10 Ways to Live a Balanced Lifestyle

“Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.” ~Thomas Merton

In life, I am often reminded that what works for some people does not necessarily work for others; and that one person’s idea of balance may not constitute anything remotely balanced from another person’s perspective.

So I wanted to address the various elements of life that can require balancing and offer some suggestions to find the mix that works best for you.

To start, what does it mean to be balanced?
To me, it means that you have a handle on the the various elements in your life and don’t feel that your heart or mind are being pulled too hard in any direction. More often than not, you feel calm, grounded, clear-headed, and motivated.

1.Practice Gratitude
While some may view this as touchy feely, new age, hippie garbage, nothing could be further from the truth. The benefits of practicing gratitude on a daily basis are remarkable and can significantly improve your life. Take a short amount of time out of your busy day - 10 minutes is all that's needed - to reflect honestly upon the countless positive things in your life that you may unwittingly take for granted. Doing so will give you a more positive outlook, eliminate stress, relieve tension, improve sleep patterns, and clarify goals.

2: Maintain Healthy Habits
Have you ever noticed that most, if not all, of the most well-known entrepreneurs keep a daily workout routine involving running or lifting weights. Many also boast the benefits of juicing and eating foods that promote mental clarity and maintain energy levels. This is no accident. Healthy habits keep your body and mind in optimal condition while helping you to maintain a normal and consistent daily routine. Such consistency allows for the accumulation of small amounts of work over time to turn into big successes.

3: Balance Work and Leisure
Sometimes we get so caught up in our goals that we forget to set time aside to take care of ourselves and our loved ones. Being balanced means remembering what all the work is for in the first place. We can grind day and night so long as we put forth the necessary time and effort in not neglecting our health, our significant others, our children, or our beloved hobbies. After all, what exactly are you working towards? Money is only one variable in the equation.

4: Know There's Only So Much That Can Get Done in a Day
Many people are guilty of writing mile-long "to-do" lists. These lists are generally brought on as the result of stress or an impulsive burst of motivation and are made with the best intentions. The problem is we can only carry out so many tasks in a given day. Long "to-do" lists set us up for disappointment because they can rarely be completed. Narrow down your list into specific goal-oriented tasks. Cut out the fat and avoid busy work that will make you feel productive but doesn't really get you anywhere. Work hard on that short list of tasks. Do all you can to get it done. At the end of the day be proud of what you accomplished. Recognize your progress. If you didn't get it all done don't fret. Put it on tomorrow's list and make it a priority.

5: Celebrate Effort Regardless of the Outcome
People who live a balanced lifestyle understand that success doesn't lie in the result of hard work, but in the work itself. Knowing this fact makes it effort rewarding even when things don't turn out the way we want, and make us feel accomplished even the case of a less-than stellar outcome. When we make mistakes or fall short on execution, we learn from it and do a better job next time. If we train ourselves to think this way the real reward - so far as our minds see it - will come from the pursuit of our goals, and success will be all but inevitable.

6: Maintain Focus
Keep your mind and energy focused on the task at hand. This is easier said than done but with the implementation of certain techniques it can be made a whole lot easier. Set aside your phone or other electronics when needed. Find a designated work zone such as an office where distractions are minimized. Give yourself a deadline to get the task completed. Practice recognizing when your mind wanders, and tell it to hold that thought

7: Be willing to Lend a Helping Hand
The ability to put yourself in other peoples shoes and see things from their perspective is a valuable one. This not only is helpful in business, but is also quite beneficial for our emotional well-being. Being interested in other people makes us more likely to help when we can. Those of us with big goals can unwittingly become self-absorbed, forgetting that the greatest gift in the world is the gift of giving. No amount of money or success can replace the satisfaction of helping another.

8: Seeing the Glass as Half-Full
Another one that may stand to be called new age nonsense but again is absolutely true. A healthy degree of optimism is critical to a balanced lifestyle. Staying positive is a way to focus on looking not just at the upside of a given situation, but also on finding solutions to the problems we and others face and keeping ourselves on track towards our goals. Optimists tend be less tolerant of negativity and will stay away from people who spend too much of their time gossiping and complaining, opting instead to surround themselves with other positive people. Energy feeds off of energy.

