WELCOME! I AM SO GLAD THAT YOU DECIDED TO JOIN ME AS WE IMPROVE OUR LIVES, ONE BABY STEP AT A TIME, ONE BLOG POST AT A TIME!
Kristin Barton Cuthriell, MEd, MSW, LCSW is a national speaker, an author, and a licensed psychotherapist in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Kristin brings over twenty-two years combined experience as a therapist and a school teacher. Kristin has a unique style of educating as she simplifies the complex and integrates storytelling with evidenced based therapeutic techniques. Kristin is the author of the popular book, The Snowball Effect: How to Build Positive Momentum in Your Life and has written for The Huffington Post under The Modern Femme Movement, Tidewater Women, Richmond Magazine. She has been the quoted expert for Fox News Magazine and has been a guest on The Hampton Roads Show, Doctor Radio, and other radio programs throughout the country. Kristin is also the founder of www.thesnowballeffect.com, an educational and inspirational website. Kristin lives in the Hampton Roads area with her husband, two children, and golden retriever.
My Mission
My mission is to ENCOURAGE, MOTIVATE, INSPIRE AND EDUCATE people to live more fulfilling lives, one baby step at a time. Let’s make one change, no matter how small, and let’s build on it. Let’s take baby steps. Let’s keep going. Let’s look at things in new ways. Let’s expand our vision. Let’s learn new skills. Let’s grow.
My philosophies about happiness, success, peace, love, and change
Happiness: Our happiness is not 100% dependent on other people. Much of our happiness depends on our outlook and on the activities that we pursue in our lives. Some studies have shown that 50% of happiness is due to predisposition, 10% life circumstances, and 40% actions and attitudes. This is good news! Our attitudes and intentional activities are four times more important than our actual circumstances when determining our overall level of happiness. Studies have shown that activities such as praying, attending religious services, exercising daily, keeping a gratitude journal, and reframing hardships as blessings can really influence a person’s level of happiness. So one of my WAKE UP call questions to those who believe that their happiness is 100% dependent on others is..What are you doing to improve your overall well-being?
Success: It is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Think of the story, The Little Engine that Could. Think of Walter Wintle’s poem, The Man Who Thinks He Can. Think about The Tortoise and the Hare. The tortoise just didn’t give up! You would be amazed at what we can learn from children’s books. (Is it obvious that I used to teach elementary school?)
Peace: Living with integrity brings peace. When our actions match our values, we are able to experience peace.
Love: Learning to love ourselves enables us to better love others. Without self-love we go around projecting all of our own self-contempt (harsh judgments, criticisms…) onto everyone else. If we love ourselves, we spread love. If we are full of contempt, we spread criticism, negativity, and judgments. True self-love is rooted in security. Narcissistic love is rooted in deep feelings of inadequacy. Individuals who are filled with true self-love are able to spread genuine love to others.
Change: Change is hard. I think I should say that again. CHANGE IS HARD! But by making one small change, it becomes less overwhelming. That small change will get the momentum going for more change to occur. I call this the snowball effect. You do not complete the puzzle until you put down the first piece. It doesn’t even matter which piece you put down first. Just put it down- it is a start. Many times our fear stops us from making needed change. Fight fear with faith and take the first step.