Healthy Happy Loving Life: 4 Top Tips to Shake Off a Bad Mood

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Do you ever find yourself in a bad mood, and you’re just waiting for it to go away? And maybe you’re making mistakes with people because you’re cranky? Well, no need to wait any more for that mood to go away on its own. Here are 4 of my fastest tips for shaking it off. Enjoy and report!

Literally shake it off: place your tongue at the side of your mouth, and shake your body from the shoulders down. Pretend you are a scarecrow in a gusting stiff breeze. In 3 minutes, notice you are feeling completely different– energized and ready– for what is up to you.
Drink a coffee: the polyphenolic compounds in coffee will literally give your cells a lift. Plus, coffee tastes good. Put your feet up, sip your coffee, and in 20 minutes, your mood will have cleared.
Do silly: Like the Ministry of Silly Walks from Monty Python, you can use silliness to evaporate a bad mood. Look for the 2-minute Norwegian YouTube video, where someone has put up an official sign mandating Silly Walks in a crosswalk. Everyone is trying to walk in a silly way, and everyone is laughing, including the mayor.
Remember who is in charge of your day: YOU. Stand up, make the decision that you are making it a great day, and take a symbolic step forward

And that’s you, much more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM, is an energy transformation expert, holistic healer and guide, and award-winning author who celebrates life. She has a longtime energy healing practice and is an ordained minister. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), Inspirations for Peace Within: Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire, and Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine. The books are available on Amazon and through Kebba’s office. To email us, kebba@kebba.com .

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Healthy Happy Loving Life: Sounds to Bring Calm

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Calm, Effective living, Healthy Happy Loving Life, Kebba Buckley Button, stress, The life you want

This week, I have been offering simple, easy-to-remember ways to move into CALM. I have described the use of a powerful exhale, multiword mantras, using calming sights, holding finger poses, and posting signs. Today, we cover some ways to use sound to bring calm. I invite you to experiment with the different types and effects of sound, to find out which work best for you. Find a comfy chair, inside or outside, and really give each of these a try, for 10-30 minutes– or more.

Toning. Pick a tone that comes to you and hum it with your mouth closed. Notice your shoulders dropping and relaxation running down your spine. To increase the effect, touch your tongue to the ridge of the roof of your mouth, near the upper teeth.
Chanting. The repetitive tonality of Monks chanting, and traditional Jewish chanting, both calm the heart and settle your system. Look for a recording called “Chant”, made by real monks. Or look for recordings of Gregorian chants. You will be entranced. And you may even want to exercise while listening. Traditional Jewish chanting must be heard to be understood, so search YouTube for recordings if this sounds interesting to you. Look for the term nigun as well. You may find yourself transported.
Hymns. These can also transport you. Look for themes such as: It is well with my soul. This hymn was written by a man who had just lost his family at sea but then came to deep peace. Listen to this traditional hymn, and notice it moving your heart and calming your shoulders. Both the music and the words of hymns can be very moving and calming.
Drumming. Try rhythmic tapping on a drum. For your first try, if you don’t own a drum, you can use an oatmeal box or glass cabinet door. Try a straight, even tapping, or a double-tap followed by a single tap: ta ta TA, ta ta TA, and repeating continuously for a few minutes. Notice your breath slowing and easing, and your whole busy back relaxing. If you find drumming very calming, you may want to get a custom gourd drum, like mine, shown here.
Nature sounds. If you have a yard or nearby park, try eating al fresco and listening to the birds. Or visit a watercourse and sit, listening to the rippling or rushing water. If you need to be inside, look for recordings of nature: water, rustling leaves, and birds. An easy source is Pandora’s Zen Garden Radio, which has light music playing over nature sounds. The artists are listed. So when you find an artist with a piece you really like, you can pursue other offerings they may have.

These are just a few of the ways you can use sound to take you to degrees of CALM. Try them all, and let me know what worked best for you personally. And that’s you, being more and more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM, is a stress solutions expert, holistic guide, and award-winning author who celebrates life. She has a longtime energy healing practice and is an ordained minister. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), Inspirations for Peace Within: Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire, and Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine. The books are available on Amazon and through Kebba’s office. To email us, kebba@kebba.com .

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Signs for Calm

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All week, I am offering quick ways to help you get to your CALM state. The quickest path to CALM for you might be different than the quickest path to CALM for your sister or maybe for me. But tools for CALM are primary, helping you shift your mind and metabolism to a more restful state that will feed your health. And therefore your relationships. And therefore your success in life. Now, if you prefer to be excited all the time, that’s a different personality, and you are burning out your adrenal glands. This is not healthy.

So today, I’m recommending three forms of indoor visuals that will remind you of and take you to CALM. These apply in the home and also in the office, if you have a separate office you go to.

Images. Paintings, prints, sculptures, framed photographs, silk flower arrangements: these are familiar decor items. As you look at each item on your walls or coffee table, or pedestals, do you feel calmed by each of them? For example, as in the photo above, we have a deeply serene scene of the ocean, looking out from a beach, where a person is meditating. For more CALM, consider switching out artworks that are not calming for new ones that are. Have you ever seen a calendar that had a different inspiring image for each month? These are plentiful in the Fall, but they also are available throughout the year. These are inexpensive and offer themes of gardens, garden paths/gates, skies, mountains, artworks, Zen gardens…the array is endless. And if you fall in love with a monthly image, you can always take it off the calendar and get it framed. I did that with an image of a garden gate.
Signs. From post-it notes to notebook pages with favorite quotes, to well-designed slogan art, this is your chance to keep restating something that re-inspires you to return to your CALM. Leave yourself informal notes, stuck to your grooming mirror (morning inspiration) and above your pillow (night-time inspiration). Little notes are great on your car’s dashboard, also. The calligraphy artwork piece, below, lives on my therapy office wall. It reminds me and everyone that we *are* on our best path, right now. Very calming. Do you have signs up already, that you find inspiring and calming?
Mugs. The humble mug can be the greatest carrier of a message we need to see over and over again. While we hold the mug with our favorite beverage, we see the design and any message, many times. So, what if your mug displayed a calming message? Here is one, telling us we need not worry. What a calming message. Look for more message mugs that are meaningful and calming to you!