9: Refuse to Worry (Too Much)
Worrying about the possible disappointments or failures of the future is about the biggest waste of time in the world. So many people with an abundance of potential are crippled by their habit of worrying. It is natural that we have a certain degree of wariness of the unknown, that is just the minds way of protecting us. If we allow worry to control us, however, we are liable to stay in our comfort zones and pour all of our potential success down the drain. You have too much to offer to throw it all away based on imaginary fears. Keep in mind that the majority of the things (approximately 92%) of the things we worry about never happen. SO keep yourself busy, and if you find yourself worrying just acknowledge it, embrace it and move on from it.

10: Learn to Adapt to Change
Things are bound to happen that are completely outside of our control. Understanding habits is to understand how fragile they are. So it is totally natural to want to resist change, which often elicits emotional responses such as anger, depression or withdrawal. As well-balanced people, we have to learn to make the best out of whatever situation we are in. Our work ethic, personality, gratitude, drive and health should not be dependent on circumstance.

Life Changing Faith Pictures Principles

Some people define faith as a belief in something for which they have no evidence for. Others think of faith as a set of religious beliefs. These are limited uses and understanding of faith. Faith is a force. Think of it as a life force energy that you direct, consciously or unconsciously. It is a force you use every day. People  use faith every day in ways that are very real and practical but hardly notice. This force of faith that you use has profound impact on our thoughts, emotions, and behavior.
Heb 11:1 Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].

Everyone puts their faith in something. We either trust in the Word of God or we trust in our feelings and perceptions . David was a man who trusted in the Word of God. In 1 Samuel 17 David is confronted with the taunts and challenges of Goliath. All the soldiers in the Israelite army saw Goliath, heard his arrogant words and were paralyzed with fear. David heard the same challenges, he saw the same giant, and he experienced the same feelings of righteous indignation for the name of the Lord. The difference was that David’s faith was rooted in what God said was true. David believed that God was bigger than Goliath. David believed that God’s promises were truer than Goliath’s threats.
David’s perspective was influenced by the Word of God not by his human fears or understanding. We don’t always get to choose which Goliath’s we face but we do get to choose whether we face our Goliath’s with our faith in God’s Word or our faith in ourselves. To be a mighty in faith like David, we need to be convinced that God’s Word is true; we need to be people who know what it says, do what it says and we need to be trained to use the Word as the sword of the Spirit.

Faith in yourself can give you a feeling of confidence. If you believe that you can do something, you have faith in your ability and you produce a feeling of confidence. When you doubt your ability, you are also investing faith. You invest your faith in the ideas and images that you will fail, and that people will judge you. When you put faith in those ideas and images you create emotions of fear or insecurity. In both cases, you are expressing the energy of faith. It is just that you express it into different conceptual ideas, outcomes, and self-images and this produces different emotions.

Principles..
"whatsoever thing we hope for can be picture through the mind".
1. Whatever we see, we can pursue
"Mental pictures help determine our focus, Focus determines our behavior
2. Faith pictures inspire pursuit
3. Your Faith picture strengthen you through difficult seasons
4. Reject wrong pictures of doubt & unbelief
5.what you hear affects, what you say to others
6. What you keep seeing affects what you keep doing
7. Always document night dreams that inspires changes in your behavior.

God’s Word is life giving and life changing. It has the power to impart faith, increase courage and develop character. When we face Goliath with reliance on the Word of God, we are no longer trusting in our own resources but we are trusting in the supernatural resources of God.

Happy  Weekend

7 Most Important People in your Life....

7 Most Important people in your life
1 Anyone God has assigned to intercede for you
2 Anyone willing to battle for you in your absence
3 Anyone in your scriptural chain of authority
4 Anyone willing to correct you honestly
5 Anyone you can trust...with your  weakness, your pain and your finances
6 Someone who trust you
7Anyone who persuades you to trust God

Finding the True love of your Life....

Finding the true love of your life is a cry of every normal human being on earth. Some are still scouting for that true love. Others are in the process already and they doubt if the one they have is the true one. Everyone desires to be truly loved. Some tried and they got disappointed along the way and they decided to stop looking. You can still find your true love, it is not too late. I admit that finding the true love of your life is not that easy. Why? People are complicated. So that complicates the process. Finding the true love of your life is a good thing. Let us read together the following scriptures:

Pro 18:22 Whoever finds a wife finds what is good, and receives favor from the LORD.

