30 Minute Routine That Will Condition Your Mind For Happiness

I am a happy person so I can tell you that having a happy day every day is not an accident, it requires work on your part. I want to share with you my system of being happy everyday. The key to my happiness can be
summarized in my 30 minute routine that conditions my mind for happiness.

How to Condition Your Mind For Happiness in 30 Minutes
Every night before you go to bed and as soon as you wake up in the morning you should declare out loud "Today is going to be a Great Day!" When you declare that you are going to have a great day it is at that point that your happiness begins.
After you declare out loud that you are going to have a great day, the next thing that you have to do is work towards having a fantastic day. You can work towards having a terrific day by following these three simple steps. The three steps are: 1. Read inspirational scripture 2. Listen to inspirational music and 3. Laugh

#1 Read Inspirational Scripture
The most important thing that you can do to have a great day is to include God in your plans. In the morning take about 10 minutes of your time and read inspirational scripture. Psalms and Proverbs are great scriptures to read to help you start your day off to a great start. You can also read inspirational quotes, a poem, or a chapter from a book that inspires you.

#2 Listen to Inspirational Music
After you spend 10 minutes reading your inspirational scripture, the next thing you can do to ensure that your day goes well, is to spend 10 minutes of your time listening to inspirational music. I enjoy gospel music because it centers my attention on God, however, you can play any type of music that you desire. You just need to make sure that the song of your choice gets your juices pumping.

#3 Laugh
The third step in your 30 minute routine is to just laugh out loud for 10 minutes. Laughing helps you to release all of the negative forces of the day which may attempt to hinder you from having the best day of your life. Laughing is great because if you are able to laugh then you know that whatever happens in the course of the day is not that serious.

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Tip: Take the Happy Test

How Happy Are You?

I just recently purchased the book "Happy" by Dr. Ian Smith. You may be familiar with Dr. Ian Smith from the Celebrity Fit Club. In the book "Happy", Dr. Ian Smith asked the question "Where are the happiest people in the world?" Well my first response was California, Hawaii or Florida.

Maybe I am a little bit biased but for me, wherever there is the combination of sunshine and ocean there is also happiness. Well as I continued to read the book, I became aware that America is not even close to being the place where you would find the happiest people in the world.

The happiest people in the world are in Denmark. Yes, Denmark! The reason that the people who live in Denmark are considered to be the happiest is because they place more emphasis on doing things that brings them joy such as spending time with their families and other meaningful activities.

On the hand, the reason why people in the States do not fare high on the list of happiest people are because they place emphasis on chasing money and material possessions which means working long hours of work. If you are at work most of the time then you do not have any time to pursue the things that will make you happy.

Take The Happy Test

Dr. Ian Smith, also stated that  much of your happiness is genetic. Yes, genetic!He said that their is a set point  for your happiness and this point varies in people. Your set point is sorta like a weight set point. You can alter your happiness set point some, but not dramatically. How do you feel about this statement...

Your ability to experience happiness is also based on your environment and how well you are able to respond to your environment.


Take the Happiness Test and Measure Your Happiness
The "Satisfaction with Life Scale" is a test created by Psychologist Ed Drier. This test is a list of 5 questions that will help you to get an idea of you level of happiness

7-Strongly Agree

6-Agree

5- Slightly Agree

4-Neither agree nor disagree

3-Slightly disagree

2-Disagree

1-Strongly disagree

___In most ways my life is close to my ideal.
___The conditions of my life are excellent.
___ I am satisfied with my life.
___So far I have gotten the important things that I want in my life
___If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing

Add up your scores and compare the total the the table below

• 35-31 Extremely satisfied
• 26-30 Satisfied
• 21-25 Slightly satisfied
• 20 Neutral
• 15-19 Slightly dissatisfied
• 10-14 Dissatisfied
• 5-9 Extremely dissatisfied

Dr. Ian Smith "3 Step Happiness Plan"

Dr. Ian Smith offers a "Happiness Plan" to help you improve your happiness set point.

Step #1: List five things that are meaningful in your life but are not money or material possessions

1._______________________________
2._______________________________
3._______________________________
4._______________________________
5._______________________________


Step #2: Take the five items that you listed above and estimate the amount of time you spend each week doing them experiencing them, or thinking about them.


1._____________________ hrs. per week___
2._____________________ hrs. per week___
3._____________________ hrs. per week____
4. _____________________hrs. per week____
5._____________________ hrs. per week____




Step #3: Increase your happiness time
Increase your happiness time by simply reorganizing your time so that you have more time to do the things that are meaningful to you.




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Be The Best Person You Can Be

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Tip: Be Positive

Imagine a Super hero, someone like the marvel comic character Shazam. Shazam is the super hero who wears the Lightening Bolt on his chest.

