Inner Peace and Joy Tip # 89 : Bury Your Grudges

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Meditation Tip: The Book of Psalms will uplift your soul. Read Psalms chapters 146-150 for a Spirit Booster!



I have a friend, who has been holding on to a grudge for over fifteen years with a person who once was a dear friend of hers. One day, I asked my friend, why it is that she is not speaking with the person who once her friend any more? Do you know that because the incident had occurred so long ago, she had forgotten the reason why they were not speaking anymore. She just remembered that they were not speaking anymore. Wow!

Do You Hold Grudges ?
How many of you hold grudges? Many people do. Did you know that if you hold grudges for an extensive period of time that you will not successfully be able to maintain your mental state of peace and live your life full of joy?

Here Is Why
When you mentally hold on to the wrong doings that some one has done to you or you have done to someone else for an extensive period of time you are actually hurting yourself because you are mentally holding inside of your mind negative emotions of anger, grief and sorrow. When you hold on to anger, grief and sorrow for an extensive period of time, you mind is troubled and you are not at a state of Inner Peace.

Now I am not saying that if someone has harmed you that you should not feel any type of emotions after all you are human. What I am saying is that for the sake of maintaining your Inner Peace you must find a way to release your negative emotions and bury your grudges.

How To Bury Your Grudges

• Forgiveness: When you forgive someone for the wrong that they have caused you or for the wrong that you have caused them you actually have agreed to mentally "let go" of all of the painful feelings that you are holding on inside. Only then will you be able to experience permanent Inner Peace.

• Face to Face Contact: Face to Face contact is a great way to express yourself when it is done peacefully. It is possible that you may be holding on to a grudge with someone due to a lack of communication and if you get a chance to just talk through your issues you will find that you can resolve your problems and regain your Inner Peace.

• Have a Funeral : If you are you are not able to contact someone who has wronged you or you have wronged because they are no longer alive or you have lost contact with them, you can write that person a letter and tell them that you forgive them or ask them to forgive you. Next say a prayer over the letter, dig a hole and bury the letter. When you bury the letter make sure that you bury your negative feelings with the letter.
  

More Useful Tips

See Only The Good
Love Your Enemies

Inner Peace and Joy Tip # 88 : Play Board Games

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Meditation Tip: The Book of Psalms will uplift your soul. Read Psalms chapters 141-145 for a Spirit Booster!





Ways To Calm Your Mind
An important step when you are working on maintaining your Inner Peace and living your life full of joy is being able to calm your mind. Let's say that you are experiencing a situation such as being concerned about your finances, your family members or your future. How are you going to calm your mind if you are anxious or worried for long periods of time? How are you going to calm your mind if you are confused? It is not going to just happen by itself, you are going to have to take action to refocus and regain your Inner Peace.

• One way that you can calm your mind and return your focus back to a state of Inner Peace is by playing board games.

Why Board Games?
You are probably asking, "Why would I want to play Monopoly, Bingo or any other type of board game when I do not know where my child is, when I am trying to figure out how in the world I am going to save my house from going into foreclosure, or when I am trying to figure out my future outcome?"

Well, the reason why you would want to play a board game when you are working on maintaining your Inner Peace while you are going through a stressful situation is because when you are worried, you are not helping the situation by worrying. In fact, you are just placing more stress on your mind and body. Also when you are worried you will not be able to focus on the real issues because you are not in your right mind.

Board Games, Stress and Inner Peace
What you need to do when you are under stress is to get your mind off of the stressful situation and focus on something that will calm your mind. Playing a board game with a family member, friends or even yourself for about an hour or so will help you to take your mind off of your situation.
Board Games will also:
1. Give you a chance to relax and get your mind off of what is going on with you.
2. If you are frustrated, playing the board game will buy you enough time to calm down
3. If you are stressed, playing a board game will help you to let go and laugh

More Useful Tips
Journal
Relax

Inner Peace and Joy Tip # 87: Discipline

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Meditation Tip: The Book of Psalms will uplift your soul. Read Psalms chapters 131-140 for a Spirit Booster!



The New Year is fast approaching and this is the perfect time to talk about Inner Peace and Discipline. Many people make New Year's resolutions on New Years Day and before March approaches they have broken their resolutions.

The reason why so many people break their New Year's resolutions so soon is because they do not have the discipline that they need to stick to their plan.

Tips for being Disciplined
This New Year, the way that you are going to maintain your Inner Peace is by accomplishing your goals. When you are disciplined you will be mentally able to achieve your goals because you will operate according to your plan and not based on your emotions.

1. Write out your plan: Have clear and defined goals so that you will know exactly what it is that you must do on a daily basis verses operating based on your emotions. When you operate on your emotions you tend to do what you feel like doing instead of what you need to do.
2. Set realistic goals: Set goals that are attainable so that you can build your self-confidence. If you set unattainable goals, you will become frustrated and give up on your goals if you are unable to achieve them.
3. Set aside specific times to work on your goals: A daily routine will help you to have order in your day so that you will not become overwhelmed by your other daily affairs.
4.Be Flexible: Remember that your plan is only a guide and that you should leave room for change. You are not obligated to your plan nor do you have to neglect other aspects of your life in order to keep your schedule.

More Useful Tips
Patience
Get a Plan

Inner Peace and Joy Tip # 86: Count Sheep

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Meditation Tip: The Book of Psalms will uplift your soul. Read Psalms chapters 121-130 for a Spirit Booster!





What are Stressors ?
When you are practicing "How to Maintain your Inner Peace ", you must be able to identify what it is about yourself, people, your circumstances and places that causes you to be stressed out. Following are a few of my stressors that I have identified about myself. You are welcome to share yours.
1. Obnoxious People
2. Negative Music
3. Complainers
4. Disrespect
5. Loud Noise

When I see the signs that I am in a stressful situation, I immediately try to remove myself from the situation. Sometimes removing yourself from out of a stressful situation is not possible. For example: If I were at work and I was around a bunch of complainers or loud noises, then I would not be able to just walk away from the situation without losing my job.

What happens when you can not remove yourself from a stressful situation?
When you can not remove yourself from your stressful situation you can still maintain your Inner Peace by focusing on something positive instead of focusing on your stressor. I would suggest that you try "Counting Sheep."

