Let Go Of Stress And Show Yourself Some Love

I have found a really great article about How to turn your stress into happiness. Some articles written about stress and anxiety makes me want to roll my eyes but this article is a must read for anyone dealing with stress. I know you will love Blon Lee's article 12 Ways To Turn Your Crippling Stress into Happiness.

I really love Lee's article. There were so many useable ideas in this article that it was hard for me to pick just a few favorites.

One of my top favorites was his first point “Consider getting a pet”. Lee said “Sharing negative feelings with close friends can significantly reduce stress. Studies show that spending time with pets relieves stress in the same way. Also, when you're accompanied by a pet in stressful situations, it prevents your stress level from rising”. Lee makes a great point here. There was a point in my life a few years ago when I was very sick. I was having a lot of pain from head to toe and I was popping pain pills like candy. 

I couldn't walk and I couldn't sleep. I was beyond stressed because of my illness and all the medication I had to take. Just out of the blue I thought it would be a great idea to get a kitten. My husband thought I was crazy. It was funny because I never had a pet before and I wanted a kitten. My husband and I found a Himalayan Siamese mix kitten with blue eyes. She was special. She always knew when I was sick and whenever I went to sleep she would sleep on my chest. She was a very light weight cat and I didn't feel her sleeping on me. Whenever I was sick she was right there then when I was ok she went away did her cat thing and didn't want to be bothered until she wanted me to pet her.

What was strange is that I had my cat for 8 years before she died and on the day she died I noticed that I had a really hard time seeing. The next day my vision was very blurry. My husband took me to see the eye doctor the following day and the doctor told me that the Macular in my eyes are severally damaged and she was surprised that I was seeing anything at all. Weeks later I was diagnosed with Macular Degeneration. I didn't notice my eyesight before my cat died. Did my eight year old cat keep me seeing? Did she keep me healthy? I do know one thing she really did help me with stress. She will be missed.

Another great point that Lee made about how to combat stress is “Shower yourself with gifts”. For obvious reasons, I looove this suggestion. Lee said “Reward yourself for reaching goals. Research shows that when you're rewarded for an action, you're likely to repeat it. This is called a positive feedback loop. It's much more effective than punishment”. This is an important point because many times we spend more time pointing out our own flaws and tearing ourselves down then we do rewarding ourselves. I think many people feel that rewarding ourselves for the little things we do is indulgent. I would suggest that rewarding ourselves every time we reach our goals keeps us focused on success and leaves no room to focus on our failures. Make it a point to reward yourself for your success and your stresses will naturally fade away.

“Exploit bad habits to your advantage” this is another great point. This is an awesome idea because it makes you more conscious of your actions. Instead of mindlessly jumping into a bad habit stretch, meditate or do some light exercise for 30 seconds “then you are free to indulge” says Blon Lee. Lee suggests increasing your good habit time weekly until your bad habits are gone. Doing this you will build an automatic response to stress and the stress becomes less and less over time. I would also add reward yourself when you expand your good habits to keep you motivated to keep expanding your good habits.

Lee made a hilarious point in talking about “Reach great heights by letting yourself suck big time”. Lee says “Some people cannot accept mistakes. Everything has to be perfect from the start. They think others will look down on them if they appear to be flawed. These people are frequently stressed. The happiest and most successful people focus on improvement. They love mistakes and flaws because they see them as opportunities to grow”. “Have lofty goals, but have realistic standards. Don't judge yourself based on the results of your action. See them as feedback, and seek improvement from there".

Happiness does not come from perfection. Happiness is in the journey.

That leads me to my last favorite on Lee's list “Be shameless about not doing things”. Lee said “You don't have the time and energy to do everything you want to do. Inevitably, things are left undone, and you beat yourself up. This creates stress. Consider what's truly important to you. Kill the rest shamelessly. This way, you gain more time and control over your life while making more progress”. I have learned to put all of my focus on what is really important to me. Even though I get pressured by people to do everything but what is important to me I remain shameless and focused on my goals and dreams.

