Happiness

Happy In the Skin I’m In – 3 Things to Consider for a Happier You as the Clock Keeps on a Ticking!

Happy In the Skin I’m In – 3 Things to Consider for a Happier You as the Clock Keeps on a Ticking!

You Can Be Happy In the Skin You Are In!

Be Happy In the Skin You're InHappiness shouldn’t be based on physical appearance.

Sure, everybody wants to look good…

but some people let themselves get worked into a frenzy over it.

They soon find they cannot be happy unless they look a certain way.

Are you happy in the skin you’re in?

The condition of the physical body tends to mess with people’s minds way to often; especially in today’s society. But, don’t forget that your spirit, the condition of your heart, should take priority over your flesh.

Have you bought into the lie that you need your body or face to look a certain way in order to be happy? If so, well then no better day than today to flush that lie down the toilet!

Let’s take a look at three things you might want to consider for a happier you – while the clock keeps on a ticking.

The Body Changes – We Are All Aging

The body is constantly changing and aging, that is just a fact of life. And another fact is that we have all been born with a unique set of physical features, which may or may not be considered beautiful by today’s standards.

Sure, you can fight it. You can get fit and strong as possible and that’s great. You can have procedures and surgeries if you want. But I don’t care how good you make that body look, it is only temporary and doesn’t change your internal clock or the condition of your heart.

We are living in a corruptible vessel.

“Let it (our adorning) be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.” 
— 1 Peter 3:4

If You Need to Shape Up and Clean Out – Then Do it

Now, by all means, take care of yourself and keep your body healthy. Be a good steward with the body you have been given. If you think you need to shape up, tone up, or detox, then go right ahead. 

Do the best with what you have, but don’t beat yourself up over it. Remember, your joy is in the Lord – not in numbers on a scale or lack of wrinkles on your face. God looks at the heart, so go ahead and be happy even when your body is going through changes.

Set Your Affection on Things Above

The world is going to constantly be pointing out your flaws and dragging down your perspective. Don’t let that happen to you. Aim higher for more of God’s presence and let Him clean up your perspective. You’ll find you are a much happier you if you do.

Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”

Why aren’t we to set our affections on earth? Because everything on earth is only temporary and going to pass away.

If we hunger and thirst after righteousness and the things of God, we’ll stop judging ourselves by weight, wrinkles, and facial features. We’ll stop beating ourselves up and in fact, start discovering a contentment that brings true happiness and joy.

Aim higher: Set your sights on God’s truths begin to see yourself the way He sees you. Set your affection on things above and you’ll be blessed with many blessings including contentment, peace, joy, and happiness. 🙂

May your heart be beautiful, may you live happy, and enjoy a life of growing prosperity!

God bless you always –

Cheers,
Brenda

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Top 5 Proven Techniques for Living a Truly Happy and Joyful Life Inside and Out!

Top 5 Proven Techniques for Living a Truly Happy and Joyful Life Inside and Out!

Learn to Be Happy by Adjusting Your Thinking and Living Habits!

True happiness can be experienced by all who apply ‘happiness habits’ to their day. There are some who are simply born with a happy disposition. But the truth is; most people have to learn to be happy by thinking and living in a particular way.

Often people are happy in life when everything is going just right. Yet those who have learned how to be truly happy aren’t always the ones who ‘have it all.’ External circumstances do not control their level of happiness. They have discovered the secret of being able to experience an underlying peace and well-being; which is the essence of true happiness.

Happy people live their lives differently. And when acquiring any new skill, it pays to learn from the pro.

“We can think of happiness as a skill no different from learning to play a musical instrument…it is possible to train our minds to be happy.” – Richard Davidson, Ph.D. UW-Madison

So if you are ready to let some joy shine through you from the inside out, then take a look at these five key skills.

Top 5 Proven Techniques for True Happiness

1) Notice and Give Thanks for the Happy Things in Your Life

Learn to take note of everything good and positive in your life, regardless of how small. What are the things that you see, feel, taste, hear, or smell that bring pleasure?

Intention activates a part of the brain, the reticular activating system (RAS), which is responsible for turning on our memory and allowing it to bring anything important to our attention. When you decide to look for the positive, your RAS makes sure that is what you see.