Counting Sheep
Do you remember when you were a child and your parents asked you to count sheep when it was difficult for you to go to sleep? Do you also remember that once you started counting sheep, it did not take you long to doze off.

The reason why counting sheep helped you to go to sleep was because when you counted the sheep it took your mind off of focusing on not being able to go to sleep and it helped you to focus on something else. This same principle works when you are working on maintaining your Inner Peace in a negative situation.

How to Count Sheep in a Stressful Situation
When you are in a stressful situation, you are not just going to start counting sheep out loud. Instead, you should:
1. Take a seat
2. Breath in and out slowly for about a minute.
3. Breath in and out and softly say "one"
4. Now, use your imagination and picture a sheep in as much detail as you can
5. Breath in and out and softly say "two"
6. Now, use your imagination and picture a sheep in as much detail as you can
7. Repeat the process until you count "10"

The entire process of counting and visualization should take about 15 minutes. These 15 minutes should buy you enough time to calm down and refocus on maintaining your Inner Peace.

More Useful Tips
Relax Your Muscles
Patience

Inner Peace and Joy Tip # 85: Challenge Your Belief System

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Meditation Tip: The Book of Psalms will uplift your soul. Read Psalms chapters 116-120 for a Spirit Booster!




Are any of your beliefs outdated?
I was brought up on the belief that when you make a person a promise, you are suppose to "Keep Your Word" no matter what. Sometimes, "Keeping My Word" challenges my mental state of peace.

I am an emotional person and I oftentimes make decisions based on my emotions and not based on logic. So, when I am in a situation and I need to change my mind and not "Keep My Word" I am torn between doing the right thing and following through on my promise.

Here is what I mean:

Scenario #1
This week I was talking to a dear friend of mine and she shared with me that her sister had just died. My friend was crying and I could hear her pain in her voice as she shared with me memories of her sister.

My first instinct, which was an emotional response, was to say "I am coming home to be with you." After I had committed to come home and be with my friend, it dawned on me that my friend lives in another state and my finances are not in order to be traveling to another state. Although I wanted to be with my friend, financially it did not make sense for me to travel to be with her in her time of grief.

My Inner Peace conflict was, "Should I keep my word and go home to my grieving friend or should I tell my friend that emotionally I am with her but due to financial reasons I am unable to go home and be with her?"

Scenario #2
I was talking on the phone to an acquaintance of mine and she asked me if I had any plans on Friday. I responded without thinking "No." She then asked me to attend a party with her and I agreed. After I hung up the phone with my friend, I realized that once again I made an emotional response and not a logical one. I had to work on Saturday morning and if I went to the party on Friday I would not be at my best on Saturday.

My Inner Peace conflict was "Should I keep me word or tell her that I acted in haste when I told her that I could attend the party with her?"

Examining My Belief System
My grandfather taught me that "Your Word is equated with your Character". When I did not keep my word, I felt guilty or like I was letting my grandfather down.

What was actually happening when I made a hasty decision and then I attempted to recant my decision, mentally I was feeling guilty. And guess what, if you feel guilty for long periods of time, then you will not be able to maintain your Inner Peace. Inner Peace is a tranquil state of being unlike feeling guilty which is a state of conflictual emotions.

So here is what I had to do....
Instead of feeling guilty about changing my mind, I examined the person who I believed myself to be. I concluded that I am not a terrible person and my character is up to par even though I sometimes make decisions in haste and without thinking. Instead of feeling guilty about one aspect of my character, I looked at myself from a holistic perspective and I decided that there are some areas in my life that I needed to improve on but there are also some aspects of my character which are commendable.

I am able to maintain my Inner Peace because I concluded just because I do not always "Keep My Word" does not mean that I have poor character.

What are some of your beliefs that you need to challenge ?

More Useful Tips
Change Your Perspective
Peel Back the Onion

Inner Peace and Joy Tip # 84: Aroma Therapy

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Meditation Tip: The Book of Psalms will uplift your soul. Read Psalms chapters 111-115 for a Spirit Booster!





Did you know that you can extract the essential oils from plants to help you to maintain your Inner Peace?

Yes, oils from plants can actually calm you down when you are under stress and help to bring you back to a relaxed state of mind.


Here is how it works
You just take the essential oil and dip it in cotton and inhale.

To treat stress, anxiety, tension or mental fatigue try one or a combination of the following:

• Basil: Anger, Anxiety, Insomnia, Nervous Exhaustion and Nervous Tension
  
• Bergamot: Anger and Anxiety
  
• Chamomile: Reduce stress, Anger, Anxiety, Insomnia and Nervous Tension
  
• Clary Sage: Useful for relaxing, Depression, Anger and Anxiety
• Lavender: Release and relieves stress, Anger, Anxiety, Depression, Insomnia, Nervous Exhaustion and Nervous Tension
• Rosemary: Stimulates and sharpens the mind, Nervous Exhaustion and Nervous Tension
• Geranium : Reduce stress, Anger, Anxiety and Nervous Tension
• Sandlewood: : Insomnia and Depression
• Frank Incense: : Anger, Anxiety and Nervous Tension
• Juniper Berry : Anxiety and Anger
• Basil : Anger, Anxiety, Depression, Nervous Exhaustion and Nervous Tension
• Ylang-ylang: Anger, Anxiety, Depression, Insomnia, Nervous Exhaustion and Nervous Tension
• Sweet Marojam: Anger, Anxiety, Insomnia and Nervous Tension
• Jasmine: Anger, Anxiety and Nervous Tension
• Bergamot: Anger, Anxiety and Nervous Tension
• Cinnamon: Nervous Exhaustion and Nervous Tension
• Peppermint: Nervous Exhaustion
  

More Useful Tips:
Relax Your Muscles
Take a warm bath

Inner Peace and Joy Tip # 83: Relax Your Muscles

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Meditation Tip: The Book of Psalms will uplift your soul. Read Psalms chapters 106-110 for a Spirit Booster!





I work with high-risked adolescent boys and today we worked on teaching the boys how to maintain their Inner Peace through muscle relaxation. The exercise that we used is called "Progressive Relaxation" and was developed by the renowned physician Edmund Jabobson.

