10 Tips to Creating a Positive Attitude

Last week, we talked about living a Godly life. For our part, God expects us to have a positive attitude. It’s called faith. With faith, we can always anticipate a good outcome. We can trust God to lead us, provide for us, and protect us so we can let go of fear and anxiety. That’s why we often hear the phrase “fear not” in His Word.

Having a positive attitude is good for both the mind and body, in addition to the soul. A good outlook can also contribute to good health. Read about the health benefits of a good attitude in our blog, The Power of Positive Thinking.

One of the main keys to living a happy, fulfilling life is having a positive mental attitude. Here are 10 ways you can train yourself to live each day with a good attitude:

Start each day positive
Take a few minutes in the morning to clear your mind and think positive thoughts about the upcoming day. Focus on people and events that will bring joy into your day. Think about the parts of the day you will enjoy and let that carry you through the less enjoyable activities. Let your optimism flow through your entire day.

Be grateful
A grateful mindset goes a long way toward a positive attitude. Think about the blessings you have and what matters most to you. You may be grateful for having a home to live in, a family, good friends, or work satisfaction. You can count the small blessings, too – a hug from a child, time spent with a pet, or watching a gentle rainfall.

Embrace life
Let go and embrace the moment, even if it contains an obstacle or less than fun task. Enjoy yourself while you do laundry or mow the yard. Be bold and courageous. Do something you wouldn’t normally do. If you were planning to relax at home and friends invite you out, go out anyway. Cherish the little moments that you might have glossed over otherwise.

Control your reactions
While we cannot control everything that happens around us, we can control how we react to it. For instance, one of your co-workers may be in bad mood and yells at you. You can choose to yell back, or you can decide that he must be having a rough day and not let it bother you. You have the power to shape your thoughts and beliefs how you want them to be.

Choose happiness
Being happy is a decision you make. You choose to be happy. Happiness has nothing to do with your station in life, money or other outside forces. Make it a habit to see the positive side of everything. You create your own happiness.

Love yourself
You have everything you need to be happy, loved and fulfilled. It comes with accepting who you are right now. You may wish you could be taller, skinnier or the life of the party. You don’t need to be gratified by external factors – you were born with everything you need. Accept that you are beautiful and perfect just the way you are.

Let it go
Your daughter is mad at you, someone cut you off in traffic, and you’re standing behind someone in a fast food line who can’t decide what to order. You can get yourself worked up by other people’s actions and punish yourself for things out of your control. Like we said earlier, you are responsible for your own actions and reactions to others. Just let it go. It’s not worth ruining your happiness to obsess about what others are doing or not doing.

Have positive friends
Get in the habit of hanging out with positive people. Nothing can drain your enthusiasm faster than someone who constantly complains, thrives on drama or sees only the negative in every situation. Seek out friends and family who have a sunny disposition and whose optimism rubs off on you.

View life as a journey
Be content with what you have now and where you are today. Don’t put off waiting to be happy until you have that new house, more money or perfect job. Life is a journey, and it’s important to make an effort to enjoy every part of the trip.

Reflect nightly
End your day by thinking about all the good things that happened that day. Think of at least 10 things you are truly grateful for in your life. Feel the joy of all the good things you have. You can fall asleep reflecting on your many blessings.

A positive attitude can help you cope with your daily challenges and create that more satisfying, balanced life. Positive people take responsibility for themselves and their actions, and take positive steps to turn any obstacle or challenge into an opportunity.

9 Ways to Live a Godly Life

Last weekend, my son was confirmed in the Catholic church. In his homily, the Bishop focused on “living a saintly life.” I was surprised when he began talking about taking care of yourself and your body as part of a saintly life. The Bishop explained that we should exercise, eat healthy, get enough sleep, and avoid temptations such as drugs or bad habits. While living like a saint may be a phrase that is more common in the Catholic religion, the concept of living a Godly or holy life can be applied to all Christians.

We should all be striving to live a more Godly life. In fact, this approach ties in directly to many of the basics to living a balanced life that we talk about in this blog with concepts like:

What does it mean to be a good Christian and live a Godly life?

Being Godly and balanced challenges us to the right choice at every moment of decision. It challenges us to make intelligent and responsible decisions.

Our modern-day world is filled with temptation.

Our modern-day world is filled with many influences that can steer us in the wrong direction and create peer pressures or desires that are not in line with living a Godly and holy life. What does a successful life look like? Should success and balance go hand in hand? There are many stories told of “successful” individuals but many times we later find out those same individuals have serious problems in other parts of their life. So what image of success can we trust? A Completely Balanced Lifeincorporates principles found in God’s word with simple basic principles that act as a reminder of what we should focus on at any moment of decision.

It is important to keep in mind that we can live a more effective and spiritual life by developing a mature and constructive approach to accomplishing our objectives and goals with the help of God.

Here are 9 ways you can live your faith and have true Godly success:

Put God first
God promises that when you put him first, you can accomplish everything you need to do. When you think about your plans, goals, desires and decisions you need to make, turn your thoughts toward God. What does He want for you? Think before saying or doing.

Form a plan
First, thank God for the areas where He is strong in your life. Then, rate yourself on where you can make improvements. Ask yourself, how can I improve my relationship with God? What can I do to be a better person? Set goals to help you create a more Godly life.

