Inner Peace and Joy Tip # 96: Play the Hand That Life Has Dealt You Like a Winner

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




What Does Being Happy Have To Do With The Card Game Spades?
I am not great at playing cards, in fact some people would say that I am a sore loser, but it is from playing cards that I have learned one of life's most valuable lessons and that is "How to be Happy no Matter What Hand I am Dealt With in Life."

Are you familiar with the card game 'Spades'? Basically, Spades is a game of chance that is played for fun between four people who are paired in two's. The dealer deals each player thirteen cards from a fifty two card deck. You never know which cards you are going to get. You may get a winner's hand or a loser's hand but no matter what hand you get you have to give the impression that you are playing with a winner's hand.

What is A Winner's Hand
When I am dealt a hand that consists of all the high cards and a few low cards, I get excited because I know that I have a winner's hand. As a matter of fact, every one who is playing at the table also knows that I have a winner's hand because my attitude and my emotions change. You can see it written on my face; I get excited and I started talking and playing with confidence.

Now on the other hand if I am dealt a hand with a lot of low cards and a few high cards, immediately I know that I have a loser's hand. Again everyone at the table also knows that I am playing with a loser's hand because my face expression changes and I start frowning. I may even throw in my hand and shuffle all of my cards with every one else cards. Remember, I told you that I am a sore loser.

How to be Happy With the Hand Life Has Dealt You
Life is like playing cards because just like the card game 'Spades' life is a game of chance. Some people have more advantages than others, this is a fact, however if you dwell on that you will never be able to fully live a happy life. Instead of pouting over your hand, you have to take the hand that has been dealt to you and play it to the best of your ability.

The wonderful thing about life is, nobody knows your hand. Think about it, nobody would ever know how well or how bad things are going in your life unless you tell them, give it away with your emotions or you display it with your attitude.

3 Tips for Playing Like a Winner

• Keep a straight face: Try to try not to show too much emotions. You do not want to come across as too happy or too unhappy. The best way that you can live your life like a winner is to try to be calm and relaxed at all times.

• Have a positive attitude: You will be a lot happier if you focus on the good things about your life instead of complaining about all of the things that are not right. If you do not like the hand that life has dealt you, do something about it but complaining is not going to make it any better.
  

• Dress like a winner: Always try to dress your best and keep your hygiene up to par. When people see you they should see a winner. You clothes should be ironed and your shirt should be tucked in.

More Useful Tips:
Dress Your Best
Maintain a Positive Self-Image

Inner Peace and Joy Tip #95: Manage Your Time

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



Inner Peace and Time Management
The purpose of maintaining your mental state of peace is being able to be joyful, peaceful, calm and relaxed at all times instead of being agitated, frustrated, overwhelmed and confused most of the time. A great tip to help you to be able to maintain your mental state of peace is to have order in your life. I have found that when I have order in my life, I am better able to maintain my Inner Peace because things go smoothly and I am not stressed out. I have listed 5 tips that you can do to help you manage your time in order to keep your Inner Peace:

5 Time Management Tips
1. Prioritize : It is easy to become frustrated and overwhelmed when you have a lot of things to do and so little time to get them done. A great tip to help you maintain your Inner Peace is to prioritize. When you prioritize you are going to feel relieved and calm at the end of the day because you took care of the most important things first.

2. Write a to-do-list daily: Another thing that you can do to keep order in your day is to daily write out on a piece of paper all of the things that you need to accomplish in the course of a day. This will help you to maintain your Inner Peace because it will eliminate the frustration of operating based on your memory or impulse.

3. Work according to your biological time line: Are you a morning, evening or night person? You will be surprised how much more peaceful and at ease you will be when you set your schedule to work during the times that are best suited for you biological time line.

4. Set a time limit on your tasks:In order to make the best use of your time you are going to have to set time limits on your tasks and stick to them. What's going to happen if you do not set a time limit to your tasks you may work for hours at a time on one project and not get anything else done.

5. Set a Routine: You should get in the habit of setting a schedule and following your schedule. When you follow your schedule you will be able to effectively manage your time and you will be more productive. The more order that you can have in your day the more peaceful, calm and joyful you will be.

More Useful Tips
Prioritize
Make a to-do-list

Inner Peace and Joy Tip # 94: Praise God

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



I am working on maintaining my Inner Peace but I have to confess that sometimes if I do not watch it, I will slip into a state of being discouraged.

Discouragement and Inner Peace
When I am discouraged God always sends me a word to give me hope and encouragement. This Word can come in the form of my reading a scripture, books, watching television or listening to the radio etc.

My word of encouragement came at a much needed time today because when I start thinking about where I am in my life as compared to where I hoped to be I start feeling sad, I do not want to leave my home and I feel drained. I am normally an upbeat and joyful person so when I am discouraged my mind is not at a peaceful state of being.