I wanted to share this exercise with you because it is a great technique that you can use to help you can calm down and refocus when you are stressed

Muscle Relaxation Exercise To Help You To Maintain Your Inner Peace

Part I.
The first part of this exercise will help you to with maintaining your Inner Peace because you are going to learn how to relax.

1. Sit in a chair and breathe in and out slowly
2. While you are breathing in and out, count slowly from 1 to 10
3. As you breath in and out slowly pay attention to your hands
4. Clench your fists as tight as you can
5. Let go and relax your hands


Part II.
The second part of this exercise will help you to maintain your Inner Peace because you are going to pay attention to the tension that you have stored up in your body and then you are going to learn how you can release it.

1. Imagine all of the tension leaving your hands down to your finger tips
2. Notice the difference between the tension in your hands and when you are totally relaxed
3, Now bring your awareness to your arms
4. Curl your arms like you are doing a bicep curl
5. Tense your fists, forearms and biceps
6. Hold the tension and release
7. Let your arms unfold and your hands float back to your thighs
8. Feel your tension drain out of your arms

More Useful Tips
Pay Attention To Your Thoughts
Relax

Inner Peace and Joy Tip # 82: Write,Journal, Blog

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Meditation Tip: The Book of Psalms will uplift your soul. Read Psalms chapters 101-105 for a Spirit Booster!


When I am having a stressful day, I maintain my Inner Peace by writing.

How Writing Helps Me To Maintain My Inner Peace

• # 1 It gives me time to cool down:

When I get upset, I normally say the first thing that comes to my mind without any regard to how my words may impact the lives of others. Writing helps me to maintain my Inner Peace because it gives me the opportunity to express my emotions on paper and it also gives me a chance to cool down before I approach the person whose actions caused me to get upset.

• #2 Writing is a form of art

Writing helps me to maintain my Inner Peace because when I write, I get a chance to use my words to paint a picture with words. It sounds easier than it is but when it is done correctly your readers will be able to feel what you feel, see what you see and even smell what you smell.

• #3 Writing helps me to keep record

Writing in my journal is a great way for me to maintain my Inner Peace because I actually have a record of my emotions. When I review my journal I can see where I was emotionally in the past, how much I have improved, regressed or stayed the same.

• #4 Writing helps me to release my negative energy

When I am upset I have a lot of energy and instead of using my energy to explode, I write. My Inner Peace is maintained because I am focused on what I am writing about and not on the stressful situation.

• #5 Writing is a coping skill

Writing is a therapeutic way of maintaining your Inner Peace because you can use it as a coping skill. A coping skill is something that you can do that will help you to calm down when you are upset or feeling stressed out. If you enjoy writing, then you can do things such as journal, blog or even write a book.

• Do you have a coping skill ? Leave me a comment and tell me what it is that you do to calm down
  

More Useful Tips
Listen to music
Control your emotions

Inner Peace and Joy Tip # 81 : Give and Receive

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Meditation Tip: The Book of Psalms will uplift your soul. Read Psalms chapters 91-100 for a Spirit Booster!

As a child growing up in the Southeast I was taught that it is better to give than to receive. It did not take me long to realize that giving more than I was receiving was not a balanced equation. In fact, whenever I gave more than I received it usually caused my Inner Peace to be off balanced. The following two case scenarios will illustrate how giving more than you are receiving can cause your Inner Peace to be off balanced.


Case Scenario #1
I want you to picture a person who goes to work every day and they give 110% of their time. This same person brings new and prosperous ideas to the company. It is obvious that this person is a giver and goes beyond the call of the expected duties of their job yet the person does not receive any recognition nor do they receive a monetary reward for their efforts. In a case such as this, that person's state of peace may be impacted negatively by the actions of the company.

• If you were in this person's shoes would you feel unappreciated and or undervalued?

The truth of the matter is, if you continually feel undervalued and unappreciated for long periods of time then you are not at a mental state of peace. When you are in a state of Inner Peace you feel good about who you are and what it is that you do.


Case Scenario #2
In this case a parent gives their all to their spouse and to their family. This particular parent cooks, cleans, works and attends all of the extra curricula activities of their children yet they never receive a "thank you" from their family members nor do they receive any genuine signs of appreciation for their efforts.

• It is easy to understand how this parent's state of Inner Peace could be impacted negatively by the actions of their family members. This parent probably believes that they are not appreciated and they may also believe that their family takes them for granted.

If this parent continues to feel unappreciated and to feel like they are being taken for granted then they will not be at a state of Inner Peace. The reason why is because when a person is at a state of Inner Peace they have a positive self image about who they are and they believe that they do make a difference in the world.

Do You Know How To Receive?
Before I started practicing how to maintain my Inner Peace and live my life full of Joy, I use to have a problem with excepting gifts from other people. Whenever someone offered me a gift, my response was usually "No thanks." I would get a guilty feeling whenever I accepted gifts from others. This guilty feeling stemmed from my belief that is was better to give than to receive.

My outlook has long since changed and I now look forward to receiving. In fact, I expect to receive gifts. These gifts are in the forms of smiles, kindness and love. I also learned that my Inner Peace is impacted positively by my willingness to accept gifts from others. It feels good to receive love, kindness and smiles from other people.

More Useful Tips

Change Your Perspective

Learn From Life's Lessons

Inner Peace and Joy Tip # 80: Notice God's Natural Beauty

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Meditation Tip: The Book of Psalms will uplift your soul. Read Psalms chapters 86-90 for a Spirit Booster!


Whenever I am feeling stressed out and I need a Mental Booster, I look at God's Beauty f0r inspiration and encouragement.

The Sky
Too often I get so caught up in my life and my affairs that I forget to see that there is a bigger picture at work. What helps me to regain my focus is when I look up at the sky and I see so many stars that I can not even count them or when I attempt to measure the length of the sky with my eyes but I can not because the sky stretches as far as I can see.

When I search the sky and count the stars, I am awed by God's awesomeness and I reminded that I too am a part of God's plan. In fact, my Inner Peace depends on me learning how to get in line with God's plan for my life.

The Moon
I also like looking at the size of the moon and how it changes phases from full moon to a half moon and then to a new moon. The moon is so huge and although it seems to be so close to the earth, it is so far away. When I look at the moon and how all of this great mass is suspended in the sky I am awed. I say to myself, that their is a Higher Being that is at work and this Being has a good plan for me and the world.

