. Or perhaps Julie fears perfection is the best way to accomplish something, and so this further hampers her ability to accomplish whatever she wants. It is as if perfection is a monster that has to be slain to accomplish anything. Most of the time, we see perfection as a goal, while Julie sees it mostly as a monster. Julie even makes mention of imperfections among all of us, and that it is okay to be imperfect... even slightly imperfect. This is very much something I can relate to. That's why I was able to relate to what all Julie has produced in her book. There are times when even I am afraid to take that step because of having various other thoughts racing in my mind preventing me from simply trying to make any sort of dreams of mine become reality.

For these reasons alone, I think this should be the book for you to read if you want to make yourself a better person but can't motivate yourself enough to take a needed stand. Or maybe you want to take that next step, but feel perfection and the need to be perfect standing in your way. The person who wants to improve his/her life but needs some sort of push to make it happen can benefit from reading this book. This book also benefits those who are so focused on perfection in what we do instead of simply doing things as best as we can. I would say Julie would favor simply doing something rather than doing something to perfection.

On top of this, Julie Barbera also tends to make multiple notions of trying not to confuse dreams with reality. More often than not do we tend to simply live life rather than always chase perfection. People have so much potential in this world, yet we let our own images and aspirations of perfection get in the way of trying to make those valuable next steps in life. So this book does a great job of helping ease the flow between realizing our dreams and motivation to take that next step while not heavily focusing on perfection. None of us will ever be perfect at everything we do. We will stumble. We will fail. Perfection, though, should not stand in the way of getting what we want and trying to make critical next steps in our lives.


Now for some final thoughts.

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"Cracked Mirror, Clear Reflection" Final Thoughts

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"Cracked Mirror, Clear Reflection: Shatter an Illusion of Perfection" is a quality piece of motivational material from Julie Barbera. I would recommend this book especially to people who can not take that leap of faith or go "all in" on life because of the desire to be perfect in taking such huge steps. This is the book for those who want to make their dreams come true yet get held back because of the fear or failure or the desire to be perfect. This book is about shattering that image of perfection in trying to better our lives. One could say perfection is the biggest enemy and hindrance of ourselves living our best lives. This book tells you that while perfection may be our ultimate goal when going through life and making big decisions, it should not be the biggest factor or level of success we should achieve.

I say I would recommend this book. Great job by Julie Barbera for coming up with such a quality book!

Resources.

If you would like to gauge Julie's book, look at these resources below to get your copy in hard form or digital:



Or learn more about Julie Barbera and her "InspireU2Action" program by visiting www.inspireu2action.com.

Speaking of perfection, I blogged about perfection recently on "John's Life Space." You can read more about that here: "Perfectionism" (John's Life Space)


Thank you for supporting my work any way you can.





I hope you enjoyed my material. Remember to stay tuned to this blog to see more life issue topics that I have to share with the world. Thank you for reading! Take care and be well.

Visit my official website at johnbmarine.com, subscribe to My Blog(s), and/or Follow on Bloglovin!
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Perfectionism

Perfection is about being best of the best. To some people, perfection is the ONLY way to accomplish something. Some people can not live with being less than perfect. People will make mistakes. It is how people deal with perfection that make us who we are and how we deal with things when they are less than perfect. Can you live with failure? Can you live with your mistakes? Some can; others can not. So this blog post has to do with perfection.

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Perfection

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What is perfect? To many, perfect means you do something to where nothing can be done wrong and that it is completely foolproof. It means you have done everything to where there is no fault or dispute. It is as if no wrong can be done. While perfect is what many people want out of life, not many can live with making mistakes. Perfection can take you only so far. One can become fixated to perfection to where the thought of potential failure is out of the mindset of most people. At that point, one may have already failed if one only looks at being perfect and successful. It is this one-track mindset that defeats most people before they even endure failure. It is also important to note that what people consider perfect varies from person to person. If you look at perfection like sports, a team that finishes undefeated all the way to a championship or simply an undefeated season is perfect. A team that has never trailed in any game or season can be considered perfect.

Being a Perfectionist.