Did you notice your body relaxing and calming as you went over this list? Read my posts each day this month, and be rested, revitalized and amazed! And that’s you, being more and more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

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Healthy Happy Loving Life: Finger Poses for Calm

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This week, I am sharing short, easy ways to get to your CALM state. Getting to a state of CALM, and staying there, is a longtime passion of mine. As a child, and through school and university days, I found life very stressful. It was so easy to get wound up, to get so tense I couldn’t think straight or enjoy life. And I knew so many unhappy people. So today, my passion is to help people heal from every type of pain: spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical. People come to my natural healing practice to have their pains dissolved, to have their energy transformed, and to learn specific strategies for preventing pain from invading them again. I have and teach many hundreds of tools. So let’s talk now about CALM, a primary tool for transformation.

CALM will allow all the muscles of your body to relax, at least somewhat. This will let go of nerves that are squeezed tight, and many pains will release simply because you are CALM. This process will further allow circulation to optimize, so your heart and other organs will get better blood flow and oxygen feed. I have met a surgeon who is more calm than most people I have ever met. I tease him that he is “unnaturally calm”. His every movement is permeated with calm thoughtfulness. And he is renowned for being pleasant and doing exquisite surgery. And if you are not a surgeon, you’ll have both hands free, and you can try some finger poses. A detailed chart of possibilities is above, but start with these two:

Two outstanding finger holds will take you directly to CALM. These are (1) the Forefinger Massage and the (2) the Center Palm Touch.

(1) For the Forefinger Massage, gently feel the tops of your shoulders and then the bases of both your forefingers. Notice how hard your shouldertop muscles are. Now notice there are little muscles forming the flesh of the base finger segment. Whichever forefinger has the tightest little muscles is the one you start with. Gently massage the tight muscles, especially working knots you may find. Do this for 2 minutes at a time. Then, if you have time, switch to massaging the other forefinger. Notice you are calmer and your shouldertops are not as rock-hard.

(2) For the Center Palm Touch, start by noticing your center 3 fingers. Now place the tips of those fingers in the center of the opposite palm, and notice that you may feel a pulse under your fingertips. Drop your shoulders. Hold your arms in a relaxed way. Relax your hands, also. Notice your heart and your hold body calming. Resolve to keep this CALM with you throughout the day.

Read my posts each day this month, and be revitalized and amazed! And that’s you, being more and more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

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Healthy Happy Loving Life: Affirmations for Calm

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In my last post, I claimed that, for you to be as happy and healthy and fulfilled as possible, you must cultivate CALM as a secret launching pad for your joyful vitality. I showed a method for starting with the power of an exhaling breath.

Today, I offer another very simple, yet profound technique: the 3-4-word mantra. Think about what phrases really calm you, and chant them over and over and over and over… you get the idea. When I was a child, and I was crying, my father would say, “It’ll be alright. It’ll be alright. It’ll be alright.” Sometimes he patted my little shoulder as he almost-chanted that phrase. And you know what? He was right! Try chanting this phrase, “It’ll be alright. It’ll be alright. It’ll be alright”, like a pulse in your consciousness. By the end of the day, you will have chanted it hundreds of times. If you have an oximeter, let it show you your heart rate has dropped as you have been chanting this phrase.

Another 4-word mantra that can work, regardless of your faith or nonfaith, is: “Things always work out. Things always work out. Things always work out.” Try it, and notice how your shoulders have dropped. You even look better with the better posture this CALM brings.

Try one of these each day and see which works best for you. Or maybe you have another short phrase you want to try. Please let me know what that is and how it worked for you. Truly, things do always work out. And now you are calmer. This week, I will be continuing to share daily about tools with which to be CALM and keep your CALM.

Read my posts each day this month, and be revitalized and amazed! And that’s you, being more and more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

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Healthy Happy Loving Life: Getting Calm in a Noisy World

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My passion is for you to be as happy and healthy and fulfilled as possible. Today, I’m talking about a dimension of livingness that is a secret launching pad for your joyful vitality. It’s the ability to find and keep CALM in this noisy world.

Can we agree that, right now, the World is noisy, clattery, busy, congested, and generally stress-inducing? There are more people on the Planet now than ever before. Cities are being built higher than ever before. No beach is deserted, inviting you to stroll in solitude. Local hiking trails are busy. Think you’ll climb a mountain to find wise quiet? Kilamanjaro literally has a waiting line, for people trying to ascend the summit.

Maybe it would be good if you carry your calm with you? And not look for it in specialized environments?

Calmness is the cradle of power. –Josiah Gilbert Holland

This week, I will be sharing daily about tools with which to be CALM and keep your CALM.

For now, take a complete deep exhale, from your scalp to your toes. Let the inhaling take care of itself. Do this three times. Become aware that your shoulder tops are achy and want to drop down an inch. Let them do that. Exhale deeply again.

In one minute, notice a lightness rising in your neck and the back of the head. You’re younger now. Read my posts each day this month, and be revitalized and amazed! And that’s you, being more and more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

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Healthy Happy Loving Life: 4 Top Tips for Thriving in the Desert Summer

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Today, in Phoenix, it was 100 degrees. Longtime residents of Phoenix and other desert cities may shrug off temperatures around 100. After all, it easily gets to 115. However, if you are new to the Desert, you’ll do better with some hot tips to keep you cool! Here are 4 top tips to help you to thrive and actually enjoy your life all during the hottest weeks.

1. Limit your heat exposure.

Know that heat exhaustion and heat stroke are serious medical conditions. Heat illness is a major cause of death worldwide. Symptoms include dehydration, electrolyte loss, and failure of the body’s ability to regulate its temperature. Key organs can be damaged, and people can die. Just read those daily newspaper articles on passport-free border-crossers. To completely avoid heat illness, drink water, carry water with you at all times, recharge your electrolytes (minerals) frequently, and never stop to think or chat in the full sun. Park your car in the shade and/or use portable sunshades in the windshields when it’s parked. Call for medical help if any faintness/weakness/head pain/red face doesn’t subside in 15 minutes or so.

2. Limit your sun exposure.

The solar radiation index in Arizona is very high, and Phoenix is the number 2 city for skin cancer in the world. Stay in the shade when possible. Wear a high-SPF wide-brimmed hat, good sunglasses, and sunscreen of SPF15 or higher. There are nonsticky SPF 110 products available now. When you’re tubing, re-apply to your ankles after hooking them under the tube. Water doesn’t prevent sunburn. When you’re out walking and see a friend, step together into the shade to have your conversation.