The point of this article and Lee's article is to show you how not let stress dominate your life. One point I must make is that stress is not your enemy. When you are feeling stressed it means that you are out of balance and you must take mindful actions to get back into balance. Don't beat yourself up because you are stressed. Live in the moment and do the steps you have learned to get beyond stress and never give up.

If you are looking for a way to overcome stress please read Blon Lee's article 12 Ways To Turn Your Crippling Stress into Happiness. You have everything you need to succeed.

God Bless

Artisticsoulwithin.com

You Don't Owe Anyone An Explanation

I really enjoy reading this very short article written by Steven Aitchison titled 7 Things You Don't Owe Anyone An Explanation For. It is very short but very to the point. It had me cheering saying YES RIGHT ON!!! I know you will love this short article that will have you cheering for your own life.

My husband and I just moved from Oklahoma to Las Vegas and we just got settled in. This is a rough transition time for the both of us right now but we are doing ok. It was a crazy trip and things don't always turn out the way you planed it but we made it here safely. [You can read all about my crazy adventures here]

Speaking of things that are not planned, you know how when you are in rough times in your life you have this great need to explain what you are doing with your family or friends? You just want them to understand that you are not crazy and you have everything under control. Sometimes you really don't know what you are doing or how things will turn out but you have this need to keep going. When I am going through tough times the last thing I want to do is explain myself. Only when I got older I started to understand that I don't have to explain myself to anyone.

In Steven's Article he talks about 7 things you don't have to give an explanation for and my favorites in his article is your level of education, your beliefs in God and your alone time. I have some collage and many certificates but nothing compares to the education that I received outside of school. I read and study something every day. I love studying the bible and metaphysics but I don't have a degree in religious studies. If a person reads everyday how do anyone explains their level of education? Even if they did try to explain that persons explanation may not be enough. So why even try to explain? You don't have too. Steven in his article said “Your level of education does not define you”.

Another point in his article is that you don't have to explain your belief in God. Growing up in the church I understand the pressure to explain what you believe. As I got older hehe just recently I learned that my relationship with God is between me and God. What Steven said in his article is that some people will not believe you anyway and an argument can be never ending. I use to believe that I needed consensus with my beliefs but I learned that with God that is a strong majority and that is good enough for me.

Alone time is also very important. You need your space to relax and recharge. Some people think that taking a lot of alone time is antisocial but only you know how much alone time will rejuvenate your spirit. You don't need to explain your alone time to anyone.

Braking the habit of explaining yourself can be a challenge but I learned that the trick to braking the habit of explaining yourself is a matter of having a peaceful confidence within yourself and know you don't need other peoples approval. You and God makes a majority. Another great lesson that I learned is that we must become mature. In other words grow up. Have you noticed that the people up in years don't care about what other people think? They just keep doing what they do even if you don't like it. That comes from years of learning that no one outside of themselves have any sway over what they think or what they do. They are happy doing what they do. To brake the habit you must have a quiet confidence within you. Let people say whatever they want to say while staying focused on your goals and dreams. 

I love this article written by Steven. It had sooo many great points in it and I could easily add to the list of things that you don't have to explain to anyone. The point is that this is your life. This is your life to live to the fullest. Do not spend an endless amount of energy trying to explain anything to anyone who is not trying to help you get to where you want to be. Unless they can help don't say anything. If you are looking for a REALLY encouraging and uplifting article that will having you cheering please read Steven Aitchison's article titled 7 Things You Don't Owe Anyone An Explanation For.

What is on your list of things you don't owe and explanation for? Please leave your comments below.     

Getting Ready For The Next Chapter In My Life.

I am really excited right now. I know I haven't written a blog in a while because of the holiday season but mostly because I am getting ready for the next chapter in my life. My husband is Graduating Collage this Thursday ^_^ and we are moving back to Las Vegas NV where we lived for 10 years before moving to Oklahoma.

We had to face so many challenges while My husband went to school. I had a lot of health issues and then I was told that I was going blind. I could only imagine the pressure that my husband was under. Having to work full-time, go to school full time and take care of me, helping me to heal and not give up.

