Tag: #advice

Are You Ready To Be Happy This New Year 🎊

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Happiness is a "now you feel it, now you don’t" emotion.😁😩🤷🏾‍♀️ 

I know this from personal experience and from hearing of the experiences of others.  Sometimes I’m very happy, other times, sad, joyful, contented, frustrated, and sometimes very neutral. 

Several years ago I had no reference point for the word happy.  I knew technically the meaning of the word, however, the experience eluded me.  Joy I could do, happy for some reason, no.

One day during a workshop the word happy was demonstrated to me with much laughter from the audience.  Now I not only get "happy" but remember it also as a fun experience.  

There are many small things that can make me happy as well as give me endless joy.  I’ve listed seven simple ways toward experiencing a happy moment, but the first check you have a reference point to the word happy.  Find out what happiness really means to you? 

1️⃣	Remember or create a ‘happy’ moment.  When you live the experience of ‘happy’ your mind and body will remember.  Feel the happiness in all parts of you, expand this feeling if need be.  Practice this daily.

2️⃣	Access the Present moment.  Notice what happens to you when you’re totally focused on a comedy show on television, when you listen to light-hearted music or when you dance - even if it’s on your own.  I sometimes groove to a tune in my office when no-one’s looking – it makes me feel good, cool, give me a break from what I’m doing and I laugh at myself! 

3️⃣	Invite friends over for some playtime.  Organize paper, crayons, paint, and colored pencils, whatever you can think of and do some drawings or paintings.  You could also ask each person to bring along a plate of food.

 4️⃣	Spend time with nature, go for a walk down the beach or park; observe wildlife in your area or visit a plant nursery.  Notice your mood when amongst the spirit of nature.

5️⃣	Take something with you that gives you great pleasure such as a book, journal for writing or your MP3 player and sit and "Be" under the canopies of trees for a few hours.

6️⃣	Learn something totally new such as another language; pottery or painting or start your meditation, personal or spiritual development program.  You’re only ever limited by your own imagination.   

7️⃣ Join a club or group that you have an interest in.(like my Facebook group)👉🏾 Unleashing Your Mask You can then expand your friendship base with other like-minded souls. 

With any of the above activities assess what and how you’re feeling as well as where you feel the emotion and how much are you laughing, grinning, or smiling?  Remember them totally by living the experience and you will then be able to recall this memory when you want to.

Include to memory your experience colors, smells, sounds, and tastes – all the better for remembering your happy time with.

Quiet time spent alone can open the door to the possibility of connection to that most amazing and magical part of you that is your true self, the spirit within.🌟

From my experience, the key to a happy life begins with remembering who you are, know what gives you enjoyment, be present, and know that regardless of your circumstances no-one can take away your thoughts or dreams, they are yours to keep for as long as you wish.💖 

XoXo

Olivia B. Shepherd
Transformation Coach/Mentor

Are You Spending The Holidays 🎄With Your Inlaws?🤷🏾‍♀️ Here are a few tips to surviving it:

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Where are you spending the holidays?

Do you like the people you will be spending it with🤦🏾‍♀️

If you’re married like me, then you have to worry about you know…the in-laws…😳

Now, lucky for me both sets of my in-laws live in Texas and my husband’s real mother hates me 🤪🤷🏾‍♀️, but my step-mother-in-law loves me to pieces…

Either way, guess what I don’t have to spend any time with them this year…whewwww! The pressure is off, but since you have to here are a few tips on surviving this holiday season without causing any damage to your relationships…😁👇🏾

Many families of all ages feel intense stress as they approach the holiday season. They know someone’s feelings will inevitably be hurt. They are stretched to spend time with both sides of their family or end up feeling guilty they can’t be everywhere. Then there’s the stress of spending time with someone you don’t necessarily get along with.

Some families use every combination possible to make their extended family happy. Christmas morning at home, Lunch at noon at her mom’s house, late evening at his dad’s house. Then throw in divorced and blended family dynamics and the day became even fuller. It can often mean spending only a few minutes at any one place.