We tend to feed the unhappy, negative side of life. Make it a game to see how many good things you notice during the day. Take a few moments to savor the positive things and make it a habit to feed your happiness.

2) Do Not Believe Everything You Think

Do not believe everything you think. Our thoughts are not always true.

For example, you may give a presentation and focus in on the one person with a frown on their face, and think you’re doing a terrible job. Yet the fact is you are really doing a great job, but you do not notice the rest of the group that is smiling and nodding.

It is said that we average one thought per second during our waking hours and the vast majority are habitual, negative thoughts. This whirlwind of automatic negative thoughts can stimulate parts of the brain that involve depression and anxiety.

Learn not to believe every negative thought that wants to hijack your happiness, and instead focus in on the positive compliments. It is important to break the natural tendency to register the negative thoughts, feelings, and experiences more deeply than the positive happy ones.

3) Exchange the Bad Thought for the Happy Thought

When challenged with negative, unhappy thoughts and feelings in a situation, learn to exchange them for equally true, positive, happy thoughts.

For example, have you ever faced a deadline and thought it was going to be impossible to finish on time? Why not exchange that self-defeating thought by searching your mind for an equally true positive thought such as: I regularly manage to get things done on time and I can ask for help.

Learn to be more optimistic and see the glass half full. Pay more attention to the positive part of the truth in a given situation and lean into those thoughts. Let the joy of the Lord be your strength.

4) Appreciate the People in Your Life

People with good social relationships tend to be happy. Under times of stress we need the support of friends and family. And the best way to keep relationships happy and healthy is through appreciation.

“One of the most important things a person can do to raise his or her happiness level is to acknowledge those around them.” – Judith W. Umlas (author of The Power of Acknowledgement)

By showing appreciation to others for the support they give us, we reinforce that behavior; which in turn deepens our relationship with them. Engaging and communicating with others during times of stress has a calming effect and keeps us on the road to happiness.

5) Live with a Passion and a Purpose

Bringing a sense of purpose and passion to your routine activities will boost your happiness. Think about the activities in your life that you are passionate about. What is it about those things that make you happy?

One person may feel like an underpaid janitor, but another may passionately do their job the best they can with a purpose to make the building a beautiful place for others.

Learn to incorporate purpose and passion in your daily life at work and at home. Do all things gladly from the heart as unto the Lord.

The truth is: You do not have to let life just toss you around in unhappy waters. You can choose to learn new skills, live your life differently, and raise your level of happiness. 🙂

May your happiness increase daily and your life be filled with growing prosperity!

God bless you –

Cheers,
Brenda

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Happiness – How to Use 3 Keys for a Thankful Heart to Unlock the Happy You?

Happiness – How to Use 3 Keys for a Thankful Heart to Unlock the Happy You?

Unlock the Door to a Happy You!

Key to Happy Thankful HeartHappiness is being satisfied and living in a state of well-being.

If you are currently an unhappy person, or a person that is unsatisfied and not in a state of well-being…

then you may just need to cultivate a thankful heart.

A key to being happy is learning to be a grateful, content, thankful person.

The good news is; happiness and thankfulness are both possible and they are both a choice. So regardless of previous negative life experiences you may have had, you can choose to change things moving forward.

These Keys for a Thankful Heart are Meant to Encourage and Get You Started:

1.) Choose to Be a Thankful Person.

If you want to be happy, then the first thing you need to do is choose to be. Once you make that choice, then comes the work. Yes, work. Like everything in life, there needs to be some action that follows our decisions.

Applying daily ‘thankfulness exercises’ to your routine, will soon make it a part of your lifestyle.

Tell yourself ‘I am a thankful person’. Start and end your day giving thanks. Always be mindful of the good in your life, including your relationships, and let that fill your thoughts.

Take inventory of all that you have to be thankful for and write it down. Writing it down will help impress it on your mind. You’ll also benefit by the law of attraction and start attracting to you what you are primarily thinking about.

2.) What is Your Perspective on Life?

You need to clearly define what happiness is to you. What makes one person happy isn’t necessarily the same for everyone. One person may be happy when they have clean water to drink and enough food to eat. Another person may be happy when they have three vehicles parked in the driveway.

Dealing with your perception will help you deal with your happiness. In order to gain a proper perspective, you need to change your thinking. As you become more grateful for all the blessings in your life, and obsess less over what you don’t have, you will begin to unlock the door to happiness.

