Debra Moorhead . com

When I began reading over the articles for this week’s carnival I became concerned about finding a common theme.  I know I’m not required to find a theme, it’s just one of my, well, anal-retentive traits.  However, about half-way through putting the carnival together, I realized that instead of finding a traditional theme to do with healing, what I was experiencing was an amazing collection of articles educating us about wellness.

Many of this week’s authors chose to share personal testimonies, some are utilizing their academic prowess, but all are teaching us something about health, wellness, spirituality, or self-empowerment.  With that theme in mind, I’ve included only articles that are told from a personal vantage point, or that are extremely unique in a beneficial way.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed preparing it for you!

Next week’s carnival will be at Spiral Visions.  If you’d like to host a carnival, please visit the Carnival of Healing Homepage.  A special thanks goes out to last week’s host, A-Ha! TV. 

Until next time,

Live Joyfully!

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Technorati Tags: Carnival of Healing, Peace, Happiness, Conscious Creation, Retreat, Coach, Success, Motivational Speaker, Retreat Leader, Motivation, Law of Attraction

Laughter and the ability to remain light-hearted have been proven in many studies to be more successful at maintaining a healthy heart than mere diet and exercise.  Why?  Perhaps because maintaining a sense of humor frees us from stress and anxiety.  After all, you can’t be anxious about something and laughing at yourself at the same time. 

Here, then, are 5 ways to develop a more light-hearted attitude toward life.

1. Smile.  The physical act of smiling releases endorphins into your body and instantly improves your mood, making it easier to laugh at whatever situation has come along.  Try it.  If you don’t believe me, try this; Smile as big and wide as you can, and try to maintain a negative thought.  I’ll bet you can’t do it!  Go ahead; laugh at how simple this is!

2. Laugh at yourself.  We’re all human.  And so are you!  (Some people need to be reminded of that.)  Taking yourself too seriously puts undue pressure on your subconscious mind and keeps you further from whatever it is you’re trying to accomplish.  I’m guilty of this at times and I suppose everyone is.  Your most important relationship is the one you have with you.  Learn to forgive yourself and laugh at your mistakes, even the clumsiest of them.

3. Practice this mantra:  “This too shall pass.”  Isn’t that true?  You know that you can overcome any adversity.  Consider all the challenges you’ve already faced and have lived to tell about it.  Whatever the situation is, you’ll get past it.  Take a deep breath, say, “this too shall pass,” and face the crisis head-on.

4. Keep busy.  Remember, your thoughts control your feelings.  Og Mandino wrote, “Never will I labor to be happy; rather I will remain too busy to be sad.”  Engage your mind with positive thoughts and when you feel yourself veering to the negative, find something to do. Perhaps this is why gardeners tend to be very happy people; there’s always something to do when you have a garden.

5. Make someone else smile.  The best way to create something for yourself is to give it to someone else first.  Tell a joke to a friend. Tell a stranger she looks nice.   Surprise your spouse with a gift of some sort. 

Finally, strengthen your sense of humor by conditioning your mind to look for the bright side of every situation you encounter each day.  Before long, this will be your usual way of thinking, and happiness and success will be just around the corner.

We will talk more about the importance of developing a sense of humor at my Life Skills Retreat; I hope to see you there!

In the meantime, here are a couple of tools to help you get on the path to lasting peace and happiness:

Wake Up and Create the Life You Want:  A Guide to Self-Empowerment

Eliminate Clutter and Organize Your Life E-book

Until next time,

Live joyfully!

You can subscribe to this blog here.

Technorati Tags: Humor, Peace, Happiness, Attitude, Conscious Creation, Retreat, Coach, Success, Motivational Speaker, Retreat Leader, Motivation, Law of Attraction

“A person with a clear purpose will make progress on even the roughest road.  A person with no purpose will make no progress on even the smoothest road.”

–Thomas Carlyle

One of the biggest obstacles to creating the life of your dreams is having no sense of purpose.  It’s great to have big dreams, but focus is the modus operandi that will bring them to you.  Let me explain.

I’m sure by now we’ve all heard, “You become what you think about most of the time.”  The two factors that determine what happens to you in life are what you think about and how you feel as you’re thinking about it.

For example, you’ll often hear someone describe a wealthy person this way:  “He loves money; always chasing the almighty dollar.  Boy, that’s not how I would want to live my life.”  In reality, the person speaking probably does not know the person they’re speaking of at all; however, they’re probably right!  Because in order to make money, you have to focus on it, and love whatever it is you’re doing that’s bringing it to you, and you have to feel good about the money you’re bringing in and accumulating. 