The holiday season is the perfect time to reconsider how you want to be with extended family, particularly your in-laws. The holiday season is a time for creating your own traditions while setting boundaries with your in-laws. It’s time to determine what you want and how you want to spend your holiday.

Give these 7 tips a try and see how your family gathering becomes memorable instead of wretched:

Communicate

It’s important to communicate your wishes in a way that doesn’t make them feel like you don’t care. Communicate in advance what you want. Ask them what their preferences are as well. Then work on creating a plan that works for all of you.

Find neutral ground

If the stress comes from going to one family’s house instead of the other’s home, invite everyone to a beach house, rented cabin or someplace you can all enjoy that no one owns the space.

Get them involved

Invite them to join in what’s happening throughout the day. Include your mother-in-law in the meal prep or your daughter-in-law in the gift wrapping. Have your father-in-law read the Christmas story or another family favorite story. Try to make them feel comfortable and welcome. If you’re going to their house, ask if you can help them in some way. Give your mother-in-law compliments, talk to your father-in-law about topics that mean something to him.

It’s not personal

Often the tension we feel from out in-laws at this time of year comes from their being stressed as well. This type of stress can make that seemingly harmless bad behavior to become even more exaggerated. It’s more about their insecurities than it is about you, so try to leave the defensive mode at home.

Look on the humorous side

It’s much easier to laugh at what your in-law says or does than to spend the holidays tense and on edge. Search hard to find the humor in situations that might otherwise make you feel criticized or left out. Humor helps you stay calm at the time and keeps some of the tension from exploding into a full-blown breakdown.

Plan an exit strategy

When you visit your in-law’s house, have an agreed amount of time you will stay. If it’s a matter of one of you want to stay longer, you may have to arrive in two cars. Let the family know one of you need to leave at a certain time for whatever reason.

Have some downtime

Find a quiet time for yourself during the hectic holiday season. You need to re-energize. Or if you are staying at your in-laws, you may need to find a little quiet time to catch your breath or get away from them. 🙌🏾

End Goals On Relieving Holiday Stress

The goal is to make progress on having a less stressed holiday with your in-laws. There won’t be perfection. It’s a matter of building a relationship with the family that will grow with time. With a little effort on your part, and hopefully, theirs too, you could end up having one of the calmest holidays you’ve ever had.

Best Wishes Friends….🎄

𝓞𝓵𝓲𝓿𝓲𝓪 𝓑. 𝓢𝓱𝓮𝓹𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓭

Life Empowerment Mentor/ Transformation Coach

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Tuesday Tips…be as happy as you want to be😃

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Happy Tuesday friends....

Almost everyone have heard the hit single 'Don't Worry, Be Happy' by Bobby McFerrin. 🎶

The song has a very catchy way of conveying its message of being happy to everyone. Bobby Mcferiin's simple message surely made a lot of people by telling them not to worry.

Living a happy, resilient and optimistic life is wonderful, and is also good for your health. Being happy actually protects you from the stresses of life. Stress is linked to top causes of death such as heart disease, cancer and stroke. 

One of the better things ever said is - 'The only thing in life that will always remain the same is change', and in our life we have the power to make the necessary changes if we want to. Even if we find ourselves in an unbearable situation we can always find solace in the knowledge that it too would change. 

Social networks or relationships are essential to happiness. People are different, accept people for who or what they are, avoid clashes, constant arguments, and let go of all kinds of resentments. If arguments seem unavoidable still try and make an effort to understand the situation and you might just get along with well with 

Happiness is actually found in everyone, increasing it is a way to make a life more wonderful and also more healthy.😃

To be happy is relatively easy, just decide to be a happy person. Abraham Lincoln observed that most people for most of the time can choose how happy or stressed, how relaxed or troubled, how bright or dull their outlook to be. The choice is simple really, choose to be happy. 

There are several ways by which you can do this.
  
