This was brought home to me on a deeper level while reading Happier than God by Neale Donald Walsch. This book combines the best of Neale's conceptual truths uncovered in his nine book series, Conversations with God.

I'm not going to review the book here or try to break down everything Mr. Walsch says. Suffice it to say this is another great read and, IMHO, everyone should grab a copy.

What I am going to do is explain in my own way and give you a couple of ideas on how you can figure out what happiness means to you ​and how to infuse joy into your everyday life.  HINT: it's nothing outside of you!

In the world of "manifestation," and "creating your own reality," joy, bliss and happiness are fundamental principles. Even the bible talks about joy being our strength. Granted the scripture says, "the joy of the Lord is my strength." (Neh. 8:10).

What does 'the joy of the Lord' mean?

I believe this means that God finds joy in everything He creates, especially in us. And if God finds joy in us, we should find joy in ourselves as well as the life we co-create with Him.

How can we do this when there is SO much negativity in the world?

By understanding that you are the only one who can control your emotions! You have the choice to be positive or negative, happy or sad, etc. and happiness, or joy, or bliss, is an inside job.

True, there are any number of triggers outside of us that can send our emotions into a tailspin, but one thing I've come to know is that there is a pause between the trigger and my/our reaction. If we learn to lean into that pause, we can decide how to respond instead of reacting in our normal way.

And, as Dr. Joe Dispenza puts it,  "those strong, negative emotions are not loving and nurturing for your body."

But how can we change lifelong patterns of flying off the handle or spewing anger and frustration every time we're triggered?

Here are a few ways...

• You've always heard cout to ten. I'm telling you to count backward from five or ten if necessary Why? Because the brain is used to counting forward. By counting backward, you interrupt the normal pattern in the brain. Mel Robbins's is a huge proponent of the 5-second rule and I've that found counting backward from five or even ten makes a huge difference in my response.

 

• Take a breath. Or two or three. Not sharp, shallow breaths, but a soul deep inhale and slow, deliberate exhale - like blowing air through a straw. This too, calms the flight, fight or flee response that kicks in when someone pushes our buttons.

 

• Practice heart coherence on a regular basis by placing your hand over your heart and taking those deep breaths described above for 3 minutes as often as you can throughout the course of your day.

 

• Tap your way through it. Depending on who/what/when/where the incident occurs this may not be an option immeditely but, utilizing EFT practices as soon as possible will help move any residual or stuck energy out of the body.

These ideas will help when you are triggered. Below are a couple of ways to fill or replenish your joy/happiness well...

• Make it fun! No matter how mundane the task, find a way to make it fun. Sing in the shower and on the drive to work. Be silly with the kids while you get them ready for school and invite them to be silly with you. Hum your way through that stack of work piled on your desk. Dance your way through the house as you clean. Life is meant to be enjoyed not ploughed through like an old horse in a field.

 

• Pray your way through your day. Pray for yourself, your family, friends, coworkers (especially those who irritate you the most!), complete strangers, your community, state, the world at large. 

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• Keep a running dialoge going on in your mind of what you're grateful for, or better yet change that to, what you love and appreciate. Love and appreciation are higher vibration emotions. It's been proven that positive emotions counterbalance the lingering effects of negative, and on an energetic and spiritual level, our joy helps heal the planet.

I guess this all boils down to the fact that, just as stress starts in the mind, so do peace, joy and happiness!

Something to think about...
PamT
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“Inspirational with an Edge!” ™
"Coaching in Pj's" ™
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Find out more about EFT by reading these articles.

I know, I know, it's not Thanksgiving. But shouldn't it be?

Why do we take one day out of the year to give thanks, when gratitude should be a lifestyle?

But that's not what this article is about.

Or is it?

You may wonder at the title as much as the photo attached to this message, but I'm here to share my thoughts on GIVING with you. 

Luke 6:38 exhorts us to, "give and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down and shaken together."

Most people look at this scripture in terms of money, but what if we look at other aspects of our life and see how much more we can give. Or, better yet, what we can give besides money.
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We're also taught through scripture that we reap what we sow.  

So let's think about this...

Sow (give) love, you'll reap love. Give grace, you'll receive grace in abundance. Sow peace and you'll live a more peaceful life. Offer forgiveness... We all know what Jesus said about that. 

Am I saying you'll never have a bad day or unhappy circumstance?

Not at all.

What I AM saying is that by consciously giving of yourself--Your time, your energy, your blessings, your attention and yes, your money-- You are setting yourself up for a beautiful harvest and a blessed and abundant life. JMHO!