Looking at this marvel, helps me to regain my Inner Peace because surely you and I play a part in God's plan. It's just a matter of me slowing down and getting in tune with God so that I can hear what God is trying to say to me.

Flowers
I love looking at flowers because they are so colorful. Whenever I have had a stressful day, I like going for a long walk in the park and admiring the different types of flowers that bloom during the different seasons. My favorite season is Fall because I get a chance to witness so many beautiful colors.

When I look at the all of the beautiful colors that God has provided for my enjoyment I am able to release my stress and focus on how awesome God is. Anything that puts my focus back on God and off of me helps me to regain my status of Inner Peace.

Ocean
Out of all of God's natural wonders, the ocean is my favorite because of it's roaring waves and it's smell. There is something about the ocean that captivates me! I actually go to the ocean to pray and mediate.

If you have ever been to the beach, you can bear witness that it is a marvel how the ocean roars and yet it too is under God's command. The ocean stops on point and does not cross the shore line. The ocean also helps me know that I am a part of God's plan and that God's plan is a plan of order. When I look at the ocean, I am reminded that my Inner Peace is going to be based on my ability to get in order with God's plan for my life.

Summary
When you take the time to witness God's natural beauty it will help you to maintain your Inner Peace because you are reminded that there is a Higher Power at work in your life and all you have to do is align yourself with God's plan.

More Useful Tips
Pray
Read Your Bible Daily

Inner Peace and Joy Tip # 79: Change Your Perspective

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Meditation Tip: The Book of Psalms will uplift your soul. Read Psalms chapters 81-85 for a Spirit Booster!





Your Inner Peace is going to be based on how you see "Your World".

Here is what I mean, if you are content and you see the people who are in your life as kind and loving then you are more likely to be calm and at a peace within yourself.

The opposite holds true for the person who believes that they have been dealt a bad hand in life and they believe that people are bad. More than likely that person is going to depressed and they will not be able to experience inner peace on a daily basis.

Here is What You Can Do To Change Your Perspective
Do not wait for changes to occur in your life before you change your perspective. Change how you see life right now.

1. What helps me is to count my blessings
I had to learn that as long as I am focused on what I do not have I will remain in an up roar. Instead I began to look at all of what God has provided for me. When I began to think about the goodness of the Lord, I smile and I am peace.

2. Stop comparing who you are with everyone else
I had to learn how to be happy for other people's success and not compare their success with my own because as long as I was comparing their success with my own I stayed upset. I had to learn to celebrate my own accomplishments.

3. Find the good in every situation
There is a saying about a particular lady who was known for finding the good in everybody and every situation. One day a man approached this woman and he was determined to get her to say something bad. He asked her "What do you think about the devil?" This guy actually thought that he was going to get the lady to say a bunch of negative things but instead the lady's response was "The devil is persistent!"

You have to get this one in your head, your perspective on life is going to determine your Inner Peace. I know that some times it may seem like life is not going your way but in order to maintain your inner peace you are going to have to dig deep and find good in your situation.

Try to find something about your situation that will make you smile, that will give you the feeling of gratitude or that will bring you peace. If you are able to smile, be grateful or be content you will be able to maintain your inner peace because you will be able to respond to your situation in a peaceful and calm manner.

More Useful Tips
See Only The Good
Celebrate You

Inner Peace and Joy Tip # 78: Patience

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Meditation Tip: The Book of Psalms will uplift your soul. Read Psalms chapters 76-80 for a Spirit Booster!



What I have discovered about myself is that if I wait long enough the problem will soon past.

Patience is a prerequisite for maintaining your inner peace.

When you have patience you understand that time changes some things but you have to be willing to wait.

For example if I want to lose weight, let's say 10 pounds, the first thing that I would do is make a list of the goals that I need to work on in order to achieve my objective.

I would then work and while I am working I must wait for the changes to occur. You would not set a goal to lose weight in one day. A more realistic goal would be to lose 10 pounds in a month.

That's how time and patience works. You have to be willing to wait to see the changes to take effect in your life.

Highlights of Having Patience

• When you master the skill of patience you can control your emotions. You do not get frustrated easily because you understand the importance of time and timing.

• A person who has mastered the skill of patience is also slow to anger because they see the big picture which is maintaining their inner peace

How well do you exercise patience?

More Useful Tips
Relax
Do not Worry

Inner Peace and Joy Tip # 77: Create a Vision Board

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Meditation Tip: The Book of Psalms will uplift your soul. Read Psalms chapters 71-75 for a Spirit Booster!

I get frustrated when I do not have any direction in my life and when I am frustrated I am not maintaining my state of Inner Peace. Over the years, I have learned that I focus better and I am calmer when I have objectives and goals to work towards.

I have also discovered that everybody has their own individual strengths. Some people are very creative and they have a strong imagination. These people can clearly see what it is that they want to accomplish and work towards their goals with no visual assistance.

A strong imagination is not my strength. I need pictures to help me express what it is that I am imagining in my head.

A vision board will help you to maintain your inner peace because it will help you to focus on what it is that you working towards. On your board you can post peaceful symbols, things that make you smile and things that calm you.

How To Create A Vision Board

Materials you will need:

1. Poster board
2. Markers
3. Lots of Magazines to cut out things you desire
4. Glue, tape

Instructions:
1. Use your vision board to create a visual of Inner Peace
2. In the center of your poster board use a spiritual symbol.
3. Underneath your spiritual symbol write a statement of thanks that you are receiving your desire of Inner Peace.
4. Write your statement of thanks in the present tense
5. Cut out pictures of things that make you smile, serene places, people who you love, prayers, and things that calm you down. I like the ocean. Paste these items on your poster board.
6. Place your vision board some place where you can view it often

More Useful Tips
Get Focused
Get a Plan

Inner Peace and Joy Tip # 76 : Drink Coffee

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Meditation Tip: The Book of Psalms will uplift your soul. Read Psalms chapters 66-70 for a Spirit Booster!

When I am in a stressful situation the first thing that I try to do is remove myself from the situation. That may not always be possible.

So if I am not able to remove myself from the situation, the next thing that I do is call my sister. I am an emotional being but my sister is more logical. After I finish talking to her I am usually back in a calm peaceful state.

