Tag Archives: accept yourself as you are

Health, Spiritual

10 Paths to Inner Peace

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“10 Paths to Inner Peace” by Joan Y. Edwards

The older I get, the more I realize that we human beings want control of ourselves and others. We want control of our environment. Guess what! It’s very tricky.

Inner peace is an absence of mental anxiety! Do you find it difficult to go with the flow? Do you find your inner peace stifled or trampled daily? Do you want to stop things from going the way they seem to be heading? Are you on a path to Crashville?

1. Pray to your creator and Trust in Him. He has a plan for you.

Pray to God and ask him for help. Tell him all of the things that are bothering you. Tell him every single thing that is bugging you and keeping your from being at peace.  Visit your church, synagogue, house of prayer, temple, mosque, etc. I find that when I go to church and pray that I feel a little closer to God.  However, I know that God is with me all the time. It helps me to emotionally be calmer to make a visit to the church.

2. Rest. Meditate. Say Positive Things Aloud and Silently.

Visualize images of beauty and calmness. Play music that calms you. Say good things about yourself. Take time to rest.
I am lovable. I am kind. What I do matters. What I hope for matters. My emotions are real; neither good nor bad; neither right nor wrong.

3. Accept Things as They Are.

What’s odd is that in order to change things, you first have to accept them as they are. For this reason, it’s good to go with the flow. If you’re in a tube going down the Tuckasegee River, I can tell you from personal experience that it’s easier to float downstream if you’re going with the flow.

If you’re walking down a busy sidewalk, it’s much easier to go with the flow – everyone walking on the right hand side. Otherwise, you end up weaving in and out of people and bumping the whole way.
Many times you may have difficulty accepting others as they are. You desperately want to change them.

Perhaps that’s why I became a teacher, hoping I could persuade children with problem behaviors to change. I thought that if they were educated with the pros and cons of different types of behaviors and their consequences they would choose healthier, more positive behaviors. But you see, you can’t change other people. Those other people have to change themselves.

It’s nice to have people agree with you every once in a while, it gives you a good feeling of belonging. However, it’s not good to give up your strong beliefs that you know are right to be in agreement with others.

Some people are power hungry…more money…more power. More power, more control over others.

4. Love Yourself and Others. Take time for you.

Peace is being happy with who you are and your circumstances, whatever they might be. I love to hear the scripture that says that God created each of us for a certain purpose. Without us, the world would not have something that it needs to survive.  The name we were given at birth is significant for us. God gave new names to people in the Bible when they came to an aha moment. 

5. Forgive Yourself and Others 

The greatest gift you can give yourself and other people in your life is your forgiveness. Each day you carry anger around, it makes a negative impact on your health. Lighten your load. Take steps to let someone you’ve been angry with for hours, days, months, or years off the hook. Realize that they are human, just like you. And that just like you, they are not perfect. If there has been anger on both sides of the fence, your releasing your anger and allowing them to be as they are, may give them the freedom to change, too.

6. Perform Three Simple Tasks

Make a list of things that need to be done for your home surroundings or for yourself. Then choose three activities and do them. It’s amazing how getting things done makes you feel empowered. You realize that you can control doing a few things. It also frees your mind to think of solutions. It frees your mind to think of other things.

7. Research to Find Alternative Beliefs and Solutions to the Problems at Hand

Look up information about your problem online, in books, or through talking with others. Sometimes through explaining the situation to another person, you come to the solution in your mind. 

8. Watch Funny Movies and Television Shows. Read Funny Books.

Laughter is healing. It releases endorphins that help you feel calmer on the inside. It releases the negative emotions: sad, mad, powerless feelings that seem to be stuck. Even fake laughs help loosen the grip these emotions have on you. Laughter is like oil for your car. It’s essential to keeping you going.

9. Walk. Exercise. Breathe.

Exercising the body releases endorphins that help you feel calmer on the inside, too. Walk inside your house or outside your house. Walk around the outside of your house. Ride an exercise bike. Walk to the corner and back. Walk around the outside of your house. 

10. Eat the Right Foods for You. Eat Healthy.

Eat. Drink plenty of water. Too many carbs, too much sugar, too much caffeine!  Look out for these and other foods that can put you in jeopardy. They can steal your joy.  Try to stay in the Goldilocks section. Not too much. Not too little. Just right.

