Tag Archives: self help

Blogroll, emotions, Growing, Healing, journey, life, Uncategorized

What To Do When Life Gets You Down!

I love alone time, just sitting by myself, having time to think through the things I am facing. Slowing down and being by myself takes time and is sometimes very hard work. It’s good work, because it grows me so that I may grow through whatever life happens to throw my way.

I’ve noticed that every now and then, life throws me a curve and no matter how many positive practices I’ve put into place, sometimes it all just tends to get to me. Those negative emotions begin to flow in and start taking up space in my head, heart and life.

The negative emotions of sadness, shame, guilt anger, fear, regret and hate come flooding in and battle for control. When the negativity begns to overwhelm me and I find that my mind by itself is not strong enough to overcome and give me my freedom, then I have to resort to other discipliines.

I can analize my depression all day long and if I am not careful, I will just dig the hole even deeper. Sometimes I need more than positive affirmations, encouraging words and “attaboys” to pick myself up off the floor and get back to this thing called life.

Sometimes I need God to pick me up, dust me off, hold me close and wisper in my ear that everything is going to be okay. I need God to brush my hair out of my eyes, wipe away my tears and breathe His courage and strength into me.

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” -Isaiah 41:10

While I do my best to avoid these times of negativity, there are days that they cannot be avoided. They just have to be lived through faced, learned from and dealt with. I have discovered a few disciplines that assist me in getting my life into alignment with God’s Spirit and help me recover, learn and grow at a greater pace.

1. Take And Make Time To Write! When I write, I think through things, I look at things from different perspectives and I work my way through to the best place. Writing is release! Sometimes I write, draw, paint, craft or plant. All of these are forms of self expression which help me to get in touch with who and what I am. Release is a powerful and beautiful thing, but it does not happen my accident.

2. Serve Others! When I do something for someone else, it helps me to take my eyes off of myself, which actually helps me to see things from a much clearer perspective, which helps me to get real with myself and others. It may be writing a hand written note of encouragement, giving something special to someone to let them know I am thinking about them or just lending a helping hand…

3. Practice Gratitude! This one tends to end up on every list, because it really is a great big difference maker. Take time to make a list of all the things that you have to be grateful for. If you do this right, then you will have a very big list, because even when life is though, we are still a very blessed people. Sometimes we just need to remind ourselves of how blessed we are…

You have a greater power than you realize and when life gets tough, you just have to take the steps to remind yourself of just how powerful you are. You’ve got this, because He’s got you…

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Blogroll, complaining, Condemnation, Criticism, enemies, Uncategorized

Three Big “C” Enemies!

There are lots of different enemies that work to pull us of off track, away from our goals and out of the blessed life, but three of the biggest and most detremental are: Criticism, Condemnation and Complaining.

Criticism, condemnation and complaining is disapproval of someone or something based on the perception of faults are mistakes. They work against us in a couple of different ways. There is the criticism, condemnation and complaining that comes from others and is expressed toward us and this can impact us in a very negative way, especially if taken in the wrong way. And there is also criticism, condemnation and complaining which comes from ourself and is expressed toward others, which can distract us from what really matters and hurt our ability to work as a team with others for everyone’s blessing and success.

Criticism, condemnation and complaining can be productive and positive or destructive and negative based on how it is delivered and received. The key to overcoming The Big “C” enemies is learning to deliver and receive in a constructive way, with the goal of making things better and more effective. The problem is that most people in the world today are often selfish and ego driven and use the Big “C” enemies to tear up and tear down, rather than build up and make better.

“Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.” -Galatians 6:1

You cannot decide for anyone else, but you can decide for yourself. So here are a few tips to help you overcome the Big “C” enemies in the giving and the receiving:

1. Ask Yourself The Important Questions: 1.) Is it true? 2.) Does it matter? 3.) What difference does it make? To gain real clarity ask and answer this question honestly: What will this matter a year, 5 years, 100 years from now???

2. Learn what you need to learn about yourself and about others. Allow the Big “C” enemies to open your eyes, ears and heart to what is going on around you and you will be better equipped to handle whatever life decides to throw your way. Remember: That which does not kill you, makes you stronger!

3. Do your best to cut the Big “C” enemies out of your life as far as it depends on you. What good does it do you to criticize, condemn or complain about someone else? If you are honest with yourself, then it might give you a good feeling, but that good feeling is only temporary and doesn’t do anything to really lift us up to a better place, but it can do a lot to push us and others down. If there is a problem, confront it in an honest, up front and meaningful way – with the goal of making things better for all involved and don’t wait, do it when it needs to be done, so everyone can move on to better as soon as possible. If someone criticizies, condemns or complains about you, then be honest with yourself about it’s legitimacy or illegitimacy, learn what you need to learn and move on.

The Big “C” enemies are ugly, but not really all that powerful, unless and until we make them that way. So fight the good fight, learn, grow and overcome. You will be glad you did…

Aging, Blogroll, emotions, grace, Growing, Problems, Uncategorized

Aging With Grace!

I have often heard and sometime said myself in the last couple of years that getting older is not for sissies. Someone said that getting old is no fun, but I’m not so sure that I agree with that one, because getting old is better than the alternative, so it is best to learn how to make the best of it. I am at that age to where I am learning that what my Granny used to say is very true: “If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it!”

If we fail to exercise our bodies and stretch our muscles, then we will lose strength and flexxibility. If we don’t take the time to exercise our mind by reading and continually learning new things, then our attitudes will become limited, constricted and conflicted.

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” -2 Corinthians 4:16

The life we live is the life we experience and it is built. up or torn down by the thoughts we think on a repetitive and continual basis. When we expand our thinking and focus it in positive ways, we increase our possibilities and grow our joy.

The key to aging is learning to age with grace. Everyone decides their own attitude about aging. It can be an attitude of sorrow, frustration and disappointment, which will lead to a challenged, rough and no fun process or we can age with an attitude of joy, eargerness and excitement, which will allow us to experience and share great blessings.

From the very moment we are born, we are getting older, so never stop learning, take advantage of opportunities to grow and always seek to be the biggest blessing you can be…