I bet you are saying what does this have to do with drinking coffee?

Well the other option that I use to help me to calm down when I am in a stressful situation is to take a coffee break. Brewing a cup of coffee and drinking it slowly gives me enough time to calm down and get my focus back.

I also like the smell of freshly brewed coffee! I am not a tea drinker but I am sure that hot tea or even hot chocolate will have the same soothing effect

What are your favorite drinks to help you reduce stress and calm down ?

More Useful Tips
Take A Bubble Bath

Listen to Music

Inner Peace and Joy Tip #75 : Work From the Inside Out

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Meditation Tip: The Book of Psalms will uplift your soul. Read Psalms chapters 61-65 for a Spirit Booster!




I have been sharing with my auntie tips and techniques that I use to maintain my Inner Peace. The other day she asked me how well was I doing with maintaining my Inner Peace. My response was that I was doing very well because I had not dealt with many tests.

Working From The Outside In
Today, I called my auntie and I told her that I realized the reason why I was doing so well with maintaining my Inner Peace was because instead of dealing with my problems directly, I was removing all of my obstacles from out of my environment.

Whenever I faced a problem, I did not deal with the problem head on. I solved my problems by getting rid of the problem itself. The reason that I am at peace most of the time is because I have no one around me who upsets me. I call this method "Working from the outside in."

Working From The Inside Out
My method of maintaining Inner Peace is backwards because all I was doing was creating a peaceful environment and that is not how Inner Peace is suppose to work. The way that Inner Peace works is that you are suppose to have Inner Peace in the midst of your storms.

It is important that you understand that your Inner peace is all about your mindset. In other words, you have to learn how to condition your mind to be in a state of peace that is unmoved by the activities that are going on around you. When you practice changing your mindset and not your circumstance you are working from the "Inside Out".

How Do You Deal With Your Problems?

More Useful Tips
Control Your Environment
Surround Yourself Around Positive People

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Tip # 74 : Take a Warm Bubble Bath

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Meditation Tip: The Book of Psalms will uplift your soul. Read Psalms chapters 56-60 for a Spirit Booster!

There is Just Something About Bubbles
One of the first things that I learned while working on my Inner Peace is that I have limited control over my outside circumstances but I have total control over how I respond to my outside circumstances.

Once I figured that out, I begin to try to find things that I could do to help me stay peaceful on the inside regardless of what was going on in my life.

My favorite tool to help me calm down after a hectic or a stressful day is to take a warm bubble bath. I also like to place candles along side the tub. If I am really feeling like treating myself I sprinkle rose pedals in the water as well.

I don't stop there! Before I get into the tub, I place my favorite soft drink beverage , which is a "Vault", in a chilled wine glass and I turn on my favorite "Oldie but Goldies" music CD. Then I relax for about a half hour.

It never fails, after I finish taking my warm bubble bath I am refocused and back to my peaceful and calm self.

How do you relax?

More Useful Tips

Listen to Music

Laugh, Laugh and Laugh Some More

Inner Peace and Joy Tip # 73 : Pray

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Meditation Tip: The Book of Psalms will uplift your soul. Read Psalms chapters 51-55 for a Spirit Booster!

"Doctor Heal Yourself" is the message that I have been telling myself these last few days. You see I have been agitated and I do not know why. It may be due to the holidays but whatever the reason, maintaining my mental state of peace has been a challenge.

Steps I Have Taken To Maintain My Inner Peace

I tried focusing on my mental garden, which is the place that I created in my mind where I go for serenity. This did not work.

I tried seeing the good in every situation, counting my blessings and counting from 1 - 10 slowly, that didn't work either.

I tried exercising, removing myself from the situation and doing positive self talk and none of those methods worked.

I even tried taking a hot bath and a massage, yet I was still irritated and my mental state of peace was still disturbed.

After I tried to do everything that I knew how to do, I realized that this challenge required more of me than I was equipped to deal with on my own. I needed help from a Higher source, I needed to pray.

My Prayers
In my prayers I have been asking God to help me to stay focused on my inner peace and to keep me calm in stressful situations.

If you have been following my blogs, then you know that I offer an array of tools that you can choose from to help you calm down and maintain your inner peace.

Prayer is one of the best tools that you can use to maintain your mental state of peace because it takes the focus off of your problems and off of your limitations and it puts the focus on to someone who is able to help you.


How Does Prayer Help?

1. When you pray you are not focused on what you can do to help yourself but on what God can do to help you. When you believe in a power that is Higher than you, it is a relief and it takes stress off of you.
2. Prayer also allows you to communicate and let go of what is disturbing you with the hopes that you will be heard and positive changes will be made.

What steps do you take to maintain your inner peace ?

More Useful Tips
Create Your Mental Garden
Read Your Bible

Inner Peace Tip # 72 : See Only The Good

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Meditation Tip: The Book of Psalms will uplift your soul. Read Psalms chapters 46-50 for a Spirit Booster!

When you are working on maintaining your Inner Peace and living your life full of joy it is going to be important that you see only the good in every situation.

Today is Thanksgiving and my day did not start out too great mainly because I am missing my sisters. I went to work today with a slight attitude and my attitude could have remained negative all day long but I was able to recognize my emotional signals and turn my mood around.

The skill that I used to turn my negative mood around and to get centered back on my mental state of peace was to focus on what I have to be thankful for.

By the time I finished giving thanks for all of my many blessings, not only was I thankful to have a source of income I was glad to be able to be at work and share the love that God placed in me with others who are less fortunate.

The good that I was able to see in my situation was God thought enough of me to place me in the care of His youth and I am going to use this opportunity to allow God's love to beam through me.

You are in control of your emotions and you get to decide how you are going to respond in every situation. Decide beforehand that you are only going to see the good because when you focus on the good your emotional response will be positive and peaceful



How do you turn yourself around and refocus when you are in a not so favorable situation?

More Useful Tips
Change Your Attitude
Control Your Emotions

Inner Peace and Joy Tip # 71: Listen to Music

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Meditation Tip: The Book of Psalms will uplift your soul. Read Psalms chapters 41-45 for a Spirit Booster!


A great tip for helping you to calm down when you are agitated is listen to music.