11. Focus on What You Want

What you focus on is what you get. What you spend your time, thoughts, and spoken words on is what you’re going to get. Accept that the opposite could happen. Accept that the bad thing that you’re so afraid of could happen. But then also accept and focus on what you want to happen. Then take the necessary steps to start the ball rolling in that direction.

12. Meet with a friend. Call for Help. 

We need social connections to survive. Being with other people gives us endorphins, too. If you’re overwhelmed, call for help. Ask a friend. Join a support group. Ask for professional help if you need it. Everyone may need counseling at some time in their life. I went through counseling one time in my life. Everyone needs help once in a while. You don’t have to go through this alone. You’re not alone. Others care about you.  

Resources

  1. Daily Mind. “How to Go with the Flow:” http://www.thedailymind.com/how-to/go-with-the-flow/
  2. Free Dictionary. “Definition of Peace: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/peace 
  3. Huffington Post. “10 Kind Things to Tell Yourself Every Day:”  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/10/kind-things-to-tell-yourself_n_4570376.html
  4. I am Fearless Soul. “5 Steps to Finding Peace within Yourself:” https://iamfearlesssoul.com/5-steps-to-finding-peace-within-yourself-and-how-to-keep-it/
  5. Learning Mind. “Effective Ways to Find Peace within Yourself:” https://www.learning-mind.com/effective-ways-to-find-peace-within-yourself/
  6. Mountain Crisis Services. “34 Things You Should Know about Yourself:”  http://www.mountaincrisisservices.org/domestic-violence/34-things-you-should-kno

  7. Nvision Centers. “Stress & Your Vision: What Recent Research Shows:” https://www.nvisioncenters.com/education/stress-and-vision/

  8. Operation Meditation. “5 Tips to Finding Peace within Yourself.” http://operationmeditation.com/discover/5-tips-to-finding-peace-within-yourself/

  9. Psychology Today. “Smashing the Brain Blocks: 4 Ways to Go with the Flow Even When It Seems Impossible.” https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/smashing-the-brainblocks/201606/4-ways-go-the-flow-even-when-it-seems-impossible

  10. Thesaurus. “Go with the Flow:” http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/go-with-the-flow
  11. Tiny Buddha. “8 Tips to Feel at Peace with Yourself.” https://tinybuddha.com/blog/8-tips-to-feel-at-peace-with-yourself/
  12. Wikihow. “Go with the Flow:” https://www.wikihow.com/Go-With-the-Flow
  13. Wikihow. “How to Release Endorphins:” https://www.wikihow.com/Release-Endorphins
  14. Your Life, Your Voice. “101 Positive Things to Say to Myself:” http://www.yourlifeyourvoice.org/Pages/tip-101-positive-things-to-say-to-myself.aspx
  15. Zen Habits. “12 Practical Steps for Learning to Go with the Flow:” https://zenhabits.net/12-practical-steps-for-learning-to-go-with-the-flow/

Live with Enthusiasm
Celebrate Each Step You Take

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Never Give Up
Joan Y. Edwards, Author
Copyright © 2017-2018 Joan Y. Edwards
Flip Flap Floodle Will this little duck’s song save him from Mr. Fox?
Joan’s Elder Care Guide A guide to help caregivers and elders find 

 

Health

Bloom Where You Are Planted #2

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Bloom Where You Are Planted image Copyright 2014 Joan Y. Edwards

“Bloom Where You Are Planted” by Joan Y. Edwards

Are you lacking the necessary ingredients to bloom where you are planted? Or do you have them and just don’t realize it.

I hope these ideas will inspire you to find joy, peace, health, and wealth wherever we are.

One person who is given credit for saying Bloom Where You Are Planted is St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622). He said: “Truly charity has no limit; for the love of God has been poured into our hearts by His Spirit dwelling in each one of us, calling us to a life of devotion and inviting us to bloom in the garden where He has planted and directing us to radiate the beauty and spread the fragrance of His Providence.”

Mary Engelbreit created a picture that helped this saying become popular. You can see it here at the following link: https://www.facebook.com/commerce/products/bloom-where-you’re-planted-magnet/612792492726

How do you bloom where you are planted mean?