Now this amazing journey is coming to an end. Each of us stronger and wiser than when we first started this journey 4 years ago.

He will be graduating and once we move I will be on a whole new path for myself. Once we move I will start the low vision training that I need to do, even though I think I am doing pretty darn well ^_^ but knowledge is power so I will get the training. I avoided doing it for the longest time because I reeeallly didn't want to face the fact that I am losing my eyesight. I realized that I must focus on enhancing my other senses and not focus on what I am losing. I always tell everyone to focus on what you want and not on what you don't want so I think it's time to take my own advice.

When we move back I also want to focus on my art, creating tutorials and creating beautiful journals that will inspire people to write. I am having a strong pull back to doing what I have always loved. I feel like with this new chapter I am redesigning my life. More accurately I feel like I am following God's plan for my life. I am excited for what is to come. Please keep me and my husband in your prayers as we get ready for the move and the new chapter in our lives. Once I get settled I will be back to updating everyone with new blog posts. Stay inspired. Thank you for following me. You are loved and appreciated.

God Bless

Artisticsoulwithin.com

My Top 7 Inspirational Blogs and Memes

It can be stressful for many people this time of year. Added to the stress of the Holidays you also have the stress of current events. If you are a sensitive person like myself everything can be overwhelming but it don't have to be. Now more than any time we must stay focus on creating the life that we want to live and not get distracted. Enjoy each day as if it is your last. Read inspirational blogs and watch uplifting videos. Do what ever you can to make yourself uplifted and happy. You have everything you need to succeed. Don't believe anything less...

This is my top 7 inspirational blogs and memes to help you get you through the holidays and beyond. God Bless and Happy Holidays

Artisticsoulwithin.com

Smile because you are loved

Let go and love ALL of yourself.

You are good enough.

You are who you believe you are.

Letting go is absolute bravery. 

You have so much more life in you. Live your life.

Let Go And Love ALL Of Yourself

I really love this article that I found about Anxiety. It is written by an anonymous writer titled How to Make Anxiety Work For You, Not Against You. Everyone has experienced anxiety from time to time but if you are going through some tough challenges right now you are really going to enjoy this article. It really hits home in such a beautiful way on how to make anxiety your friend and not your enemy.

This article was so great it almost made me cry reading it. It has a really powerful message that I know anyone who reads it will be able to relate to it. I remember growing up I was filled with A LOT of anxiety about everything. I went from childhood abuse to my mom and dad disappearing leaving my little sister and me with a friend who really didn't want us to be with her because she was a single mom with 3 kids of her own. It was a very scary time for me because I didn't know if me and my sister were going to be homeless. I had anxieties about school because I was always behind and I still had to deal with the social politics at every school we moved too which made things even worse. I worried about everything.

My anxiety seemed non stop even in adulthood when I had to face some serious health problems back to back. For the longest time, anxiety was something that I had to fight. Everything hurt and I had to do everything to stop the pain but no matter how hard I fought to stop the pain and make things better things kept getting worse. I got to the point in my life where I was so afraid that I would be crushed by something “out there” that I didn't even want to leave the house or even my bed at times. I have seen great therapists and they were helpful, but I still felt like I was missing something. I didn't know what it was until a few years ago.

Anonymous said, “I was the one who had turned anxiety into some sort of creepy horror movie character, when really all she was, was a version of me who just wanted to be heard and loved.” This is what I came to realize myself. I realized that I was fighting myself and making an enemy out of something that was trying to help me. Instead of fighting my anxiety I learned to embrace it and listen to it. That is when I went from being extremely fearful to being very adventurous and outgoing.