It is easy for one when he sees someone he fancies to get tempted to become a different person. He tries to become what the potential life partner is looking for. But such a reinvention of self is short-lived. Sooner or later you will be found out if you pretend to be something you are not. You cannot pretend forever. When the potential love of your life finds out you might lose badly. Just think of the golden rule. If you were to date someone and later find out that the person was faking himself or herself, how would you honestly feel? The possibility is that those who are true to themselves would just terminate the dating process. Or if they had pre-committed, they would resentfully terminate the relationship.

One may ask, "What if I am in a relationship now and I am not really myself?" You can come out to the open now before it is too late. "What if the relationship comes to an end?" you ask. It is better for it to come to an end now than later. That might save some very deep hurts. The foundation of true love must be honesty because if not, it will end badly. After all, you may find that your true character is what your potential love of your life is looking for. Never fake yourself because you might find someone who is not suitable for you. By so doing you may attract the wrong partner and that is not what you want.

I believe that out there, there is someone who is looking exactly for the kind of person you are. That person is looking for an original that you are. This is someone who will not have a problem living with your failings and flaws. So be true to yourself and be who you really are. Be proud of yourself. No one is like you on earth. You are different. So allow yourself to be different.
Why do some people fake themselves?

These are some of the reasons among many:

1) They are insecure. Someone who is insecure lacks self- confidence. He feels inadequate.
2) They feel that the potential love of their life is looking for something better than they can offer.

Be yourself. Know what you stand for. You must know what you are looking for yourself. Have your own requirements to be met for a life partner. Do not be moved. As you remain true to yourself, be patient. Do not bow to pressure. Good things come to those who are able to wait.

Overcoming Self Doubt...

Overcoming Self Doubt

​

Do You Have Self-Doubt?

Self-doubt is one of the primary obstacles in the way of living a fulfilling life. Extreme self-doubt is unhealthy for the soul and it drags down your spirit, prevents you from achieving your goals, and crushes your ambitions. Everyone has an inner voice in their head, telling them that they’re not strong enough, not good enough, and incapable of doing the things that they desire to accomplish. This feeling of incompetence or weakness stems from their childhood and tends to be ingrained in their overall being.

Self doubt leads to serious problems like depression and anxiety. It’s no secret that these emotional disorders can turn to physical ailments such as chronic fatigue, high blood pressure, weight gain, and increased mortality to people with heart disease. It’s important that you know the destructive power of extreme self-doubt. But, it’s better if you know how to counteract this negative feeling, so you can enjoy a fulfilling life.
 

How to Overcome Self-Doubt

Self-doubt is not a fatal disease. It’s simply a negative attitude that you need to correct to allow you to live a fulfilling life. Here are the best tips to overcome self-doubt.

Live Life in the Present – Feelings of extreme self-doubt are often attached to the memories of the past. These memories will probably be about a time when someone told you that you weren’t good enough or a time that you failed to accomplish something. If you keep on thinking about these things, you’re only attracting the negative energy that fuels your self-doubt. Do not live in these moments; think about the person you are in the present time. Just because you could not accomplish something in the past does not mean that you cannot complete it in the future. Each day is a new start and a chance of doing what you really want for real.

Trust Yourself – Oftentimes, your worst enemy can be your own self. If you keep on thinking that you are not good at something and cannot do the things you want to do, you will never even try it, and you will be stuck where you are right now. You need to have strong faith in yourself. You need to constantly tell yourself that you are capable of achieving your goals.

Counteract Your Negative Thoughts – There are times that the negative voices in your head tend to be stronger than the positive voices. When this happens, try to neglect them, and make planned efforts to concentrate on the positive voices. When you have a feeling that negatives thoughts are coming, remind yourself about your strengths and the traits you like about yourself. Think of all the things that you have achieved on your own in the past and this will make you proud of yourself.

Discover the Source of Your Self-Doubt – If you constantly tell yourself that you’re not good enough, you need to know the cause of the problem. Where does your self-doubt originate? What was the event that made you harbor this feeling? Once you have identified and understand the source of your self-doubt, it will be easier to eliminate your negative thought patterns.

Spend Time with Other People – Your family and friends are your primary source of strength, encouragement, and reassurance. When you have strong social support, you can get rid of your negative thoughts about yourself. Even strangers can be surprisingly helpful in getting rid of your self-doubt. Simply expressing your doubt to a complete stranger can make you realize how illogical your negativity can be.