3.) Giving Thanks is the Will of God.

A primary reason to be a thankful person is because God says so! We are told that it is the will of God that we give thanks in everything. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

Note, we are NOT told to give thanks for everything, but in everything. Remain a thankful person in good times and bad times. Regardless of how trying life may be at times, you always have something to be thankful for.

I think you get the point. You can choose to be happy, and it is so much easier if you are a thankful person. Adjust your perspective. Learn to be content with where you are, and what you have now, as you move forward. God has given us so much to be thankful for. So let’s stay in His will and be a thankful people that cultivate true happiness.

May your life be full of true happiness and growing prosperity!

God bless you –

Cheers,
Brenda

P.S. So what are you happy & thankful for today?

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Happiness – How Can Your Passion Jumpstart a Happier You?

Happiness – How Can Your Passion Jumpstart a Happier You?

Give Your Spirit an Extreme Power Boost!

Happiness as a lifestyle is expressing our contentment and satisfaction through cheerful speech, laughter, and other joyful responses.

Yet sometimes the happy times start to fade and our words are no longer so cheerful.

Our face doesn’t look so bright….

And laughter is not even on the scale.

How can you cultivate more of the positive happy emotion in your life?

Get the ball rolling by discovering your passion.

This is a great way to jumpstart a happier you. Passion is a powerful driving force. Being able to actively pursue the things you are passionate about brings great satisfaction and in turn great happiness.

God created you to express joy and success, not gloom and failure. His plan is that you win out in life and not be defeated. You were born for happiness and peace, not misery and perpetual anxiety and discouragement.

Inside of you is a great plan and purpose uniquely created just for you. Tapping into this God given gift is the power to move you to be the successful, happy being your Creator intended.

Discover what you are passionate about and pursue it. Passion gives an extreme power boost to your spirit and emotional well being. If you are unsure of your passion, take some time to reflect on it.

So what are you passionate about?

Simply start asking yourself what you are passionate about. What sort of things do you like to do or wish you could do more of? What have you been putting off for someday? Find a way to make it part of your life now.

Doing what you are passionate about in life brings great happiness to you and others. The painter must paint. The healer must heal. The teacher must teach. The helper must help. The writer must write. I think you get my point. Pursue your passion and watch the happiness naturally manifest in your life.

“Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favor my righteous cause: yes, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.”
— Psalm 35:27

Do yourself a favor, and society, and put your unique gifts and talents to work. God never intended His children to be miserable and unhappy. Choose to step into His great plan for your life and discover your passion. Then watch as it unfolds and brings abundant happiness. 🙂

May you live a cheerful, passionate life of growing prosperity!

Cheers,
Brenda

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Happiness – Monitor Your Influences or Your Happy Day is in Danger of Turning Ugly!

Happiness – Monitor Your Influences or Your Happy Day is in Danger of Turning Ugly!

How Do Daily Influences Impact Your Happiness?

Happy DayHappiness can be regulated by monitoring what you take into your life.

This is too often ignored, and its impact on our lives not taken seriously. Learn to monitor your intake to help control your level of happiness.

What do you watch, read, and listen to?

What you take in, is what you are going to put out.

Test Your Level of Output after These Types of Input:

  • How do you sleep after watching a scary movie before bed?
  • How do you feel after reading the newspaper reports on the unemployment and crime rate, and the latest health epidemics?
  • How big is the smile on your face after listening to songs about broken relationships and how much life stinks?

There is no doubt about it; what you choose to watch, read, and listen to is going to affect your happiness.

And that’s not all. It is also vital to take into account the people you associate with and the influence they have on you.

Grumpy companions, negative people, idea zappers, vision smashers, are all happiness squashers. 🙁 How often have you had a happy day go instantly ugly after being around one of these types of people for just a few minutes?

The key here is to use the influence of these things to your advantage. Start taking in things, and hanging around people, that are going to lift your spirit.

You know the right song can make your heart sing and put your feet to dancing.  A funny movie or a good joke will put a smile on your face. Just being in the same room with a happy, upbeat person can have that same spirit rub off on you and lift your countenance.

Stay prepared and have a collection of music, movies, and books readily available to lift your spirit and keep your outlook on life bright and hopeful.

