Volume Three
2014
Practical Ideas and Encouragement For Living An Inspired Life
Thanks for picking up this issue
of Mission Life magazine. In my life coaching practice, my philosophy is, change the way you think you’ll change the way you live. And my personal mission is to help you do just that. It is my hope that as you journey through this issue you will gain insight about your life, pick up practical tips on how to grow, overcome, and recharge; and be inspired and encouraged. Each component has been selected with that goal mind; Everything from understanding the mastery of life, to understanding the benefits of journaling, journeying within your soul, and
how not to live a life filled with regrets. Also included is a new article feature called Coaching You. Each entry is designed to help coach you through some aspect of your life.
The Mastery Of Life process. Our Western culture suggests that bigger is better, and more is prestigious. But author George Leonard suggests, “We fail to realize that mastery is not about perfection. It’s about
“You don’t have to go through this life trying to figure things out on your own.”
through this issue of Mission Life Magazine don’t just read it. Absorb the advice. It’s designed to help you.
That idea is one of the major benefits of working with a life coach. The journey of your life does have a purpose. The dreams and desires deep in your soul are there for a reason. The story of your life is part of a grand adventure. Don’t miss it. Each day is just one small part of an epic journey called your life. Junk happens. You get stuck, confused, hurt, lost, or just overwhelmed. It’s all part of the journey. As you travel
A famous quote reads, “Information does not equal transformation.”
give up trying, become lazy, or become socially dependent. But let’s evaluate priorities and begin understanding what’s really important.
You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”
Where we invest our time makes all the difference. Inspirational philosopher Jim Rohn once said, “We must all suffer one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is, discipline weighs ounces while regret weight tons.” All we have is today. Period. Really, all we have is this moment. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow has not arrived. We can attempt to arrange the activities of the future, but nothing disrupts that faster than the arrival of the unpredictable. Are your day’s chosen activities as important as you think?
“Life is really not about what we do, but who we become in the process.” M ost
people strive daily to perform on some level. And we measure our success by the profit of that striving in the form of a paycheck, a sales quota, or some other form of increase. But that’s not really the measure of success in life. Those are the fruits or byproducts of the time we’ve traded for them. Life is really not about what we do, but who we become in the M ISSION L IFE MAGAZINE
a process; a journey. The master is the one who stays on the path day after day, year after year. The master is the one who is willing to try, and fail, and try again, for as long as he or she lives.” So then, life is more about personal growth than personal accumulation. Really - how much are you going to get to take with you when you leave this world? All of the spoils of this earth go to someone else when we pass on. I’m not suggesting that we
No Regrets
Mastery of life is simply; when we know better we do better. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Finish every day and be done with it.
“In order to be truly transformed you must take action and apply what has been learned.” Take notes. Do the work. Take inspired action. And if you get stuck, give me a call. That’s what I’m here for - your coach
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The real definition of success is life one day at a time, one moment at a time, savoring each second of the journey as the blessing that it truly is
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e iga t Na v Issue: id e ... This a t’s ins Wh
Mastery Of Life Searching The Soul Top Five Regrets Avoid The Sabotage Faith Matters Be Tansformed: A Philosophy For Life Vitamins For The Mind
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w w w . FR E E D O M L I V IN G . o r g
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“... the life of every man is a diary waiting to be written.” By Greg Tutwiler
What comes to mind when you hear the term soul searching?
I found this definition intriguing; “The act of facing one’s inmost self with courage, determined to bring every ulterior thought, emotion, and motive to light.” (wiki.answers.com)
Have you done any soul searching lately? Why does it matter, you might ask? “Not evaluating those thoughts that we purposely deceive ourselves to believe, corrupts our soul … the greatest evil in the world is self-deception, because self-deception preys on the troubled soul.” Thomas Merton wrote, “Your life is shaped by the ends you live for.
