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New Year, New You- Reflecting on the Holiday to Make a Plan for Next Year
There’s something remarkable about the new year. The promise of change and a clean slate gets everyone excited about the possibilities. There’s no other time when people are more focused and willing to make changes to enhance their lives. Gym memberships soar and more storage containers are purchased at this time of year than any other. The promise of a new year brings the promise of a new you too. What could be better? Everyone wants to do better, be better, and experience something better than the year before. The thing is, it takes intention and effort to make that happen. A new year and a new you is possible…
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Day 29. Heart and Home
As the old saying goes, home is where the heart is. The Holiday season is surely a time to be grateful for your home, the resting spot for your body, and the place to renew your spirit. Home means different things to different people. Some folks prefer that their home be placed in a crowded, bustling city. Others call the quiet countryside a place to call home. And lots more others make their home in a place that’s somewhere in between. Do you love to be home? Not everyone does. “Homebody” doesn’t fit all people and personalities. For some, home is a merely a form of shelter and a crash…
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Day 28: In Awe of Our Precious Planet
The planet where we exist is a miracle. Do you feel blessed to be alive on this miraculous Eden that teems with life… Mother Earth? It’s easy to forget how bizarre and wondrous our existence on this planet is. Each day, we wake up and engage more or less the same routine as the prior day. We eat food, perform our jobs, rest, do more jobs, eat more, and go to sleep. What other creatures on this planet could be doing similar things as us, and we aren’t even aware of it? Maybe all of them, even down to the smallest units of energy. No one can seem to confirm…
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Day 27. Your Inner Child is Calling
Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus — child of God. So let’s give some thought to children and what precious gifts they are. Do you make it a point to listen to your inner child? Some people think that once they’re of a certain age, being child-like is… well, for children. But there is a big difference between having a child-like approach to living, and having child-like emotions. What does the word child-like make you think of? Being fully present and mindful – able to live in the moment Joyfulness and good humor Always ready to play, imagine, and engage Learns through play A carefree attitude, not worrying about the…
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Day 25. Appreciation for Other Cultures
On Day 24 of our 30 Days Blessed Challenge, we explored the beauty of people who come from different backgrounds. Today, let’s take this concept a step further and delve into appreciation for other cultures. Groups and classifications are a funny thing. There’s a lot of talk about how we are all the same, and should not be judged by our differences. There’s also plenty of categorizing and classifying of different people. Both of these facets of human existence are true. We are all humans just trying to get by and survive here on planet earth. The same in heart, body and mind. The truth also is that we have…
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Day 24. Celebrating Beautiful Differences
People are beautiful in all their stark honesty. Some folks think that differences are bad. But all beautiful things in nature are one-of-a-kind. Think of snowflakes and fingerprints. No two are alike. The past few years have brought a lot of polarized thinking and dissent, particularly on social media. But are our differences from others real, or imagined? Perhaps we are all the same in our intrinsic goodness, but different in how that goodness manifests and is expressed. December brings a season to be grateful for people who are different from you. If we were all the same, we’d have nothing to learn from each other. Exercise: Celebrate People Who…
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Day 22. Be Thankful for Friends Near and Far
There’s nothing quite like a good friend to bring a smile to your face and lighten your heart. Today we’re talking about the ways that friends enrich our lives and bring us joy. Friends are different from family because we actively choose to make them a part of our lives. Friends… Ones We Can Depend On* Today, spend some time reflecting on your relationships with friends. How often do you make time to be with friends? Are most of your friends on social media? Or do you also nurture friendships in the flesh and face to face? For many of us, Facebook is owed to the ease in which we…
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Tips for Dealing with a Grinch during the Holidays
Mean people Suck. That’s been a bumper sticker for years now. It’s true though, mean people steal the joy from the holidays. Sadly, sometimes you can’t avoid Grinches during Christmastime. From rude shoppers and clerks to unhappy family members, there are a lot of people out there trying to steal your Christmas spirit. Dealing with difficult people can be hard. You aren’t responsible for their happiness, but their lack of it sure can dampen yours. How do you manage all the Grinches at Christmas? Here’s some examples of typical holiday Grinches and how you can handle them. Grinch #1- The rude clerk. Shopping is a common Christmastime activity and it’s…
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Day 21. Ode to the Bountiful Harvest
Here’s something to be grateful for at the end of another year – the bountiful harvest. If you always have food on your plate, plenty of choices in the fridge, and a full, satiated belly, don’t take it for granted. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that about 795 million people of the 7.3 billion people in the world, or one in nine, were suffering from chronic undernourishment in 2014-2016. It’s higher now with the pandemic! Hunger must surely have been a grave concern and possible fact of life for many of the early American settlers who expressed gratitude for their celebratory meal held with their Indian friends…
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How to Reduce your Giving Without Feeling Like a Scrooge
Being generous is important. There’s no greater time of year to give than during the holidays but it doesn’t take long for the list of opportunities to give to outgrow your ability to be generous. Sometimes you’ve simply got to cut back. This can leave you feeling guilty and fearful you’ll be perceived as a Scrooge. There are plenty of great reasons to give and be generous, but your resources may not always be as big as your heart. What can you do when you need to reduce your giving without feeling horrible? Try these ideas out- Idea 1! Try reducing your overall gift-giving budget. If you are in the…