This Super hero that I want you to imagine is somewhat different from the marvel comic Shazam because this Super hero has dual sides to his personality; one side is a Hero and the other side is a Villain. When this character is operating as a hero he is very positive. When this character is operating as a Villain he is very negative. What makes this character so powerful is that he has the power to chooses to be Super hero and be positive or he can choose to be a Villain and be negative.

When the character is in his dynamic positive mode he is capable of throwing positive energy balls. These positive energy can positively effect the recipient by building that person up.

On the other hand, when this character is in his dynamic negative mode he has the power of throwing negative energy bolts which can tear down the souls of numerous of people. These negative energy bolts are his most powerful weapon because he can use his negative energy bolts to tear down people versus building them up.

3 Types of Negative Energy Bolts

The three types of negative energy bolts that the Villain uses to destroy the lives of others are:

1. Bad Attitude
2. Complain All of the Time
3. Shoot Down Your Dreams

#1 "Bad Attitude"
The Bad Attitude energy bolt is the Villain most powerful weapon because when the Villain is negative mode then that that means that his source of energy is coming from within and the only way to put out his negative energy source is to change what he is thinking about, respond better to his situation or work on making positive changes instead of dwelling on the negative aspects of his life. When the Villain is in negative mode then that means that he feels hopeless about his situation and instead of trying to work positively on changing what is going wrong in his life, he chooses to project his negativity on to you.

#2 "Complaining"
The Villain can also throw negative energy bolts by complaining all of the time. When he is in complaining mode he throws several energy bolts at one time. He aims his bolts at you by using this weapon to find fault in every thing you do no matter how big or how small. When the Villain is throwing the negative energy bolt "complaining" you have to really watch out because more than likely he feels helpless due to the fact that he is not happy with who he is and what he has accomplished in life. The Villain complains because it is easier to complain verses working on solutions.

#3 "Shoot Down Your Dreams"

Never tell the Villain your dreams or your plans for success because the Villain will take his lighten bolt and shoot down your dreams. Instead of sharing your dreams with the Villain keep your dreams to yourself until you believe you are strong enough to handle the rejection of others.

Stay Tuned....In my next posts I will share with you more adventures of the Negative Villain and the Positive Hero. 

Until then,

Peace, Blessings and Joy

Tonie Tate

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Tips: Get Motivated

Inspiration, Motivation and Encouragement

In life there is no guarantee that every day you are going to be happy and full of bliss. It is a fact that as long as you live, there are going to be some bumps in the road. There are also going to be some days when you wake up and you are just discouraged. The key is knowing how to recognize your signs of discouragement and then changing your focus.

On days when you are really feeling discouraged and uninspired you are going to need help to get motivated. It is a good idea to have a network o friends and family members that you can call to help encourage and inspire you. If for some reason that you call your network of friends and family members for inspiration and encouragement and no one is available you are also going to have to know how to encourage yourself.
You can seek encouragement from reading inspirational books such as the Bible or by listening to dynamic motivational speaker or you can read quotes. I like quotes because quotes are a great way to get you inspired and motivated quickly.

How To Go From Being Discouraged to Encouraged in a Few Seconds

A great way to go from being discouraged to being encouraged in a few seconds is by reading quotes. You should make sure that you carry positive and uplifting quotes with you at all times because you never know when you are going to be in a situation that challenges your mental state of peace. If you should find yourself in a discouraging situation the best way that you are going to be able to maintain your mental state of peace is by taking your focus off of what is upsetting you and returning your focus back on to peaceful thoughts.

The Positive Benefits of Being Encouraged:
When you are encouraged you are better able to:

#1:Maintain Positive Relationships:
#2:Improve Your Self-Esteem
#3:Increase Your Energy Level
#4:Maintain Your Inner Peace
#5:Improve Your Work Performances
#6: Increase Your Creativity

5 Quotes Designed to Encourage You, Inspire You, Motivate You and Uplift You !

• "Confidence is a habit that can be developed by acting as if you already had the confidence you desire to have."- Brian Tracey
• "Great minds must be ready not only to take opportunities, but to make them" -Charles Caleb Colton
• "If you refuse to accept anything but the very best, you very often get it."-William Somerset Maugham
• "He can who thinks he can, and he can't who thinks he can't"-Orison Swett Marden
• "If you can conquer the enemy within, the enemy without can do you no harm"- Author Unknown

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Inner Peace and Joy Daily Tip: "Happy Mother's Day"

Mother's Day a Day of Celebration
Today is Mother's Day and it is a day worth celebrating. I am looking at my Facebook home page and I see all of the people who are on my friend's list celebrating their mother. It is a beautiful thing to know how much Mother's are appreciated and loved.

