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Articles for Moms is written by Lori Radun, , Certified Life Coach and founder of True To You Life Coaching
To learn more click HERE
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SPIRITUALITY
May 2006- Junk food for your Soul
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| Sibling rivalry
can be exhausting. Although some amount of it is completely normal,
there are things you can do to minimize the fighting that occurs
between siblings. Follow these tips to restore the family harmony
in your home.
To read
the full article, click
here. |
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 My teenager’s
act of rebellion is listening to rap music. Personally, I cannot
stand the music. The beat is okay on some songs, but the majority
of the lyrics are horrible. Now, of course, this is my personal
opinion, but I don’t think there is much positive to be gained
from lyrics that are centered on cussing, sex, drugs and gangs.
Rather than take the irrational approach of throwing away all
the CDs and his stereo, I choose to talk rationally with him about
his choices.
I use the example
of junk food because teenagers understand and love junk food.
It’s no secret that too much junk food is bad for your body and
your health. Just like cookies, cakes, chips and candy do nothing
to fuel your body; there are many things that do nothing to feed
our soul. I call these things junk food for your soul. Junk food
for your soul is anything that robs you of the ability to experience
unconditional love and joy. Let’s compare the junk food versus
the healthy food for your soul.
Junk Music,
Movies and Books vs. Inspirational Music, Movies and Books
Now remember, we are talking about healthy food for our soul.
Have you ever walked into a movie in a good mood and walked out
feeling down and out? That’s happened to me several times. One
time in particular was when I saw “Magnolia” with Tom Cruise.
I was on a date with my now husband and I remember leaving that
movie feeling very depressed and angry. To top it off, it caused
a fight between us because my husband thought the movie was great.
Movies, music and books tap into our emotions and have the ability
to fuel the love in our soul or drain it. By choosing inspirational
forms of art, you will lift your spirit and experience the love
that is naturally in you. I’ll never forget listening to this
beautiful love song with my best friend in her media room. The
power of the music, the words and the singer’s voice was enough
to drive both of us to tears. At the end of the song, we both
just looked at each other with tears in our eyes. We could do
nothing but hug each other because of the love we felt in that
moment.
Complaining
vs. Gratitude It’s much easier to focus on all the things
we don’t have or the things we don’t like. Complaining that you
don’t have enough money or your husband doesn’t help enough around
the house keeps your energy at a very low level. If you can rise
above and practice gratitude, you will raise your energy level
and begin to experience love. Play a game with yourself. Keep
an ongoing list of the top 3 things that happened to you today.
I had a nice hot shower this morning. My husband kissed me goodbye
before he left for work. I got to listen to some great music on
the way to work. Throughout your day, try to replace one of the
three things on your list with something even better. This will
keep you focused on having an attitude of gratitude.
Negative
Thinking vs. Positive Thinking Your thoughts determine your
feelings and your feelings determine your behavior. So what’s
going to happen if you think negatively? You will experience negative
emotions and your emotions will fuel negative behavior. If you
want to feed your soul and experience unconditional love and joy,
it all starts with your thoughts. How do you see yourself and
the world around you? Do you see yourself as a beautiful child
of God or do you beat yourself up with negative comments like
“You’re so fat” or “You’ll never be successful”? Is the world
around you filled with loving and trusting people or cynical and
shady people? Your thoughts are very powerful and have the ability
to shape your entire life. If you don’t believe me, watch the
movie “What the Bleep Do We Know”?
Guilt vs.
Grace If you struggle with guilt, you know it is hard to feel
good about yourself when you feel guilty. Guilt implies that you
have done something wrong. Sometimes we take on guilt that doesn’t
belong to us. Other times we experience guilt because we make
mistakes. Making mistakes is part of being human. It is the way
we learn more about what love is and what love isn’t. Go easy
on yourself and others. God gives us grace, and by extending that
grace, we feed our soul and the soul of others with love.
Anger vs.
Forgiveness Unresolved anger is like poison in your soul.
The other day, on Christian radio, it was explained that anger
clogs your spiritual arteries. If you want to do a triple bypass
on your spiritual heart, you must learn to forgive. It does you
or the person you are angry at to harbor resentment. Forgiveness
is like lifting a huge weight off your shoulders. It frees our
heart and soul to experience the joy we deserve to feel.