Money is always the easiest example to use in this scenario because it’s something nearly everyone can relate to, but any goal is the same way, whether it’s health, relationships, or a simple habit like no longer biting your nails.  Successful people spend the majority of their time thinking about their goals, taking inspired action, and feeling good about it while they’re doing it.  As a result, their goals are consistently moving toward them and they are moving toward their goals. 

Now, it’s important here to distinguish what not to do, because I think a lot of people miss this.  To be in the habit of thinking mostly about your goals and what you want to create in your life, means you can’t be chit-chatting with your co-workers about your weekend.  Oh, it’s fine to ask, “Did you have a good weekend?  Great!  So did I!”  But don’t ask that person you know is going to tell you all of the latest problems with her teenage son!  What do you do if you accidentally “step in it?”  I’ve done that before and here is what I learned to do. 

“Did you have a good weekend?”

“Oh, no.  It was horrible.  First my son and my husband got into it.  I even had to call the—“

“Great!  So did I!  Well, off to work!”

Developing the discipline to focus on what is important to you will get easier as you practice it more.  Here are 7 ways to get you on that path to a crystal clear sense of direction.

1. Decide what you want in each area of your life – financial, physical, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, and relational.  This process can take a while, and will develop over time.  That’s okay, just start somewhere. 
2. Write your goals down on paper.  Be as specific as you can with each one.  As you begin to focus on this list daily, you will further define each goal.  But the more specific you can be from the beginning, the closer you are to achieving it.  However, don’t worry about the non-specific desires you have.  Just write them down with the knowledge that you will work on the details later.  Life is more fun with a list of goals to go for.
3. Set a reasonable deadline for each goal.  The reason this step is important is that on bigger goals, you’ll have to break them down.  A strategic plan is critical to the thought-word-action creative process.  Things will fall into place more easily for you if you give the universe all the details you can. 
4. Create your strategic plan.  Sure, there are some things you just don’t know yet, so start with the things you do know.  I use Microsoft Excel for this process.  As the project builds, I can add rows and columns as necessary.
5. Build your plan of action by prioritizing and putting a chronological order to your strategic plan.  Not sure where to start or about a certain step in the process?  Listen to your intuitive guidance.  Take an hour of solitude.  The answer will come to you.
6. Take action on your plan immediately.  Don’t make excuses; do something now to get the ball rolling.  Action is God creating through you.  Thoughts and words alone will not bring you the success you’re seeking.  Take the action you’re inspired to, as soon as you’re inspired to do it, making sure you’re happy as you do it, and everything will fall into place in a way that seems almost effortless to you.  Others will say, “Wow.  You must really love what you’re doing!”
7. Maintain your focus by doing something every day that moves you a little closer to your most important goal.  Even if it’s just a five minute task, do it.  If a step is going to take a chunk of your time, figure out when you can work it into your schedule and commit to it.

Every day, think about your goal as often as possible.  Post it on a wall, make it your screen saver, or just keep a card with your goal written on it in your wallet or purse.  Take 15 minutes every day to brainstorm (with your spiritual guides) ways to accomplish your goals.  Be persistent.  Before long, you’ll notice your energy and creativity expanding in all directions and on many subjects.  Your potential will feel as if it has finally been released, and rightfully so, because it has!

If you’d like to take some time in a beautiful, quiet setting, to think about your future, and you’d like to have a personal coach to walk you through the creative process, sign up for my Conscious Creation/Success Retreat. 

In the meantime, here are a couple of tools to help you get on the path to a clearer sense of direction:

Wake Up and Create the Life You Want:  A Guide to Self-Empowerment

Eliminate Clutter and Organize Your Life E-book

Until next time,

Live joyfully!

You can subscribe to this blog here.

Technorati Tags: Peace, Happiness, Attitude, Conscious Creation, Retreat, Coach, Success, Motivational Speaker, Retreat Leader, Motivation, Law of Attraction

You’ve got it all down pat; the goals, the plan, the schedule, the self-improvement, the professional development, and the help you need to pull it all off, (nannies, personal chefs, personal shoppers, etc).  But have you remembered to make room for yourself?  Time to breathe?

“After I get this done, I’ll take a break.”  Oh, but something new comes up.

“If I can just get through tomorrow, I’ll be free and clear for some time off.”  But a new prospect is ready to negotiate.

“I’m going to have fun at this business conference.”  But it ends up being more beneficial, and intense, than you thought.  You come home enthusiastic, but too tired to implement anything.  By the time you’ve rested, you’ve lost that enthusiasm.

You need to take regular, planned, breaks from your work, your family, your goals, and most likely, your life as you’ve created it.  Proper rest and relaxation are as essential to your overall well-being as a good strategic plan.  Just as you get more done with a good plan, you will also accomplish more by taking time off. 

The more rested you are, the brighter, sharper, more alert, and more productive you will be at your work and in every other area of your life. Isn’t your miss