Most people can't live with making mistakes or being seen as a mistake. So a perfectionist tries to make the most of everything to where there are no faults whatsoever. Everything has to be done in a way to where few or no mistakes are present. Things that are perfect have no faults of any kind. To accomplish this, one has to focus on trying not to fail. Sometimes, someone may be nearing perfection without even knowing or acknowledging it. As another sports example, a Perfect Game in baseball or softball is where a pitcher records Outs against all of the opposing batters without issuing a walk (or base on balls). If a Walk is issued in a Perfect Game attempt, the Perfect Game ends and is now playing for a No-Hitter. Perfection and perfection attempts come in many forms and entail a number of factors.

Alright- I will admit. I am a perfectionist myself. I focus too much on trying to make everything as perfect as possible, or I feel under pressure to make sure everything is done properly. Even I have made countless mistakes that I am either aware of or may not be aware of. I still do everything to the best of my ability because I know what I am capable of and what I want out of anything I put my mind to.

Since I mentioned this ad nauseam, let me get to the next talking point...

Can You Live With Not Being Perfect?

Let us say your pursuit of perfection falls short. Can you live with yourself, or do you consistently lament missing out on historical greatness? Your own passion and dedication determine if you feel perfection is the way to go. You may even find your inability to do things perfectly makes you a failure. Even the most successful entities have stumbled. You can't be perfect all the time. Living with some sort of blemish on your talent can take its toll on you. Understandably, while mistakes will be made, we become disappointed. The real issue is in trying to not be too fixated on perfection.


Now for some final thoughts.

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Perfection: Final Thoughts

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Focus more on doing things as best as you can rather than chase perfection. Sure, perfection will make you better regarded and better respected, but countless people have committed and been involved in various failing moments. Do not be afraid to accept or admit failure. Just make sure to rebound proper for the future. Perfection will only stress you in trying to always do things to where they can go no wrong. Do not put yourself under any unnecessary pressure to be perfect.





That's all. Thank you for visiting "John's Life Space!"

What are your thoughts regarding perfection?

I would love for you to Subscribe/Follow my work if you enjoyed my blogging material if you haven't connected already. Thank you for reading! Take care and be well.

Visit my official website at johnbmarine.com, subscribe to My Blog(s), and/or Follow on Bloglovin!
Subscribe to John's Blog Space (JBS)	Subscribe to John's Creative Space (JCS)	Subscribe to John's Race Space (JRS)	Subscribe to StyleSpace (SS)	Subscribe to John's Life Space (JLS)

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Even the Best Fail

Can you be the best at something or seen as the best, yet still fail? Are the best entities failures because they are not supposed to lose? The 2019 Houston Astros are an example of being great, yet still failing. They lost to the Washington Nationals in an insane seven-game 2019 World Series. While I am depressed over the Astros failing to become champions, I felt this was an opportunity to offer some guidance to those who may feel as bad as the 2019 Houston Astros did in failing to become champions. So welcome to this post on "John's Life Space" regarding how to deal with failure when you have lofty expectations or are seen as the best in any given field. Let's go!

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Life Lessons: Even the Best Fail

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I am going to use a recent example to help prove the points I want to make in this blog post.

Even the Best Fail: The 2019 Houston Astros.

The 2019 Houston Astros were a team that had broken lots of records and has had one of their best seasons ever. They notched up 107 wins out a 162-game regular season of Major League Baseball. They would win the Western division of the American League as well as home advantage throughout the postseason. They would also defeat the Tampa Bay Rays in five games of the American League Divisional Series. They would defeat the New York Yankees in six games in the American League Championship Series to advance to the World Series. So to many people, the Astros should be favored to win the championship, right? They were... but they failed at immortality. Rather than get their second championship within three years, the team whose campaign was "Never Settle" had to settle for seeing the Washington Nationals win the 2019 World Series in a seven-game marathon.

The sad reality is that nobody remembers you or cares about you if you fail to win the top prize of a profession or anything else in life. So the 2019 Astros' season feels more like a failure in that something this good falls short of winning the ultimate prize. You work absolutely hard to try to accomplish something you put your heart and soul into. When it comes that you failed at reaching the top, you feel defeated, and you feel like all your hard work goes for nothing. Fact is...

Even the best fail.

If we all train ourselves to be at our best yet still come up short, are we REALLY the best at what we do? Do we try to be as foolproof as possible so that we don't even think about failure? Or do we just fail despite being so vastly trained? Even you will fail if you consider yourself the best at something. Think of people in entertainment who have tried to win awards for their work in television and media and come up short.