Anonymous said, “I decided that day to change anxiety's name to “sweetheart”... When she feels worried, I tell her I am there for her, and she smiles. When she's angry, I listen to what's bothering her, and she relaxes.” This is exactly what I learned on my journey. When I feel pain or anger I literally stop, look at it and I say to myself I see you, It is ok to be there, I love and accept you anyway then the pain, frustration and anger just melts away. My anxiety aka sweetheart just wants to be seen and heard so I see her for what she is and I say it's ok ^_^

Anonymous said, “When you accept and love parts of yourself that you deem unacceptable, a strange thing happens. Those parts start working with you instead of against you.” When I learned that anxiety was not my enemy I was able to travel and explore beyond my wildest dreams. Staying focus on my Spiritual life and learning Mindfulness techniques really helped me out a lot in learning to let go and love all of myself. I learned to not fight that part of myself but embrace it. I learned that anxiety is nothing to be ashamed of. Anxiety is like physical pain and it can be physical pain. That pain is not trying to kill you it is simply trying to tell you that something needs to change and you have the power to change it.

After much study and self-reflection, I don't see anxiety the same anymore. If you can adjust your perspective a bit you can learn to use anxiety to your great advantage.

Anonymous said “Rather than seeing UCI (anxiety) as something that needs to be removed, think about the gifts it brings to your life and choose to see it differently. Now that I can see my anxiety as a gift. I know what I need to do to get back to inner peace, something I don't think I've ever really been able to do.” This is the key right here. When something is strongly in your face take notice and go back to inner peace. That is what mindfulness is all about. It is about excepting what is and going back to the center, to inner peace.

Don't be afraid. Find out what your anxiety is trying to tell you and listen. From my experience, I know that peace of mind is on the other side of listening to that part of yourself that desperately wants to be heard. If you are struggling with anxiety please read How to Make Anxiety Work For You, Not Against You. I am very honored to have read that article. I hope you enjoy it and find it as helpful as I did.

God Bless

Artisticsoulwithin.com

Let Go And Celebrate Your Life

I really love love looove Anushree Baikerikar's article titled What If Success Was Measured by How Well You've Loved? This is a very powerful question and Anushree in her article beautifully redefined what success is and what it really should mean. Anushree wrote a great article about her life and how she discovered the true meaning of success. Her article was very great to read and I know you will enjoy it.

My husband and I have been married for 19 years now and we known each other for over 20 years. If I was to write a book about our life it would be a romantic comedy ^_^ I went from not like him A LOT to falling very much in love with him. It is a long funny story that I might share at another time. While we were dating Marcel said that he wanted to be a preacher. I was very happy to hear that. I will never forget the day he told me that he wanted to be a preacher. I knew he would be a really great one. We talked about it and as he went to his dorm room on campus I remember thinking I know one day we will get married so what does it mean to be a preacher's wife?

I knew in my heart what I wanted for my life, I knew what God desired and I also knew that it was faaar from what would be considered “successful” in today's age in America. Honestly, I have told very few people this but my life has shown what I wanted and that was to focus only on my family, my faith and art. I want to serve. I said that this is far from what is considered “successful” because if you talk to many people as I did, the first thing that people will tell me is “you gotta make money right?” and “it is not realistic for a family to live on only one income.” To the chagrin of many people I put making money on the low end of the list and focused totally on serving others and creating art. My husband understood but not too many friends or family understood. We always had what we needed even though life wasn't easy at times. I decided early on that I want to live my life on my terms even if it didn't fit the norm or considered to be “successful”. Caring for my family was what I knew would make me happy even if I didn't get paid a dime.

For the last 19 years I served in missions, worked in large food pantries, taught kids art and bible, coached youth and woman and took care of my family. My husband is doing great and we will be celebrating our 20th anniversary next June on the beaches of San Diego CA sssshhh he don't know this yet ^_^ lol.

If I was to die right now would anyone know how much money I made? NO! but they will remember how much I loved everyone, how much I loved to serve and how I loved life.

Anushree in her article wrote, “Just think about it- what if success was measured by how well you've loved instead of what you've earned or how many people know you? What if success was actually how much you've loved life itself, filling it with love and giving even more love? And not necessarily what you are wearing, the places you've been to, or the phones, cars and yachts you've owned? What if success was measured by how much joy you've brought to the table and how much better or worse you left the place than when you arrived? What if success was measured by how kindly and sincerely you've treated those around you? What if you actually got negative points every time you treated someone meanly or unfairly or judged someone or looked down on someone? How would your success graph look in the case? Would you need to put in more effort to make it better?”

