Stop feeling helpless over things and situations beyond your control. Handle one battle at a time, and offer whatever support you can. We can't do everything or be everything to everyone. Don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it.

Stop beating yourself up about a failed relationship or a failed attempt to connect with the opposite sex. It won't help with the next one. It takes two people to make it happen, and sometimes fault can be shared equally.

Stop comparing yourself to other people - including women you wouldn't really want to live up to even if you could. For better or worse, you are who you are and should value the differences - what makes us unique.

Stop repeating unhealthy or even vicious cycles. Change what doesn't work, celebrate what does in moderation, and accept yourself as a human being who is capable of change as well as appreciation of self even when change isn't coming soon enough.

Stop feeling sorry for yourself! Don't let the behavior of others toward you dictate how you treat yourself. If it feels like no one loves or appreciates who you are and what you do, love yourself enough not to throw a pity party. It won't help you move on - to seek positivity by being positive.

This note to self has gotten bigger as my heart and mind are open to the possibilities of total contentment by stopping—and contemplating my actions and behaviors.