Always be Kinder than you Feel

Wake up and face the Monday Moms!

Today I would like to encourage you to do something that my husband and wish I was better at. I am not sure why I woke up in such a funk today, but I am still not up to par. It may have something to do with the thunderstorm that kept me and two of my girls awake most of the night, but there is really no excuse.

These feelings reminded me of some good advice I found from balzerdesigns.typepad.com.

She says her marriage is helped by her following this simple rule:
"BE KINDER THAN YOU FEEL."

The real beauty of kindness is when we:
(1)ask God to help us and
(2)actually take action to be kinder than we feel, we almost always will then
(3) begin to feel kinder as well.

 Can you think of a time when this was true for you?

 

"Tell your Face"

My husband doesn't ask much from me, but he does like for me to be happy. On a much needed lunch date we had recently, he asked me, "Are you having a good time?" I responded, "Yes!" To this he replied, "Well, you need to tell your face!"

My husband is wonderful at using humor and candor to help me realize my blindspots and overcome bad habits. I did not realize that my face was in a bad habit of looking stressed, tired, and worried.  The root problem here, of course, is that if I do not have a habit of true joy and contentment in my heart than it is hard to show that emotion on my face consistently.

Play a game of face charades with your kids where you take turns acting out with your faces different feelings or emotions. Talk to them about how our faces reflect our heart feelings. Ask yourself and your kids, "What is usually reflected on your face?" How can we improve our heart feelings?

Bad Hair Day? - Wacky Wednesday

       Yesterday we talked about TEA - how our Thoughts, Emotions, and Actions are all intermingled. So the questions is now, "How do we take control of our TEA- even on a bad hair day?" I know this sounds silly, but we all have bad days, and there really has been scientific research about how your hair can affect your life. Well, the most effective method of self-control - even on your worst days -is to seek God's help to replace negative thoughts and emotions with God's truth and positive focus. However, this does not have to be as difficult as it sounds. It can be as simple as Acting like we have right thoughts and emotions - in other words obeying God even when we don't feel like it. Talk to your kids about your struggles they need to know that we all have to obey even when we don't feel like it.
     Example #1:   If I am feeling a little down, my natural inclination is to feed my sorrow or take a nap.  Instead,  I can embrace God's joy and do something funny. Wigs are perfect for Acting (see photos.)
     Example #2: Sometimes people seem to rub me the wrong way. If I invest myself in that person, by doing something nice for them, my heart and mind is softened toward them. I maybe could don my spy wig and deliver them an anonymous gift card to the salon.
     Example #3: I feel a "headache" coming on at bedtime... I will let you imagine what happens next here. You can include the wig or not in this scenario:).

     You get the idea. Right Actions lead to better emotions and better thoughts. How do you take control of your TEA? Is there a specific thought pattern or emotion that you continually deal with? What do you not feel like doing on a regular basis? Do you have any funny wig stories for me?