Mother's Day a Day of Mourning
The holiday Mother's Day is also a day of mourning for many people who have loss their mother due to death or have loss their child. I have many friend's who require comforting on this particular day. I usually call all of the people who I know that have loss their mother recently just to check in on them.


I loss my mother when I was 16 and for many years Mother's Day served as a constant reminder that my mother was no longer here to be celebrated. As I aged, the hurt subsided and I was able to focus on my mother's life instead of focusing on her death.

Ways you Can Celebrate Your Mother If She Has Passed

•  Spend time celebrating your mother's memory: Instead of focusing on your mother's passing and the loss of not having her with you try focusing on the good memories that you have about her. You can get together with other family memories and share a positive memory of your mother.
• Take a mini vacation: If you work, go to school or are around people who will be celebrating Mother's Day then you will constantly be reminded about the absence of your mother. If you are not strong enough to be around the constant reminder then you should take a mini vacation for about 3 days. The vacation will be a wonderful way just to get away from it all. When you return it should be back to business as usual because no one talks about Mother's Day after it has passed
• You can also take flowers to the grave: If you are strong enough, you can take flowers to the grave site. This can be something that you do every year to ensure that your Mom has fresh flower's on her grave.
• Surround yourself around positive people: It is not a good idea to be by yourself if you are still in the mourning stages. Make sure that you have family and friends around you to support and comfort you.

Focus on Things that Make You Smile
To ensure that you are able to maintain your inner peace during this Mother's Day holiday, it is going to be important for you to focus on things that make you smile about your Mother instead of things that make you cry.

• What are some of your most memorable memories of your Mother?
• Do people tell you that you remind them of her?
• What were some of you mom's most famous sayings?
• What was your mother's favorite song?

Things to Avoid

• Sad Music
• Tear jerker movies

When you feel yourself slipping into a state of thinking about your mom and you start to cry, try changing your thoughts back on to things that make you smile.



Mother's Day Poem: Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou

Phenomenal Woman

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.

I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.

I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.



I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.

I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.

I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.



Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.

When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman

Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.

I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Maya Angelou

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Inner Peace and Joy: Joy Defined

When I was a student at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, we always had guest speakers who would come to our center and share their knowledge with us. One particular speaker came and shared with our class the origin of "Yo Momma" jokes and how the slaves used "Yo Momma" jokes as a survival skill to develop tolerance and keep their Joy.


Can Slaves Be Joyful?
If I could read your mind, I bet you are saying "How can slaves be happy when they were subjugated to so much abuse?" Now, I did not say that the slaves were happy in their condition, what I said was that the slaves were taught how to maintain their Joy while they were going through their tribulations.

First let me say that there is a humongous difference between being "Happy" and having "Joy". You see a person can be happy merely because things are going their way or when their surroundings are peaceful but when chaos arises in their lives they lose their happiness and are sad. That is because happiness is conditional and temporary.

On the other hand, when a person has achieved the mental state of Joy they can be cheerful no matter what is going on in their life because that person has learned how to condition their mind to be in a state of Joy. Joy is different from happiness because one is based on what is going on inside of the person's mind and the other is based on what is going on in the person's life.

How Were "Yo Momma" Jokes Used to Help the Slaves to Maintain Joy?
The "Yo Momma" jokes were created as a survival tactic by the elder male slaves to keep the young male slaves alive. The younger male slaves were being killed because they did not tolerate the abusive behaviors of the slave owners.The elder slave men got together and came up with the idea of telling "Yo Momma" jokes to prepare the younger male slaves mentally for the abusive behaviors of the slave owners. The elder slaves knew that if they could get the younger males to tolerate jokes about their mothers and laugh, then the young men would be able to mentally tolerate anything.

The Lesson To Be Learned From Telling "Yo Momma" Jokes
What the elders did was instilled inside of the younger males that the slave owners may have controlled their physical condition but they did not have control over their minds. The elders taught the younger males how to be mentally prepared to maintain their Joy.
Like the younger male slaves, your ability to maintain your mental state of Joy is going to be based on how well you are able to respond to your physical condition. You have to learn how to mentally be prepared to tolerate whatever is going on your life. This process is going to require that you train your mind to work from the inside out

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Change Your Perspective

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Tip: Laugh More Often

Laughter Is Good For Your Heart

Laughter is one of the best ways possible to get your mind off of what is troubling you and on to something more positive. The great thing about laughter is when you are laughing you do not feel anxious, sad or angry. Laughing also reduces your stress level and it increases your energy level.