3. Keep your energy up.

Too much heat is just tiring. In Chinese medicine, too much yang becomes yin. In desert areas, the summer is the most important time of year to practice personal energy management. In your diet, emphasize fresh fruits and salads, which contain many enzymes, vitamins and minerals not present in processed foods. Carefully choose where you put your energy each week, in projects and people.

4. Keep your mind and heart fresh.

The most hidden danger of the hot months here is that the brain and creativity go flat, and with them, the emotions. Relationships may suffer from blahs, boredom, and crankiness. If you don’t keep yourself healthy, energized, and clear-minded, you may damage some relationships and bore yourself sick. So get out your cool clothes, your sense of humor, and the events announcements. Try some new places, festivals, groups, and events. Check the e-calendars from your city, nearby cities, your arts center, church or social groups. Try a moonlight hike with such groups as the Sierra Club. Tour the Botanical Garden at 7 am. Watch a friend audition for a theater troupe. Call old friends and meet in the evening for cool drinks and hot bands, at trendy rooftop clubs. Try a night at a resort where they show movies over the pool and give you your own inflated rafts to watch from. There are many options!

These strategies can help you this summer, so you’re not just surviving, you’re thriving! Make this your best summer ever, so far. And that’s you, being more and more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

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Healthy Happy Loving Life: If You Can’t Find It, You Don’t Really Own It!

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Do you need to declutter? How does this image of clutter make you feel? Don’t tell me it’s “casual”! I dare you to tell me the same couch without the clothes dropped on it wouldn’t look better. The people I know who have messy homes generally love being in a clean, clear, well-decorated home. For a visit. And then they go home and can’t seem to shift their own mess. So is there a great answer? There are different systems that work for different people, to declutter.

The Kon-Mari, or konmari, method, is probably the most famous method. Developed by a petite and feminine Japanese woman, Marie Kondo, this method was made famous as The Magic of Tidying Up. In this system, you sort for what you really love and discard everything else, by category. Vases or pants, for example, might be the next category of attack. Make a pile of vases or pants, look them over, and keep only the ones that make you feel good. Your favorite charity will be delighted to have what doesn’t work for you. A relative of mine did this with pants. She found two pairs out of 19 that were keepers. Her husband said kindly, “I think we need to go buy you more pants!”

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Releasing Stuff feels great!

Ten Percent Decluttering was invented by me, and almost no one knows about it. This consists of walking into a room and asking yourself, “what can I take out?” Your goal is to remove at least one tenth of what is in the room, asking yourself if Tyou love it and it gives you joy and energy. For me, this method takes less time than konmari. And it can be repeated tomorrow or any other time. Just keep walking into the room and taking a fresh look. Then ask again, “What can I take out of this room?” Then immediately toss it, recycle it, or donate it! In either of these methods, be brave! Ask yourself, “Is this really something I want to carry forward with me in my life?” If not, you know what to do.

Are you having trouble deciding if you need to declutter? Here is a key:

If you can’t find a thing quickly, you don’t really own it!

When was the last time you looked for that dressy crystal-studded watch and actually found it? So if you can’t find it or use it, it isn’t in your sphere of influence, and you don’t really “own” it. Or how about that green leather-bound NRSV Bible you last referred to 5 years ago? Where is that, anyway? If you can’t find it now, you may as well launch a decluttering project. And when you find that dressy watch or that green leather-bound NRSV Bible, either give thema specific memorable location, or donate them.

The less you own, the quicker it is to clean your home. Also, the quicker it is to lay your hands on anything. Imagine how free you would feel with, say, a third less Stuff? Gasp! Imagine how much spare time you would have to relax with loved ones, rather than managing all that Stuff? Get on a clear-and-donate binge and notice your stress going down down down.

And that’s you, being more and more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

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Healthy Happy Loving Life: Touched by Grace

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There is a strange and transcendent experience that many have, of being touched by Grace. Grace is scripturally the unearned favor of God. But here we are talking about the *experience* of feeling the touch of the Divine. When it happens to us, it is unmistakable. Today, I share some quotes about this experience, from Chapter 6—Touched by Grace—of my book, Inspirations for Peace Within: Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire:

Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful; for beauty is God’s handwriting— a wayside sacrament.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

It’s the overwhelming awe, joy and beauty of the Universe and the deep sense of connectedness to the World that we all seek.

~ Albert Einstein

Whatever feeds you, whatever nurtures you, is holy.

~ Rev. Erika von Haaren

And that peace which comes from the innermost recesses of the Spirit is left with us: a peace which the world cannot take away, for it springs from the bosom of the Father of light, love, life and wisdom.

~ Ernest Holmes

Divine love is always at work for every man, whether he knows it or not.

~ Unknown

Inner peace is a State of Grace: a baby having just been fed, diaper changed, resting on their mother’s chest and surrounded by that familiar heartbeat. Inner peace is right here, right now, just a decision away. We always have the capacity to experience joy and peace in every moment if that is what we choose to see.

~ Rev. Marvin Brown

Did your heart and/or spirit feel touched by the Divine while taking in these quotes? Did you feel your body shift? Consider posting any of these that really move you, so you can see them frequently and remember: Grace is always there for you. And that’s you, being more and more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

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Healthy Happy Loving Life: Moving Into Peace Within

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2017 Whatever is true

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Recently, I described the importance and nature of personal peace, or Peace Within (LINK). It’s something I feel very deeply about. Today, I share more about how to actually move into Peace Within. Consider these several quotes, and notice how you feel after reading each one. These are from Chapter 4 of my book, Inspirations for Peace Within: Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire:

Peace is present right here and now, in ourselves and in everything we do and see. Every breath we take, every step we take, can be filled with peace, joy, and serenity. The question is whether or not we are in touch with it. We need only to be awake, alive in the present moment.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

And we know that God makes all things work together for good, for those who love Him.

~ Romans 8:28

Fear less, hope more; Whine less, breathe more; Talk less, say more; Hate less, love more; And all good things are yours.

~ Swedish Proverb

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

~ Phillipians 4:8-9

Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.

~Unknown

How do your heart and spirit feel now? Did one or two of the quotes touch you deeply? Try journaling about what Peace Within means to you, and how differently you function when you are in a peaceful state. Feel your body shift as your heart and spirit shift. And that’s you, being more and more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

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Healthy Happy Loving Life: Why Take a Week Off

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I just got back after a week out of the office. Some family things were going on that needed my attention. It was imperative. Our 2 nearest relatives were flying in. I made the difficult decision to be out of the office for a week, during a blog challenge I was committed to, the Ultimate Blog Challenge. Hey, I love my work! I’m doing what I’m called to do, and I love interacting with clients and colleagues. I love writing and specifically, generating materials that help people trade in their stress for energy and happiness. At the decision moment, I was perfectly up-to-date in the Ultimate Blog Challenge and would possibly lose some Google search impetus by taking a week out.