I can tell you as someone who watches lots of sports, absolute favorites end up losing. It's a part of life. Something will make the best people and teams crack. If you go through life thinking nothing can stop you and that is is a foregone conclusion you will win in life; then you have already lost the battle, especially in thinking you can't be stopped. What happens WHEN you lose when you think and act like you're the best? You feel defeated. When we have this "championship or bust" mentality, the best are SUPPOSED to deliver a title; or otherwise, the entire season will be a failure. This just means incredible (and sometimes unnecessary) pressure like you won't believe as well as lofty expectations. Like, there is no reason why you should fail to win a championship considering the talent you possess.

This is why I don't believe in expectations or think prematurely that the best will always win. I can't tell you how defeated and depressed I was when I saw my Houston Astros lose to the Washington Nationals in Game 7 of the 2019 World Series. All the glory goes to the team who wins, and the team who fails is usually just an afterthought. Few care about who loses because we are a people who praise winners. A lot of us don't even believe in moral victories. You either succeed in your given field, or be content with being the bridesmaid (as opposed to being the bride).

Maybe you are a parent or someone trying to make others better. If you tried all you could for that person to succeed and still fail, you did all you could to get someone to be at his/her best. There are just some moments where someone simply is not going to be the best at everything. Perhaps that person can try harder to be better prepared for things, but it may not eventually work out in the end.

Recovering When the Best Fail.

If you feel you are the best or if you are trusted in being the very best at something, and when you fail at trying to achieve victory, you feel defeated. Anyone or anything that seems unbeatable will eventually crack. It is natural to feel disappointed you did not reach your goal(s). It is even natural to feel like you've let down people who believed in you and felt you had the best opportunity to do something amazing. However, it is not the end of the world just because you failed at being the best. Even some of the finest have had to deal with second best and failure. YOU WILL FAIL. How you handle failure, though, will help you in trying to make yourself better.

Failure is something that should make you stronger. Either you can learn from your failures to try to be better for the future, or you can let failure consume you and define you for a long while or even the rest of your life. While failure is tough to accept, it is a part of life. Even I have had my fair share of low moments in grade school and in college. I hated knowing I failed a class or a test, and then having to show my parents and my family just how much I was not as good as I could be. Regardless, I kept going for better or worse.

Also, you are not a failure just because you are seen as the best (or at least the most capable) yet still come up short. It just means someone or something found a way to defeat you or make you fall short of accomplishing an ultimate goal. You can't let failure bring you down. You may have to live with failure, but you shouldn't let it ruin you. One thing you can do is to look at all of your positive qualities and celebrate small victories. Some people aren't even fortunate enough to feel good about themselves once they fail. People do want to be their best and be considered the best, but think about all the people who wish they could be as successful as you are and what some would be willing to do to make it happen. Especially in something like sports, you're going to win and lose a lot. Letting failure define you only makes you feel unable to ever be the best. Try taking your best qualities and knowing what it takes to be at your best and try to do better at something.

Sometimes, luck will bring you down. Some believe it is better to be lucky than good. Some entities can simply endure a time where they enter some kind of funk when they are supposed to be favorites and fully capable of accomplishing any task. I can think of sports teams who simply get exhausted or enter some kind of futility that eventually leads to their downfall. It happens. The goal here is to try to work around those times of futility and make the most with what you have. Maybe you being the best just means you come into a time where times are slow and you face something hot or talented that brings you down. So while you are trained to be the best, you sometimes need luck to ensure you will accomplish your goals. Do not rely on luck- just have it as "insurance" for you and your goals.

Final Thoughts.

Everyone should train and work towards being the best at anything and everything people set their best efforts to. When you are at your best and still fail, you have to keep working towards being being your best. Maybe you are NOT the best or at a best level. What you can do in that time is to not beat yourself up over your failures. Use failure as motivation to do better the next time you face a certain situation or the next time you have a chance to accomplish your goal(s). Even those who have struggled to eventually become successful have had to deal with failure after failure. Sometimes, your best is not good enough because of other talent or even luck. The biggest failure of all is being or feeling like you are destined for greatness and feeling as if you can not be stopped. Something WILL stop you in the end to prevent you from being the absolute best. Keep trying and don't give up on your dreams if you know you can be the best. Living with failure is tough, but finding ways to remain the best even on your worst days is paramount to your success as a whole. You owe it to yourself to work towards and become "the best version of yourself."