4 Health Benefits of Laughter

• Laughing helps to relax your body: When you laugh you relieve your body of physical tension and stress . Laughing can leave your muscle relaxed for up to 45 minutes.
• .Laughter helps your body to fight off diseases : Laughing improves your body's resistance to to diseases by decreasing stress hormones and increasing immune cells and infection fighting antibodies.
• Laughter "feels good": Laughter is healthy for your body because when you laugh you release the "feel good" chemical known as endorphine. Endorphines promotes an over all sense of well-being and can even help your body to temporarily relieve pain.
• Laughter is good for your heart : When you laugh, you cause your blood flow to increase. Increased blood flow helps to protect you against having a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems.

Laughter Reduces Stress

Laughter is one of the best stress management tools and it is free!
If you want to laugh then you should:

1. Find humor in your life
2. Watch a funny movie or television show
3. Read the funny pages
4. Surround yourself around people who have a healthy sense of humor
5. Participate in fun activities
6. Read jokes

Watching Comedy is a great Way to Induce Laughter

Comedy Show: Sanford and Son
My favorite comedy show is Sanford and Son. This is a classic! I can watch Sanford and Son episodes a thousand times and I am guaranteed to laugh until my stomach hurts each time. What are some of your favorite comedy shows or comedians?

Telling Jokes is Another Way to Induce Laughter

Laugh, Laugh, Laugh
Knock Knock Jokes are a great way to Help You To Improve Your Sense of Humor
I love Knock, Knock jokes although some of them are sorta corny. If you have a healthy sense of humor, even the corny ones can get a laugh out of you. Here are 5 knock, knock jokes. Read these knock, knock jokes and let me know if you are laughing. You are welcome to share some of your favorite jokes as well. I really love to laugh.

#1
Knock, Knock.
Who's there?
Tank.
Tank who?

#2
Knock, Knock.
Who's there?
Boo.
Boo who?
Don't cry. It's only a joke.

#3
Knock, Knock
Who's there !
Eskimo !
Eskimo who ?
Eskimo questions. I'll tell you no lies !

#4
Knock, Knock
Who's there !
Dishes !
Dishes who ?
Dishes your friend Tonie, so open the door !
You're welcome!

#5

Knock Knock
Who's there ?
Quacker !
Quacker who ?
Quacker another bad joke and I'm leaving !

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Protect Your Peace

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Tip: Stop Complaining

Top Reasons Why People Complain

Readers, I have a couple of questions for you....

The first question is " Does complaining change things?
The second question is "If complaining does not change things then why do it?"

Now, I am not saying that if you are going through a difficult situation that you should not express yourself but a part of maintaining your Inner Peace is learning how to express yourself in a positive manner.

Top 3 Reasons Why People Complain
I have noticed that the top 3 reasons why most people complain (or variations of these reasons) are about:

#1 Money
At least once a day I hear somebody complaining about their money woes. The conversation usually starts out with them expressing their lack of money, their desire to have a pay raise or their kids needing money for extra curricular activities that they can not afford ...

#2 Relationships
I am guaranteed to hear someone complain about their relationship woes. This conversation may be about their marital issues, the issues that they are having with their coworkers or how someone disrespected them in their comings and goings....

#3 Health
The health complaints that I hear most often are usually from people who complain about their weight gain or their dis-ease caused by them not taking care of their bodies.

How Does Complaining Kill the Spirit

When you focus on the problem or everything that is going wrong in your life then you are denying yourself the gift of Inner Peace. Complaining destroys your Inner Peace because instead of being optimistic about your situation, what you are actually saying is that you are worried, you doubt that your situation will actually work out for the better and you have no sense of self-value.

• You are Worried-Worrying kills your spirit because when you are worried ,you are anxious, nervous and not able to focus clearly. The whole point of operating in a state of Inner Peace is to maintain a calm and peaceful demeanor.

• You Feel Hopeless- When you complain, you feel hopeless. Feeling hopeless kills your spirit because you feel helpless and unable to change your situation. People who complain when they feel hopeless kill their spirit of Inner Peace because they see complaining as their only option to releasing their frustrations. When you have mastered the steps of maintaining your Inner Peace you will recognize that you may not be able to change your situation but you can respond to your situation in a calm and peaceful manner.

• No Sense of Self-Value-When you complain because you feel like "No one is hearing your frustrations", you will kill your spirit because you do not see yourself as having "Real Value". A person who does not realize their value, feels unimportant. You must have a feeling of self-worth in order to maintain your inner peace.
  

Positive Things You Can Do Instead Of Complaining

Instead of complaining about the Problem, you should focus on the Solution

#1 Money: It is easy to talk about your lack of money but a change is not going to just fall out of the sky. You have to plan to get more money and then work your plan.
#2: Relationship: If you are experiencing relationship problems then you have to do something about it. Complaining about it is not going to change a thing!
#3 Health Complaining about your health ills is not going to change the fact. Instead of focusing on your health issues resolve to change what you are doing to get yourself in the situation that you are in.