Oh well! So I messaged a couple of people not to worry, postponed all my clients, and cancelled all my meetings and networking events. Now guilt-free, I changed my channel to HFL—Home and Family Life (I made this up). It felt strangely freeing. While not a vacation, it was a complete switchup, a complete re-focusing of my energies. The first day, it was hard not to write an article. But everything worked out, and I am now back in the office, heart and mind refreshed.

There’s a lot of expert commentary about why you should take breaks during the day. This list comes from University College London, or UCL, which offers it on their website:

Breaks help you to process and retain information.
You’ll get a better sense of the bigger picture.
You’ll be more creative.
Breaks can help you cultivate heathier habits.
Taking regular breaks helps you be more productive.

If you extend this concept to taking a few days to change your personal channel, you can see you would be greatly refreshing your mind and views—your ability to look at things creatively.

The vacation studies show that your feel-good brain neurotransmitters, serotonin and dopamine, rise during your days off. Vacations are not trivial,” says Frank Farley, PhD, a leading clinical psychologist, professor at Temple University in Philadelphia, and former president of the American Psychological Association. “In this workaholic America, we have to treat them as precious stuff … keep alive the good feelings and relaxing times.”

So maybe, like me, you want to take a week to simply change your channel? Then mark your calendar to really do it! Cancel your clients and meetings, change that channel, and simply look for positives in your everyday life. “Every day, think about things that you did well, that you enjoyed that day,” Farley says. And that’s you, being more and more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

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Healthy Happy Loving Life: Transport Moments of Peace Within

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In the last post, we were talking about the importance of finding and deepening your Peace Within. Sometimes we get deep hits of Peace Within from moments or places. I shared these stories in my book, Inspirations for Peace Within.

Occasionally, we see a person who is clearly in a state of transcendent personal peace, and we somehow get a transfer effect, feeling more peaceful ourselves. This happened to me years ago, on a stressful day of travel. On returning from an engineering conference, I was dashing through the Pittsburgh airport, feeling tense, tired, and overworked, when I was absolutely riveted by a person going by. She was a nun, wearing a traditional habit. She was walking peacefully through the terminal, wearing an etheric expression of utter happy calm. Her slight smile reminded me of the ageless magnetism of Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. I stopped completely. I had to stare as she passed. Her unreasonable peace and calm, in a noisy and busy environment, translated profoundly into my body, mind, and soul. I was changed by her. Now, years later, every time I think of that nun, my mind and body re-set, and I feel tension and stress leave me. I go directly to peace within.

Some place-related experiences can give us a profound shift into peace within. A few years ago, I was in a small town in Colorado for Christmas. Framed by a stunning view of the Rockies, many towering, majestic pine trees surrounded our historic hotel. Late Christmas Eve, fresh snow began to fall. Having much on my mind, I bundled up to go walk among the dancing flakes. Stepping out into the moonlight, I could feel the tension start to leave my muscles. I prayed for clarity and peace, and for any guidance I might need for the season and the upcoming year. I had not been out in the night air for more than ten minutes before my cares and worries of the last year began to seem completely insignificant. Soon, I couldn’t even think what my issues had been. Now walking in an inch of new snow, I looked up through the white-laden tree branches and deeply inhaled the sweet winter air. I felt surrounded by and filled with the Peace That Passes All Understanding. I felt the Divine Presence. I experienced a deeper level of peace within than I had felt in many years. I walked on. When I finally stepped back into the hotel, I realized I had been transformed. Years later, still, just recalling that walk vividly brings back the experience and the utter serenity. Perhaps you have had related experiences.

Take note of moments when you experience unplanned waves of peace. Journal out what you notice, how it affects you, and perhaps how wonderful you feel. The more you notice these waves of Peace Within, the more you will be able to keep that feeling. And that’s you, being more and more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

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Healthy Happy Loving Life: Where to Find That Elusive Peace Within

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Photo © Kebba Buckley Button—from the water garden at St. Phillip’s in the Hills Episcopal Church, Tucson, Arizona

Can we agree that we live in a noisy world these days? To name a few crises:

Police are killing people over traffic stops, a US President incited an attack on the Capitol and on his own Vice President, militants are moving into Afghanistan as US troops pull out, and Hamas militants are blowing up Israeli/Palestinian sites. A cyberattack on a US gasoline provider crippled gas supplies for the Southeast US, and gas supplies are only today flowing well again. Normally shrewd evening show host Steven Colbert has lost his bearings and is using the word p-nis many times per show. Churches are being closed and sold—3 in my area. The polar bears are looking for better ice, and the orangutans have almost no habitat any more, thanks to replanting to generate palm oil supplies. The COVID-19 pandemic whines on, and in India, it’s going wild. People seek a better life by walking across continents, in Africa, Europe, and South/Central/North America. Children are starving and/or running for their lives in many countries.

Remember, I said that’s just a few. There are others. Whatever your belief system, you cannot stay in crisis mode! It is imperative that you find and solidify your internal base of personal peace: your Peace Within. You will not find it in CNN e-updates. You will not find it in the words of shattered clerics. Mom passed away awhile ago. Your partner is freaked out also. Where can you turn for peace? WITHIN.

A young French nun, now a saint, wrote this:

May today there be peace within.

May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be.

May you not forget the infinite possibilities

that are born of faith in yourself and others.

May you use the gifts that you have received,

and pass on the love that has been given to you.

May you be content with yourself just the way you are.

Let this knowledge settle into your bones,

and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.

It is there for each and every one of us.

~ St. Thérèse of Lisieux

Are you in? Practice letting Peace Within settle into your bones. Then that’s you, being more and more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm! More on this tomorrow.

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Help Me Name This Rooster, Please!

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Roosters are one of the wonders of the bird world. The male of whatever chicken breed, there are at least a dozen established types of roosters. You can read gobs about how to select a rooster for your flock. Roosters have a fabulous job: guard the flock and procreate.

