Problem: Article: You may think that some people are just naturally more positive than others. That’s not necessarily wrong, but don’t let negative thinking keep you from making a decision to be more positive. If you want to feel comfortable in your own skin, then you have to start thinking about the best thing that can happen to you instead of always expecting the worst. Any time you catch yourself thinking negatively, fight your negative thoughts with at least two or three positive ones. Make an effort to replace your negative thoughts with positive ones and to expect good things to happen to you; the more you expect good things to happen, the more they will.  Let’s say you’re going to a party where you won’t know a lot of people. If you catch yourself thinking, “I’m probably going to spend all of my time hanging out alone by the pita and hummus,” you should alter this negative thought. Instead tell yourself, “Maybe I’ll make a new friend tonight,” or “I’ll have a great time catching up with the few people I know.” Positive thinking can help you feel happier and have less stress. Accepting who you are does not mean that you have to give up on improving yourself.  If there is an aspect of your life that you would like to change, then set goals for yourself to help you get there.  You can work for change while still accepting where you are in the moment.  If, for example, you feel uncomfortable talking to new people, accept that about yourself.  Say “I am not always comfortable talking to new people, and that is okay.”  Then set a goal for change.  Your goal could be, “I will talk to someone I don’t know twice every week.”  Next time you’re waiting for an elevator or standing in line at a store, strike up a conversation with someone.  These baby steps will help you change your level of comfort over time. Another example that people often struggle with is weight loss.  Many people who feel that they need to lose weight are unhappy with their bodies as they are.  However, accepting and loving your body as it is could actually help you lose weight. You may suddenly feel great about yourself when someone tells you that you look amazing, or when a friend compliments an aspect of your personality. But the compliments will come and the compliments will go, and at the end of the day, your self-worth shouldn’t depend on what other people say about you, whether it’s good or bad. You should be able to accept compliments from others graciously—and genuinely believe them,  but you should also get used to complimenting yourself. You can also work on giving other people compliments when it feels right. Feel good about making other people feel good. Being confident is the key to feeling comfortable in your own skin, and it’s obviously easier said than done. Confidence comes from within, and developing your confidence means feeling good about who you are, where you are, and what you have to bring to the table. If you can’t stand what you see in the mirror and feel like you have nothing to contribute to a conversation, then you can’t move forward. Work on finding at least a few things that you love about yourself, and with being happy with how you look instead of getting lost in self-consciousness.  Developing confidence takes a lifetime. But you can’t start until you make a commitment to start changing the way you feel about yourself. Make a list of your positive attributes.  You can add to the list every day, or a few times a week.  If you do something that makes you feel good about yourself, add it to the list. Keeping track of things and people for which you are grateful can have a profound effect on your life. The journal, and practicing gratitude generally, can help you feel happier and more confident about who you are.  It helps your perspective become more positive, as it makes you focus more on the good things in your life. It’s great if your boyfriend, best friends, and everyone around you thinks you’re beautiful, but that doesn’t matter one bit if you’re convinced that you’re ugly. Even a supermodel can feel completely insecure and inadequate, and what you think on the inside is much more important than how people view you on the outside. Know that the first step to feeling beautiful is really thinking that you are beautiful, just as you are. If other people agree, then great, but in the end, it really makes no difference.  Look in the mirror and think, “Wow, my hair looks great today!” Or, “My eyes look pretty in this light.” Or, better yet, “I can see kindness in my smile and joy in my eyes.” If you start to think you’re beautiful, people will be able to sense that. And guess what? That will make you even more beautiful. Everyone has different strengths; the key to honoring yours is identifying them, then nurturing them.  Keeping a positive focus on your strengths will help you maintain a positive outlook and feel more comfortable with who you are. Meditating can help you feel more comfortable in your own skin because it will help you feel attuned to your body and your breath. Take 10-15 minutes a day to sit down in a comfortable place, and work on relaxing every part of your body one at a time. Focus on the sound and feeling of your breath rising in and out of your body and let all of the noise and worries of the day melt away. This will help you feel calmer and more comfortable with who you are, and will help you get rid of all of those distractions that can crowd your days.  Make a habit of meditating at least once or twice a day and you’ll quickly be able to see what a big difference it makes. If mediation works for you, you can also try yoga. Yoga also lets you focus on your mind and body and adds movement to your thinking.
Summary: Think positively. Practice acceptance and improvement. Compliment yourself. Develop your confidence. Keep a gratitude journal. Think of yourself as a beautiful person. Honor your strengths. Meditate.

Problem: Article: Each person needs to do this independently so they have a place to start when the game begins. Sometimes it’s hard to come up with good questions or dares while you’re in the middle of the game. Some possible truth questions might be:  What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you at school? Who do you have a crush on? If you only had 24 hours to live, what would you do? What is the most disgusting thing you have ever done? If you had to pick one parent to live and one to die, which would you pick? They need to be weird enough to make people pause before doing them, but not dangerous or harmful. Some good dare examples might be:  Greet everyone you meet for the day with “I’ve got my eye on you. Aliens are watching.” Use indelible marker to put “makeup” on your face. Put your hands in another player’s pocket for 15 minutes and keep them there no matter what. Howl at the moon for 10 minutes in the front yard. If, when the game begins you don’t want to ask yours, you can ask for help from other players. You are able to cooperate with other people to think of a truth or dare, but you must ask the person being asked for their permission to consolidate. Remember you are the one to dare the person, not the other people.
Summary:
Make a list of questions. Think of some fun dares. Work with the other players to come up with questions if you’re having trouble.