Remember: A Solution Focused outlook is going to be key to helping you to maintain your inner peace.

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Be Happy With Yourself Everyday!

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Tip: Be Happy

My Philosophy and Happiness

I can remember vividly being younger and daydreaming about being successful. I use to lay on my back for hours at a time looking up at the sky and imagining that I was married, had two kids (a boy and a girl), owned a really big house and had tons of money. I hoped to have accomplished my vision by the time that I had turned twenty-five. My philosophy was if I was able to possess all of the material wealth that I desired, I would be able to experience happiness.



Well, needless to say, the age of twenty-five came and passed and most of the things that I had envisioned for myself did not come to fruition. Instead of being happy, I found myself constantly reflecting on what I had not accomplished in my life. The more that I thought about all of the material things that I did not possess, the sadder it seemed that I became. Things got to be so bad for me that I became depressed and I even questioned my very existence.

Stumbling on Happiness

I felt so hopeless during that period of my life, that I started going to church hoping to find the answer to “How to be Happy”. I can recall one particular sermon that changed my life forever. The sermon was entitled "If You Change Your Perspective, Then You Will Change Your Life!"


The pastor explained that the reason why you are happy or unhappy is based on what you are focusing on. If you focus on things that make you unhappy, then you will be unhappy. On the other hand, if you focus on things that make you happy, then you will be happy.

What Makes People Happy

The more the pastor preached about changing your perspective, the more I became aware that my source of unhappiness was based on the way that I was defining my success. I was equating being successful with material wealth. The reason why I was unhappy was because I did not possess all of the material wealth that I had desired so I believed that I was a failure in life.

The message “If You Change Your Perspective Then You Will Change Your Life” caused me to redefine my concept of success. Instead of focusing on “What I have”, I began to focus on “Who I am”. At that point, I made a list of some of my better qualities and I pointed out that “I am a nice person, I am a caring person, I am a person with good work ethics, I Am a person with good morals” etc.

What I discovered was, the more that I identified with the “Who I am” instead of the “What I have”, the happier I became. As a result of focusing on things that make me happy, today I am able to experience a new found wealth of happiness.

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Inner Peace and Joy Daily Tip: Be The Best Person You Can Possibly Be

Be The Best Person That You Can Possibly Be

In order to be the best person that you can possibly be, you must be able to maintain a state of peace and joy within yourself. Let's face it, if you are living your life in a state of turmoil and discouragement then you are not operating at your highest capabilities nor are you experiencing your best possible life now. This posts discusses three basic but powerful steps that you can apply in your life now in order to achieve an inner state of peace and joy regardless of outside circumstances. The three steps are 1) Make a Decision 2) Let Go and 3) Be Positive

#1 Decide That You Are Going To Be Happy No Matter What

The first step in achieving inner peace and joy is to decide that regardless of outside circumstances, you are going to maintain inner peace and joy. When you make the decision not to be moved by outside circumstances, you are taking control over your mental state of being. Even when you are confronted with challenges, such as a change in a relationship, getting behind on your bills, transferring careers etc. you have to remain unmovable in your decision not to let your circumstance effect your inner peace and joy. The way that you are going to remain unmovable in turbulent times is by finding something positive to focus on and something to be thankful for. When you consistently express gratitude, it takes your mind off of what you do not want and places your focus on more of what you do want. The expression of gratitude will wipe away your despair and give you the peaceful state of mind that you will need in order to move forward and overcome your challenges.

#2 Let Go of All Of Your Negative Emotions

The second step in maintaining inner peace and joy is to choose to let go of all negative emotions that you have attached to people, places and things. Letting go is a major player in maintaining inner peace and joy. The following exercise will explain. The first thing I want you to do is to spend a couple of minutes focusing on something that you really enjoy. While you are focusing on what you enjoy pay close attention to your emotional response. Were you smiling? The second thing I want you to do is spend a couple of minutes focusing on something that you are not fond of. Again, notice your emotional response when you focus on what you are not fond of. Were you frowning? The point is, you will experience a negative or positive emotional response based on if your perception of a person or event is negative or positive. If you want to maintain inner peace and joy you must let go of all negative emotions and focus on things that bring you joy and give you peace.

#3 Live Your Life With a Positive Attitude

The third step in maintaining inner peace and joy is to choose to live your life with a positive attitude by focusing only on the highest and best in everything. Remember that you will have an emotional response based on your perception of your experiences as being positive or negative. When you stay focused on seeing the best and highest in all people you are inviting joy and peace in your life because you are only seeing the good. When you see only the good, you are going to smile. Along with having a positive attitude you are also going to choose to make right choices. The right choice for maintaining inner peace and joy is to choose to respond positively when confronted with adverse situations that occurs in your life verses reacting negatively. When you take time and hold back from reacting negatively to an adverse situation and spend time considering the best possible solution before you respond, you are taking control of maintaining your state of inner peace and joy.

