Think about the way you stand, look, or speak when you’re in a bad mood. Chances are your shoulders are somewhat slumped, your jaws are dropped and your voice is low and/or harsh. These and other characteristics are distancing defenses within us that show up to help us hang onto our bad mood. And guess what—they work, at least as long as we continue to act the way we feel.

But have you ever noticed what happens to your mood when you smile when you feel like frowning or crying; or when you walk tall and sure-footed when you feel like dragging your feet; or when you speak lovingly and patiently with others when you feel like biting their heads off? Unless you’re bound and determined to still feel down in the dumps, your spirit will instantly be lifted when you act the opposite of negative feelings, and so will your mood.

Don’t take my word for it. Try it for yourself. The next time you’re tempted to act out your bad mood, act to the contrary instead. Do the opposite of what your bad mood tells you to do and you’ll be a lot happier with the results when your bad mood has passed.

Do you ever find yourself wondering where the time has gone?  It seems that the older we get the more quickly the years seem to go by. But recently I learned a simple technique that will help us appreciate time now as it passes rather than feeling as though it has left us behind scratching our heads.

Try to live life as separate 24-hour blocks of time as opposed to one gigantic block. Just as we would break a large project into smaller steps to complete it, we can approach life the same way.

Each morning as you thank God for the new day,  mentally erase your slate and start each day as if it were a blank canvas waiting for you to choose the designs you will make—in other words, how you choose to live that day.

Still reflect on the past and plan for the future, but only as it relates positively to today—your current 24-hour block of time.

If you ever feel your life is passing too quickly, try this technique. It will help you appreciate your moments more.

But take heart. By the same token, what shows up deep in our hearts--in our God-mind--will also come out of our mouths. And our God-mind is a much more reliable source of love and support than our ego-mind everytime. 

The next time you find yourself having a negative thought, remind yourself that it’s just a distraction of your ego-mind. Listen closely to your heart for the truth.

1.   Start the day by reading an inspiring expression and recite it to yourself throughout the day.

2.   Think of all the reasons you have to smile and notice your expression.

3.   Give thanks throughout the day for all of your blessings—large and small.

4.   Look for something good in each person you come in contact with today and focus only on that.

5.   Take five deep breaths each time you’re feeling stressed.

6.   Silence your subconscious voice and listen to your heart.

7.   Resist the urge to listen to or spread gossip. 

8.   Take time to be still and quiet, if only for a few moments here and there, throughout the day.

9.   Be content being yourself.

10. At the end of your day, stop and reflect on how you feel and how you felt throughout the day with this exercise in mind and how you can make inner joy a habit. 

Well the fact of the matter is that you’re the most important person. Change starts with you. Change starts within you. Just by our existence here, each one of us not only makes a difference, we are the difference. The world wouldn’t be the same without us. 

Yet, too often, we look outside ourselves for solutions to the problems of the world and even in our own lives. We expect somebody else to fix it, to do it right, to change things. And when this doesn’t happen, we feel one of two ways—either disappointed that things don’t seem to be getting any better or convinced that what we believed before is still true—that the world is hopeless.

But who is the world? The world is people. Who are people? People are us—each of us. And when things go wrong or go right in the world, we can be sure we had a hand in it—either by what we did or didn’t do. 

Each of us is in the world for a specific purpose—the same purpose. To be love. Only our talents differ.

When we focus on fulfilling the purpose of love that God placed us each here for, we will not only discover our special talents or “gifts,” but we will inevitably use them in a positive way. 

That’s the difference we each can make. That’s the difference the world needs.

1. Buy yourself a balloon that says, “You go girl!” 
2. Send yourself an email congratulating yourself.
3. Allow yourself to stop and listen to your favorite CD all the way through without interruption.
4. Have a glass of wine and drink a toast to yourself at dinner.
5. Write how you feel about your victory in your journal or on a pad for future reference.
6. Call someone who cares and tell them about your breakthrough.
7. Make your favorite breakfast, and eat it in bed as your reward meal.
8. Treat yourself to that new movie you’ve been dying to see.
9. Take a candlelit bubble bath.
10. Make your favorite desert and share it with a friend to commemorate the moment.

If I feel peaceful when I’m doing, thinking or saying something, then I know it’s love. If I don’t, then I know it’s not. At that point, I have a choice to make, and my decision will determine whether, in that moment, I choose to live truth or a lie. Anything that doesn’t make me feel peaceful is a lie.

So what’s the choice when something is not making us feel peaceful? The choice is to continue doing it (a lie) or do something else that does make us feel peaceful (the truth.) That’s what having free will is—our God-given right to choose how we live our lives. And when we’re choosing to live our truth we’re living our lives in love.

Things are not always as they appear—no matter how perfect the image. Everyone has fears. They just don’t always let them show. It’s their way of projecting confidence.

But sometimes letting others see our flaws as well as our attributes is the most confident thing we can do. It takes courage to not only admit, but also demonstrate that, in and of ourselves, we are not perfect. In so doing, others will see that, despite our flaws, by the grace of God, we’re growing better every day.

One of my favorite ways to be still is sit on my front porch or back deck and watch nature take its course. I’m often amused by the squirrels scurrying about and the birds flying from tree to tree and sometimes down to my porch or deck as if to say hello. I’m comforted by the smooth caress of a gentle breeze and the swaying of the trees in perfect rhythm. I marvel at the sky with all its changing shades and the sun that always makes me smile with its brightness.

Even if I only sit there for 10 minutes, I instantly feel renewed by the stillness of the moment, when I’m not thinking about anything in particular; when I’m simply being still—at peace.

Needless to say, not every hurt feeling can be avoided, but some can, especially the unnecessary ones. How? By looking for the love; i.e., good intention, behind the act. Remember: if it’s not an act of love, it’s just a minor distraction not worthy of being taken to heart. When you choose the matters you take to heart based on the good intentions you find behind them, you’ll find that your feelings get hurt a lot less often.

Here’s an easy way to avoid prolonged hurt feelings. The next time someone does or says something that initially hurts your feelings, ask yourself this question: “Where is the love in what this person did or said?” If you can’t find it, you know it’s not a matter worth taking to heart. Let it go.