  1. Even if you don’t like where you are and your present circumstances, you make the best of it.
  2. Even if you don’t understand why God has allowed something to happen to you, you make the best of it, and look for ways to be a good example to others.
  3. Even if you don’t like being sick, you make the best of it and visualize yourself well and take action to make it happen.
  4. Even if you blame yourself and everybody and his brother, it won’t change what happened or alter what your present situation is, therefore be thankful for the good that exists within you and around you. In other words, when someone hands you a “lemon” of a bad situation, make “lemonade.” Transform it into something great.
  5. When you look in the mirror, you realize that you are human and love and accept yourself in spite of and because of the situation and circumstances you are in right now.

The more you resist being somewhere or having something you don’t like, the longer you’ll have it. What you resist, persists. There is peace in accepting things as they are. Only in accepting them are you able to get on with your life and take action to change it to something better.

Here are quotes from the Bible that relate to Bloom Where You Are Planted:

  1. Ecclesiastes 3:4-14 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,  a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent, and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
  2. 1 Corinthians 7:17 Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them.
  3. John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.
  4. Song of Songs 2:15 Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.

Joel Osteen says to believe that God has anointed you to make it through anything and everything he hands to you. God anoints you with the blessings you need to survive and bloom wherever you are. If you feel a slight lack of faith, ask God to renew your anointing. “God, give me a fresh anointing on my thoughts. Give me new strength of body and mind and new ideas to empower me.”

Say to yourself every day: “I am blessed. I am equipped. I am able. I am well. I am healthy.” Whatever it is you want to be, declare it as if it is that now. You are anointed with everything you need to bloom where you are planted.

I pray that God fill you with peace and understanding. Please leave a comment. Please let me know what you do when you get discouraged where you are. What helps you bloom where you are planted?

Resources are below signature.

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Never Give Up
Joan Y. Edwards, Author
Copyright © 2014-2019 Joan Y. Edwards
Flip Flap Floodle Will this little duck’s song save him from Mr. Fox?
Joan’s Elder Care Guide A guide to help caregivers and elders find solutions.
80 Gospel-Based Crossword Puzzles for Year B Fun for Children’s Liturgy, Children’s Church, Sunday School, and Home Bible Study.

Resources:

  1. 1 Corinthians 7:17
  2. John 15:5
  3. Mary Engelbreit. “Bloom Where You Are Planted:” https://www.maryengelbreit.com/products/bloom-where-youre-planted-fine-print 
  4. Song of Songs 2:15
  5. Tom Langford. “Bloom Where You’re Planted:” http://tomlangford.wordpress.com/2010/01/03/bloom-where-youre-planted/

Health

7 Ways to Move Toward Your Goals

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“Move Toward Your Goals” by Joan Y. Edwards

This year is a year for you to take a giant step forward to reach your goals. Take action to head you closer to your dreams. Move toward your goals. Here are 7 ways to help you keep moving to your goals.

  1. Be Thankful
  2. Accept Yourself As You Are
  3. Relinquish Control
  4. Have Faith in Yourself
  5. Exercise
  6. See with Different Eyes
  7. Celebrate

1. Be Thankful

  • Albert Schweitzer quote: “In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.
  • Buddha quote: “Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.”
  • Thornton Wilder quote: “We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”
  • Yogi Bhajan quote: “Gratitude is the open door to abundance.”

If you want something other than what you have, be grateful for what you have. If you are unhappy with the situation you are in, be grateful that it’s not worse, and believe that it will get better. Focus on what you want. Be thankful for what you have.

2. Accept Yourself As You Are

For the last four years I studied Hale Dwoskin’s Sedona Method about letting go. Letting go of expectations allows you to enjoy the moment as it is. Letting go of wanting and trying to get control of the people in your life, frees you to enjoy the gifts another person offers to you. They might not have the gift you demand and expect from them. When you put a block out and don’t accept others as they are, you may never recognize the gift they reach out to hand you. Because your Mother or Father was a certain way, you may think a prospective mate might be that way. Look for the good in people. Let go of your unreasonable expectations in yourself and others.
This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t set goals for yourself. It means to stop spending all of your energy resisting the way things are. When you take back your energy, then you make a better pathway for your new and improved life to enter.
I think a lot of unhappiness comes from not enjoying things as they are and wanting something else.
The saying is very powerful and healing: “It is what it is.” Accept it. Make plans to improve the situation in which you live. Love. Reach out in kindness. Look for the good in others. Look for the good inside yourself.