But roosters also provide a public service: they wake up everyone within earshot, with their morning crowing. It’s usually written down as “cock-a-doodle-doo” or “ERR-er-er-er-errrrr”. Whichever we think we hear in roosterish, it is clear they are giving everyone and every living thing a wake-up call. This great limerick above is something I captured from Pinterest, and it cracks me up! There was a rooster in my neighborhood for awhile, and he “went off” at 5:30 every morning. Now understand, this was in an urban neighborhood with small lots, and the gangs were increasingly moving in. Did the rooster’s owner have room for chickens, so chic now in the 2020’s? I’ll never know, as the rooster went silent after several months. Maybe the neighbors killed it. Or killed the owners? (Yes, I moved.) Or is the rooster now working downtown as a mime? (Very active night life in downtown Phoenix, especially on First Fridays.)

2021 Rooster canvas- IMG_0298

© Kim Lewis via AllPosters.com

Whatever your experience with roosters, they have become a timeless symbol of cheerful breakfast cafés, the places where you go for coffees and croissants and omelets. I love to create delicious food, so my kitchen is a special place. I had been saving a certain space in the kitchen for a pub sign I was determined to paint. Then I realized what I really needed was a cheerful rooster image, much like some cafés have used—a colorful symbol of waking up, of vibrantly moving into the day.

So I found this delightful, heartwarming image online (www.AllPosters.com). He’s the perfect rooster for me. I ordered the version on canvas, and it’s perfect for the space. Now, he needs a name, so I can call him by name when I walk into the kitchen. Will you help me name that rooster please? Just put your suggestion or suggestions in the comment section, and I’ll post the results and winner. The winner can have personal satisfaction, plus a set of my 3 books (as shown below) if s/he would like them.

And that’s you, chuckling, and being more and more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: 3 Ways to Beat Deadline Stress!

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Are you ever stuck, right before a deadline? Feeling stressed because your brain is just not working, and you can’t think of ideas for your project? While I can’t help with your topic, I can help with your stress! When you drain away your stress, it will be easy to think and write and meet your deadline. So try these simple-yet-fantastic ways to beat Deadline Stress. You’ll gear up your brain and dissolve your tension!

The Shoulder Shift. Roll your shoulders up and forward, then around, slowly, stretching, for one minute. Now roll them up and back and around, slowly, stretching, for one minute. Notice the warming in your hands, ankles and feet. You have just opened up the circulation to the whole body, which will get to the brain in one more minute. In one minute, notice a warming sensation flowing up the back of your neck. This is energy, and it is recharging your energy-starved brain. You may notice your optimism rising already.

The Chocolate Churnover. Earlier, were you craving chocolate? Now is the time to munch an ounce of dark chocolate to help your brain. The antioxidants and theobromine in the chocolate will lift your energy and metabolism. Stimulating the tongue and mouth, by eating, lifts the energy of both the Fire- and Earth Meridians. The bitter flavor in the chocolate stimulates the Fire Meridian, and the sweetness energizes the Earth Meridian. If you heat your chocolate in almond- or dairy milk, drinking your hot chocolate will warm the entire digestive system, which stimulates brain function, increasing clarity. Also, the potassium in either form of milk will assist brain optimization. Now you have churned your whole energy system, and it is pumping in support of you.

The Latte Lift. If you are a latte lover, try this trick. Drink your favorite latte and relax in your recliner or lie down for 20 minutes. Set a timer. You get a break, and as you’re rising, the antioxidants and caffeine (or in tea lattes, L-Theanine, theobromine, and theophylline) are just hitting your blood-brain barrier. Now you’re rested and refreshed, yet your blood, oxygen, and energy are flowing well.

Now, you no longer have to dread Deadline Stress! Play around with these techniques and make them part of your regular practice. You never need to be stuck again. Now you’ll be beating all those deadlines and soaring as the professional you are meant to be.

And that’s you: more and more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm.

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: 6 Natural Allergy Tips You Hadn’t Thought Of

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© Kebba Buckley Button 2021. World Rights Reserved

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If you are sniffling and itching and feeling dragged out, then you know we’re in peak pollen season. Your allergies can make you miserable! So if the usual over-the-counter antihistamines don’t work or don’t appeal to you, check out these natural options–with no drug interactions:

1. Check your spice cabinet for ginger powder. Mix ½ teaspoon ginger powder into a cup of warm, filtered (chlorine-removed) water. Stir and drink. Feel your symptoms improving in minutes. Yes, fresh ginger root, grated and pressed through cheesecloth or a tea filter, is wonderful. But when you are feeling bad, and you want immediate improvement, just add the ginger powder to your water. The ginger is very yang, and it will balance out the yin symptoms of allergies,

2. Change your home’s air filter to one that has many accordion-type folds across its width. Look for one that says it filters allergens. This means it catches the tiniest pollens, which can be the most irritating. Research has proven that this type of filter removes almost all of the provocative particles, so spend the extra $8 for this type. Your improved sleep at night and your increased productivity during the day will be worth much more than that. Change it monthly.

3. Get a silent ionic air filter for the area where you work or relax the most. This will remove even more allergens, again increasing the quality of your sleep, your productivity, and your recreation.

4. If the roof of your mouth is prickly, try drinking orange juice.

5. Place the palms of your hands to the sides of your neck and gently rock across the sore muscles. Notice how tight your shoulder tops are, and gently stretch your shoulders in every direction for 2 minutes. Notice your congestion calming and your head feeling less heavy.

6. Subscribe to email updates from Pollen.com . Designate your location and you’ll find out, for example, that Phoenix is high in Olive, Grass, and Mulberry pollens. Today’s level is 7.1, and tomorrow is expected to be 6.6. So tomorrow is a better day for gardening, and today is a better day to wear a mask outside.

Set yourself up for comfort and energy during pollen season! Now exhale completely and enjoy this beautiful Spring! And that’s you: more and more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm.

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Jack Hanna’s Final Safari

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Some of the people I admire most on this Planet are those who are in wildlife education and conservation. Jack Hanna is an outstanding example of achievement in this group. Jack Hanna has been a wildlife enthusiast since he was a child. He grew up on a farm and started working for a veterinarian, as a volunteer, when he was 11. In college days, he kept ducks in his dorm room, which his college did not like. Nor did the college like the donkey he kept in a shed, behind his fraternity house. Later, Jack and his wife, Suzi, would have a petting zoo on his family’s farm.

