15 Things to Give Up On for a Happier Life (Part 2)

Picking up where we left off.....
8. Give up your need to impress others.  Stop trying so hard to be something that you're not just to make others like you.  It doesn't work this way. The moment you stop trying so hard to be something that you're not, the moment you take off all your masks, the moment you accept and embrace the real you, you will find people will be drawn to you, effortlessly.
9. Give up your resistance to change. Change is good! Change will help you move from A to B. Change will help you make improvements in your life and the lives of those around you.
"Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls." -Joseph Campbell
10. Give up labels. Stop labeling those things, people or events that you don't understand as being weird or different and try opening your mind, little by little. Minds only work when open.
11. Give up on your fears. Fear is just an illusion, it doesn't exist-you created it. It's all in your mind.  Correct the inside and the outside will fall into place. As FDR said, "The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself."
12. Give up your excuses. Send them packing and tell them they're fired.  You no longer need them.  A lot of times we limit ourselves because of the many excuses we use. Instead of growing and working on improving ourselves and our lives, we get stuck, using all kind of excuses that 99.9% of the time aren't even real!
13. Give up the past. Yes, it's hard. Super hard!!! Especially when the past looks so much better than the present and the future looks so frightening, or when the past was so awful, the present is awful and you pretty much accept that the future will be no better. But the present is all we have in life, so be present in everything you do and enjoy life. Life is a journey, not a destination.
14. Give up attachment. This is a hard concept to grasp, but the moment you detach yourself from things, (and that doesn't mean you give up your love for them-because love and attachment are different, with attachment coming from a place of fear and love is pure, kind and selfless) you become so peaceful.
15. Give up living your life to other people's expectations. Way to many people are living a life that is not theirs to live. They are living their lives according to what others think is best for them.  They ignore their inner voice. They are so busy with pleasing everybody, that they lose control over their lives. They forget what makes them happy, what they want, what they need...and eventually they forget about themselves. You must live your own life!

I  gained a lot of insight into my life as I contemplated these 15 things.  I have a hard time giving up each and every one of these things to a certain extent, as we all do. But I'm going to try harder to let go of more of these things, even if it's just a little bit at a time. 
Robyn

What are we worth?

What is our value? What are we worth, as individuals, as children of God?  Each of us struggles at times with feelings of worthlessness.  We fail a test, get let go from a job, lose a special relationship, experience periods of ill health that leave us unable to participate in daily life, or heck, we just have a bad day!  And we ask ourselves, "What good am I? Am I worthwhile?"
Well, I found the most powerful, simple answer in the most unusual of places: from a character in an LDS romance novel.  Yes, you read me right!  I'll give you a little background info so you can understand the context this character was coming from. I was reading this book a few days ago, where the main character, Suzanna was visiting with one of her friends, Marcie, who had been in a car accident that left her confined to a bed in a long-term care facility. This friend had recently lost her husband to terminal illness, had no living family and had been defrauded by her accident lawyer. Talk about a bad turn of events!  But Marcie was positive and accepted her circumstances. Suzanne was amazed at Marcie's attitude and asked her how she gained such peace when she was broke, disabled and alone. Marcie's response was this:
"I realized my value doesn't depend on what I can do, by what I can accomplish.  I realized my worth comes from being loved by my Father.  It's kind of like a newborn baby.  We don't love them because they're so useful, or even for their potential usefulness.  We love them because they're ours.  I came to realize that the Lord loves me because I'm His, and it calmed me.  He loves us all that way, and it's priceless."
Priceless indeed.  No need to say more. It's just one more facet of His amazing grace.

Imagine that baby is you, and you'll realize your worth too.

15 Things to Give Up On for a Happier Life (Part 1)

A few weeks ago, my wonderful supervisor at work, Carrie, shared a little piece of wisdom that I'd like to share too!
"Here is a list of 15 things which, if you give up on them, will make your life a lot easier and much, much happier. We hold onto so many things that cause us a great deal of pain, stress and suffering-and instead of letting them all go, instead of allowing ourselves to be stress free and happy-we cling on to them. Not anymore! Starting today we will give up on those things that no longer service us, and we will embrace change."

1. Give up on your need to always be right. Some of us can't stand the idea of being wrong, even at the risk of ending great relationships or causing a great deal of stress and pain, for us and others.  Whenever you feel the urge to jump into a fight over who's right, ask yourself this: "Would I rather be right, or would I rather be kind?"
2. Give up your need for control. Just allow everything and everyone around you to be just as they are and you'll see how much better that will make you feel.
"By letting it go it all gets done.  The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try, the world is beyond winning." -Lao Tzu
3. Give up on blame. Give up on your need to blame others for what you have or don't have, for what you feel or don't feel. Stop giving your powers away and start taking responsibility for your life.
4. Give up on your self-defeating talk.  Oh my. How many people are hurting themselves because of their negative, polluted and repetitive self-defeating mind-set? Don"t believe everything your mind is telling you. You are better than that.
"The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly.  Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive." -Eckert Tolle
5. Give up your limiting beliefs about what you can and cannot do, about what is possible or impossible. From now on, you are no longer going to allow your limiting beliefs to keep you stuck in the wrong place. Spread your wings and fly!
"A belief is not an idea held by the mind, it is an idea that holds the mind." -Elly Roselle
6. Give up complaining. (I am a bad perpetrator of this one!) Give up your constant need to complain about those many, many, maaany things-people, situations, events that make you unhappy, sad and depressed. Nobody can make you unhappy, no situation can make you sad or miserable unless you allow it to.  It's not the situation that triggers those feelings in you, but how you choose to look at it.  Never underestimate the power of positive thinking!!!
7. Give up the luxury of criticism. Give up your need to criticize things, events and people that are different than you. We are all different, yet we are all the same.  We all want to be happy, we all want to love and be loved and we all want to be understood.  We all want something, and something is wished by us all. 


I'll post the remaining half of the list later this week, so stay tuned!
Robyn