You are made in the image of what you desire.” Do you know what those ends are? What do you desire? Most days we run on autopilot, not stopping to give one thought to the whys and wherefores. Hopefully by now you understand that the control center of your life originates within your thoughts and ideas, resulting in the day in and day out choices you make. When’s the last time you spent some time alone with yourself – mining your soul – connecting to the Spirit within, and seeking Divine guidance for your life? Every choice produces a consequence. Are you living from
a solid foundation – choosing from a place of confidence – or mostly shooting from the hip? William Bernard Ullathorne wrote, “A soul that is patient waits with calm endurance for light before acting … where the mind waits patiently for light, sooner or later it is sure to come. (However) If you go blindly into action, you will be sure to repent it.” Patience is a virtue many of us struggle to demonstrate. But time and time again philosophy and religion reminds us that patience, calm, and endurance are the keys to a grounded and productive life. Those attributes come from the deep regions of your soul. Go find them
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“Change the way you think, you’ll change the way you live.” “The journey of a 1,000 miles begins with a single step.” Take that first step! Reserve your complimentary coaching session today. (540) 433-0360
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Mission Life Magazine is published by North River Publishing Co. (Aproximately quarterly, however the production schedule is subject to change without notice.) All correspondence should be sent to Mission Life Magazine, PO Box 45, Bridgewater VA, 22812, or email to missionlifeinfo@aol.com. Complimentary copies of Mission Life Magazine are made available free at various locations and through various ministry organizations. Subscriptions available by request for $20. Copyright 2014. All rights reserved. Reproduction of copy, artwork or photographs is strictly prohibited without permission of the publisher. All editorial content or artwork derived from outside sources remains the property of the original author. Any reprint of those should be obtained directly through them. Advertising submissions may be considered, however all advertising material is subject to approval. PUBLISHER/EDITOR IN CHIEF: Greg Tutwiler, missionlifeinfo@aol.com www.MissionLifeMagazine.com www.FreedomLiving.org www.ChristianCoachingForMen.com
With Positive Intention I’m doing my best to stay informed, yet stay out of the mire of the mainstream media storm around world events lately. It’s not easy. But this quote from W. Clement Stone came to me in my journaling time this morning; “There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative.” How can you not be effected by all that’s going on? Is it a new trend? Who’s to blame? We are bathed in opinions and editorials aimed at swaying our mind in one direction or another. But as I step back and try to put it all in perspective, I am acutely aware of just how negative it all is. Tragic, yes. But where is the positive spin? Now, I understand that there is a global shift towards violence and chaos. That is for another discussion. But we don’t have to lay down and quit. We don’t have to agree with the negative slant on humanity. Is there evil among us? Sure. But doom and gloom is a waste of energy – especially when your immediate world is still pretty good. Maybe there’s a different response in all this. What if we all adopted a different attitude? What if we fought back – with positive intention instead? We have been lured into a passive, fearful mindset – which is one step away from negative resignation. We still live in the greatest country on earth – surrounded by some of the greatest people on earth – we have just forgotten who we really are. I love this following observation I jotted down one day from an unidentified web page: “To know your true self is to set free the beauty God made in you. So much of the pain of human existence is created by misunderstanding. We accept wrong ideas about who we are, and therefore live painful, stifling, disappointing lives. We were made to be so much more than that! When we rightly understand who we are, we can live as who we are. And if we accept the wonders God made in us – like love, emotion, d evotion, passion, intelligence, love of truth, etc. – then we can express those wonders for the good of all ”
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Top Five Regrets This world is full of economic, po-
litical, social, and global uncertainty. Seems everyone is striving for something, or struggling through something, or laboring to control something. But in the end, does any of it matter? And if not, what does? Consider this. Bronnie Ware was a palliative care nurse. In her book, The Top Five Regrets of the Dying – A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing, she wrote, “My patients were those who had gone home to die. I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives. People grow on the treadmill of a work exista lot when they are faced with ence.” their own mortality. Each experienced a variety of emotions, as THREE. I wish I’d had the courexpected, denial, fear, anger, reage to express my feelings. morse, more denial and eventu“Many people suppressed their ally acceptance. Every single pafeelings … and many developed tient found their peace before illnesses relating they deto the bitterness p a r t e d and resentment “I wish I’d had the they carried as a though, every one of them.” courage to live a life result.”