Encouraging Words
I was riding in my car and listening to an interview that Big Tigger was having with the singer Omarion about his latest CD "Illusion". What stood out for me about this interview was that when Big Tigger asked Omarion what was the biggest illusion in the music industry he replied (paraphrased) "People give the illusion to have more than they got instead of appreciating the quality of life that they do have"

I said to myself, Wow! I may not have all that I want to have but I have a pretty good life and then immediately I began to Praise God. The more I praised God for the good things in my life the better I felt about myself and the more encouraged I was to keep working on maintaining my Inner Peace.

What to do when you are discouraged
When you are working on maintaining your Inner Peace you have to be conscious of all of the ways that your Inner Peace may be threatened. Your Inner Peace may be attacked subtly in the form of discouragement.

Once you become aware that you are not at a mental state of peace due to being discouraged you can get encouraged by :

• Thanking God for waking you up this morning
• Thanking God for having a good night sleep
• Thanking God for your body and good mental and physical health
• Thanking God for running water and a roof over your head
• Thanking God for having food to eat
• Thanking God for your family being alive and healthy
• Thanking God for having a car with gas
• Thanking God for having a job
• Etc.
  

And then start praising God

• Praise God for being a God who is forgiving (Reflect)
  
• Praise God for God's unconditional love for you (Reflect)
  
• Praise God for being a Provider (Reflect)
  
• Praise God for taking an interest in you (Reflect)
  
• Praise God for being a Healing God (Reflect)
  
• Praise God for never leaving you or forsaking you (reflect)
  
• Praise God for alone being God (Reflect)
  
• Praise God for God is working things out for your good (Reflect)
• Etc

I have found that praising God when you are discouraged will help you to maintain your Inner Peace because it will help you change your perspective from focusing on what is going wrong in your life to what is going right. When you get into the habit of praising God throughout the day, you can not help but get encouraged.

I look forward to reading your comments on how Praising God has helped you to maintain your Inner Peace.

More Useful Tips
Pray
Change Your Perspective

Inner and Joy Tip #93: Identify Trigger Events

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

A great tip on how to maintain a peaceful and calm state of mind is to identify the events that causes you to become upset in the first place. When you are able to identify the events that triggers you to become upset, then you can work on developing a "Plan of Action" or ways that you can respond in a calm, peaceful manner the next time you are in that particular situation.


What are your triggers? What gets you to escalate to become angry?

• Is it long waits in a line at a grocery store, department store or the place where you pay your bills?
  
• Is it being on a crowded elevator, on a crowded bus or in a crowded building?
• If a friend were to joke about a sensitive topic, would that trigger you to become upset?
• What if you were wrongly accused, would you get upset?
• If you continually had to clean up someone's mess, how would you react?
• What if you had an untidy roommate, would that upset you?
• How would you respond if you had a neighbor who plays their music way too loud?
• Do you get upset when you are on a telephone call and you are placed on hold for long periods of time?
• How would you respond if you asked someone for directions but you later found that they gave you the wrong directions?
• If someone was to spread a false rumor about you, would that trigger you to become upset?
• Would you respond peacefully if you found out that your money or property was stolen from you?

The event that use to trigger me to get upset before I started working on maintaining my Inner Peace was being around mean spirited people who would say things to intentionally hurt my feelings. My normal response was to shut down and think negative thoughts about the person such as "They are so mean, I am not going to talk to them any more" or "I can not wait for them to say something to me again because when they do I am going to give them a piece of my mind"


It was not until I started paying attention to all of the things that caused me to become upset that I was able to actually pin point the events that triggered me to get upset. After that, I was able to practice positive ways that I could respond the next time I was face to face with a mean spirited person who tried to hurt my feelings .

I have came in contact with many mean spirited people since I have been on my journey to maintain my Inner Peace and the way that I respond now is instead of shutting down when someone tries to hurt my feelings, I just say to myself, "They are mean but I will pray for them" or "Thank God, I do not have to live in the house with that person".

What Events Triggers You to Become Upset?

More Useful Tips
Practice to Maintain Your Inner Peace
Know Your Triggers

Inner Peace and Joy Tip #92: Volunteer

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



When I was studying Divinity at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia, I learned a valuable lesson on how to maintain my Inner Peace and that is,"As long as you are busy helping somebody else you will not have time to focus on what is going wrong in your life."

As a theological student, we were required to take a pastoral care class. The clinical portion of this class required each student to volunteer a certain amount of hours twice a week at a hospital, prison or church. The students were suppose to engage with the people who frequented the facilities and listen to what they had to say about their problems or what ever they were going through in their lives.You did not necessarily have to offer advice but if anyone wanted prayer, you were welcome to pray for them.

I decided to do my clinical hours at a nearby church in Atlanta, Georgia. At the church, I helped with the food bank and I was responsible for helping with the signing in process, bagging up the food, distributing the food and cleaning up. It did not take me long to notice that the majority of the people who came to get the free food were homeless people.

