Archive for the ‘Spiritual Training’ Category

Neighbors

Sunday, June 14th, 2009

neighbors
With cell phones, cable and the internet, people find less and less time to go out and associate with their neighbors in any kind of meaningful way. This creates misunderstandings, fear and sometimes ill feelings that don’t need to be there.  Find time to walk out the door with the specific purpose of interacting with your neighbors.  Get to know them.  Even if you don’t know them, or feel they are not very nice, bake them some cookies, a pie or a loaf of bread, write them a short note – anything – and take it to them.  

More than ever today, we need friends and hopeful positive feelings in our neighborhoods.  We need to stop living in fear of each other, start taking care of each other and get to know each other.  Some of my closest, most cherished friends began as misunderstood, pre-judged enemies!

Summer Dehydration – Both Spiritual and Physical

Saturday, June 13th, 2009

parenting summer dehydration

It seems that summers are getting hotter and hotter and busier and busier! With everything we have to do during the year, it flies by with lightening speed! Just as we survive the holidays, anniversaries and birthdays – summer hits! Here are just a few suggestions to make your summer easier:

  1. Drink plenty of water. There are so many options for fluid intake today. Water remains the number one best way to hydrate your body. It is important to teach your children to drink water – especially small children so they will grow into healthy water drinking teens and adults later. Simply drinking water makes you think clearer, helps with weight loss and keeps you hydrated.
  2. Begin every day with an attitude of gratitude! Being thankful creates a positive atitude…..which creates happiness…..which creates positive forward motion!
  3. Sit down and create a summer schedule for your children. If you don’t, you will spend the majority of your day being worried, frustrated and angry and your children will become resentful – all of which will create stress for you and your household.
  4. Make a list for your children of projects you want them to accomplish during their time off. Make sure they understand what is acceptable and what is not.
  5. Make a list of friends that will be acceptable for your children to hang out with or have over. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. No matter what happens or doesn’t happen – don’t forget to have some FAMILY FUN! It doesn’t have to cost money, you just have to be with your family .

HAVE A GREAT SUMMER!

A Positive Attitude Can Change Your Stars

Friday, June 12th, 2009

EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!  Violence, crime, a failing economy, stRESS, STRESS, STRESS!!  It’s everywhere!  What can we do so that our level of stress does not break us, or our families apart?  A POSITIVE ATTITUDE!  You heard right, a positive attitude!  Sure, it won’t fix anything immediately and sometimes it won’t fix the immediate stressor ever!  So why have one?  HAPPINESS!  Because we all want to be happy – no matter what.  When you are faced with uncertainty, challenge or pain whether physical, emotional or both, it doesn’t mean you have to be spiritually depressed to the point you can’t function!  Or worse, you exaggerate the situation you’re in  by making everyone around you miserable by constantly rehearsing all the bad things that have happened and constantly rehearsing the, ‘why I can’ts’ instead of the, ‘how I cans.’ 

Positive forward motion requires positive forward thinking.  Simply put, all action begins with a thought.  Therefore, if you spend all of your valuable time thinking about negative outcomes, THAT is exactly what you are going to get – a negative outcome.    I don’t mean to downplay what you might be going through at the moment.  I am suggesting, however, that you will do your best work, come up with your best game plan if you are approaching whatever situation you are in with a positive attitude!  True happiness given any situation is a choice.  It begins with your attitude. Sometimes we have to close our eyes and see things how they can be, rather than how they really are to gain enough positive energy to get through it.

Relationships with Adult Children

Monday, June 8th, 2009

It seems that just as you become an expert ‘baby’ Mom, that baby turns into a toddler! Then…..you turn your back and poof!  TEENAGER!  If you survive that, and you will, you turn around and your children are grown with families of their own.  Relationships with your adult children can be the most challenging of all – yet, the most rewarding.  Your children suddenly realize that you are NOT perfect and that you don’t have all of the answers (if they haven’t already figured that out).  To complicate matters and without much discussion, they marry complete strangers that you they expect you to welcome and love with open arms – no matter what!

How do you keep communication open, even during difficult times?   Remember the old adage, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all?”  These are golden words of wisdom that will save you from wounding those you love – especially when it comes to your adult children and their spouses.  Follow that up with complete acceptance and love without judgement.  When difficult things happen, refuse to get upset or become offended.   Yes, it will be difficult.  And, it will take practice and time, but it works!  It allows you to step back from any situation and evaluate it with less emotion and more objectivity.

Spiritual Training in the Home

Sunday, June 7th, 2009

Spiritual training is probably THE most important training that should be done in the home!  When your children are out and about everyday, the only thing they will take with them into difficult situations – or, even the good ones, is what is inside their hearts.  If you have not provided that training, they will find it somewhere else!  I can almost guarantee that when they do find that something else, it almost never coincides with what you believe!  

So, today is Sunday…it doesn’t matter what religion you belong to or not.  This day is universally recognized as a ’spiritual’ relaxation day.  So no matter what day your spiritual relaxation day is, on that day, practice whatever it is you believe.  Practice it so your children can see you practicing it. More importantly,  if you haven’t already, sit down with your children and share your beliefs with them.  If you want your children to be obedient and respect your rules, it will become easier  for them if they know the how and the why behind them.  Like it or not, the how and the why usually comes from your heart and that spiritual belief system. 

Try it!  What do you have to lose…