As the author of betrayal of Love and Freedom, and the founder of the online community, MWellA, I want to encourage the millions of people who feel stress is invading their lives. I had a breakdown over 12 years ago and was placed in a mental institution. I was diagnosed at age 45 with Bipolar disorder. I lost family and friends who didn’t understand. I could no longer run the organic food business I helped pioneer (it was worth over $100 million at the time). But I found a way to heal and I now offer nine steps for those who seek to live a balanced life. Below are two of the strategies (in addition to proper exercise, sleep and nutrition) :

1) NO! : LEARN TO SAY IT!
• Learn to say NO to your addictions and obsessions. You have to be prepared to identify the addictions and obsessions in your life. These addictions and obsessions are the crutches you lean on when you need to be released from stress, anxiety or depression. Well known examples of such crutches are: recreational drugs, smoking, gambling, food, sex, prescription drugs (i.e., sleeping tablets) and anything we turn to in order to self-medicate anxiety or depression. When you understand that you are medicating yourself with addictions and obsessions in your life, you are embracing an awareness that you are reliant on these agents that act as coping mechanisms but aren’t healthy in the long-term.

• Learn to say NO to the people you love most. You will have to find the strength, the courage and the wisdom within yourself so say “NO” to the people you love most, and others, when necessary. If you are seeking peace of mind, contentment and happiness within, you must follow your inner most feelings, being true to yourself and initiate building an awareness of those feelings as they are the barometer of how you feel about yourself and life.

2) BE IN THE PRESENT –THE POWER OF NOW
• Let go of the past and have no anxiety regarding the future. This is a difficult step that requires much fortitude and takes much time and awareness to master. With the past there is always betrayal and regrets. You could be a child, adolescent or anyone of any age.

• Due to betrayal, we can form resentment and regrets over time, especially if we continue to please others in our lives more than we do ourselves. This makes us vulnerable to those whom we love most in life. And when the people we love hurt us in any way, there is an eruption of anger, hurt and resentment within which releases a deep pain.

• Consider the emotion, anger. There is much anger in the world, which reflects our collective unreleased pain. We get angry with our bosses, family, spouses, neighbors or strangers in so many settings. Why would anyone want to carry all that pain? Therefore it is essential over time that we learn to let go of the past and know that one of the greatest gifts we must embrace is forgiveness.

• To forgive the people we love who have deeply hurt us is to forgive ourselves. This is a reflection of humility as we’re only human and we all make mistakes. When you forgive others, you certainly would attain a greater inner peace and contentment. You will discover the key to celebrating all that life has to offer in the present moment. Any anxiety that you might hold in the future will dissipate in light of your embracing the power of now. Why would you want to be anywhere else?

Author's Bio: 

Paul Huljich was born in Auckland, New Zealand. A university dropout, he co-founded Best Corporation, a food processing company of which he was Chairman and Joint-CEO. Pioneering organic foods, Best Corporation was listed on New Zealand stock exchange in December 1991 and was then purchased by a multinational corporation two-and-a-half years later.