The food bank was opened from around 1o:00 am - 3pm on Mondays. Many of the homeless people would come to the church hours before the food bank actually opened to receive prayer. The others would come early in order to be the first in line and get the better choices of food.

I looked at the people's early arrival as my opportunity to get acquainted with them and earn my clinical hours. I was able to befriended a few people during the three months that I volunteered. Some people were eager to talk to me and others were standoffish.

I thought that working at the food bank was going to be stressful because at the time I was a full-time student, I had a full-time job and I still had to squeeze in the time to do my clinical. Instead of being stressed, something wonderful happened to me as I befriended and served the homeless. I discovered that as long as I was helping them, I was not concentrating on any of my problems.

Volunteering is a great way to help you maintain your Inner Peace because it keeps your mind focused on giving and when you are giving you are not focusing on "self." If you would like to volunteer, you can look in your local phone book for tons of opportunities.

More Useful Tips
Honest Work
Clear Your Mind

Inner Peace and Joy Tip # 91: Just Say "Okay"

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



Have you ever lost your cool because you were trying to win an argument or convince someone that you were right and that they were wrong? How did it make you feel? I bet you probably got upset when the person stood fast on their opinion or when the person tried to contradict your opinion.

I can remember before I started practicing Inner Peace Tips, how I use to get hot-headed when someone told me that I was wrong especially when I knew that I was right. I would not stop trying to defend my position until I gathered and presented all of the facts to prove to the other person that I was right and that they were wrong. At the end of the argument, I would have a look of victory on my face and then I would say "I told you so!"

Well, when you are working on maintaining your Inner Peace you are going to have to learn how to be level headed in all situations. Remember that your state of inner peace is a calm, serene state and when you get all bent out of shape just because somebody does not agree with you then you are the loser even if you win the argument because you have lost your most valuable prize which is your "Inner Peace".

How to Win an Argument
The way that you can keep your cool when you are in a conversation and you know that the other person is wrong, is just by saying "okay". When you willingly concede, then you are not allowing yourself to be pulled into an argument. I am telling you right now, that it is not going to be easy to always concede and say "Okay" especially when you know that you are right, but with enough discipline and with the foresight that you are maintaining your Inner Peace every time that you concede to an argument, you will be able to do it.

If I were near you now, I bet I could hear you saying, "Why should I concede to an argument when I know that I am right?" Well, the reason is because it is not about who is right and who is wrong it is about maintaining your Inner Peace and when you concede and allow the other person to speak, your mental state will remain calm and peaceful.

Now, let me ask you a question, what is your motive, especially if you know for a fact that you are right and by proving the other person wrong you are just going to make that person feel bad? The reason why you should just say "Okay" when you are around a person who you know does not have all of their facts together is because you do not have to prove to anyone that you are right if it is going to cause an argument but you are responsible for maintaining your Inner Peace.

More Useful Tips
How to Discipline Yourself
Bury Your Grudges

Inner Peace and Joy Tip # 90: Call Your Mother

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


Release Your Frustrations
Have you ever had a bad day at work, school or just a plain ole bad day in general? How did you feel? What did you do to release the energy that you were feeling? Did you release the energy in the form of frustration, agitation or anger?

When you are working on maintaining a mental state of peace you are going to have to find positive ways of expressing your energy when you are feeling stressed out. You should not keep all of your frustrations bottled up inside because what ends up happening when you keep your emotions bottled up is that they will just keep building up and building up until one day you will have an emotional explosion.

Talk to Someone/Call Your Mother
One positive way that you can release your energy and maintain your Inner Peace is by talking to someone. When you talk to someone it will help you to remain calm and peaceful because it will give you a chance to let off some of your steam. When I am in a stressful situation, sometimes all that I really need to do to keep my peace is to have someone who I can vent to. Usually after I vent I feel a lot better.

One person in particular that stands out as a great person to talk to is your mother. Mom's are great because they seem to have a natural tendency to listen and to understand their children when they are upset. Mother's always seem to know the right words to say to calm their children down. If you do not have access to your mother you should work on building a circle of friends that you can confide in.

Build A Network Of Friends
It is going to be a good idea to start developing an inner circle of friends that you can talk to when you are having a stressful day. Call up a few of your friends and ask them if it will be okay if you could call them from time to time when necessary just to vent. You need to make sure that your circle of friends will be patient with you, will sincerely listen to you and will not judge you when you are releasing your frustration to them.

Here is a suggested list of people you can call to help you calm down:

• Your Mother
• Your Parents
• Your Spouse
• Your Siblings
• Your Pastor
• Your Significant Other
• Your Best Friend
• Your Spiritual Adviser


If you have someone who you confide in and they help you to calm down, please feel free to add to this list.



More Useful Tips
Know Your Triggers
Surround Yourself Around Positive People

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?

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Relax
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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

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Get Focused
Get a Plan