Do you look your best today?

When we get dressed, we try to pay close attention to what we are wearing so we will look good.  Sometimes, we will try on several outfits until we find the one that looks the best.  But does wearing nicely matched clothing and accessories really make us look our best?

What happens if we wake up with a bad attitude?  Does looking nice cover up any nasty thoughts that might be rolling around in our head or stop us from making unkind comments?

If we spent as much time working on changing our attitude as we do changing our outward appearance, we could make a positive impact on the people we meet and also become a lot happier.

So, do you really look your best today?  Does your attitude look as good as your appearance?

Laugh

Laughter is the best medicine.  Laughing has many benefits to your health.  It can improve your physical, mental and emotional health.  It lessens stress, increases immune cells, fights infections and helps resist disease.  Laughter is very beneficial to relationships and produces a general sense of well-being.  It is almost impossible to be anxious or worried  and laugh at the same time.

The best thing about laughter…it is free!  You don’t have to get a prescription, go to the drug store and pay money for something that might make you feel better.  Laughter costs nothing and in my opinion, it works better than a lot of medications.  People who are sick or in hospitals have been known to have improved health due to laughing.  In the Cancer Treatment Centres of America, they are using laughter therapy to help their patients.  You can read the article here.

Maybe you haven’t laughed in a long time because of situations in your life.  Maybe you don’t feel like there is anything to laugh at.  You might be struggling with health issues, emotional problems or relationship breakdowns.  Life can be very discouraging and depressing at times when all you can see is the negative side.  This is why you need to try to look at things with a positive perspective instead of a negative perspective.  Laughter can really help. Read this article from the Mayo Clinic about the benefits of laughter.

Here are some ways to add laughter to your life:

• surround yourself with funny and encouraging people
• watch a funny movie
• read a funny book
• schedule time for laughter each day
• laugh when you make a mistake
• try to see things from a positive perspective
• get a coach who can help you change your perspective

You can laugh about a lot of things in life that may not seem funny.  It takes a lot of practice if you are normally negative and serious, but you can do it.  One time I was walking downtown and I felt my slip sliding down my legs right in the middle of a busy sidewalk.  I was starting to feel embarrassed and my brain was telling me to leave the slip on the ground and walk away quickly but I chose to just reach down and pick up my slip, stuff it in my purse and smile at the people around me.  It was much more comfortable feeling amused than upset.

So put on a smile, develop a positive perspective and laugh!!

A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.

Are you walking dead?

Just because we are alive doesn’t mean we are living.  It is possible to be alive on the outside and dead on the inside.  If we are just doing the same thing every day without passion or purpose,we are basically walking around dead.  We may be breathing, moving, talking, working and interacting with other people but inside we might feel empty and alone.

Every day we should think about what we are doing and work towards some kind of goal.  It might be just a simple goal like getting up, getting dressed and going for a walk or it could be to start a course, join a group or write a book.  The more we focus on doing something positive in our lives, the more alive we will feel.

A good idea to get motivated is to make a list of goals, both short and long-term.  What do you enjoy doing?  What are you good at?  What do you want to achieve?  What do you need to do in order to get to where you want to be in life?

Instead of just going through each day, doing the same thing over and over again and feeling dead inside, start doing something that will help you get out of your rut and moving forward.  Surround yourself with positive people, places and things.  Here are some ideas:

• make a list of your skills, abilities and interests
• read motivational books and watch programs that will inspire you
• join an interest group or a church that can provide ongoing support
• take a course that deals with communication and learn how to build good relationships
• work on a healthier lifestyle – eat proper foods, exercise, get enough sleep
• try to focus on what is positive in life
• learn to appreciate what you have
• spend time helping other people – this will increase your level of happiness

Are you walking dead?  If the answer is yes, than start doing something about it today!  Don’t waste one more day feeling lost and alone.  TAKE ACTION and start living your life.

Where does happiness come from?

Have you ever wondered why some people who seem to have everything in life are unhappy, yet other people who have little or nothing seem to be bursting with joy?

People who have lots of money and possessions feel that something is missing.  People who have good looks have trouble making good relationships.  People who have power feel powerless.   People who are surrounded by friends feel alone.  There are so many people in the world who appear to have great lives but they are extremely unhappy and unfulfilled.  On the other hand, people who live in poverty and struggle each day with hunger and sickness are often the happiest people you will meet.

Why does this happen?  Because things of this world are temporary and can only give temporary satisfaction.  Reaching for material things to bring happiness will never give you what you are looking for.  You can have the perfect life, the perfect house, the perfect job, the perfect family and you still won’t be happy.  Of course, it really isn’t possible to have perfection in a world that is far from perfect.  When you look for happiness in objects, they will never be enough.  You have to look inside you and around you.

Happiness comes from being confident in who you are, not who you want to be or what you have.  It is:

• knowing that you have great abilities and qualities that make you different from anyone else
• being thankful for what you have and not desiring things you don’t need
• understanding that you were created to be special and unique
• wanting to help other people and guide them towards a better way of life
• being a positive role model
• having faith in someone bigger than yourself

We all can choose everyday to be happy or not to be happy.  It is all how we look at the world around us and what we do with the gifts we have been given.  When you get up tomorrow, choose to be happy and have a wonderful day!

A new beginning

We are almost at the beginning of a New Year.  Are you ready for a new beginning?

Think back over the past year.  What has happened to shape your life?  What memories were made?  Were they  happy or sad, rewarding or disappointing, powerful or pitiful?