I originally had this blog post to talk about my beloved Houston Astros, but I figured I made this to be valuable life lessons to all of you. I hope you appreciate my efforts. This has been another post of "John's Life Space." I hope you were able to extract some knowledge from me to help you with your life. Thank you for reading! Take care and be well.

Visit my official website at johnbmarine.com, subscribe to My Blog(s), and/or Follow on Bloglovin!
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Life Advice From Bloggers

As a blogger, I have seen many posts from fellow bloggers. This post focuses on some bloggers who offer life advice. It is a roundup of certain advice from bloggers. Not all featured personalities here blog about life. In fact, all or most are fashion bloggers. Most of all...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Now let's get to work...

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Life Advice From Bloggers

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To share with you a number of bloggers offering life advice, I decided to come up with this blog post. It is always great to gain life insight from others to help you on your way. So what I did was offer a variety of life issues and insight on helping you feel better if experiencing some of these situations. Here is where you can get life issue insight from people other than myself. Even including bloggers other than myself.

I invite you to Follow/Subscribe to the blogs in the next section if you enjoy their work.

Random Life Advice from Bloggers.

Consider this blog post more like random life advice from random bloggers I follow. Think of it like a buffet restaurant of life advice, and all are ready for you to digest and enjoy. The posts will feature a preview of what certain posts are about. A lot of these posts have some depressing and personal elements. However, I am featuring them because advice is offered to help others who may be in the same situation. If maybe you can use the advice, feel free to visit the posts that I mention here. Some bloggers may be featured more than once.


• "The Gratitude in Loss" (Adventures Uncensored) « being thankful for the lives of others prior to their passing.

• "Grief as a Phoenix" (Adventures Uncensored) « dealing with miscarriages.

• "How to Stay Motivated When You Feel Like a Failure" (Sensible Stylista) « when down on your luck, the advice offered here is to help keep you on track.

• "Delayed Gratification: Hartford Marathon 2017" (imperfect idealist) « facing doubt in her life, she finds courage and strength through running.

• "New Year, New Beginnings" (Style Cassentials) « a blogger looks back on a previous year and looks ahead to a new one.

• "Things I'm Struggling With and Random Thoughts" (Stylish Petite) « a hodge podge of various life issues the blogger faces.

• "10 Things I Wish I Would Have Known Before Becoming a Mom" (Stylish Petite) « advice on what to experience when becoming a mother.

• "How I Got Past my PAST" (Mumu and Macaroons) « insight on past life and love issues she faced and how she overcame them.

• "how to get out of a FUNK" (Lonestar Southern) « experiencing some slow times in her life, she offers advice on how to get out of a funk. Includes a video.

• "How I Cope With Anxiety and Stress" (Raindrops of Sapphire) « advice on dealing with anxiety and stress.

• "30 Inspirational Quotes About Being Different" (Glam Fab Happy) « a collection of quotes regarding being different and unique.

• "21 Inspirational Quotes About Self-Love" (Glam Fab Happy) « a collection of motivational quotes about self-love.

• "Things to Remember When Everything Goes Wrong" (Chamber of Beauty) « advice for when everything seems to go wrong for you.

• "Life After Loss Keeping My Family Together" () « dealing with the loss of her husband, this is one of her many posts of hers offering insight into her life. This one involving keeping her family together.

• "Being the Best of Me || Develop New Habits to Create a Better Life" (Color and Grace) « the blogger provides examples of new habits to adopt to live a better life.


These are among a number of different advice offerings to help you out. And to be honest, I wanted to offer advice from other bloggers for a long time- even in my main "John's Blog Space" blog. But I decided here to focus entirely on advice for all of you from different bloggers. So I hope you enjoyed this post.





Life is tough. While I can't make lives better for others, I at least will try to contribute to the solution rather than add to the problem. Thank you for reading! Take care and be well.

Subscribe to My Blog(s), and/or Follow on Bloglovin!
Subscribe to John's Blog Space (JBS)	Subscribe to John's Creative Space (JCS)	Subscribe to John's Race Space (JRS)	Subscribe to StyleSpace (SS)	Subscribe to John's Life Space (JLS)

Support My Creative Works!
JMDesigns	Patreon	Soundcloud	Bandcamp	Twitch	OpenGameArt	TurboSquid

Get Social With Me!
Facebook (Friends)	Facebook (Fans)	Twitter	YouTube	Instagram	Google+	LinkedIn (professionals only)

Questions or Comments? Contact Me (serious inquiries only)...
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