It's Your Choice-Choose To Be Happy

Maintaining inner peace and joy is a choice and when you practice focusing only on the positive in life you are making a choice to take control over inner peace and joy in your life. I received an email today about a man who was blind and because of unfortunate events that had occurred in his life it was necessary for him to move into a retirement home. During orientation one of the facility nurses described to the man what his room looked like. The blind man listened patiently and when the nurse finished speaking, the man stated that he was going to love his room. The nurse could not comprehend how the blind man could love the room when he had not even entered his room. The blind man stated that he made a choice long before arriving to the facility that he was going to love the room regardless. Friends, in order to maintain your inner peace and joy, you have to be like the blind man and wake up every morning with the mindset that you are going to live your life to the fullest in peace and with joy, regardless of whatever is going on in the world around you. Remember inner peace and joy is a choice.

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Inner Peace and Joy Daily Tip: Forgive

Forgiveness and Your Personal Development

Forgiveness is a crucial component to your personal development because when you forgive, you let go of what you do not want in your life and you focus on what you do want. Some people choose not to forgive because of what they believe forgiveness does for the other person. A common statement is "This person hurt me and I will never forgive them for what they did to me." I want to stress in this article, that the recipient of your forgiveness is not as important as the healing effect that you will receive when you let go of your hurt and pain and forgive them of their wrong doings. Forgiveness creates a vacuum in your life for the good that you want.

The Law of Compensation and How it Works

The Law of Compensation states that you get what you give. The way that this law works in regards to forgiveness is every negative emotion and energy that you are holding inside towards someone else you are actually inviting to manifest into your own life. What I am saying is, rather you realize it or not, when you hold thoughts of hate, anger and resentment towards another person, place or situation those are the same emotions that you will experience in your life . For example, If I am giving off emotions of anger and resentment towards someone because of their wrong doings , then at the time of expression I am actually angry and resentful. As long as I express anger and resentment towards someone else, I will remain angry and resentful.

Is there Healing in Forgiveness?

In all honesty, I am not saying to any person who has been the recipient of harm that their situation should be ignored nor am I saying that they should not express any emotional response. What I am saying is that there is healing in forgiveness. The way that forgiveness heals is when you forgive a person, place or situation for all wrong doings what you are actually saying to your circumstance is that you do not want to live your life as a angry person, full of hate and resentment. When you release all of the negative emotions that you have attached to a person, place or situation and focus on forgiveness then you will be able to experience joy in its fullness.

Unconditional Love and Forgiveness

In order to experience joy in its fullness, you must release all negative emotions and replace them with positive emotions and with thoughts of love. When you practice unconditional love that is what you are inviting into your life. Understand, that you do not have to be in the same room with a person to practice unconditional love. You can give thoughts of forgiveness to a person as well as pray that they will be changed for the better.

Forgiveness and Prayer

Praying for forgiveness is not a one time event, forgiveness needs to be practiced everyday. The reason that forgiveness needs to be practiced every day is because every day there is a possibility that you are holding on to a negative thought that needs to be released. Some negative thoughts may be obvious to you such as when you make a negative comment after someone cuts in front of you in traffic and you hold on to that negative emotion far too long. In that case you may need to pray for the driver as well as yourself. Other situations may not be as obvious to you such as hurts and pain from your past. These are the emotions that you have buried inside. The less obvious hurts and pain requires prayer in order to be bought to surface so that you may be healed.

The Gift of Forgiveness

Remember that when you are practicing forgiveness you are releasing what you do not want in your life anymore and you are focusing on what you do want. The healing benefit of forgiveness is that it gets your mind off of the accused and back on the experience of joy and fullness of life that you were created to experience. Be mindful that you have control over whether or not you are going to experience inner joy and no person, place or situation can take your joy from you. You are in control over your state of mind because you understand that if you want to experience inner joy then you must give positive energy to others.

More Useful Tips

Patience

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Tip: Encourage Yourself

What Happens When You Wake Up and You Just Do Not Have The Energy To Be Positive?
Have you ever had a day when you woke up and said "This day is starting off wrong, nothing is going my way?" Well, when you are working on maintaining your Inner Peace, there is no guarantee that each and every day is going to be peachy. In fact, many days you may wake up and say to yourself "I just do not have the energy to be positive!"






"Help, I am Having One of Those Days"
Okay, you woke up this morning and now you are having "One of those days". It seems like nothing is going right, your alarm clock did not go off and now you are running late for work, nothing in your closet seems to fit, there is a traffic jam etc. What should you do to regain your mental state of peace?