Take some time today to ponder this list. Are there some things on here that hit home? They did for me too. Don’t wait til the end to deal with them. We only get one chance at this lifetime. Contrary to popular belief, this life is not about bigger, better, faster. It’s about who you become during the journey. Be true to yourself, don’t work so hard, express your feelings, enjoy friendships, and as often as possible, choose happiness
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true to myself.” Bronnie had FOUR. I wish I had the opportustayed in touch nity to ask with my friends. “Many had bemany of them about any regrets come so caught up in their own they had or anything they would lives that they had let golden do differently. “Common themes friendships slip by over the years. surfaced again and again,” she There were many deep regrets said. about not giving friendships the The Five Most Common
time and effort that they deserved.”
ONE. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. (This was the most common regret of all.) “Most people had not honored even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.”
FIVE. I wish that I had let myself be happier. (This was a surprisingly common one.) ”Many did not realize until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.”
TWO. I wish I didn’t work so hard. (This came from every male patient that she nursed.) “All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives
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Volume 3, 2014
Seven Ways You Sabotage Your Life. Used by permission from the Blog Marc And Angel Hack Life, www.marcandangel.com
Are you tired of dealing with the same type of grief over and over and over again?
If so, it’s time to purge a few bad habits. It’s time to learn from your mistakes rather than be conquered by them, and let your errors be of commission rather than omission. It’s time to cut out the habits that have been holding you back, change the tune, clean the house, and get rid of the dust and dirt. Stop denying yourself a fair chance at a good life. Stop being who you were, and become who you truly are. When you stop doing the wrong things, the right things start happening. Take the following habits and flip the switch:
1. Keeping all the pressure of your thoughts inside you.
Even if someone has known you for your entire life, it is impossible for them to know exactly what you’re thinking and feeling. They can’t feel something for you or know exactly how y our mind is processing thoughts. They could invest every bit of their energy over the course of their entire lifetime in an attempt to achieve this understanding, but in the end they would fall short. This is precisely why you need to open up and speak your mind to a supportive confidant who will listen to you without judgment. Only then will they get a momentary, unfiltered glimpse into your soul. Only then will you feel the pressure of your thoughts subside. If you feel extremely stressed or even a bit depressed, then you’re likely feeling very alone. It’s vital that you talk to someone who is sympathetic, whether this person is your spouse, parent, sibling, a good therapist, or just a trusted friend. So many people suffer in silence and feel that they would be a burden to others if they spoke up about their troubling thoughts.
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Understand that your mental health is vital and everyone needs a helping hand and a listening ear sometimes. In fact, helping one another is a big part of what makes us human, so opening up and asking for assistance is one way of enabling someone close to you to realize their own humanity.
2. Holding yourself to impossible standards.
Be fair to yourself. Perfectionism is a trap. Your expectations need to expand and contract as circumstances in your life change. When you learn to give yourself a break and feel okay about not being able to live up to impossible standards, then you can begin to get the worryfree rest your mind and body so badly need. You will always be perfectly imperfect just the way you are, wherever you are. Instead of berating yourself for falling short, give yourself credit for making progress. Grow as you go. Let go of how things “should be” so you can see all the great possibilities in front of you. It’s also important to note that there’s no such thing as perfect happiness, just as there’s no such thing as perfect despair. This is why trying to be perfect is an exercise in futility. What does exist, however, is a continuous series of imperfect moments in your life filled with infinite possibilities and opportunities for you to interpret them and do with them as you please. You can pave the road you travel with doubt and despair or hope and happiness. It’s your choice. Either way, you will someday arrive at the same destination. The only question is: Do you want to arrive with a frown or a smile? (Read The Happiness Hypothesis.)
3. Always going and going and going?
When you get too caught up in the busyness of your daily routine, you lose connection with the important people in your life, and yourself. You end up filling all your waking hours, Follow The Journey at www.DailyLifeJourney.com
and then you fool yourself into believing you are relaxing when you’re merely moving from one of your daily labors to the next. Relaxation is the key to mental and physical recovery. Stopping for a while and taking time to relax when you feel like things are getting out of control will gradually allow your mind and body to feel restored and reenergized again, thus allowing you to reconnect with the right inner mindset and the people and things that matter most to you. How do you relax? There are many ways, but the foundation of all of them is focused breathing. Your breath is the bridge between your life circumstances and your consciousness; it unites your body and your thoughts. Whenever your thinking becomes scattered with the worries and stress of busyness, use your breath as the means to take hold of your thoughts again. Just breathe, be present, and do your best with what’s in front of you.