I like to listen to the jazz station when I am riding home from work because instrumental sounds calms me down and it helps me to release and relax.

I also noticed that when I listen to loud music or music with negative lyrics, I have to work extra hard on maintaining my Inner Peace.

Exercise: Build A List of Calm Music

1. Start paying attention to how the music you listen to affects your mood
2. Check your mood before you begin listening, while you are listening and after you listen to the music
3. Make a list of all of the music that you listen to that is calm and relaxing
   
4. Upload those songs on your Ipod or make a CD

Whenever you are having a chaotic day or if you need to just release and relax, you can take a few minutes and listen to your "calm" music to regain your mental state of peace.

How do you calm down?

More Useful Tips
Count Slowly
Relax

Inner Peace and Joy Tip # 70: Live in the Now

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Meditation Tip: The Book of Psalms will uplift your soul. Read Psalms chapters 36-40 for a Spirit Booster!




A key factor in working towards maintaining your Inner Peace and living your life full of Joy is going to be how well you are able to stay focused and live in the present.

Have you ever come in contact with a person who is upset with someone else and they are venting with you about the person whom they are upset with? Normally the person whom you are talking to is crying or really angry.

When I run across this particular scenario, I normally let the person who is upset vent but if they are still upset after they vent,I ask them a very important question, "Is anybody is hurting you right now?" If the person is slow to respond, I ask them to look around and see who is in the room with right now. The expected answer is that we are the only two people who are in the room right now and nobody is hurting them, or arguing with them or causing them to be upset at this exact moment.

Once I get the person to realize that it is just me and them in the room and no one is hurting them right now, the next step is to get the person to realize that they are carrying their emotional pain in their head.

To help prove my point, I say to them "I am not experiencing any emotional pain and I am in the room with you. If it were raining, we both would experience the wet feeling of the rain drops because that is external. The reason why I am not experiencing the hurt and pain that you are experiencing is because it is internal and you are carrying those feelings over from another incident. Those emotions are occurring in your head and not in this room."

The final step is to get the person to focus on what is happening in the room right now. Usually if I can get the person to grasp hold to the concept that in the present moment they are not in danger then I can get them to focus on living in the moment. At that point they will be able to experience a calm and peaceful state of being.

More Useful Tips
Create Your Mental Garden
Count Slowly

Inner Peace and Joy Tip #69:Walk In Truth

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Meditation Tip: The Book of Psalms will uplift your soul. Read Psalms chapters 31-35 for a Spirit Booster!

You can maintain your Inner Peace and live your life full of Joy by doing something as simple as telling the truth.


How Does Telling A Lie Compromise Your Inner Peace?
Have you ever heard the ole saying that if you tell one lie, then you will have to tell another one to cover up the first lie? Well, this is a true statement. When you start telling lies, unless you have a great memory, you are going to have to write down your lies down and then pull them out whenever you are talking to the person in order to remember the first lie you told. Now, how ridiculous will that look!

You should get in the practice of telling the truth because when you tell the truth you are being natural. And when you are being natural you can maintain your inner peace because you do not have to worry about get all stressed out trying to figure out all the other lie was that you told.

Do You Live A Truthful Life or A False Live?
Telling the truth does not just extend to the words that come out of your mouth telling the truth also extends to how you live your life. God created each and every person to be a very special and unique creation. When you live your life trying to be somebody else or trying to be the person who someone else wants you to be you are not going to be able to maintain your Inner Peace or live your life with Joy because you are going to be out of order.

At some point in your life you are going to have to take a stand for yourself and just Be who you are regardless of who society wants you to be. When you walk in truth you are going to be able to maintain your Inner Peace because you are going to be one with yourself.


More Useful Tips
Be Yourself

Love The Skin That You Are In

Inner Peace and Joy Tip#68: Count Slowly

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Meditation Tip: The Book of Psalms will uplift your soul. Read Psalms chapters 26- 30 for a Spirit Booster!

Have you ever been in a stressful situation and you could not leave the room. Well, I am in this situation daily. I manage a group home for at risk boys and they threaten my inner peace daily. If you have teenage children then you know that they require your attention and they have special needs that you must attend to. This can be stressful but it does not have to be once you learn how to master your stress from the inside out and not outside in.

Now when I am in a stressful situation, such as one of the boys may be verbally abusive or causing chaos, at the same time another boy may need my assistance, and to top it all off the phone is ringing. In a situation such as this, I really want to just pull my hair and run out of the house but the reality of the situation is I can not leave the boys unattended.

So, what I do is a breathing exercise. This exercise is really quick and you can do it right where you are at.

Exercise
Try counting from 1-10 very slowly. As you count inhale and exhale

• 1 (deeply inhale) (slowly exhale)
• 2 (deeply inhale) (slowly exhale)
• 3 (deeply inhale) (slowly exhale)
• 4 (deeply inhale) (slowly exhale)
• 5 (deeply inhale) (slowly exhale)
• 6 (deeply inhale) (slowly exhale)
• 7 (deeply inhale) (slowly exhale)
• 8 (deeply inhale) (slowly exhale)
• 9 (deeply inhale) (slowly exhale)
• 10 (deeply inhale) (slowly exhale)

When you count 1-10 very slowly, it gives you the time you need to refocus and get centered. By the time that I reach number 8, I am usually calm and able to deal with each situation.

Share with me what you do to keep your inner peace when you are in a stressful situation

More Useful Tips
Know Your Triggers
Relax

Inner Peace and Joy Tip #67 : Create Your Mental Garden

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Meditation Tip: The Book of Psalms will uplift your soul. Read Psalms chapters 21- 25 for a Spirit Booster!



Whenever you find yourself getting agitated try this exercise to help you to maintain your Inner Peace.

How To Create Your Very Own Mental Garden

1. What place or event brings you Joy? For myself, I love the beach or a nice peaceful garden.
2. Imagine yourself being in your special place or with your loved ones.
3. Visualize with clarity your garden. See the colors and smell the flowers.
   
4. Imagine that you are walking in your garden or sitting on the bench
5. Invite your special loved one(s) to visit you in your Garden
6. See yourself at Peace and full of Joy while you are in your Garden

When you are in the beginning stages of learning how to maintain your Inner Peace you are going to need tools to stay centered and focused. Remember that your Inner Peace is a mental thing! A great tool that you can use to stay focused mentally is to go to your Garden.

