“Believe in Blessings” Mini Course Day Seven

Don’t forget to reward yourself! When you accomplish a goal, regardless of how small pat yourself on the back for a job well done. The inspiring list of ways that you can reward yourself as positive reinforcement is endless. 

“Let your light so shine before the eyes of others so that, seeing your good actions, they will praise your Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16 

“Fix your thoughts on the things that are above, not on those that are on earth.” Colossians 3:2

“For the Spirit which God gave us was not a spirit of cowardice, but a spirit of power, love, and self-control.” 2 Timothy 1:7 

“My steps have held fast to the paths of your precepts and in your tracks have my feet never stumbled.” Psalm 17:5  

“The Lord is my shepherd: I am never in need. He lays me down in green pastures. He gently leads me to waters of rest, he refreshes my life. He guides me along paths that are straight, true to his name.” Psalm 23:1-3

“In conclusion, friends, whenever you find things that are true or honorable, righteous or pure, lovable or praiseworthy, or if virtue and honor have any meaning, let them fill your thoughts.” Philippians 4:8 

“Believe in Blessings” Mini Course Day Six

If you desire to be truly happy and live in the present, it is important that you find a suitable career that makes you feel like you are fulfilling a meaningful purpose. 

It can become depressing if you don’t really enjoy your work situation. If you wake up every weekday morning and dread going to work, you can easily become frustrated with your life. 

If you start to become unhappy with your life it may affect your faith. Many people spend so much of their entire life at work. 

“But we do know that God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love him – those who have received the call in accordance with his purpose.” Romans 8:28 

Whether you have a full-time office job or work-at-home, stress is a real issue that every professional usually needs to deal with sooner or later. 

As the work culture gets increasingly complex and employees are expected to work more for less; it’s now more important than ever to find your own method of coping with the work environment. 

Relax, if you’ve been feeling stressed out lately from all the changes and increased workload, just follow a few simple tips to reduce work stress.

Listen to calming music if your workplace permits it. Soothing music may ease your tension and motivate you to complete your tasks. Relaxing music can be really beneficial.

Working at home can get very lonely at times due to lack of in-person communication with co-workers. It is always nice to call a friend to say hello after work.

“Believe in Blessings” Mini Course Day Four

Be happy! It is important to smile throughout your day. No matter what ups and downs happen in your day it is important that you take it in stride. 

Keep in mind that certain challenges in life can make us grow stronger in faith. Always remember there are people out there who are probably going through situations worse than yours. 

You may have experienced difficult times in the past, but you learned how to cope and deal with those circumstances. It is not easy trying to cope with ongoing overwhelm and emotional stress. 

But Jesus replied, “Rather, happy are those who listen to God’s message and keep it.” Luke 11:28 

Remember to appreciate each day! Every morning that you open your eyes in bed you should be grateful for a brand new day full of new opportunities. Be thankful and think of your blessings. 

Take a look out of your kitchen window or step outside and take a moment to appreciate all of the beautiful creations in nature that God has blessed you with in life. 

I really enjoy the natural entertainment from the singing birds in the Spring, along with the adorable rabbits and funny squirrels!

“May God, who inspires our hope, grant you perfect happiness and peace in your faith, until you are filled with this hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 

“Believe in Blessings” Mini Course Day Five

Always count your blessings! Regardless how difficult things may be, you probably have lots of things to be grateful for in your life. Whether it’s the security of having a job when a lot of people are jobless right now, having a supportive caring family, or simply being in good health. 

By revisiting everything you have good in your life, you can’t hold onto the negative feelings. Hopefully, you will feel reassured and confident. There may be countless things in your life that you are very thankful to God for right now.

“Let your hearts be courageous and strong, all you who wait on the Lord.” Psalm 31:24 

“laying all your anxieties on him, for he makes you his care.” 1 Peter 5:7 

Daily everyday stresses may include job stress and work overload. These little everyday stresses can add up and lead to emotional and physical distress. 

Many nurses, teachers, doctors and social workers are prone to career burnout. If a person feels like they have some control and input over their life they may handle things in a more positive, productive manner. 

Optimistic people usually cope better with stress. A perceived loss of control can cause an increase in tension.

Even homemakers and moms can have days when they may feel overwhelmed with too many family responsibilities and not enough time for themselves. 