4. Changing nothing and expecting different results.
There’s a saying that the definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. If you want to improve yourself, you have to try new things to see what works and what doesn’t. If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting. Inspiration is great, but it must be met by dedicated action. Changes must be invoked and implemented. The difference between what is impossible and possible for you lies in what you do and how determined you are. Often the difference between a successful person and a person who struggles to implement positive changes is not one’s superior abilities, but the courage that one has to bet on one’s ideas, to take calcuContinued on page 6
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A Two Dimensional Life Change is just a two dimensional word unless you take three dimensional action. It’s a haunting little thought, isn’t it? Even the idea of change can stir uncomfortable emotions in most people depending on the circumstances. We’re creatures of habit. We don’t like our little arranged lives being messed with. Yet we know life has taught us that change is inevitable, necessary even. So we either embrace change or resist it. And I must admit, I resist it way too often. Yet, there it is again, change, staring me in the face every time I scan through the pages of my journal in all it’s two dimensional glory. But I know too that in order for things to change, things must change. And that generally only happens if I initiate it. I can have the greatest ideas in the world, (and I think I do), but no one ever gets to see them or benefit from them if I don’t take some kind of action. I will have to change a behavior, or a habit, or a routine; something, if I hope to see any fruit from my ideas. The key questions to consider: How much does the outcome matter? How much do I really care about seeing my ideas come to fruition? What are the unintended results from not changing? Am I willing to do whatever it takes? If I am not really willing to consider these, then I really have no basis for complaining about my circumstances. We’ve got to be willing to choose to do whatever it takes to change – and then put one foot in front of the other with diligence and determination. If we will do that – results happen. If we won’t, then life is nothing more than a continual exercise in frustration
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then He takes us down to the valley to batter us into the shape of the vision, and it is in the valley that so many of us faint and give way. Every vision will be made real if we will have patience. Think of the enormous leisure of God! He is never in a hurry.”
By Greg Tutwiler
At a men’s conference in
late 2006, one of our assignments was to take some personal time to get away and reflect. We were at a lodge in the mountains of Virginia, so the natural path was up a mountain trail. I found a old, tall Oak tree and took a seat in a pile of leaves. Like any good student, I took out my Bible and journal and began to read and write. I wrote mostly questions – to God – and then proceeded to answer them as best as I thought He would. Sounds kind of humorous now that I think about it. Eventually though, I heard this whisper in my spirit; “Are you done yet?” After some wrestling with what I knew was God prompting me to get quiet and listen; I put down my pen and sat there restlessly for the next 25 minutes. Finally, a passage came to my heart; Hebrews 3:13. I flipped
through the pages of my Bible, landing on these words; ” … encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today …” That was it. I knew then that those simple words would be my life’s mission. And I came down ready to get started. Was I in for an experience! Later that fall I read a piece from Oswald Chamber’s My Utmost For His Highest (July 6) that has proved to be quite true, and helpful, over these past seven years. “We always have visions, before a thing is made real. When we realize that although the vision is real, it is not real in us, then is the time that Satan comes in with his temptations, and we are apt to say it is no use to go on. Instead of the vision becoming real, there has come the valley of humiliation. God gives us the vision,
What is your vision? What has God laid on your heart for the journey of your life? Has it been made real yet? If not, it’s okay, trust me. The past seven years have been an amazing journey into myself with God as the trail guide. But it hasn’t been easy, and I’m pretty sure the vision hasn’t been made completely real yet either. Today God reminded me again of that mountain top experience as he led me to this entry from the Jesus Calling devotional for August 22. “You live in the middle of a fierce spiritual battle, and fear is one of Satan’s favorite weapons.” We all need hope and encouragement. It’s what we really need to find the strength for this life, more than ever. So be encouraged today. While the world is set against you, God is for you, always has been, always will be. And the vision will be made real in his perfect timing
