Did You Let The Sunshine In?

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Many people dream of a vacation to Florida. Other’s think it must be so wonderful to live in Florida, where it is almost always warm, and spend days on the beaches, in the resorts and theme parks. I am a Floridian—born here and lived all my life in Florida. I can’t imagine living anywhere else. When my northern friends are freezing in the winters…and having huge heating bills…we are often using little to no heat. Some winter days we will even use our air conditioning during the middle of the day. My husband and daughter have been known to go in our pool on Christmas Day!

Is Life Overwhelming you?

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Just when I am feeling like the weight of the world is crashing down on me, I get a reminder that things aren’t really so bad after all!! I know that many of you are dealing with personal/family problems and over shadowing many people is the economy. It’s easy to focus our attention on only these things and forget to see the bigger picture.

I was reminded twice recently about this. We have very good friends, Jim and Debora, who are missionaries in Africa. Let me tell you—if I had to face the hardships and dangers those dear friends face all the time, I would probably have run home as fast as I could long ago. I notice that when they are in the states, their hearts and minds are back in Africa with the children in the orphanage they run. Those children have all lost their parents due to AIDS.

Are You Rich?

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I read some words on a sign recently and had to go back and read them again. It is a simple statement:

“If you want to feel really rich,
think about all the good things in your life
that money cannot  buy!”

We all get discouraged, upset and overwhelmed with ‘life’! Through the years, I try to be ready with my PERSONAL AMMUNITION of positive words, thoughts, prayers. I have also been reminded many times of how blessed I really am in spite of the difficult circumstances.

You Are Special

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If Only I Could Be Like……

Each of us has our own unique skills, talents and strengths, yet I wonder how often we downplay our own abilities and wish we could be like____________(you fill in the blank). As confident as we might look on the outside, we feel inferior inside. It’s so easy to recognize the strengths of those around us while we focus on our own (perceived) weaknesses.

I was once in a meeting led by several individuals. One person was rather aggressive in her approach…another had years of experience in this field….another didn’t have much experience but was  full of energy and enthusiasm….one man was rather shy but completely sincere in his approach. What a wonderful combination! Because of the varied abilities and strengths, that meeting was a complete success and each person in the audience could certainly identify with some of the qualities represented that day.

Become a Better Listener: Active Listening

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Most people go through their daily lives engaging in many conversations with friends, co-workers, and our family members. But most of the time, we don’t listen as well as we could or sometimes should. We’re often distracted by other things in the environment, such as the television, the Internet, our cell phones, or something else. We think we’re listening to the other person, but we’re really not giving them our full attention.
Enter a skill called “active listening.” Active listening is all about building rapport, understanding, and trust. By learning the skills below, you will become a better listener and actually hear what the other person is saying, not just want you think they are saying or what you want to hear. While therapists are often made fun of for engaging in active listening, it is a proven technique that helps people talk and feel free to continue talking even if the person they are talking to doesn’t have a lot to offer the other person (other than their ear).

Are you as good a listener as you think you are?

 

13 Steps to Better Active Listening Skills

Below you will find 13 different skills that help people be better active listeners. You do not have to become adept at each of these skills to be a good active listener, but the more you do, the better you’ll be. If you even just use 3 or 4 of these skills, you will find yourself listening and hearing more of what another person is saying to you.

1. Restating

To show you are listening, repeat every so often what you think the person said — not by parroting, but by paraphrasing what you heard in your own words. For example, “Let’s see if I’m clear about this. . .”

Are You Searching For Your Rainbow?

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Sometimes it is easy to see the rainbow…the good in every situation. Other times, it is hard to see past the storm clouds, wind and rain. It does take effort and determination to realize that these less than wonderful situations will pass–that there is a rainbow just waiting for us.

I have a friend who (as a joke) used to sing the song from the old television show Hee-Haw. Do you remember it?

Gloom, despair and agony on me

Deep dark depression, excessive misery

If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all

Gloom, despair and agony on me

Change Your Life Forever

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I am sometimes amazed that Lisa Diane can take what seems so simple and make us understand how we can drastically change our lives by doing that one simple thing. Read on and “Change Your Life Forever”.

I saw this sign today…

“Objects in the mirror may appear closer than they actually are…”

As soon as I read it, it was like one of those “a-ha” moments… like finding a secret hidden message in plain sight.

Your Miracle Moments are Waiting for You Now!

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There’s a simple story in the Bible that best illustrates what a Miracle Moment really is.

Peter asked Jesus to allow him to step out of the boat and join him by walking on the water.

THAT WAS A MIRACLE MOMENT.

In those few short moments, Peter taught us a lesson that holds within it the SECRET toall success in life.

Let’s look at what happened.

Peter saw Jesus standing out on the lake. He thought it was totally cool that Jesus could do that and he wanted to do it, too. (He KNEW what he wanted!)

I imagine that in the few moments preceding his request to Jesus, that Peter envisioned himself walking across the lake. He could see himself standing out there next to Jesus–defying all sense of reality or what was “possible”. (He created a VISION in his mind.)

When he asked Jesus to call him over there, he was making a bold statement of FAITH. He believed it was possible.

At the same time I imagine that the other guys in the boat with Peter had a few remarks to make of their own (even if they were made quietly). Peter chose to ignore the NEGATIVE and envision the positive outcome.

So what happened? Peter stepped out of the boat, started walking on the water and within a short time, sank.

What You Think About You Bring About

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You must guard your mind from negative thoughts and emotions.You are in control of your thoughts. You can put a stop to a negative thought the moment it enters your mind. Is this easy? No, but it is absolutely critical to your ultimate success.

One effective tool for you to use is to REPLACE worry with a positive vision. Worry brings fear, nervousness and frustration. It distracts us and keeps us from operating at our optimum level.

Worry stems from FEAR. And in 90% of all cases, FEAR is negative. Yes, there are times when fear can be healthy–like choosing not to walk too close to the edge of a cliff. But for the most part, FEAR is nothing more than FALSE EVIDENCE APPEARING REAL (F.E.A.R).

The problem with allowing your mind to obsess and worry over something you fear is that by doing so you can actually manifest the very thing you fear into your reality. Remember, our subconscious mind works hard to bring about the thoughts we focus on the most.

So here’s the plan: when you start to worry over something, instead of doing what most people do and imagining the worst possible scenario as being inevitable, begin to imagine that BEST possible outcome you can think of. Instead of obsessing over “what could or might” happen that is bad, begin to vividly imagine that what WILL happen is a good and positive outcome. If you’ll do this, I guarantee that you’ll begin to see GOOD things happen and you’ll eliminate the bad.

 

How to Bloom Where You Are Planted

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We can’t always choose the cards we have been dealt, but we can learn to play them. Like a flower that grows through a crack in the concrete, sometimes we have to make the best of our situations and bloom where we have been planted.

You may not be where you want to be in life just yet. You may be working a day job that is not your passion and working on your dream through the night.

Keeping our dreams alive is what uplifts the human spirit. But how can we deal with the fact that sometimes we may have to tolerate something that we do not like to eventually get to where we want to be?

Not everyone can quit their jobs and follow a dream. Sometimes our dreams take time. So instead of getting bitter and upset at your situation, why not try blooming where you have been planted?

Here is how I think we can do that and why it makes a difference:

1) Every step in life prepares you for the next one

You may not realize it, but where you are now is providing you with vital life lessons for your next adventure.

When late producer, director, author and screenwriter Michael Crichton was interviewed about how his training as a physician helped him to be a writer, he said this:

 

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