8 Serenity Suggestions

During an interview Pearl Buck, winner of the 1938 Nobel Prize for literature, was once asked the secret of her extraordinarily productive life. The author responded saying she learned an important lesson from her fatheme her far when the family lived in China. At that tither was a missionary and received a sizable amount of money from supporters in the United States. They made it clear that the money was to be used to build a new chapel.
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Can't Fall Asleep?

It’s nearly midnight in Apartment 3B, and Rose still cannot fall asleep, even though she went to bed at 10:30. When she finally drifts off, it is around 12:30 a.m. For the next few hours Rose will sleep lightly and poorly before her alarm goes off at 6:30, awakening her so she can get ready for work.

There are millions of people just like Rose. They do not share the delight of the prophet Jeremiah, who said, “I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been pleasant to me” (Jeremiah 31:26, NIV).*

The inability to get a good night’s sleep is a serious problem. Even one night of insufficient or restless sleep can result in irritability and inability to concentrate properly. Various studies indicate that establishing a chronic sleep debt can depress the immune system, causing greater susceptibility to illness and depression. And a lack of sleep can also be dangerous. The Department of Transportation estimates that up to 100,000 motor vehicle accidents a year occur because drivers become drowsy or fall asleep at the wheel. Yet, like any problem, sleep disorder can be managed and conquered. Here are a dozen ways to get a better night’s sleep.
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Five More Reasons for Walking

The skeletons in my workout closet are many-an unused athletic club membership, a dusty NordicTrack, a lonely ab-buster. All purchased with the best of intentions. But, alas, they have all fallen to the same fate: while they may have physically challenged me, mentally I was “bored out of my gourd.” Consequently, I became a fitness failure, a workout wannabe.

Then one day my family upset me. Husband, sons, the cat; I can’t remember which one started it, but in the end I decided to take a walk to blow off steam. After 10 minutes I felt better. And after 20 minutes the argument seemed miles away.

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How Hope Can Help You Cope

A school system in a large city had a special program to help hospitalized children keep up with their schoolwork. One day a teacher who worked in the program received a routine call asking her to visit such a child. She was given the child’s name, hospital, and room number. Her instructions were to help the boy with lessons in grammar.

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Water Works

Water provides true refreshment for the thirsty, but most people don’t know that it also plays a vital role in all bodily processes. Unfortunately, most people don’t drink enough water, perhaps because they don’t realize just how important it is. The fact is, not drinking enough water affects every aspect of your body, right out to your skin.

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Forgiveness: A Key to Better Health

Forgiveness has long laid the foundation for spiritual well-being in the Judeo-Christian tradition. But scientific research now suggests its healing power may extend beyond the sacred realm. Research shows links between forgiveness and physical and mental health.

While this may come as some surprise to secular scientists, psychologist Dan Shoultz says God has created the need to give and receive as an important part of our makeup as human beings.

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Ten Ways Your Outlook Enriches Your Life

Writer Joseph Goldstein tells of an experiment he did that helped him better understand the power of our speech to impact the mind. He decided that for a period of three months he would not speak about any third person. “That is, I wouldn’t speak to someone about someone else.” Here is what came to light for him during that three-month experiment when he eradicated gossip from his life: “First, my mind became much less judgmental, because I wasn’t giving voice to the various judgments in my mind. . . . And as I judged others less, I found that I judged myself less as well. Second, I discovered in this experiment that about 90 percent of my speech was eliminated. This silence led to a lot more peace in my mind. It was astonishing to see so clearly how much of the time our talk is about other people.”

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Gifts for That V.I.P. (Very Important Parent)

If you are a parent, then you are probably already familiar with the impact of children on your personal life. Even in the most functional families, parents who juggle rearing energetic children with careers and other commitments often tell of feeling burned out. Maybe your personal experience with burnout began the week after you brought your newborn home from the hospital and she got her days and nights mixed up. Perhaps it started the day your employer informed you that because of company downsizing, your job was history, and the pediatrician informed you the same day that your child needed his tonsils out soon.

Whatever the monumental interruptions are that you face juggling kids, career, and other responsibilities, I want you to remember one necessity of life: be kind to yourself.

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6 Smart Stress Stoppers

Stress. We all live with it. Yet did you know that there are easy ways to stop stress before it causes harm to your body, mind, and spirit?

Let’s think about the stressors that hit us daily-mortgage and utility payments, crowded freeways, traffic jams, rising interest rates, declining mutual funds, increased taxes, upgrading, downsizing, child care, self-care, elder care, health care … and who cares! Is it any wonder that most of us feel as if we need stronger, made-to-order defense mechanisms just to make it through the day?

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