Clear out distractions
When aspects of your life are out of balance, it can be more difficult to focus on living a Godly life. You need to “clear out the clutter” in your life – so to speak – in order to strengthen your relationship with God. Make it a priority to eat a healthy, balanced diet, exercise regularly and get plenty of sleep. God only gave you one body, and it’s important to treat it with the respect it deserves.

Live modestly
Lead a life that reflects a true connection and understanding of what we can and cannot afford. It’s easy to get caught up in the material world we live in. We want more, the best version and the latest of everything. We spend money we don’t have and wonder why we are still unhappy. It’s better to live within your means and focus less on physical things and more on your spiritual happiness.

Be humble
Be more focused on self-improvement, combined with a desire to love and lift others up. We don’t need to compare ourselves to others and their successes. If you seek praise and honors, you may find yourself feeling empty and dissatisfied. It’s also not up to us to judge the actions of others. We need to focus on being unselfish and thinking of others before ourselves. Greed, pride, jealously, lust and hate all fight against us to be a better person and live in a more Godly way.

Avoid temptation
God calls us to make the right choices and avoid temptations that are bad for our mind, body and spirit. Temptations come from all directions, some even disguised as good, so it is important to ask yourself “would God approve of this” frequently. God is always there and listening and sees everything so there is no hiding things from Him.

Lean on friends and family
Gather with family and friends for support and to share your values and faith. When you are struggling, you can use the strength of your relationships to help lift you up. Be there for others in your life when they need a shoulder to lean on or a helping hand. Having strong, healthy relationships with those around you is a key part of living a Godly life.

Live in the moment
Learn to let things go. You cannot change the past nor can you predict the future. Enjoy the moment now and live like you could be called to judgment at any time. Think before you act. If you were called before God right now, would He be happy with the life you’ve been living? Live each day as if it were your last.

Help others
Are you unsure about what God wants you to do? Volunteering is a great place to start. Helping others through kind and selfless acts can contribute to a more balanced and fulfilling life. It’s not up to us to judge someone else’s situation, but we can lend a hand to help them make it better. Even simple acts of kindness, like holding a door open or carrying a heavy load for someone, help share the Holy Spirit.

Everything you do has meaning in your life. When you wake up in the morning, spend a few minutes thinking about what you want to accomplish and how you can conduct yourself in God’s likeness. As you get ready to fall asleep at night, meditate on your words and actions that day and if you did all you could do live a Godly and holy life.

10 Tips for Living in the Moment

How often are you truly living in the moment? I probably spend more time obsessing about the past and worrying about the future than I do thinking about right now.

In addition, I am distracted by technology, work or stress and not really present in the moment. A friend or family member may be talking to me, and I am not giving them my full attention. I am working but thinking about the laundry, the errands I need to run and the argument I had with my daughter.

We can live a happier, more fulfilling life if we focus on the present. We need to relish every moment we have on this Earth. Here are 10 tips to help you live in the moment:

Focus on now
If you are constantly worrying about what might happen in the future, how can you fully appreciate the present? Tomorrow is going to happen whether you worry about it or not. You may also be obsessing about things you can’t control. What good will worrying about it do? Redirect your mental energy to enjoy what you are doing right now.

Do one thing at a time
We have talked about multitasking in the past. You aren’t really multitasking, you are quickly switching from one task to another. You are not fully giving the present your attention if you’re talking on the phone with a friend and typing an email. Do one thing at time. If you’re eating lunch at work, just eat. Don’t give into the urge to read a report while you eat.

Give yourself space
Related to doing one thing at a time is putting space between things. Leave room between tasks on your schedule. Then, if you run long on one task, you won’t be stressed about getting behind on the next task.

Do less
Our society encourages us to do more, more, more. We have to fill our days to the brim. Rushing around and hurrying through things does not help you live in the moment. It leaves you frazzled and always thinking about the next thing. You can do less. Doing less means you can accomplish your goals, feel more satisfied and probably achieve a better end result.

Live slowly
When you do less, you can live more slowly. You can take the time to enjoy the present. How often do you sit and talk to your spouse without any distractions? Do you take the time to have a 5-minute, uninterrupted conversation with a child? If we slow down and do less, we will capture those precious moments that slip by when we are stressed and overwhelmed.

Savor the little things
Take time to notice the world around you. We tend to forget to appreciate the little things. Enjoy whatever it is you are doing. Enjoy snuggling on the couch with your kids instead of thinking about the laundry and sink full of dirty dishes. Relish an ice cream cone. Soak up the sun shining on your face.

Be kind
Random acts of kindness help you live in the moment. If you are doing something nice, you are focused on the present. Smile at strangers. Hold the door open for others. Help a friend who is feeling overwhelmed. You improve the present moment for you and someone else.

Give thanks
Be thankful. When everything seems to be going wrong, take a moment to be thankful for the good things. You can be grateful for family and friends. You may be in good health. You have a roof over your head, a warm place to sleep and food to eat. There is always something to appreciate.

Do nothing
Spend five minutes a day doing nothing. Just sit in a quiet place. Be aware of your thoughts and breathe. Take in the world around you. Rejoice in the stillness of doing nothing. You may be surprised by how much it can help your mood and attitude.

Let it go
Leave the past in the past. You can’t go back and change it. Worrying about it won’t change it. Give yourself permission to let it go. Forgive others and move on. If you continue to allow past events to affect your mood, you won’t be able to fully enjoy the present.

Life moves quickly. If you’re spending all your time worrying about things that have already happened or might happen in the future, you are missing out on the here and now. You can live a more balanced and happy life when you live it in the present.