Hi, my name is Gloria Miller and I’m a self-help-aholic!

I remember laughing at my friend Kimberly whenever she was chattering away about the lastest self-help book. I thought those types of books were for wimps, and I wouldn’t be caught dead in the “Psychology” section of a bookstore.

Well, that was then and this is now …

Then … in love, in my late 30’s, thriving career, waistline tight.

Now … dumped, in my early 40’s, challenging career, waistline gone … enter self help!!

I like my self-help administered directly to the brain via IPOD, either in the form of an audio book or podcast. This week I tried a little experiment to see if I could go a week without any self-help of any kind. Here’s how the week unfolded (or should I say, unraveled) …

Monday: I felt fine, no problem.

Tuesday: Still fine, but a little edgy.

Wednesday: I felt strange, confused and lost.

Thursday: My daily workout routine was out the window and I found myself sitting on my couch like a slug.

Friday: I wake up bear hugging “The Power of Now,” but I have no idea how the book got in my arms.

Saturday: I stayed in bed all day.

Sunday: I binged on junk food at a Super Bowl party.

The next Monday: I'm back on self-help ... I listened to two Joel Osteen podcasts and all is right with the world!

Today as I write this, I admit that I’m thankful that there are tools that we can use to support us through the transitions of life! According to “Body for Life for Women,” I’m in the 3rd of 4 phases of a woman’s cycle and let me tell you, aging is not for wimps! I learned more from that book than I wanted to, but knowledge is power and I find the more I understand about what’s going on in my body, mind and spirit, the easier it is to stay positive and focus on ways to feel better instead of being stuck on “why is this happening to me.” And the “this” can be anything …

If you’re facing your own “this,” I encourage you to face it head on and not shrink in fear. Learn everything you can about it because no matter what you’re facing, good or bad, there is always a root cause. If the root cause is positive, you’ll want to learn how to cultivate it. If it’s negative, you’ll want to know how to uproot it.

Self-help is my way to stay the course and face whatever my “this” happens to be at any given moment. What’s yours?