The Navigator

Posts Tagged ‘happiness’

I had the pleasure of speaking to the store managers last Wednesday at the Preferred Outlets in Medford.  What a great group of people.  I thought the information I shared is always a great reminder for all of us so I decided to post it here so you could benefit as well.  My top 5 tips for managing stress are:

1. Live your life from a state of gratitude.
2. Find at least three proactive behaviors you can do any where, any time and in front of anyone such as taking nice deep breaths, asking questions if you’re in a heated conversation, or think of something that brings you joy.
3. Look at how balanced your life is.  What areas are suffering?  What can you do to bring more balance in today?
4. Focus on what’s really important.  If something is causing you stress but doesn’t really matter in the big picture – let it go.
5. Finally, ask yourself what YOU can bring to the table to make things better.  Don’t blame others!

Have a peaceful day full of joy!

I just had to share this excerpt from a post by Bonnie on the Commanding Wealth Circle Yahoo Group.  I also had the pleasure of seeing Michael Beckwith at Agape two years ago when we were out there on vacation.  We attended the Easter service at Universal Studios (because there were so many people there).  It was inspiring and worth the time and cost ($100 cab each way – had NO idea that would happen).

Excerpt from Bonnie:

I had the privilege of attending the Agape Church in Culver City–Michael Bernard Beckwith’s church yesterday while I am here in LA. What an uplifting experience! I see why people stand in line for almost an hour just to get a good seat.

He said many wonderful things, but a couple things really stood out for me that I want to share with everyone. “Let us all be in agreement that Life is FOR us, the universe is FOR us, God is FOR us.” Wow! Goose bumps on that as I repeated his words.

Life is FOR me. The universe if FOR me. God is FOR me. Try it—close your eyes, take a deep breath and say out loud to yourself. Life is FOR me. The universe is FOR me. God (or whatever word you use) is FOR me.
Stand in front of a mirror and look into your left eye. Life is FOR me. The universe is FOR me. God is FOR me. Notice what is different for you after that experience.

“You cannot stop the flow of someone living in gratitude.” Pause and ponder that–you cannot stop the flow of someone living in gratitude. What would life be like for you if you lived in gratitude from the moment your eyes opened in the morning until you fell asleep. How unstoppable would YOU be? Goose bumps again!

And the 3rd thing he suggested about living a life you desire is to do 3 things:
–Stop comparing yourself to others.
–Stop reacting to others.
–Mind your own business.
Again–goose bumps at the thought of what would be like if I could live that daily.

All great thoughts to ponder wouldn’t you say?

Bonnie

You will never find success if you can’t define it.  This is one of the topics in my new book, Inspiring Success.  Success means different things to different people.  It’s usually based on your individual values. 

How do you define success?  Have you defined it?

I recently came across a quote and I can’t remember the author for the life of me but it said something along the lines of this: 

“Success is having everything in life that money can’t buy
and some of what it can.”

Yep, that’s it. 

There are so many things in life that are important to me that money can’t buy.  I want to be happy.  I want to be healthy.  I want to be free to be who I am completely and to share that with others.  I want to have balance in my life – however I choose to define balance.  I want to spend time in the sun, time finding beauty in my surroundings.  I want the same for my family and friends.  I also want to spend time supporting others in their healing and time helping them to be successful – whatever that means to them. 

I want to know that I can pay my bills.  I want to know that there is food on my table and gas in my car and some left over for a movie and popcorn with a friend, for my daughter to play tennis and my husband to go hunting.  And maybe an occasional vacation wouldn’t hurt now and then.

Pretty simple and yet so important.  You’ll never find something you can’t define.   How would you know when you achieved it?  I invite you to spend some time defining success today and then go get it!

The past year or so I have chosen to spend little to nothing on new clothes for a couple of reasons. One was feeling that money was better spent elsewhere and two was any time I went shopping with the goal of purchasing something, I had a hard time finding anything I really wanted.

My biggest challenge has been shoes. Every 6 months or so I always bought a brown pair and a black pair of shoes, fitting for the season, and sometimes other shoes as well. I always buy good shoes because comfort is important and I want them to last.

I have had the same shoes for quite a while now and even though they were better shoes to begin with, they’ve been looking really worn for a while but I couldn’t find new ones I liked.

Here’s the kicker, my husband cleaned out the front closet, the one we never go in and found about 8 pairs of shoes of mine. All looking brand new from the past few seasons. I am a pretty casual/comfortable person so most of them are pretty simple and could easily be worn today. Not only do I have the shoes, we’ve also made room for new things to come in (not that I’m going shopping any time soon LOL).

As I reflect on this, I realize that our lives often take the same shape. How often do you look outside for the answers when you have them all along…right in front of you…yours for the taking. Do you think happiness comes from the outside? love? joy? peace? It all comes from the inside. It’s right there for the taking. Enjoy it now!

1. Live in the present.
2. Take time to be silent.
3. Relinquish the need for external approval.
4. Listen to your body.
5. Let go of anger.
6. Don’t judge.
7. Don’t contaminate your body with toxins.
8. Maintain your perspective.

Happiness is our life purpose – the only reason we are here. What are your tips for happiness?