Well the way that you are going to be able to regain your mental state of peace is by recognizing your emotional cues such as, "Are you getting frustrated?" "Are you calm?" "Are you sad?" "Are you easily agitated?" and then calm down, change your focus and get encouraged.







How To Calm Down, Change Your Focus and Get Encouraged

Once you become aware that you are not at a state of peace, the way that you are going to return back to a peaceful state of being is by changing your focus from off of what is upsetting you and concentrating on "peaceful and encouraging thoughts".

I have listed 21 Encouraging Quotes that you can read to help you to stay encouraged when you are experiencing a "not so peaceful day". You should carry these quotes or your own inspiring quotes around with you at all times.








"Why Do I Need To Carry Encouraging Quotes?"

The reason why you should carry positive quotes around with you at all times is because you never know when you are going to be in a situation that challenges your mental state of peace. If you should find yourself in such a situation, the way that you are going to be able to maintain your mental state of peace is by taking your focus off of what is upsetting you and returning your focus back on to peaceful thoughts.

When you are experiencing a "not so great day", it may be difficult for you to immediately think of things that are positive, soothing or things that make you smile. If you have inspiring quotes on hand, it will be easy for you to just to pull out your quotes and read them. The inspiring quotes will help to encourage you and return your focus back on to things that make you smile, calm you down and places you back in a peaceful state of being.

21 Encouraging Quotes

• "The Power to win, comes from within."

• "Confidence is a habit that can be developed by acting as if you already had the confidence you desire to have."
  

• "In youth we learn; in age we understand."

• "Great minds must be ready not only to take opportunities, but to make them

• "Failure is not the worst thing in the world. The very worst is not to try."

• "If you refuse to accept anything but the very best, you very often get it."

• "He can who thinks he can, and he can't who thinks he can't
  

• "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."

• "Experience is one thing you can't get for nothing."

• "Discover the champion in you."

• "Failure is not final and delay is not denial."

• "The fellow who is a good sport has to lose to prove it."

• "One of these days is none of these days."

• "Character is measured by how you respond when you win or lose."

• "It's not what happens to you that matters, it's what happens within you."

• "He who loses his head is usually the last one to miss it."

• "The person too old to learn was probably always too old to learn."

• "Who lives content with little possesses everything."

• "It may be those who do most, dream most."

• "Leadership is action, not position."

• "If you can conquer the enemy within, the enemy without can do you no harm."

More Useful Tips
Know Your Triggers

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Tip: Learn How To Relax

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 Daily Tip: Gain Control Over Your Circumstances

I just turned 40 this year and at this stage in my life I am focusing on how to deal with things that cause me stress and how to stay positive. I have come to understand that a major reason that I am stressed out is because I feel like I am helpless and I do not have control over certain situations that occur in my life. In order to gain control over my circumstances, I had to to identify areas in my life that I was able to do something about. I also had to rid myself of what was causing me stress. If you are going through something similar then this article is for you. The two areas that I identified are 1) Mind my own business and 2) Do not answer the telephone.

#1 Tips for Minding Your Business
1. Avoid Gossip
2. Do not tend to your neighbor's business.
3. Do not allow people to unload their baggage on you
4. Do not try to save the world
5. Do not tend to your relatives business.
Once I stopped taking on the cares of the world and I began to spend time with myself, I realized that much of my stress was not actually caused by things that was happening in my life. Instead my stress was in fact being caused by me listening to and taking on the concerns of other people. I had allowed other people's stress to be transferred to me. Once I started to mind my own business, I eliminated a large percentage of my stress!




#2 Do not Answer the Telephone
Believe it or not, just because your phone rings does not mean that you are obligated to answer it. Much of my stress occurred because I answered my phone and listened to negative people and gossipers. At the end of the call I am usually unraveled and I have to spend the better half of the day trying to regroup.

My reasoning for staying on the phone and listening to negative people and gossipers was because I did not want to hurt their feelings by telling them that I did not care to hear what they were talking about. My new attitude is "My well being comes first". The positive action that I take to deal with negative people and gossipers who call me is, I have placed a block on my phone. Yes, I have actually activated a device on my cell phone that enables me to only talk to the people who are on my contact list. My contact list contains a select few people.

The rest of the people who call me go directly to my voice mail and I have the option of going to my recent call list and filtering who I want to call back.In the end, what worked for me was identifying what and who was causing me stress. Once I identified my stressors, I no longer felt helpless because I was able to take control of my situation by choosing to avoid negative people as well as people whose conversations were foolish for the most part. I made the choice to surround myself around people who are motivators and people who can elevate me to the next level.

More Useful Tips
Adapt to Change

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Tip: S.F.G.T.D.