3. Have Faith in Yourself

The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen…Frank Lloyd Wright

  • Don’t feed your mind with negative thoughts. If you do, you will come to believe them…Catherine Pulsifer
  • If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning…Gandhi
  • It is not so much what you believe in that matters, as the way in which you believe it and proceed to translate that belief into action…Lin Yutang
  • Believe in yourself and try not to take anything personally…Chris Kattan.
  • Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string…Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Believe in yourself. Your belief will take you to your goal. When you stop believing in your ability to get there, something happens. You crumble. In order to meet your goal, you have to stabilize your belief system so that it gets you where you want to go.

4. Relinquish Control

It’s amazing how much human beings want control of things. When you don’t know how it’s going to turn out, you are afraid to venture into the “unknown.” If you know it’s going to turn out okay, then you are willing to take a chance. When you get your belief system straight, you realize that all events lead you to your goals. They may be interesting detours, but if you reset your beliefs and restate your goals, you will get there. Why do I say that? Because inside your mind, you have an automatic success mechanism. Maxwell Maltz explains this in the Psycho-Cybernetics book. Like airplanes with automatic piloting systems, when you set your goals and believe you can do it, your automatic success mechanism goes to work and takes you to your goal.  If you stop believing, it takes you in the direction of failure. Believe in you and your goals. Believe in you.

5. Exercise – Move your body

When you move your body, you also help your mind. This keeps your emotions from going haywire. It keeps your body in shape. It keeps your mind’s gears moving smoothly. Do what you can. Move to your own rhythm. Dance, jog, walk, sit and move whatever you can. Just move it. You’ll get ideas to solve problems. Your stress levels will decrease. You’ll be healthier. Try it. You’ll like it.

6. See with Different Eyes

It’s possible to get to your goals, you might need new skills. If you’ve lost your zest for your goals, perhaps you need to find a path that’s fun for you.  Look at things differently.  You need to look at the situation with a different eye. Talking with a good friend sometimes opens up possibilities of ways to get there that you have never heard of. New roads can be built to your goal. Build them in your mind. They will take you where you want to go.

7. Celebrate

It is great to celebrate any time and every possible moment in your life.Oprah Winfrey said, “The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.”
Help others celebrate, too. Fill yourself with as much joy as you possibly can. There’s one thing about joy, it is contagious. It spreads from you to another person. Have you ever noticed what happens when one person starts laughing uncontrollably. Oh my goodness! That is such fun. Others who are close to them will also start laughing. Pretty soon, endorphins (good feeling healing chemicals are dancing inside your body and mind. Try it. Here’s a recording of me laughing. I hope you start laughing with me:

Record a spontaneous laughing session with your whole family.  Record you and two of your friends laughing. Play it back on days when things are tough. It’ll help you remember that good things are coming your way.

  • Have a picnic on your living room floor.
  • Read your favorite book.
  • Call a friend.
  • Sit at the edge of your yard and watch for wildlife.
  • Sit at a window and rejoice that you are comfortable.

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I hope you’ll leave a comment.
Never Give Up
Joan Y. Edwards
Copyright © 2013-2023 Joan Y. Edwards. All rights reserved.

Other Resources:

  1. Brainy Quotes.  “Believe in Yourself:” http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/believe_in_yourself.html#8WmP1bXCydDPA7xX.99
  2. Brené Brown.  “The Power of Vulnerability:” http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html
  3. Christina Diaz. “Thankful Quotes:” http://www.the-benefits-of-positive-thinking.com/thankful-quotes.html
  4. Darcy Pattison. “Shame, Vulnerability and Hiding:” http://www.darcypattison.com/writing-life/shame-vulnerability-and-hiding/
  5. Joshua Clayton http://ezinearticles.com/?How-It-Is-Said,-How-It-Is-Done&id=5684116
  6. Maxwell Maltz, Md. The New Psycho-Cybernetics, edited and updated by Dan S. Kennedy and the Psycho-Cybernetics Foundation, Inc. http://www.amazon.com/The-New-Psycho-Cybernetics-Maxwell-Maltz/dp/0735202850/
  7. Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acceptance