Share With Me The Garden That You Visualize

More Useful Tips
Clear Your Mind
Seek Solitude

Inner Peace and Joy Tip #66: Be Thankful

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Meditation Tip: The Book of Psalms will uplift your soul. Read Psalms chapters 16-20 for a Spirit Booster!






The Reason that Gratitude is Important
As Thanksgiving nears, I want to talk about Gratitude and how it plays a major role in helping you to maintain your Inner Peace and live your life full of Joy. The reason why Gratitude is important is because the way that you are going to be able to maintain your mental state of Peace is by keeping your mind focused on peaceful thoughts.

You are going to have to train your mind to be at Peace even when things are not so peaceful. One simple thing that you can do to train your mind to remain peaceful is by being grateful and giving thanks.

Here is How it Works ...
Let's be honest, when you spend your time complaining about what is going wrong in your life, how do you feel? As for myself, I get depressed and upset when I focus on everything that is going wrong in my life. The truth is, being upset is not going to help the matter and if you are upset then you are not at peace nor are you experiencing Joy.

On the other hand when you constantly give thanks for the good things that are going on in your life, you will find that your focus will shift from off of what is going wrong in your life to what is right in your life. When your thoughts are on the "right things" you tend to respond with comfort and peace.

So when you find yourself focusing on what you do not have and what is going wrong in your life, start giving thanks and watch your emotions shift to a peaceful and calm state versus being upset or depressed.

Write me and let me know if this step is helpful
More Useful Tips
Change Your Attitude
Control Your Emotions

Inner Peace and Joy Tip # 65: Peel Back the Onion

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Meditation Tip: The Book of Psalms will uplift your soul. Read Psalms chapters 11-15 for a Spirit Booster!




Do You Let People Take Your Inner Peace and Joy?
"Have you ever found yourself in a situation in which you allowed a person's behavior to result in you losing your mental state of peace?" How about this one, "Have you ever dreaded going some place because you knew that once you arrived, you were going to be around people whose behaviors irked you?"

If you have, then this blog is for you! This blog post will show you how to dig deep inside of yourself and conquer any negative emotions that you have attached to certain behaviors which may be prohibiting you from maintaining your inner peace and living your life full of joy.

Figure Out the "Why"
When you find yourself around people who are really irking you, ask yourself "Which behaviors in particular are annoying you?" It is going to be important that you realize that it is not the person who is irking you, it is their behavior.

After you figure out which behaviors in other people are annoying you, the next thing you are going to need to do is ask yourself "Why are you associating negative emotions with certain behaviors?"

How I Peeled Back the Layers of My Life
For myself, I had to peel back the onion all the way back to my childhood. The behavior which annoys me the most is "disrespect." I figured out that the reason why disrespect annoys me so much is because my mother was a single parent and the community frowned upon her and her lifestyle. I grew up having to learn how to give a blind eye to negative gestures and a deaf ear to ill comments.

I thought that I had buried all of the pain that I felt when I was growing up but what was actually happening was those feelings were resurrected ever time that I came in contact with some one whom I felt like was disrespecting me.

I didn't realize it but I was actually associating my pain of being disrespected as a child with the behavior of disrespect that I felt when I came in contact with others.

Now What?
Once, I peeled back my onion, I was able to recognize my true cause of being annoyed when I was disrespected. I was able to conquer disrespect by recognizing the root and forgiving my past. Now, when I am in a disrespectful situation it does not bother me because I no longer hold on to the feelings of my past.

You have to do the same thing and find out which feelings you are attaching to certain behaviors that are distracting you from being able to maintain your mental state of peace. This process may require that you dig deep in order to identify the root cause. The way that you are going to be able to conquer the emotions that you are associating with certain behaviors is by releasing the negative feelings. You can practice release through forgiveness.

Leave a comment and share with me the behaviors that you need to conquer.

More Useful Tips
Be True To Yourself

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Tip #64: Claim Your Throne

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Meditation Tip: The Book of Psalms will uplift your soul. Read Psalms chapters 6-10 for a Spirit Booster!


YOUR KINGDOM

Did you know that you were born to be a King or a Queen?

Yes, you were born to be a Ruler!

Your Kingdom is as far reaching as you can imagine!

The location is........

• Your Mind-

Your Mind is your Kingdom and you have the Authority to Rule over your Thoughts.

If I could see your face, I bet I would see a look of surprise because you were expecting me to say that your Kingdom is a piece of land located at somewhere/nowhere.

Believe it or not, that's where most people miss their chance to be a Ruler because they are looking outside for their kingdom instead of looking inside of themselves.



• Your Thoughts

Have you ever heard people say, "I can not wait until I see Jesus so that I can go to Heaven and have eternal peace."? The truth is , you do not have to die and go to Heaven in order to experience Peace. You can have heaven here on earth once you learn the necessary skills to maintain a mental state of peace at all times.

The thoughts that you entertain in your mind determines your emotional state of being. If you want to live in a mental state of Peace regardless of what your outside circumstances are, then you have to learn how to condition your mind to focus only on peaceful and calm thoughts.


• Ruler
Up to this point, you may have been living your life based on impulses and you probably have not payed any attention to what your thoughts were when you were happy-go-lucky or when you were in a Funk.

A skill that you are going to have to learn as a Ruler is to pay attention to the thoughts that run across your mind through the course of a day. You are also going to have to learn how to distinguish the constructive thoughts from the destructive thoughts. You are going to want to keep the constructive thoughts in your kingdom and get rid of the destructive thoughts.


Types of Constructive Thoughts
Positive Thoughts
Thoughts that bring you Joy
Thoughts that are loving
Thoughts that are Kind

Types of Destructive Thoughts
Thoughts that make you depressed
Thoughts that makes you angry
Thoughts that stir hate
Thoughts that are lustful

The way that you are going to maintain a mental state of Peace is to take control of your thoughts. Many people do this through meditation but you can also accomplish the same goal by being mindful of your thoughts and practicing techniques to rid your mind of destructive thoughts and replenish your mind with constructive thoughts.