To: YOU
Date: TODAY
From: GOD
Subject: YOURSELF
Reference: LIFE





This is God. Today I will be handling All of your problems for you. I do Not need your help. So, have a nice day.
I love you.

P.S. And, remember...
If life happens to deliver a situation to you that you cannot handle, do Not attempt to resolve it yourself! Kindly put it in the S.F.G.T.D (Something For God To Do) box. I will get to it in MY TIME.

All situations will be resolved, but in My time, not yours. Once the matter is placed into the box, do not hold onto it by worrying about it. Instead, focus on all the wonderful things that are present in your life now.




If you find yourself stuck in traffic, don't despair. There are people in this world for whom driving is an unheard of privilege. Should you have a bad day at work; think of the man who has been out of work for years.
Should you despair over a relationship gone bad; think of the person who has never known what it's like to love and be loved in return.




Should you grieve the passing of another weekend; think of the woman in dire straits, working twelve hours a day, seven days a week to feed her children.



Should your car break down, leaving you miles away from assistance; think of the paraplegic who would love the opportunity to take that walk.




Should you notice a new gray hair in the mirror; think of the cancer patient in chemo who wishes she had hair to examine.




Should you find yourself at a loss and pondering what is life all about, asking what is my purpose? Be thankful. There are those who didn't live long enough to get the opportunity.



Should you find yourself the victim of other people's bitterness, ignorance, smallness or insecurities; remember, things could be worse. You could be one of them!


More Useful Tips
Pray

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Tip: 10 Characteristics of Happy People

Happy People tend to have certain characteristics in common. They all seem to smile all of the time and they all seem to have positive attitudes.

I have recorded 10 characteristics of happy people. You should use this list as a guide to see if you have the same characteristics of happy people. If you do not, then you should use this list as a guide to help you work towards being a happy person.

10 Characteristics of Happy People

1. Happy People avoid negative people
2. Happy People have positive attitudes
3. Happy People have a plan
4. Happy People don't sweat the small stuff
5. Happy People are flexible
6. Happy People see the good in everybody
7. Happy People laugh often
8. Happy People love the skin that they are in
9. Happy People take time out for themselves
10. Happy People have a relationship with their Higher Power


More Useful Tips
Admit Your Mistakes

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Tip: The Trick To Maintaining Your Inner Peace

The trick to maintaining your inner peace and living your life full of joy is being able to keep your mind focused only on things that make you smile. If you are always focused things on things that make you upset then more than likely you will be angry and sad all of the time. If you want to be happy then you have to continually focus on the positive things about life and the things that make you smile. Three things that you can do to help you maintain your inner peace are: 1) Focus on things that make you smile 2) Change your perspective and 3) Have a positive attitude

#1 Keep your thoughts on things that make you smile
Your emotions are a great indicator to let you know what you are focusing your thoughts on. If you focus continually on things that make you upset, then more than likely you will be angry all of the time. If you focus on things that make you smile all of the time, then you will find yourself smiling all of the time. If you want to maintain a peaceful and calm state of being, then focus on things that make you smile instead of things that make you upset.

#2 Change Your Perspective
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.

#3 Have a Positive Attitude
Negative people are always stressed out because they are focused on the negative in every situation. When you are focused only on the negative, your emotions will reflect it. If you do not want to be angry and sad all of the time, then you have to make a decision that you are going to be a positive person and that you are going to see only the good in all people and in every situation. This takes practice but when you are focused on the good in all people and every situation, your emotional response will be calm and peaceful.

More Useful Tips

Expand Your Mind

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Tip: Have a Positive Attitude

Inner Peace and Joy Daily Meditation Tip: The Book of Psalms will uplift your soul. Read Psalms chapters 71-80 for a Spirit Booster!


Have you ever noticed that some people seem to go through life and are not disturbed by life's challenges? I bet you are wondering how they are able to go through life and have joy and peace while on the other hand when other people are confronted with the same situation they complain and are unraveled.

Did you know that having a peace of mind is something that you have to work at? The difference between people who are unmoved by life's challenges and those who are moved is that people who are unmoved know the Golden Rules for having a peace of mind.


THE GOLDEN RULE
The first rule to having a peace of mind is you must have a positive attitude. Have you ever been around a negative person? Negative people are always stressed out because they are focused on the wrong in every situation. When you are focused on the wrong your emotions will reflect it. A negative person is usually angry and sad all of the time.

If you do not want to be angry and sad all of the time, you have to make a decision that you are going to be a positive person and see only the good in all people and in every situation. This takes practice but when you are focused on the good in all people and every situation, your emotional response will be calm and peaceful.

Additional Tips:
Laugh Often
Be Slow To Anger
Stay Away From Negative People