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WHY HIRE A COACH? “I don’t need therapy, I know what’s wrong. I just need someone to help me figure out what to do about it.” That’s a pretty good definition of the role of a life coach. Coaches are your partner, guide, cheerleader, and friend while you journey through a season of life. Author Donna Roberts wrote, “A friend (coach) is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you’ve forgotten the words.” Consultant Cedric Signori wrote, life coaches “are a pair of fresh eyes, which means they possess none of your life-limiting paradigms.” Coaches are collaborators with you. They are “like an objective friend with the expertise to guide you on a journey of self-discovery and selfrealization,” Signori said. “If life’s lessons teach you anything at all, it’s that you don’t have to go it alone.” (LivingFreeCoach@aol.com)
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Undoing Unhappy One of my favorite sales writers is Jeffrey Gitomer. Taped to the edge of my computer screen is this quote from his book Little Platinum Book Of Cha-Ching; “If you want to learn something new, all you have to do is study something that was written 100 years ago.” I’ve taken that theory to heart over the past few years as I journey further into the archeology of my soul. While digging into my old books, I have uncovered many golden nuggets to chew on. Tucked in my library is a photo copy of a thin little gem by Ralph Waldo Emerson called Success. The original notes on the back cover say “five hundred and forty copies … printed in 1912.” Almost exactly 100 years ago, Emerson put this ink to paper. “Don’t be a cynic and a disconsolate preacher,” he said. “Don’t bewail and bemoan. Omit the negative propositions. Nerve us with incessant affirmatives. Don’t waste yourself in rejection, nor bark against the bad, but chant the beauty of good. When that is spoken which has a right to be spoken, the chatter and the criticism will stop. Set down nothing that will not help somebody.” Oh how much better we would fair in life if we would heed his words today. Seems the whole world is steeped in cynicism. The dictionary has that word disconsolate as being unhappy or cheerless. I know a lot of unhappy and cheerless people. Sad. It seems all we are encouraged to chase today is the material – only to find emptiness is really all we’ve achieved. “Set down nothing that will not help somebody,” he wrote. I wonder; how much better would our world be if that was our mantra? Don’t you think success would come more easily if that was our attitude every morning? (I’m talking to myself here too by the way.) Emerson later writes; “The affirmative of affirmatives is love.” Seems to me then that loving others will just about undo most the unhappiness in the world today. How do you like that?
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Continued from page 4 lated risks, and to take steady steps forward. In other words, some people sit and wait for the magic beans to arrive while the rest of us just get up and get to work. So ask yourself: What’s going to be different today? How do you want your life to be from here on out? (Angel and I discuss this in more detail in the “Goals and Success” chapter of “1000 Little Things Happy, Successful People Do Differently.”)
5. Procrastinating and then doing 99 things at once.
Do you plan your days? Did you wake up today knowing what you wanted to accomplish? If not, maybe it’s time you do. The way you spend your time defines who you are. You don’t get to choose how you are going to die or when; you can only decide how you are going to live right now. Trust me, a year from now you will wish you had managed your time properly today. What would you regret not accomplishing this year? What would you regret doing an abysmal job at, simply because you waited until the last minute and then rushed around doing 99 things at once? Create a plan to accomplish these things and get started today. Planning doesn’t have to be long and tedious; it can just be a 60 second process. Every night, think about a few small things that you want to accomplish tomorrow and write them down. When you wake up the next morning, review this list before you do anything else, and then take the first step. Remember, we only have two choices when we wake up in the morning: either we go back to sleep and dream, or we wake up and chase a dream. In the end it doesn’t matter what you’re thinking, it matters what you’re doing. Whatever you want to accomplish, it’s time to get started now.
6. Ignoring the people you love.
When life gets busy, it’s easy to put the most important people on the back burner, because you know they’ll wait for you. Right? Wrong. Your important relationships should be at the forefront of your
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priority list. When we take things for granted, these things eventually get taken away. Too often we don’t realize what we have until it’s gone. Too often it seems we hurt the ones closest to us by letting less important things take precedence over them on a daily basis. Appreciate what you have, who loves you and who cares for you. You’ll never know how much they mean to you until the day they are no longer beside you. You know who these people are. They’re the ones who are always there with you in spirit – the ones who leave footprints in your thoughts and dreams. They are the glue that binds a smile to your soul. Treat them as such. (Read The Last Lecture.)