Professionally, Jack landed at a then run-down Columbus Zoo, because his small daughter Julie could get the best leukemia care at the Columbus Children’s Hospital. She recovered from her leukemia by age 6. Jack stayed at the Columbus Zoo for a total of 42 years, building up its habitat management and public reputation, plus achieving an expansion and adding an Aquarium. He toured many countries, recording television pieces you can still see on his channel and other online sites. His “everyman” manner and sense of humor won him a lot of affection and attention, plus interviews on such shows as David Letterman. Anything could happen in these live interviews, where Jack would have several wild animals brought out individually. I personally saw one of Jack’s monkeys piddle down Dave Letterman’s suit, but Dave had a fresh suit on after the next break. Whew!

Jack was such a force for positive wildlife management that, after he served as Director of the Zoo for 42 years, he was officially titled Director Emeritus in 1992. In 2020, Jack finally completely retired from his roles at the Columbus Zoo. Now we know why. This message from his grown children appeared on Facebook April 7:

“Today, we reach out to share some personal Hanna Family news. Doctors have diagnosed our dad, Jack Hanna, with dementia, now believed to be Alzheimer’s disease. His condition has progressed much faster in the last few months than any of us could have anticipated. Sadly, Dad is no longer able to participate in public life as he used to, where people all over the world watched, learned, and laughed alongside him…and yes, he still wears his khakis at home.”

Jack Hanna changed the world of zoo management, nudging forward to improve conditions for animals and to help people understand the wild world better. His passion for his work lives on in the humor-filled videos of his exploits, which generally include a blooper reel. What could be more wonderful than a life in which your work is centered in your passion, you have a happy marriage and children, and you affect the lives of millions with gentle films of wildlife?

Jack is now in his final safari on this Earth, in the country of Alzheimer’s. But you don’t have to let go of him and his work. Look for him on Facebook (“Jungle Jack Hanna”), YouTube, Hulu, fuboTV, and Samsung TV Plus, among others. Go visit the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. Donate to the Zoo. Donate to sanctuaries, such as White Oak Conservation, outside Jacksonville, Florida; it’s a new home for 30 retired circus elephants, who used to work for Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey. Read about how individuals, such as Cher, have helped rescue animals stuck in terrible conditions. Cher was key in rescuing a Pakistani elephant named Kaavan. Kaavan is now living in a wildlife sanctuary in Cambodia, and is said to be happy.

Seek your healthy passions and put them to work. Live your passion! Admire people who are changing the World, and be inspired by them. Embrace the possibilities! And you will find you are more and more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm.

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: My 3 Favorite Recipe Sites

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If you have ever cooked by using a recipe, you may remember bits of mismatched paper, like in this image. Each was a treasure, bearing a formula some favorite cook—perhaps Mom—had worked out and passed down, or generously shared. Some were shared from cook to cook, with the promise that this secret formula would never be shared on to someone else. Some recipes were tiny cutouts from product packages, like my favorite Baker’s Baking Chocolate Brownie recipe. In school days, I was taught to transcribe all these treasured formulas onto index cards, and I did that for years. Then my file box was full, and then so was my second file box. Then I developed thick files. Then I thinned those down to 2 1-inch files, “SWEET” and “SAVORY”. I still have those and cherish them.

But today, if I want a cook-tested recipe for a basic gingerbread, I go to one of 3 places, and they are all websites. Today’s recipe developers are savvy to the needs of people with allergies, sensitivities, and political views. So it’s easy to find clearly labeled recipes that are gluten-free, grain-free, vegetarian, vegan, keto, paleo, and so on. It is now widely recognized that what you eat is the basis of your health, and you will feel your best following the diet you have found works best for you. When you feel better, it’s easier to be happy, and then you can enjoy your life more! And that’s the purpose of my work. Busy professionals, just like me, need to eat right to have the energy they need!

When I have found a recipe I want, I convert it to a Word document and save it in my computer recipe file. I rarely open my paper recipe folders any more, except for special occasions. The reason I have only 3 online favorite sources for recipes is: they meet all my needs, and this keeps things simple. If I see a chef demonstrating something interesting on TV, I simply remember the twists s/he uses, and I try that extra ingredient sometime.

So here is my secret source trio:

AllRecipes.com . Go ahead, ask this site for anything. Superb for comfort food. Brought to you by All Recipes magazine.
The Gluten Free Homestead by Barbara Bianchi. Download her App, Recipe Book PRO, if you want to have recipes right on your phone. How things have changed from the recipe card file days! Today she is featuring a Country Style Pork Ribs recipe. Subscribe to her tantalizing emails by going to: http://glutenfreehomestead.com .
Chocolate Covered Katie, home site at https://chocolatecoveredkatie.com . Katie is a beautiful, young- and thin- looking woman, whose appearance belies the deliciousness of all her desserts (not all chocolate). Her specialty is formulating a recipe that can work for ANY diet, and she gives the options to switch out as your needs dictate. She has a lot of treats that are single-serving or small batch, so if craving 2 dozen cookies is a weak area for you, that’s no problem with her smaller recipes. Katie has been on national TV, so you know she has major fans out there! Subscribe to her newsletter if you are currently salivating.

Embrace the infinite varieties of healthy and tasty recipes available, that meet your and your family’s needs. And you will find you are more and more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm.

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Happy Mothers’ Day!

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This column goes out to all the mothers, step-mothers, birth mothers, pairs of mothers, part-time mothers, ad-hoc mothers, fathers serving as mothers, and mothers who lost their only baby/child. It also goes out to all the would-be mothers who did not get to have the young they wanted. In addition, it goes out to all the animal mothers, including animal mothers of some other species who nurse and raise the motherless young of another species. And to whatever other mothers I may have forgotten.

I am blessed that I had the perfect mother for me. Although I did not know it when I was young and could not see it until she had passed into Spirit and I was going through her papers and photos. Now I see it and am so grateful. Even now, there are questions that bubble up, that I wish had occurred to me when she was still alive. Even now, I shop for sun hats and think, “OH—Mom will like that one!” Oh wait. She doesn’t need sun hats any more.

So on this Mothers’ Day, I cherish all the emotions of both joy and wistfulness. I give thanks for my mother, my Mom, the one who taught me to read and to think cursing was icky. I love and cherish her more than ever. Happy Mothers’ Day, Mom! And Happy Mothers’ Day to all the other kinds of mothers!

What do you know and treasure about your mother, living or no longer living? Or what do you wish you knew? The more we explore the depths of our hearts and feel that treasure, that love, the more we will find we are more and more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm.