Even though I have put very little focus on money my life has been filled with joy. Everything that I really really wanted in my life I got and if I wanted more all I have to do is ask. This all came about because of what I chose to focus on and celebrating EVERYTHING in my life. I remember reading “You know you are on track when your heart is at peace.” This is why I decided to be a Spiritual Mindfulness Life Coach because I want to give even more and help others find that peace within themselves. The more love you show to yourself and others the more peace and joy you will know.

Anushree Baikerikar article is spot on. How we love each other should be the gold standard of success. In her article, Anushree's shows how to let go, appropriate the little things, love your family and realize the real meaning of success. Read Anushree Baikerikar's article titled What If Success Was Measured by How Well You've Loved?

Live well, laugh often and love A LOT. When you count your blessings and celebrate your life amazing things always happen. I see the best in you.

God Bless

Artisticsoulwithin.com

Let Go And Give Yourself Permission To Live.

I have found an amazing article written by Tess Marshall titled 21 Tips To Release Self-Neglect and Love Yourself In Action. This article is all about giving ourselves permission to live and in today's society this is greatly needed. If you are looking to step out of the norm and learn to give yourself permission to live then I know you will love Tess Marshall's article.

This article really hit home with me because I feel like I have this constant pressure to do more and be different. In my heart, I know being who I really want to be will cause me to stand out of the crowd in unfavorable ways with some people. So what do I do? Do I fit in and make people comfortable or do I stand out and live my life to the fullest even if it makes people uncomfortable? In the end, I am choosing to stand out with no apologies and I thank God for helping me to make this decision in my life.

In Tess's article, she said, “We're taught by society that our worth is found in the idols of our culture- technology, status, youth, sex, power, money, attractiveness, and romantic relationships. If you base your self worth on the external world, you'll never be capable of self-love. Your inner critic will flood you with thoughts of “I'm not enough, I don't have enough, and I don't do enough.” Feeling of lack are never-ending. Every time a goal is reached or you possess the next big thing, your ego will move the line.” Tess is sooo right on point. If we keep our focus on what other people think of us that feeling of lack and not being good enough will be never-ending. We have to learn how to love and trust ourselves. Only then we can live our lives to the fullest.

In order to give ourselves permission to live, we must spend some time looking inwardly. Meditating daily and writing or drawing in a gratitude journal is very helpful. Trying something new every day will also help in giving yourself permission to live. Like Tess said, “You have a right to an awesome life.” Give yourself permission to be awesome.

I have learned that letting go and excepting uncertainty also plays a big part of giving yourself permission to live. Of course, I want to make everyone comfortable and I would love everyone to like me but I am ok if they don't. I am giving myself permission to live my life with no apologies. Tess said in her article “Speak up and speak out. Allow yourself to be seen, known and heard. Get comfortable with intimacy (in-to-me-see).” I love this. Don't be afraid to stand out and be seen even if it makes others uncomfortable because in the end you can't please everyone so you might as well be yourself.

Tess said, “Be willing to surrender and grow. Life is a journey. We are here to learn and love on a deeper level. Love yourself enough to believe in the limitless opportunities available to you.” There are a lot of people who will tell you all the things you can and can not do and that what you are doing is not enough. Be courageous, block those voices out of your mind and own your unlimited potential. If you sit quietly and listen, you already know what is best for your life and it may not add up to what other people think is best for your life. Trust in yourself. You know what to do.

Giving yourself permission to live life to the fullest takes courage, hard work and patience. Every day you must decide to live. Every day you must strive to have that singular focus to live life to the fullest. I totally understand that it will not be easy and some people in your life may fall off the grid but in the end it will all be worth it. If you are looking to learn how to give yourself permission to live please read Tess Marshall 21 Tips To Release Self-Neglect and Love Yourself In Action. I can go on and on about Tess's article. I love ALL 21 tips and I know you will find each tip very helpful too. Read her tips, do a gratitude journal and every day give yourself permission to live. I see the best in you.

God Bless

Artisticsoulwithin.com