Have you ever had one of those days? You’re feeling scattered, and pulled in a lot of different directions. You’re constantly dealing with issues. At the end of the day you feel worn out, drained, and completely sapped of energy.
Those days can be avoided by keeping a spiritual focus. The spiritual realm is where we find our sense of purpose and meaning in life. For the majority of us, that’s found through God, given 70% of Americans believe in God. How do you keep God at the center of your life?
The key for me is spending quiet time with the Lord each morning. I take about 20 minutes to pray, meditate on God’s Word, and reflect on my life. I also focus on what I’m grateful for, since everything we have comes from God. This gives me perspective, and helps me start the day off on the right foot. That doesn’t mean that everything will necessarily go smoother, however, I’m better equipped to deal with life’s daily challenges. I find that the days I end up feeling beaten up, are the days in which I skipped my quiet time, because I didn’t think I could afford to spend the time. How wrong I was!
I also ask God for guidance and direction throughout the day. This is the difficult part, since sometimes I get so busy during the day that I forget about God. However, when I’m faced with important decisions, then I ask what God would have me do. Daily, we face decisions as to how to spend our time. When we make decisions based upon our values and priorities, we’ll feel at peace and have greater balance in our life.
I think of the analogy of a pinwheel. When you spin a pinwheel, the pin holds the wheel together. The Lord is the pin in the wheel. When we get busy, God holds our life together. If there were no pin, then we’d be scattered everywhere, flying off in lots of different directions. Our life would be chaos! But with the Lord at the center, he gives us focus, which results in better balance. If you center your life on the Lord, and live according to Godly values and priorities, you’ll experience grater peace, harmony and balance.
The holidays can be a very stressful time of year. With the added responsibility of buying gifts, decorating, and writing Christmas cards, that can put us into overwhelm. This holiday season, cut out the non-essentials, take time to slow down, and treat yourself to a nice hot bath!
Here are some of my favorite stress management quotes. These provide important truths to live by. Choose one quote that really resonates with you. When you find yourself getting uptight and anxious in the coming weeks, then reread your quote. You might even commit it to memory.
“There is no need to go to India or anywhere else to find peace. Your will find that deep place of silence right in your room, your garden or even your bathtub.” Dr. Joyce Brothers
“If a man insisted always on being serious, and never allowed himself a bit of fun and relaxation, he would go mad or become unstable without knowing it.” Henry David Thoreau
“Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is a nobler art of leaving things undone… The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.” Julie-Jeanne-Eleonore de Lespinasse
“Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency.” Lin Yutang
“There must be quite a few things that a hot bath won’t cure, but I don’t know many of them.” Ruth Stout
“For fast-acting relief, try slowing down.” Lily Tomlin
“One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one’s work is terribly important.” Bertrand Russell
“There is more to life than increasing its speed.” Mohandos K. Gandhi
“If you don’t know where you’re going, then any road will take you there,” said the Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland. That is so true! Some people just wander aimlessly through life, living one day at a time. Then they wonder how they ended up where they are – stuck in a rut. These people lack purpose, direction and vision.
True success is following and achieving your dreams in life. It starts with a dream. Having a clear vision of what you want out of life is the first step towards success. You need to know what is important, what motivates you, and what you want to achieve. Every successful person starts with a vision. They visualize their desired end result in every venture. This applies to all facets of life, from a completed project to a successful business or a happy family. Stephen Covey, author of “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” calls this Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind.
What do you want to accomplish? Visualize yourself getting your book published. Visualize yourself getting a patent for your invention. Visualize yourself taking a trip to Europe. Your vision gives you a sense of purpose and direction. It provides focus and acts as a motivating force to help you succeed.
Our minds are very powerful. Oftentimes, what we focus on is what we get. So focus on success. Visualize yourself achieving your goals. Do so in great detail. For example, visualize yourself earning the recognition of your peers at an awards banquet when you receive the Top Employee of the Year award. The Master of Ceremonies has called your name, everyone is applauding and you walk up to receive your plaque. How do you feel? Probably pretty proud of yourself! Not only see yourself being successful, but feel it too.
When you stay focused on a positive outcome, opportunities oftentimes come your way. Jim Carey, comedian and actor, took this a step further. He wrote himself a check for ten million dollars for “Services Rendered”, dated it, and kept it in his pocket. When times were tough he would sit on a hillside overlooking Hollywood and imagine himself as a famous movie star. Then he’d reread his check as a reminder of his goal. A few years later he signed a deal for more than ten million dollars to star in The Mask. The date? Almost identical to the one written on the check that he kept in his pocket. This shows the power of visualization combined with an intense focus on your goal.
Visualization can be very powerful indeed. What do you want out of life? Visualize yourself living the kind of life you want. Having a crystal-clear vision is the first step towards success. Visualize your desired end result, stay focused on your goal, and you will achieve it. And you’ll experience the satisfaction that comes with achievement.
For more information on goal achievement, listen to the CD “Beyond New Year’s Resolutions: How to Set and Attain Your Goals“