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: National Day of Prayer

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2021 Man hands on Bible--rsz-shutterstock_1038655333 Today is our US National Day of Prayer. Passed into law in 1952, it’s a day for all faiths to focus on prayer, in whatever form they may believe in. And there are many forms of prayer. Some popular forms are:

Worship and praise, acknowledging God’s greatness and praising Him
Petitionary or intercessory prayer, asking God to do something or change something that appears to be true, for self or others
Affirmative prayer, expressing that God is always blessing us, and knowing that God is addressing your concern, giving thanks that this is true
Thanksgiving, expressing gratitude for what you have, for the good things that God has provided and done
Spiritual warfare, asking God to protect us and guard us against harm

National Day of Prayer – May 6

But please, if these sound a bit technical, don’t feel you need to pick one and learn how to properly use it. Just find a quiet moment, deeply focus on your feelings about your prayer need, and just start talking to the Divine, from your heart, as an invisible friend. When you are troubled, go ahead and cry. Then ask Upstairs, “what do You think?” You may be astonished! I once asked “what do You think?” and I heard words directing me to do certain things; I met my soulmate husband as a result.

Prayer: the original wireless connection! No monthly fees, no wifi setup, and your call is always answered. Try it more often, not just on the National Day of Prayer. And you’ll find you are more and more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm.

Happy healthy loving life

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Why You Are Late

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Let’s be honest about why you are late. Not only is this a quietly hot topic, but it also has been studied by many who are seeking solutions. It is clear that most people like to be on-time and are secretly angry when others are late. But sometimes the most careful planners are also late. There are a number of causes and solutions.

I first started thinking about lateness, when, as a child, I realized I knew one chronically late adult person (CLP) and one chronically early adult person (CEP). I noticed the CLP would go to everything 20 minutes late, thus—I finally realized—reducing the unpleasant event by 20 minutes each time. That’s a savings of 200 minutes across 10 events. The CLP would answer the house phone (only landlines then), knowing that we should have left 10 minutes ago, thus ensuring that the 5 minute call made us 15 minutes late. But then it was “time to change clothes!” Sometimes, we got to the car door, and the CLP heard the house phone, unlocked the house and went back in, to answer it. Pleading made no difference. It was agreed to set the clocks forward 20 minutes, to help the CLP, but of course, the CLP knew about the 20 minute “grace period” and still was late. The CEP liked to arrive early by at least 20 minutes, which served wonderfully for medical and business appointments. However, it caused an embarrassing strain for party hosts.

It has been said, humorously, by some who are often late:

Being on time never killed anyone,

but why take a chance?

I learned a stern standard for timeliness in a personal development course called Omega Vector Training. The leaders viewed lateness as something unnecessary, which you had created, to sabotage yourself. At the beginning of the course, you committed to be on time for sessions. “On time” was clearly defined as “in your seat, ready to listen and participate”. A one-minute piece of music was played to signal “move to your seats”. Neither stomach flu nor a flat tire was an excuse; these were seen as factors you had created. Participants not in their seats at the last chord of the music got to stand in front of everyone and be processed about their lateness. That training helped me to see life participation as a series of values-based agreements, with relationships bonded increasingly by the keeping of those agreements. When we agree to an appointment, we are setting a verbal contract, and keeping it shows respect for both the party we are meeting and for ourselves.

If we are late, is it possibly because we don’t really want to do that thing, or because we are afraid? Is it too many people, too much noise, or too much potential conflict? Might we be called upon to stand up and stand out to a degree we are uncomfortable with? Did that agreement get made for a time of day when our metabolism really can’t go at a reasonable speed? Looking at all the times we were ever late, if we’re honest, what were the causes? Could one cure be to change the way we make our agreements? Make notes for yourself with all your answers to these questions.

Would we be happier if we were always on time? Would our relationships be better? You choose. And that’s you, being Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm.

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Happy Star Wars Day!

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Happy Star Wars Day! Why? Because the most famous quote from the entire Star Wars Series is Han Solo (Harrison Ford) saying to Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), “May the Force be with you!” Throughout the Jedi training, there are powerful demonstrations of The Force, and how it can be directed. If just anyone could do it, there wouldn’t be Jedi training, would there?

And some time after the original 1977 movie, someone cutely said, on a 4^th of May, “May the Fourth be with you!” And so was born Star Wars Day. Star Wars fans and nerds everywhere text each other the greeting, early each May 4^th.

The Force, in the system of Star Wars, is a quasi-intelligent force that is directed for Good by cognoscenti of the ways of The Force. Yoda, the Jedi Master in the first movie, was around 900 years old (don’t correct me– no spoiler alerts!) , so he had been dealing consciously with The Force for a very long time. Yoda took on training Luke Skywalker, who had about 900 years of knowledge and skill to catch up with. The Star Wars movies tell tales of the timeless conflict between Good and Evil. Somehow, Luke Skywalker’s father, Darth Vader, had started as a Jedi Knight and went over to the Dark Side. Please DO NOT POST ANY SPOILER ALERTS in the comment section! There may be 12 or 13 people on the Planet still planning to watch the series.

What keeps coming to me, whenever I think of the Star Wars stories, is that The Force IS WITH US. In my experience of life, the Divine is a Force both subtle and dramatic, always dynamic when we turn our attention to it. Scripture says repeatedly “I will never leave you nor forsake you (Heb 5:3 for example).” So God is always with us. When we draw on the strength of God, of the Holy Spirit, there is no limit to what we can do. I have had many “impossible” exploits, with faith in the Divine. If we live in joyful expectancy of Divine Love and what the Divine is bringing, we can train ourselves to wield our faith to craft a powerful life. We can become stronger and stronger, wiser and wiser, better and better able to wreak Good in the Universe. And then we will be even more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm.

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Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Girl Scouts Innovate With the Times

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Every year, Girl Scout Cookie Season marks the beginning of Spring. There are Girl Scouts with tables in front of grocery stores and at church events. There are your friends with a cookie sales list, asking you to sign up and buy from their daughter the Girl Scout. But the Girl Scouts of today have gone well beyond simply spreading the word that it’s Cookie Season.

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Decades ago, the uniforms were green tailored dresses. Today, they are pastel vests, usually a jade green. The vests can be worn with any shorts outfit or pants outfit that today’s girls are used to wearing. But the Girl Scouts have been innovating with more than fashion. They are teaching business management. They use the cookie sales program to teach many skills: inventory, money management, app management—oh yes! Search your app store for Cookie Finder, where you can put in your location or simply zip code, and you’ll find the nearest location of a cookie sales event or Girl Scout seller. Want to simply order online? Of course you can! Just look out for shipping charges.