7. Ignoring your body’s needs.
The human body is the only machine for which there are no spare parts (unless you borrow them from someone else), so treat your body right. Exercise to be fit, not skinny. Eat to nourish yourself. And always ignore the haters, doubters and unhealthy examples that were once feeding you. Staying in shape is simpler than most people make it. Body fat is dictated by what you eat and your activity. Working out affects two things mainly: fat and muscle. Aerobic exercise burns fat and builds a little muscle. Weight training builds muscle and burns a little fat. In most cases, if you’re overweight you’re eating too much of the wrong stuff and/or not exercising enough. Also, keep in mind that your brain is part of your body too. The human brain accounts for roughly 2% of the total mass of the human body, yet it consumes over 20% of the oxygen and nutrients the human body intakes. So even if you don’t care what you’re body looks like, it makes sense to fuel your body with healthy food and keep your blood oxygen levels high with regular exercise. Bottom line: Take good care of your body. It’s the only place you will ever truly live. Follow The Journey at www.DailyLifeJourney.com
necessary changes and start over. Right now is a brand new opportunity to choose differently and build what you truly want. Do The Work: What choices have been hurting your happiness? ______________________________ _______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________ What habits do you need to change? _______________________________ _______________________________ ________________________________ ______________________________
Afterthoughts
We all make choices, but in the end our choices make us. Realize that you are only destined to become one person – the person you choose to be in this moment. Do good and feel good. Do bad and feel bad. It’s that simple. So don’t be afraid to make
What is one thing you are willing to do right now to make that change? ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________ What is one thing you are willing to stop doing right now? ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________
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By Greg Tutwiler
A Personal Philosophy For Living A personal philosophy for living
is essential to living a great life. Numb is not a philosophy. Getting by isn’t either. It’s not about what you have – but what you do with what you have. If you don’t have a personal philosophy, you should. Here are eleven thoughts to get you started.
ONE - Read something (positive) 20 minutes a day. Exercise your brain. It builds character and enriches your soul.
SIX - Eliminate the negative mental garbage. Turn off the news channels, and turn off the radio talk shows. Negativity sells. Don’t believe it? Count the number of commercials in each segment. SEVEN - Do what you love, or love what you do. If you don’t love it, change your attitude or change your job. Stress leads to illness and bad coping habits. If eight hours of your day are filled with stress, you can bet the other 16 will be negatively effected as well. EIGHT - Find a creative outlet for expression. Paint, write, draw, build, carve, sew. Don’t have time? Make the time. It’s a great stress reliever.
NINE - Make plenty time for family and faith. Nothing is more important. At the end of life, those will be the only things left to comfort you. TEN - Be present. Live each day from start to finish as if it were your first and your last. Regretting backwards and projecting forwards robs you of the present moment. And that’s where life really exists. ELEVEN - Never be happy with status quo. Your life is a gift given to you, and a gift to be offered back to those around you. Be an inspiration. Be a role model. Be a mentor. Be authentic. Be different Try these for 30 days and see how things change!
TWO - Write (journal or blog) for 20 minutes a day. It’s the one thing in life that you are guaranteed to be perfect at. There no rules. Just write. Get your ideas about life out of your brain and onto paper. The healing attributes of journaling are amazing. THREE - Exercise at least 20 minutes a day. Move! Do something. Walk. Stretch. Do sit-ups. Getting the blood moving improves overall health and brain function. And it improves your attitude too. FOU R - Make healthy food choices. It’s not that hard. Minimize starch, sugar, and salt. All three in excess are the cause for most of our health related issues.
Monday Morning MoJo There’s an old Carpenter’s song that says, “… Monday’s always get me down.” Ever feel that way?
