3 Tips to Keep Your Emotional State High In Challenging Times

There I sat, reading my Bible and it blew my mind that it's been there thousands of years. Regardless of your faith stick with me this is not all about religion it's about where to put your focus.

In the book of Ephesians I was struck by a passage that talked about what to do in evil times. It peaked my interest because I certainly would categorize that as what we are living in right now. What it recommended was to speak to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs - praise, teach, reflect. The other is to sing and make music in your heart to the Lord. Note it didn't say wallow in self-pity or worry. then finally give thanks to God for everything.

I have made a regular practice at least once a month for the past 10 months and it is amazing. I call it a Gratitude Fall. I sit down, put on some soft music or inspiring fun music, set a timer for 30 minutes and just free form write everything that comes to mind. Don't pressure yourself to write down big things, this is truly a brain dump of everything good in life. I want to give some examples of things that make my lists because I think when life is overwhelming and it seems like there is no good that you don't want to start an exercise like this because "there is nothing positive or anything to be grateful for." It can't be further from the truth. Some things you may not have considered:

- Thank you that my heart beats without me thinking about it

- Thank you for the bird that is chirping outside my window

- Thank you that I woke up today

- Thank you that I can breathe easily

- Thank you that I can smell

Dig deep and keep going. Trust me the more you do this exercise the better it gets!

So getting back to the beginning if we keep these three things in the forefront of our mind while we practice gratitude it will be amazing the transformation of the world around us - not that the world will be drastically different within hours or days but our perception of the world will change. I encourage you to:

1. Speak Kindly to on another

2. Sing and make music in your heart

3. Give thanks for everything

If this exercise has as profound an effect on you as it did on me in the beginning pop over to the Contact page and send me a message letting me know!