⭐Being grateful is a great attitude.  We have so much to be thankful for. Thank the taxi driver for bringing you home safely, thank the cook for a wonderful dinner and thank the guy who cleans your windows. Also thank the mailman for bringing you your mails, thank the policeman for making your place safe and thank God for being alive.

⭐News is stressful. Get less of it. Some people just can't start their day without their daily dose of news. Try and think about it, 99% of the news we hear or read is bad news. Starting the day with bad news does not seem to be a sensible thing to do.

⭐A religious connection is also recommended. Being part of a religious group with its singing, sacraments, chanting, prayers and meditations foster inner peace. 

⭐Manage your time. Time is invaluable and too important to waste. Time management can be viewed  as a list of rules that involves scheduling, setting goals, planning, creating lists of things to do and prioritizing. These are the core basics of time management that should be understood to develop an efficient personal time management skill. These basic skills can be fine tuned further to include the finer points of each skill that can give you that extra reserve to make the results you desire. 

⭐Laugh and laugh heartily everyday.  Heard a good joke? Tell your friends or family about it. As they also say -'Laughter is the best medicine'.🤣
  
⭐Express your feelings, affections, friendship and passion to people around you. They will most likely reciprocate your actions. Try not to keep pent up anger of frustrations, this is bad for your health. Instead find ways of expressing them in a way that will not cause more injury or hurt to anyone.
  
⭐Working hard brings tremendous personal satisfaction. It gives a feeling of being competent in finishing our tasks. Accomplishments are necessary for all of us, they give us a sense of value. Work on things that you feel worthy of your time.⏰
 
⭐Learning is a joyful exercise. Try and learn something new everyday.  Learning also makes us expand and broaden our horizons. And could also give us more opportunities in the future. 

⭐Run, jog, walk and do other things that your body was made for. Feel alive.
 
⭐Avoid exposure to negative elements like loud noises, toxins and hazardous places.

And always remember the quote from Abraham Lincoln, he says that, "Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."

You can also choose happiness, it’s great for your well-being….😊

Have a Terrific Tuesday,

Self-Love = Better Relationships 👇🏾❤️

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💕Self-Love

In order to have a healthy, loving relationship with another human being, you must first learn to love yourself. Self-love creates a stronger capacity to love others. It opens you up to experiencing love without fear. Self-love makes you stronger, and when two self-loving individuals get together, they have the ability to experience the full potential of love.

Remember ladies we are still taking your questions for the BIG relationship interview on Monday😊

Email: ashestobeauty@oliviabshepherd.org

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https://web.voxer.com/u/oshep18

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Olivia B. Shepherd💋

Life Empowerment Mentor & Podcast Host

Calling All The Single Ladies….. 💋

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🌟Ok, single ladies, have I got a treat for you! 👉🏾On Monday, February 18th I will be interviewing Ms. Cait Morrigan a Relationship Coach straight from the ATL, we will discuss all things relationships and a little bit of how you ladies can find your soulmates so next year’s Valentine’s isn’t a lonely one☺️

She will be answering any relationship questions you may have and then tune in to my Podcast👉🏾 𝒢𝒾𝓇𝓁, 𝒴𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒥𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓃𝑒𝓎 𝒮𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓉𝓈 𝐻𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝒫𝑜𝒹𝒸𝒶𝓈𝓉 🎙 for the new episode dropping next Friday 🙌🏾!

Please DM, Email 📧, ashestobeauty@oliviabshepherd.org or leave your questions in the comments below👇🏾 please have them no later than Sunday February 17th ❣️

Look forward to your questions,

𝓞𝓵𝓲𝓿𝓲𝓪💓

Please feel free to share this post with any of your single friends!!!😄

First Podcast of New Year 👇🏾

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#declutteryourlife

🚨New Podcast Alert 🚨

1/11/19

girlyourjourneystartshere.com

🎙When you dig through mess, you’re likely to excavate a lot of deep emotional residue that’s buried in your clutter. Everything from bad memories to broken dreams, to bad relationships. All this can get uncovered in a deep clean, and each one you confront creates more room for the truly new.

Please enjoy and leave comments!!!!!

Olivia💓