Inner Peace and Joy Tip # 63 : Control Your Environment

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Meditation Tip: The Book of Psalms will uplift your soul. Read Psalms chapters 1-5 for a Spirit Booster.

My Story
I started on my venture to maintain my Inner Peace about four months ago. The reason why I say "Maintain Inner Peace" and not "Get Inner Peace" is because I believe that it is God who gives the gift of Inner Peace but you have to be taught the skills on how to maintain your Inner Peace.

Tips for Beginners
When you are just starting out learning how to maintain your Inner Peace, you do not have all of the skills that you are going to need to be in total control of your emotions. So in the beginning stages it will be easier for you to maintain your Inner Peace by learning how to control your environment.

How To Control Your Environment
Have you ever been to an Alcoholic Anonymous (AA) meeting? One of the steps that they teach their members is that when you are working on your recovery you have to get rid of the people, places and things that are working against your sobriety.

This same principle works for maintaining your Inner Peace.

• When you are striving towards maintaining your mental state of peace you do not need to be around people who like to stir up trouble, loud mouths, gossipers or people who have bad attitudes.


• The reason why is because your mental state of peace is going to stem from how well you are able to respond emotionally to your circumstances. If you are calm and joyful to what is going on in your life, then you are going to feel good. That "good feeling" is peace.


• If you are in a chaotic situation and you have not learned how to focus on the positive you will respond in a negative manner. That "negative feeling" leads to emotional unrest and if you are not feeling good about your situation at that moment you are not at peace.

Until you develop the skills that you need to maintain your Inner Peace regardless of what is going on around you, make things easy for yourself and have people around you whom you naturally respond to in a positive manner.

3 Things I Do To Control My Environment
1. Just because my telephone rings does not mean that I have to answer the telephone. When I look at my caller i.d. and I see that the caller is somebody who is always gloomy, I don't answer.

2. I love people from a distance-I had to let several people in my life go because their behavior resulted in me compromising my Inner Peace. This was difficult for me because some of the people were my family members and childhood friends.

3. Remove outdated contacts- I go through my cell phone contact list regularly and I remove the names of people who have nothing positive to add to my life.

You are in control of your life and it is your responsibility to take the necessary steps to ensure that you maintain your Inner Peace.

More Useful Tips
Be Joyful
Protect Your Peace

Inner Peace and Joy Tip #62: Know The 3 P's

The Book of Proverbs is loaded with wisdom nuggets. Read Proverbs 31, pull out the wisdom nuggets and apply them to your life.




When you are working on maintaining your Inner Peace and living a life full of joy, you are going to have to learn how to control your thoughts. Learning how to control you thoughts sounds easy but it is not an easy task. Controlling your thoughts is going to require the 3 P's

• Practice
  
• Patience
• Perseverance

Practice
Many thoughts run through your mind daily. I have thoughts of lust, hunger, anger, mistrust, sleepy, joy, love, entertainment, work etc.

Some of the thoughts that run through your head are healthy but other thoughts are harmful in your pursuit of maintaining your Inner Peace. It is important that you analyze the thoughts that are in your head and weed out the ones that are arbitrary to your Inner Peace.

Weeding out your negative thoughts is not a one time affair. You have to practice this process daily until you get to the root of your negative thoughts and some of your negative thoughts may be deeply rooted.

Patience
Learning how to control your thoughts is going to require a lot of patience on your part because you are doing a mental cleanse.

One way of looking at it is, it took you many years for you to develop the thoughts that you carry around with you as of date so it is going to take many years to remove those same thoughts from your mind.

After you mastered removing the negative thoughts from your mind you are still going to have to have the patience to work on filling your mind with new positive thoughts.

Perseverance
When you are working on maintaining your Inner Peace and living a life full of joy you are going to have to learn how to persevere even when things do not look like they are going your way.

Your mental cleanse may take several years before you see the full results and you may be tempted to give up but you have to keep going no matter how long it may take.


Remember: Maintaining your Inner Peace is not an easy task but if you keep working on cleansing your thoughts of negative thoughts and replenishing your mind with positive thoughts you will see the results of Inner Peace.

More Useful Tips:
How to Persevere
Clear Your Mind

Inner Peace and Joy Tip # 61: Make Better Choices

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Meditation Tip:The Book of Proverbs is loaded with wisdom nuggets. Read Proverbs 30, pull out the wisdom nuggets and apply them to your life

As you go through life, you are going to make some great choices and you are going to make some not -so- great choices. It should be no problem for you to maintain your Inner Peace when you have made great choices because you are already satisfied with the results of your choices.

The challenge is going to come when you have to be at peace with the not-so-great choices that you have made in the past.

How To Be At Peace With Bad Choices
You are where you are in life today based on the choices that you made yesterday.
Here are a few questions that you should ask yourself
1. Do you like where you are today?
2. Do you like your job?
3. Do you like you weight?

When you spend your time regretting your choices for a long period of time you are not going to be experiencing Inner Peace at that time. Here is why: Regret is a sorrowful state or a state of feeling a loss and when you regret your choices for over a long period of time that feeling of sorrow is in direct opposition to being in a calm and peaceful mental state.

The way that you are going to return to a calm and peaceful state after you have made bad choices in your life is through ACCEPTANCE. You have to accept that you have made those bad choices in the past and you have to accept that you can not go back and change the past. The great thing is you you can move forward by TAKING ACTION and making better choices starting where you are at today.

How To Make The Right Choices

1. If you do not like where you are today, what actions can you take to start the process of getting to where you want to be?

• Do you have a definitive plan of where you want to be?
  
• Do you have goals that you are working on daily to get to where you want to be?
  
• Do you have a time line that you are working towards?

2. If you do not like your job, what actions can you take to start the process of getting a better job?

• Do you need to acquire better skills?
  
• Do you need to update your resume? Do you need to start your own business?
• Do you need more education?

3. If you do not like your weight, what actions can you take to start the process of being healthier?

• Do you need to change your life style?
• Do you need to implement an exercise plan?
  
• Do you need to get educated on how to eat to live?

When you stop regretting the bad choices that you made in the past and work towards making good choices you go from feeling out of control to being back in control of your life. That sense of having control over your life and the choices that you make will return your mental state back to being at Peace.

More Useful Tips:
Do Not Be Sorry
Do Not Worry