Experience that instant feeling of happiness just from listening to a song. The feeling can even linger and last all day with the song singing in your head. Take advantage of this and use it for your benefit. Heck, isn’t that why many of the musicians wrote the songs in the first place?

The good news is, you get to choose the majority of what you take in and are exposed and influenced by. And for the things you don’t have a choice over, such as a grumpy co-worker, you can choose how you will react.

You can choose to say:

“This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad!” –Psalm 118:24

Love, laugh, smile, and dance often!

Case in point: Regardless of what type of situation you are in, you can choose to praise God and keep moving forward with a smile. It’s a choice. Monitor what you take in. Let the Word of God be your primary intake and you’ll be surprised at what it can do for you. When you are full of the power of God, His joy becomes your strength and fills your life with happiness.

May your life be full of spirit lifting influences and continued growing prosperity!

Cheers,
Brenda

P.S. Image credits go to Billy Alexander. Thanks!

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How to Get Happy with 7 Quick and Easy Tips to Brighten Your Spirit!

Happiness – How to Get Happy with 7 Quick and Easy Tips to Brighten Your Spirit!

Discover the Happy Life!

Happy Spirit Lifting Power from God!Happiness is possible for everyone. Yet, like most things in life it does not come automatically. Have you been through some tragic events in life that seem to have robbed your happiness? Even after the experiences are past, your mind can be filled with negative thoughts that leave no room for happiness.

Do you want to be happy? Then I’ll be honest with you, it will require some work on your part. But believe me, you are worth the effort!  

If you want to be happy, you first have to choose to be.

Once you decide to live happy, then start acting like it. Some individuals are naturally more cheerful and just happy-go-lucky all the time.  🙂

On the other side of the spectrum, it can be an almost battle for others to even crack a smile. 🙁

Regardless of where you fall on the happiness scale, these quick and easy tips are sure to brighten your spirit.

How to Get Happy with 7 Quick & Easy Tips:

1.) Be a Thankful Person. Start and end your day giving thanks. Always be mindful of the good in your life and let that fill your thoughts. It is easier to be happy if you are a thankful person.

2.) Monitor Your In Take. What do you watch, read, and listen to? What you take in, is what you are going to put out.

You’ll have to admit it is hard to be happy and upbeat if you are constantly watching the ‘doom and gloom’ on the news. So take in things that are going to lift your spirit. We all know the right song can put a skip in your step.  A funny movie will put a smile on your face.

3.) Live a Healthy Lifestyle. Your physical health plays a key role in your mental health and personal self-image. There is much taught on diet, exercise, nutrition, sleeping habits, etcetera. These things are all vital to how we feel. They must be kept in balance to make it easier to live happy.

4.) Discover Your Passion. So what are you passionate about? Passion gives an extreme power boost to your spirit. Discover what you are passionate about and pursue it.

The painter must paint. The writer must write. Doing what you are passionate about in life brings great happiness (to you and others).

5.) Help Others. Look around you and notice the needs of others. Find ways to help them. Learn to serve. As you look outside of yourself and start helping others, you’ll experience long lasting happiness.

Put some cheerfulness and generosity into someone else’s life. Like they say, ‘what goes around comes around’.

6.) Keep Things in Perspective. If today is not feeling so happy, just remember that this too shall pass. Tomorrow is a new day. We all go through seasons and the storms of life blow through. That is just life. But after the clouds blow past, the sun shines again. So stay determined to keep your happiness.

7.) Tap Into the Source of Happiness. Seek God and His presence daily. He is the abundant source that offers more than happiness, but joy everlasting. When you have a relationship with Him, Jesus says the kingdom of God lives within you. (Luke 17:21)

When we tap into the power He has put within us, our faces should be so lighted up that we give the impression to everybody that we just came into possession of some great, good fortune that made us extremely happy! Like a poor person who struggled all their life that has now become heir of a great fortune.

God’s children ought to look happy. 

“Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.” 
– Philippians 4:4

It’s no secret, happiness is one of the great essentials to living the good life and it is to be realized here and now. Love, laugh, smile, dance, and be glad often. It is possible for everyone to have peace within themselves and enjoy true happiness.

May you continue to experience a life of happiness and growing prosperity!

Cheers,
Brenda

P.S. Image credit goes to: http://www.sxc.hu/profile/nookiez

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