5 tips for you to start a positive change today!
What a substantial time in history, a heavy dark season in our life; I cannot help but wonder what impact all of this will make on our youth on their future?
With the news media, social media, and all the other sources bombarding us daily, how do we live in peace? How do we take in what we need to and block the rest? How do we live and enjoy life right now?
I have 5 tips for you this week. I practice them all and find it very helpful, watch out for a new tip every day for you to put into action.
Tip #1 – Focus on yourself
Other people will always be more than happy to offer up their advice and opinion. But ultimately, it is between God and us on what we must live with. We are the ones that live with the consequences of our actions. I am not encouraging you to be selfish, this is the extremist view on this point. We do need to care for others that come along our way and require help, but we cannot fix the world. Even though our hearts may want to, it is impossible. Even in the bible (Matthew 26:11), we are told the poor will always be with us. We help where we can, where we feel led to, and we focus on ourselves and, our job is what we need to take part in as the body of Christ for the world.
Tip #2 Make time to relax
We all had it pretty good there for a while when the world shut down. We need to take away some lessons from that and acknowledge the beauty and the benefits of doing nothing but being with family, or ourselves. I firmly believe one of the most critical challenges in life is learning to be still. And even more so, learning to be still AND alone. If you are not comfortable in your own thoughts and don’t love yourself, are you able to love someone else? That is an entirely different post, but the gist of this tip is to relax.
Relaxation can look different from one person to the next. I find sitting alone outside on my front porch relaxing. But I also find going for a walk or working out relaxing. I love camping and enjoying a glass of wine with a friend. Reading a book or working on a blog post brings me peace too. Learn to enjoy life with the simple things, that is often where the magic happens.
Find a few things that bring you joy, bring you peace, and help you relax and rotate those! Most importantly, make time for them. Just as brushing your teeth or taking a shower, relaxation is a form of self-care we need to be ready and better equipped for the challenging time that comes; and they WILL come.
Tip #3 Avoid the news
It is easy to get sucked into all the drama. Online and offline are full of it! I have news updates on my phone, the television, when I turn on my computer, on the radio; it is everywhere. Sadly, 99% is negative, hurtful, biased, and created to get a rise out of you and your blood pressure. Drama brings the wow factor, like driving past an accident on the interstate, and you can’t help but slow to watch.
Don’t. Just don’t. We do not need to know every horrible thing that happens in this world. We know evil exists, we see the world is in an uproar, we know there is a crime. We just don’t need to feed our spirit that all day long. If you are particularly sensitive to a particular topic, be disciplined enough, you do not read about it or let yourself listen to it. For example, I am extremely sensitive to any crime against children. If I do allow myself to read a news article or listen to a clip with some evil action against a child, it absorbs into my soul. I cry and have issues sleeping for days. I cannot stop thinking about it, how that child felt, the parents, or other loved ones involved.
Let me assure you if there is something you need to know about, someone is going to tell you. Other than that, there is no news you need to listen to 24/7. Save your mental health.
Tip #4 Invest in your positive relationships
You know that person or people you spend time with, and you just feel good? They are easy to be with, conversation flows positively, and you leave them feeling better than when you first started visiting? Those are the people you need to be with. Finding someone that can see the glass as half full instead of half-empty can find hope and love in the middle of darkness.
The ones to stay away from are those who are negative, pessimistic, and complainers. Sometimes, these are family members, and that does make it hard to ignore. Do the best you can to show them the light; be the light. For your own mental and emotional health, try reading a self-improvement book, listen to a podcast, meditate and pray, or find a motivational video on YouTube. All of these will help you grow as a person, and your life will be enriched.
Tip #5 Make time for gratitude and appreciation
Beginning a life of gratitude has been one of the most life-changing habits I have implemented. This is something you must be intentional with, as it is easy to backtrack to what our old habits are.
No matter how bleak life may seem, there is always something to be thankful for.
I suggest starting your day with 1-5 things you are thankful for. This can happen while laying in bed right when you awake. We tend to wake and immediately start thinking of all the things planned to do that day and all the ways they will go wrong. Instead of that habit, start with feeling thankful for a fresh start to a new day with endless possibilities awaiting.
Another method is to start a gratitude journal. When you have your quiet time in the morning, which I suggest for everyone, even if it is only 5-10 minutes a day, spend some time with you and God and write down the things you are thankful for. You can also write down things that have yet to come. It is almost impossible to be depressed when you continuously live in gratitude.
Share your appreciation with others openly. Thank the cashier for their help that day in the grocery store. Thank your spouse for getting you a cup of coffee. Thank your kids for being respectful when you asked them to do a chore. Even though these actions are usually expected, by sharing the appreciation with others, you are passing on the positive feeling of being appreciated, and everyone likes to feel appreciated.
There is a lot we cannot change in life, but how we choose to respond to life that happens around us can make a world of difference in our own lives—learning to adopt the mindset that life doesn’t happen to me, but for me has been such a life-enriching change. I know each challenge, each heartache, each joy is a part of my story sent to teach me a lesson, to develop me into the person I am destined to be, and to prepare me for the next phase in my life. Hindsight is 20/20! I can look back at my life experiences and see how events brought me beautiful results in developing my character later. The trick is to be open to the lesson, be healthy-minded, and be willing to learn and grow. It is only when we stay stagnant that life overwhelms us.
I hope some of these tips are helpful to you and bring you peace. I have several more, but I thought this would be a great start!
If you have any tips yourself, please comment and share it with us! If you already do these, share how they impact your life! And you found any value, or think these tips may encourage someone else please share.
We are all in this crazy life together.
“I have found if you love life, life will love you back.” ~ Arthur Rubinstein
XO,
Sydney