Enjoy a Happier Life as a Minimalist

Adopting a more minimalist lifestyle can help you to:

• Save money
• Be more productive
• Help the environment
• Create a MUCH more beautiful home
•  Add the ‘wow factor’
• Support the lifestyle that really makes you happy
• Escape the rat race

All those are pretty worthy causes. And no matter what kind of person you are, simply reducing the clutter in your home and changing the way you think about your purchases will help you to be a more fulfilled person. But none of that is the ultimate goal this lifestyle shift. The real goal instead is to make you happier. When you become more minimal, you become happier.

How Minimalism Leads to Happiness

There are two ways that minimalism leads to happiness: direct and indirect. We’re going to look at how you can use minimalism to really transform your mindset and your approach to your belongings, but we will come to that in a moment. In the meantime, what we’re interested in is some of the direct consequences of minimalism and how that makes you happier. 

Save Time

You have far less clutter in your home now and that means you have less tidying to do. You’ve introduced simple systems to help you wash up and keep the house clean and you are less demanding on yourself. All this means that you can now come home and actually relax in a calm and beautiful environment. It’s impossible to overstate just what a positive impact this can have on your life or how much of a change this makes.

Reduce Stress

You live a less expensive lifestyle and thus you may possibly be able to work fewer hours. When you realize that you can achieve all those things you want to achieve without staying in work until 8pm and without taking on lots of extra responsibility and overtime, then you realize that you don’t need to work a bigger job to be happier! Now you’re coming home earlier and not bringing that stress home with you. That makes you a better friend, a better partner and a better parent.

What about job satisfaction you ask? Well, perhaps you need to stop looking at your work as a way to achieve your satisfaction. What about gaining satisfaction from your own projects instead? How about writing an amazing novel, getting into incredible shape, or going on amazing travels?What about setting up a highly rewarding side business? Or working online?

Meanwhile, you also have less work to do around the house and fewer financial strains. The less you realize you need, the more relaxed and fun life becomes again!

Increase Freedom

Less stress and fewer physical ties mans more freedom. When you have more space in your home, you have more freedom even just to move around in that space! Freedom is such a fundamental part of the human experience and absolutely essential to our happiness!

Going Deeper

But that happiness goes much deeper. Because what minimalism is really about is knowing that you have everything you need to be happy right here, right now. Recognize that fact and you can start to really appreciate how lucky you are and you can learn to be happy with anything. On the other hand, if you always feel you want more and if you’re always pushing toward that next thing, then you’ll find you never really stop to enjoy the things you already have.

Put a stop to this by developing a gratitude attitude. A good way to do this is to spend every evening taking stock of everything you have and everything you’re grateful for, for just five minutes. This might mean writing those things down in a notepad, or it can mean running through them mentally. Try to think of different things each night. And there is so much to be grateful for.

You can be grateful for the fact you are in good health. You can be grateful for the fact that you have people who love you. And you can be grateful for the fact that you have a roof over your head at all. Another tip is to make sure you schedule time to enjoy the things you own and the space you have. Better yet, make sure that you are truly enjoying the things that you are doing as well.

We have our list of things that we can do for an evening and this can be an eclectic range of things from going stargazing in your own garden, to sleeping in the summer house, to building a robot with the kids. Whatever the case, try to be creative when writing this list and to think about all the different ways that you can use the space you already have to have fun.

Look at objects you have around you and try to think of the new and exciting ways you could have fun with them or do something worthwhile or fulfilling. Try to rediscover that child’s sense of wonder in your own home. But what’s more, is that you then need to take the time to really reflect on what you’re doing and how fortunate you are. This is called being ‘present’ or being ‘mindful’ and it is currently a very big topic in psychology.

It essentially means that instead of letting your mind wonder to work and to all the things you’re stressed about right now, you’re instead going to stop and reflect on what you’re doing and how much fun you’re having. 

Tonight, think about how comfortable you are in your bed and about how much you’re looking forward to eating that breakfast cereal tomorrow. Learn that it really doesn’t matter what you have. What matters is your perception of the things you have. What matters is your appreciation of those things. You create value in the way you engage with the world and your belongings and in doing this, you bring value into your own life. You can be rich without spending a penny.