We will always remember the really good times and the really bad times because they make a huge impact on us.  The problem is, when we focus on the bad times more than the good times, we are going to feel bad and not live our lives to the fullest.  We will hold ourselves back from trying something new or enjoying an event because we fear failure and want to protect ourselves from getting hurt.

Try hard to focus on the good things that have happened and treasure them in your heart.  See the bad things from a positive perspective and treat them as learning experiences.  What can you change in your life and how can you face these problems with confidence the next time they happen?  How can you treat people in a different way and not allow them to hurt you?

Each year we have an opportunity for a new beginning.  Start thinking about the changes you can make that will improve your relationships and your outlook on life.

Do you have hope?

This is a question that I can honestly answer with a definite yes.  I named my dog Hope so I would always be reminded that I do have hope in my life.  Of course, even though I do HAVE Hope, I don’t always FEEL like I have hope.  Most days are good, but with all the violence and hatred in the world, it is sometimes hard to see any hope for the future.

Hope is a feeling that things will eventually turn out for the best.  It is an optimistic attitude that expects positive outcomes. We may be facing obstacles in our lives right now, but hope allows us to believe that we will get through the storm and see sunny skies ahead.

Hope is a powerful feeling and it is vital to having a good life.  Our circumstances may look bleak at times but we can look forward to greater things happening in our lives.  This requires having a positive attitude.  We have to look for the good instead of the bad.  It certainly isn’t hard to see the bad in the world; it is hiding in every corner.  Sometimes bad things happen to us but they don’t last forever.  We can expect good to come out of a bad situation.  Difficult situations can actually be good learning experiences as to what we should be doing or not doing in our lives.

Having hope gives people a better quality of life.  People with hope have recovered from serious illnesses and overcome stressful situations.  Hope gives people purpose and brings meaning to life.

Never lose hope.  Focus on what is positive in your life and work towards your goals.  Don’t let your struggles hold you back from finding happiness and peace in your life.  Always hope for the best and keep a positive attitude.

Do you have hope?

What are you thankful for today?

We all have things to be thankful for, but too often we are so focused on our problems that we can’t even see anything to be thankful for.

Life can be very difficult at times but there is no point dwelling on our problems and staying stuck in negative thinking.  If we look at our problems with a positive perspective, it will be much easier to deal with them.

It doesn’t matter what kind of situation we are in.  We can focus on the good things or the bad things.  That is our choice.  Focusing on the bad things will just bring us pain and unhappiness.  Focusing on the good things can bring us peace and happiness.  Sometimes it can be hard to see the good through the bad but it is possible if we try hard to create a new habit of positive thinking.

Start looking for the good instead of the bad and be thankful for all the good things in your life.   Here are some ideas:

• be thankful that you have family and friends
• be thankful that you have a house to live in and food to eat
• be thankful that you have a job, even if you don’t like it
• be thankful that you have clean water to drink
• be thankful that you have a car to drive or a bus to take
• be thankful that you have some money in your pocket
• be thankful that you have ears to hear and eyes to see
• be thankful that you have arms and legs that work
• add your own ideas – there is so much to be thankful for

More is NOT always better!

Society tries to make us believe that having more of everything is a good thing.  If we have more money, more possessions and more power then we will have a better life.   If we have more friends, more intimate relationships, eat more and fill our lives with more activity, we will find happiness.  Really?

What is the result of having MORE of everything?  It leads to more depression, more sickness, more loneliness, more stress, more debt, more broken marriages and families, more unwanted pregnancies, more sexual diseases, more addictions and more teens having serious problems that carry on into their adult years.

Money, possessions and power can’t bring us happiness and it can’t mend all the brokenness in the world.  What we need is MORE love, MORE compassion, MORE kindness.  These are things that money can’t buy yet they have a much higher value.

More CAN be better if we put our priorities in the right place and stop listening to the voice of the world telling us how we should live.  We don’t have to follow the crowd and go in the wrong direction.  We need to learn how to listen to our own inner voice and always do what we know is right.   It isn’t easy being a person of integrity in this fallen world, but we can start being a positive example to other people.

Attitudes can be contagious

Have you ever noticed that when you are around someone who is miserable, that you seem to feel miserable too?  Or when you are around someone who is angry that it makes you feel angry too?  Well, it works the same way when you are around someone who is cheerful and happy.  It makes you want to be cheerful and happy too.

Attitudes can be contagious.  Most people are influenced greatly by the attitude of the people around them.  If you walk into a room where everyone is crying, you will certainly not start laughing.  Yet when you walk into a room full of laughter, it makes you feel light and happy.   Having a positive attitude is much better than having a negative attitude.  When you are around negative people, you feel uncomfortable and probably wish you could leave.  But when you are around positive people, you feel wonderful and enjoy spending time with them.

What kind of attitude do you have?

Sad, mad or glad?

Every day we are faced with choices.  In every situation, we have to decide what our reaction will be.  We can be sad; we can be mad; or we can be glad.

I’m sure we would all choose to be glad so why do we keep making bad choices that cause unhappiness or anger?  Often it is because we have developed a habit of looking at things from a negative perspective.  We may be so stuck in a negative rut that we don’t even know we can change how we feel.    The truth is, we can’t control our feelings but we can control how we react.   We need to be aware of our feelings and learn to manage them.

When a difficult situation arises, we need to stop for a few seconds and think before we just react.  The key is thinking and being aware of how we feel.  If we suddenly feel unhappy or angry, we can stop ourselves and think about the situation in a positive way.  This could prevent us from reacting badly and causing harm to ourselves and those around us.

So what choice will you make?  Will you choose to be sad, mad or glad?