How do you muster your Monday morning MoJo? According to research, it is estimated that we have over 60,000 thoughts a day with nearly 80% (45,000) of them being negative. Wow! So if you wake up with the Monday morning blues (or any morning for that matter), here are a couple things you can do to shift the mood. 1) Realize you’re not alone. (Remember that 80% theory.) It’s not personal. So give up that why me dance and make a conscious decision to let it go. 2) Reach for something positive. You’ve got to squelch those negative vibes. Have some positive quotes, a few Scripture verses, or some upbeat affirmations by your bedside or on your kitchen table. When you build a campfire you don’t throw a match to a hunk of wood. You’ve got to gather the kindling and coax the fire into a blaze. Same with your mental outlook. You need a little kindling to get your daily fire going. 3) Feed that fire. As your day comes at you, so will the negativity. So feed your mind with constant positive input. Set aside a few minutes throughout the day for quiet time, prayer, and a good quote or affirmation (or three). 4) And before you go to bed, spend a few minutes counting your blessings for the day. Stay focused on the positive. When you go to bed with a mind full of good, there’s a greater chance you’ll wake up focused in a happier direction. Jot down ten things you’re thankful for before you turn out the lights and go to bed happy
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FIVE - Keep an attitude of gratitude. There is always, always something to be thankful for. Look around. Your life ain’t that bad. And when you figure that out, share the love.
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Vitamins For The Mind ...
“I have gathered a posie of other men’s flowers, and nothing but the thread that binds them is mine own.”
John Bartlett, Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations
Words, “Handle them care-
fully,” Pearl Strachan wrote, “for words have more power than atom bombs.” My office shelves are lined with books books - and more books. Each and eve ryone is like an old friend waiting to offer some advice, or encouragement, or unique insight into my life. Yet, more powerful than the sum content of those books are the carefully flagged and highlighted excerpts that impacted me as I read them for the first time. Better known as quotes, or as philosopher Jim Rohn coined them, “Vitamins for the mind,” these power phrases have the ability to rescue you from the brink of failure, from the grips of fear, or from the edge of disparity. They can encourage you, uplift you, make you smile, give you a boost in confidence, offer hope, and shed light onto your path. And here, on this page, I share a few of the golden gems that have prompted and prodded me along the journey of life. Jot them down in your journal, or clip them out and paste them on your bathroom mirror, or office bulletin board. Let them inspire and encourage you on your journey of life. ~ Coach, Greg
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Since one can never really repeat one’s life, the next best thing one can do is to remember one’s life and make that remembrance as permanent as possible by putting it down in writing.
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Ben Franklin
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"Faith sees the invisible, believes the unbelievable, and receives the impossible." ~ Corrie Ten Boom
The winners in life think constantly in terms of I can, I will, and I am. Losers, on the other hand, concentrate their waking thoughts on what they should have or would have done, or what they can't do.
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Dennis Waitley
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Greatness, whether athletic or otherwise, doesn’t come from those content on just being, but from those who seek being the difference.
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Kirk Mango
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“Triump is just a little umph added to try.” ~ Tim Owens
We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.
“You can’t cross a sea by merely staring into the water.” ~ Rabindranath Tagore
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Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
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Everything we gonna do is changing. We are change. We’re gonna change the way we run. We’re gonna change the way we eat. We’re gonna change the way we block. We’re gonna change the way we tackle. We’re gonna change the way we win.
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"You have more power than you think. You don’t have to be held hostage by a label." ~ Michael Hyatt
Coach Boone from the movie, Remember The Titans
Enjoy quotes? Order your copy of this full color, postcard size book with 21 motivational quotes. The back side is blank; perfect for journaling or taking notes.
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I think being vulnerable feels dangerous, and I think it feels scary, and I think it is terrifying, but I don't think it's as dangerous, scary, or terrifying as getting to the end of our lives and wondering, what if I would have shown up? Dr. Brene' Brown
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The real secret is to stop wanting the goal so much, and just work on the game. Focus on 1% improvement every day, and just keep improving. JB Glossinger
Send check or money order to Mission Life for $10 (includes s/h), PO Box 45, Bridgewater VA, 22812.
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www.MissionLifeMagazine.com Find more quotes on www.DailyLifeQuote.com
"Live decently, fearlessly, joyously and don't forget that in the long run it is not the years in your life but the life in your years that counts!" ~ Adlai Stevenson
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Freedom Living