Taking in your opportunities...

Life is like a tree, yes as corny as it may sound it's the truth. Life is constantly changing, just like a tree changes in every season. We too have our own season and we change,we grow and we transform into a new life during each of those seasons.

But, when the new season occurs are you growing like you're supposed to be growing or are you holding yourself back?  I can tell you that your life is not guaranteed tomorrow or within the next hour, don't miss out on your growth period, don't miss out on your new season. I'm still in the process of growing, but I know what it takes so I am willing to learn.

There are many steps to growth, it doesn't happen overnight, unfortunately,but that's okay. A tree doesn't grow overnight. The first step to growth is setting goals for yourself and determining whether or not they are achievable. This is like you're planting the tree. The second step is establishing when you want to start putting those goals into actions. This is like the roots receiving the nourishment from the soil. The third step is following through and making every necessary change in order to grow. This is when the bark or the foot of the tree begins to sprout. The final step is spreading the growth within your circle and in your daily tasks and activities. This is a prime example of when the leaves, flower, or fruit begin to grow on the tree. Think of your growth as an evergreen tree, it never dies.

In your process of growth, you need to remove ALL and I mean ALL of the negative things that are blocking you from moving forward. Some people will be hurt, some people will throw shade but remember this growth process is about you and for you. Throughout this process, you need to continue to check up on yourself and making sure you are taking the right steps that will lead you to the correct path. Keep a journal or diary, or start a blog if you haven't done so already. If this process becomes tough, that's okay, take a break but don't lose sight of the trophy.

I want you to take the time out and think to yourself, am I growing? Am I at the place where I want to be right now? Am I happy? If the answer was no to any of those questions, then take this time out to do something about it. CHANGE starts with you, my friend. Take that initial step. That initial step can be anything. It could be deleting people off of social media, deleting numbers out of your contact. It can be putting an end to that relationship that was bringing you down. It can simply be starting a new hobby. It can be planning out your day or year.

. Have a focus word for this year and make it your mission to follow through.

Being Yourself.. 

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
    before you were born I set you apart;
    I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Jer 1:5

​Who Are You?

There's no possible way you can be yourself without knowing who you really are. You pretend to idolize football player  because your neighbor does and you want to gain his approval. Soon enough you will realize that you don't know what interests you because you've been whiling away time with what least interests you. Understand yourself, figure out where your deepest passion lies and be proud of your qualities. Contemplate your life and the choices you've made. Take personality tests and you will eventually disentangle the buried mesh of what had been your true interests and hobbies all along! Accept it with pride! 

Forget The World!

So what if the person besides you passed a nasty comment on your outfit. As long as you're comfortable, does it really make a difference to your welfare? Or do you hesitate to raise your hand in class to ask the question that's persistently been pestering you simply because you fear your classmates might find it silly and doubt your intelligence. Why is their opinion even worth it? You should feel stupid for putting their opinions before your clarity on the subject! Forget the world, live your life and be yourself. Happiness will be right behind you! 

Breathe & Be Honest

Why do you want to live through the rest of your life safeguarding your sticky web of lies? Life is never rosy for anybody. Maybe at the beginning, you might not be as fortunate as certain other coveted beings. Nevertheless, if you hold your breath and take each day as it comes, life's delicate balance will soon manifest itself. There is no good reason to be ashamed of who you are. Whether it's a physical or mental shortcoming, the most trusted way to overcoming it is by acknowledging it with courage. We are all blighted with flaws and by hiding them, we are only adding to that list!      1 John 5:4-5.  for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. ⁵ Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

Express Your Individuality

The moment self-confidence is on your side, a beautiful and unique personality will blossom! Standing out isn't easy but it usually comes from within. It might be a skill, or a manner of speaking or infectious charisma. Build up on a character that singles you out from everybody in your planet. Be yourself. Even oddly colored slippers might accentuate your eccentric character after which you might garner admiration from different sides. Don't be a prototype, be a proud unique individual.  2cor3:4-5  Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. ⁵ Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God

Believe In Yourself

Take off that hideous mask and unleash the beauty hidden underneath its eternal ugliness! If you try to be what you're not, you're going to be unhappy through the remainder of your fake life. Thrive on solitude, engage in soul searching and you will soon be well acquainted with your new best friend- The Real You.