Something to think about!
PamT
“Inspirational with an Edge!” ™
"Coaching in Pj's" ™

If you've read the "About this Blog" info in the sidebar, you'll know I've been on a spiritual quest for several decades now and that the purpose of this entire blog is to share with you, dear friends, books and podcasts, etc. that have inspired and helped me along my journey.

Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer is one of the earliest books along this path that impacted my thinking and life.

This book is filled with personal stories, scriptures, life lessons and wisdom the author has gained from her own life experieces and teaches you the power of our thoughts and words and the basics of taking every thought captive unto the mind of Christ, renewing your mind through the Word, and speaking positive.

Mine is an old version and was given to me from a wonderful lady who is still one of my BFF's today!

Now, there is a whole series of tools based on this book to help young people and adults with 100 Insights and a Study Guide​ to enhance your reading experience. 

If you or someone you love are bound by negative thinking, a pessimistic attitude or victim mentality, this book is another that will change your/their life!

I'd LOVE to know your experience in reading the books I feature on this blog so please feel free to contact me via email: [email protected] or the contact form here on the website.

Until next time take care and God Bless.
PamT

You may or may not realize that I am a YouTube junkie.

Ok, 'junkie' may be a strong word, LOL! but I DO love finding and listening to podcasts and interviews that support and enhance my spiritual growth.

During my holiday break from blogging, I came across a video with Cheryl Richardson and Louise Hay titled, Transform Your Life in 2 Weeks with THIS Self-Care Secret. I tuned in and to my surprise and utter delight these beautiful ladies were talking about their book, You Can Create an Exceptional Life.   

I've owned this book for a while and watching that video encouraged me to pull it off the shelf and read it again. I am SO glad I did! There are SO many nuggets of gold in this gem that I just had to share some with you....

*Self Love is the core issue with every body and every thing.
Isn't this the absolute truth? I mean, we're taught that love covers a multitude of sin and to give and not count the cost but seriously, how can we love or give to others if we don't love and care for ourselves? 

*Our thinking either makes us feel good or it makes us feel bad.
Another nugget of truth! If we would make a commitment to pay attention to our thoughts and words for even 1 day we'd see the areas in which we need to shift and grow and change.

Listen to what comes out of your mouth LOL!

*It is the alignment of head and heart that creates the alchemy that gives your affirmations power.  THIS struck me straight in the heart! Dr. Joe Dispenza say's that you can say, "I am wealthy, I am healthy" or whatever all day long but if your mind is a mess and your heart is incoherent, those words don't get past the brain stem and into the body to generate the corresponding feelings and emotions for us to embody the change we want to create in our lives. 

So, how do you get into heart and head alignment?

Breathwork, Journaling, Yoga, Prayer, Meditaion and other forms of Self Care are first steps as are, setting loving boudaries and weaning yourself off of the negative narrative of the world.

This wonderful book is filled with stories and examples from the authors' lives as well as beautiful affirmations that we can start with like, "Life loves me and all my needs are met."
 
It also has questions like this one from page 105, "What one habit do I need to dissolve to create the {financial} life I want?"

I put financial in brackets because this is a direct quote from the book but you can ask this about any/every area of your life and start there to make the changes you want to make in your own life, knowing that when you do, the lives of those you love are subject to change also.

I highly recommend you get this book and take the time to really study and apply its teachings so that you can create the exceptional life you desire and deserve!

Find You Can Create an Exceptional Life at Amazon for Kindle and in Hardcover and Paperback.

It is definitely one worth having and sharing.

Something to think about.
Pamela S Thibodeaux
Inspirational with an Edge! ™
Coaching in PJs ™

Good Morning and Welcome to 2025!
I pray your holidays were blessed and happy.

I received this beautiful book on Biblical Meditation from the publisher and let me tell you I am SO glad I did!

The author goes into great detail on the practice and benefits of Biblical meditation - slowing down, quieting the mind, hearing with the heart, deepening your spiritual practice and much, much more.

Focusing on the things we should "fix our thoughts on" from Philippians 4:8-9, Ms. Tucker gives us 3 or 4 scriptures in each category of thoughts we should cultivate (whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and worthy of praise) with a six-part framework for your meditation practice that guides you into silence, prayer, reading, meditating on and embodying God's word into your daily life.

Complete with an opening prayer and surrendering prayer and room to write what God is revealing to you through your time with Him, this lovely compilation will deepen your understanding of the Word and "grow your meditative muscles".

I highly recommend Present in Prayer to anyone who wants the blessings of Psalm 1, verse 3 to be evidnt in their life.

Until next time, happy meditating!
PamT