Victim/Martyr
Attitude vs. Empowerment Attitude A victim or martyr carries
around an attitude that she is wounded and uncontrollable circumstances
happen to her. A victim feels she has no power to change her life.
This kind of attitude is so damaging to your spirit. It will shut
you down and absolutely rob your joy. When you have an empowerment
attitude, you are taking control of your personal happiness. You
give yourself the power to choose how you are going to feel. You
believe you can create whatever kind of life you want. To experience
love and joy in life is a choice we all have. It is given to each
of us at birth.
Isolation
vs. Connection As human beings, we need other people. It is
through relationship with others that we learn about love. Community
provides a place for each of us to give and receive love. If you
spend a lot of time in isolation, your soul cannot be fed by the
love of others. I remember when I was younger and most of my life
was spent alone. I was an only child for a very long time and
I learned to be independent and self-responsible. This carried
into my adult years in a way that was unhealthy for me. I did
everything alone – I counted on no one for help. When I went on
a women’s retreat, my tendency to isolate was pointed out to me.
I remember a therapist asking me where I was going. I told her
I was going to work out. She looked at me and said, “Alone?” I
was a bit taken aback. Was there any other way? I have since learned
that fellowship with loving people does wonders for filling my
soul up. Isolation is lonely and loneliness is draining.
Fear vs.
Faith Your soul cannot breathe when you live in fear. Fear
is crippling and will stop you from fully experiencing the joys
of life. To be bogged down with worry and anxiety is like that
sick feeling you get when you eat a ton of junk food. You can’t
move. Faith is like that fresh fruit salad that nurtures your
body. It’s light and refreshing. It enables you to move around
freely with energy and love. One of my friend’s children is battling
a very rare disease called Langerhans Cell Hystocytosis. Through
this struggle, they have been challenged with fear. They shared
something that I think is very profound and speaks to the importance
of faith. They once read that God’s plan for us is like a piece
of embroidery artwork. We only see the back side with all of the
ugly knots, frayed strings, and twisted stitches that seem to
make no sense. But God sees the front side – the side that is
perfectly planned and executed – the finished product, so beautiful
and clear.
So what
do you want to feed your soul? Junk food or healthy food? |
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 A blog? For
you internet saavy moms, you know exactly what I'm talking about.
For you amateur bloggers, a blog is basically a weblog that contains
lots of articles and helpful information, or rants and raves,
depending on the blogger.
The Mom
Coach blog is a helpful, informative, and hopefully engaging place
to read and learn from myself and other moms. It is a place where
you can share your thoughts (please be nice) and hear the thoughts
of others. Right now, these are the topics (or categories) I will
be blogging on:
I am open to
other topics you'd like to see, as long as it's within my area
of knowledge, interest and expertise. Please do not ask me to
blog about politics or current news events because I don't keep
up with that stuff. I rely on my husband to keep me somewhat informed.
If you have a topic you'd like to see listed, please shoot
me an email with your suggestions.
Here are some
specifics for you to know. In the blog, you can click on a
specific category and see only the postings for that category.
You can click on a specific post under the "Recent Posts" section.
My blog will be updated regularly (I like to write) so check
back frequently or sign up to receive regular updates.
The place to enter your email address is on the left hand side
of the blog.
Check
out the left hand and right hand columns of the blog for my favorite
book suggestions, other mom blogs, and other websites of interest
to moms. This blog is a work in progress, so feel free
to make suggestions on how it can serve your needs better. ENJOY!
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 Lori
Radun, CEC is a certified life coach and founder of True to You
Life Coaching, LLC. Through speaking, personal coaching,
her FREE monthly newsletter, and other coaching products, Lori’s
desire is to offer encouragement and support for moms on their
journey through motherhood. Her mission is to inspire and help
moms reduce stress, focus on what’s important to them, and be
who God designed them to be so they can have the peaceful and
happy family lives they want.
Take our FREE
coaching quiz or call 630-236-7142 for a FREE coaching session
to see if coaching is for you.
Since coaching
is conducted over the telephone or by email, no client is too
far away! |
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Have a blessed day!
Lori Radun, CEC True to You Life Coaching, LLC
phone:
(630) 236-7142
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True to You Life Coaching™
Phone: (630) 236-7142 Email: lori@true2youlifecoaching.com |