I did a devotion for my MOPS meeting today. I love reading a blog written by a friend of mine who is a life coach - Merrill Frailey - http://www.justmerrill.com/ - she had a great one on 20 tips for a positive productive and JOYFUL New Year. Several people asked me to email it to them afterward, so I thought I would feature it here:
20 Tips for a Positive Productive and JOYFUL New Year
January 2nd, 20121. You can’t control everything that happens to you. – But you can control how you react to things. Everyone’s life has positive and negative aspects. Whether you’re happy or not depends greatly on which aspects you focus on. Things change but the sun always rises. The bad news: nothing is permanent. The good news: nothing is permanent.
2. Zoom Focus.- Each day when you wake up in the morning ask: “What are the three most important things I need to do today that will help create the life I desire?” Then tune out all the distractions and focus on these actions.3. Don’t look side to side to compare yourself to others. That is their journey, story and life. You have your own so make it a good one! You are the CEO of your life so run it on prayer and good choices. Then live out the unique story God created you to live in order to live out a bigger, better story for Him.
4. Instead of being disappointed about where you are, think optimistically about where you are going. Then use your energy, talents and time to get there!5. Don’t make a problem bigger than it is. – You should never let one dark cloud of worry or fear cover the entire sky. The sun is always shining on some part of your life.
6. Get more sleep and remember to play and pray more. – These things that we can never have too much of in our busy lives!
7. Teach and Learn – Mentor someone and be mentored by someone. Life-long learners adopt the ongoing posture of reinvention and redemption. It’s difficult to waste your life when you are humble enough to take time to teach and be taught!6. Get more sleep and remember to play and pray more. – These things that we can never have too much of in our busy lives!
8.“Do or Do Not, there is no try” Yoda- “I’ll try or I can’t…” almost always means “I don’t want to.” “I can’t or I’ll try” allows us to pretend that the choice to DO is not ours.
9. Don’t waste your precious energy - on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment. Forgive, let go, put down and MOVE ON.
10. Remember there’s no substitute for hard work. So bring the best you into each day.11. Implement the No Complaining RULE. Complaining is like throwing up. Afterwards you feel better but everyone around you feels sick.
12. You are not what happened to you in the past. – No matter how chaotic the past has been, the future is a clean, fresh, wide open slate. You are not your past habits. You are not your past failures. You are only who you think you are right now in this moment. You are only what you do right now in this moment.
13. Focus on what you have, not on what you haven’t. Focus on “Get to” vs “Have to.” Each day focus on what you get to do and are already blessed with, not what you do not have.
14. Best of my days….. Keep a notebook by your bed and each night right down just ONE thing that made that day good. Then each month go back and read over the best of your days.
15. Laughter is the best medicine for stress. – Laugh at yourself often, smile more. Find the humor in life, it’s there. Optimism is a happiness magnet. If you stay positive, good things and good people will be drawn to you.
16. Do you want to be right, or do you want to be happy? Set peace of mind and heart as your highest goal.
17. “You is kind, you is smart, you is important.” When watching the movie The Help, I couldn’t Help thinking that if we used our words to uplift more the world we live in would be a better place. This isn’t a competition, it is life and we are all in it together, so let’s use our words and actions to encourage, love and uplift.
18. Know where you are headed- If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up somewhere you might not have wanted to go! Goals both short and long term are necessary for purposeful change.
19. Mistakes are important to make. – We’ve all made mistakes. Remember, failure is not falling down; failure is staying down when you have the choice to get back up. Get back up! Oftentimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.12. You are not what happened to you in the past. – No matter how chaotic the past has been, the future is a clean, fresh, wide open slate. You are not your past habits. You are not your past failures. You are only who you think you are right now in this moment. You are only what you do right now in this moment.
13. Focus on what you have, not on what you haven’t. Focus on “Get to” vs “Have to.” Each day focus on what you get to do and are already blessed with, not what you do not have.
14. Best of my days….. Keep a notebook by your bed and each night right down just ONE thing that made that day good. Then each month go back and read over the best of your days.
15. Laughter is the best medicine for stress. – Laugh at yourself often, smile more. Find the humor in life, it’s there. Optimism is a happiness magnet. If you stay positive, good things and good people will be drawn to you.
16. Do you want to be right, or do you want to be happy? Set peace of mind and heart as your highest goal.
17. “You is kind, you is smart, you is important.” When watching the movie The Help, I couldn’t Help thinking that if we used our words to uplift more the world we live in would be a better place. This isn’t a competition, it is life and we are all in it together, so let’s use our words and actions to encourage, love and uplift.
18. Know where you are headed- If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up somewhere you might not have wanted to go! Goals both short and long term are necessary for purposeful change.
20. The end is a new beginning. – Say to yourself: “Dear Past, thank you for all the life lessons you have taught me. Dear Future, I am ready now!” Because a great beginning always occurs at the ending of something. HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Also, for our craft we did a yummy hand sugar scrub. I found the recipe on eHow.com: 1 cup of granulated sugar, 1/2 cup of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of a "fresh rain" scented oil I found at Hobby Lobby in the soap making section. We put the mixture in Ball jelly jars I picked up by the case at Wal-Mart and embellished the lids with a square of cute cotton fabric I also found at Hobby Lobby. These will make great gifts for teacher appreciation week this spring! I'm putting the scrub in a basket along with a pair of comfy spa socks from Michael's ($1) and a votive candle with a sheer ribbon tied around it. I'll also add a journal covered with a pretty scrapbook paper like the one I featured in my last post.
Time to get the baby up from his nap...have a relaxing weekend!
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