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But wait, there’s more! This morning, I saw a national news piece about Girl Scouts in Christiansburg, Virginia, delivering cookies by drone. Yes! A drone delivery company called Wing, a company related to Google, has been delivering library books and FedEx packages in Christiansburg since 2019. And now they deliver Girl Scout Cookies.

So pick your flavor of cookie and get out your payment method. The cookies will soon be with you, just like The Force. You’ll be helping a huge organization that helps girls grow into effective women. And you will be even more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm.

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Lessons of the Heart from My Octopus Teacher

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Posted by Kebba Buckley Button in interspecies friendships, Love, My Octopus Teacher, Relationships, Unusual friendships

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I knew My Octopus Teacher would be a real yawn. I was astonished when a brilliant friend recommended the film. But I was curious when it won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 2021 Academy Awards. So we dusted off our Netflix membership—since it is a Netflix production—and plunked down to watch it. I was not optimistic.

Happily, I was completely surprised! This 83-minute movie has a magnetic charm that draws you in and glues you to your seat! It follows a photographer/diver named Craig Foster for a year, as he is surprised to find himself befriending a wild common octopus. He visits her every day, in the kelp forests of South Africa’s waters. They become unlikely companions, like a Pinterest gallery of chickens hugging cats, dogs nurturing orphan kittens, and an elephant with his dog friend.

Lesson 1 of My Octopus Teacher: You can be friends with funny looking creatures of some other size and species. The Octopus friend is about the size of the diver’s hand, outspread. To her, the diver must have looked huge and bizarre. But she was able to sit on his hand and gently feel his forearm with her curling tentacles. At one point, she crawled up to his chest and apparently hugged him.

Lesson 2 of My Octopus Teacher: Live within the Force of the ocean. There is an effect the diver tried to explain: that the kelp forest is very complex and always moving. You never know what creature will come around the corner of a stand of giant kelp, and how you will need to react. Just go with it.

Lesson 3 of My Octopus Teacher: Sometimes a being knows when its time is up. We need to be grateful for our fond memories. The Octopus in this film signaled the diver that she would be going. She gave birth to many tiny octopi, then was too weak to zoom away from a predator.

Line up your kids and watch this movie. You will be witness to the extraordinary. You will be blessed by the gentle and caring relationship between the diver and the Octopus. You will be in awe of what you see in the life of the South African kelp forest. Feel your heart warm and your energy soften. You will be even more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm.

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Let go and let LOVE

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Today, I’m sharing a story of conflict, of grace, and of love. As a professional healer and uplifter, I would love it if we never had personality clashes, anger, or hurt. But that is not human nature. We can and must seek to resolve the unhappy rifts that occasionally try to tear at good relationships. We can and must seek peaceful responses to conflict. We can and must seek deep, immoveable personal peace, Peace Within. We can and must substitute Love and grace for anxiety and hurt.

And that is where today’s story comes from. Some weeks ago, I suddenly had to do something for my husband’s health, just before rushing to a meeting. I texted the leader that I might be 20 minutes late. But she knew I would be there in time for my part of the meeting. So while I dislike being late, I was in good shape when I arrived, and I was pleased to be less late than I had estimated. As I exhaled and stepped into the meeting room, the leader burst into a laugh and asked, “SO ARE YOU STRESSED???” Hmm. Wait. No. I’m a stress management expert, with award-winning books and a long track record to prove it.

At the end of the meeting, the leader inexplicably decided to tell the group loudly that “The funniest thing happened at the beginning of the meeting!” Laughing like this was hysterically funny, she told the group I had blown in, totally stressed out and ragged, and she had had to calm me down. I kept smiling and pleasantly saying, no, no, that didn’t happen.

Actually I felt very violated. I recalled other times over the years (25) when this woman had made me the center of attention and belittled me, laughing. I couldn’t imagine going back to that group and giving her another chance to create a scene at my expense. I called one friend who had been at the meeting, for a reality check. I asked if she thought the meeting scene had damaged me. Her answer: no, because of the strong personality of the meeting leader, Mary. People would have chalked off what the woman said about me as, “That’s just Mary!”

I really appreciated my friend’s perspective. Still, I have long hated the little scenes Mary creates, as have many others who have left the group for this reason. I really needed to decide whether to ever go back to the group and possibly have her target me again. I continued to feel violated and angry for over a week. I was diligently processing what happened, the normal way.

Then, one day, a strange thing happened. I suddenly was filled with commanding waves of love for Mary. I suddenly was present to the cavalcade of good projects we had shared over the 25 years of friendship. I was relieved of my negative feelings about Mary’s behavior. I could only feel love. It was a love takeover! I was totally over my hurt and anger toward Mary. It was that fast.

I walked into the next meeting early, feeling nothing but love for Mary. We had a great hug. She asked if she should apologize to me in front of the group. I said that’s very gracious, but no, let’s just go forward as if it never happened. She was surprised, but she could see I meant it: I was completely over it, like it never happened.

I was blessed to be washed with waves of Love. It was easy to let go and let Love solve it. I was even more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm. When it’s your turn for hurt, wash it with Love and see what happens.

Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM, is a stress solutions expert, holistic guide, and award-winning author who celebrates life. She has a longtime energy healing practice and is an ordained minister. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), Inspirations for Peace Within: Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire, and Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine. The books are available on Amazon and through Kebba’s office. To email us, kebba@kebba.com .

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Beating Wallet Neuropathy

27 Thursday Jan 2022

Posted by Kebba Buckley Button in stress, Stress Management, the life you want, wallet neuropathy, walletectomy

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stress, The life you want, UpBeat Living, Kebba Buckley Button, Healthy Happy Loving Life, Wallet neuropathy, Walletectomy

–A version of this article appeared on one of my blogs in 2009.–

Image by Megapixl

I love how our language evolves as culture evolves. It has always been fun speaking the American language, or as some of us call it, Ameriglish. Oh, you think you speak English? Just put “Britspeak & Amerispeak” into a search engine, and you will find some great articles that will make you laugh about the differences. George Bernard Shaw said, “England and America are two countries separated by the same language.” Just within the American language, there are so many wonderful pronunciations of similar spellings (i.e., dough, rough, slough), and so many different meanings for the apparently same word (i.e., dough and dough). But it’s even more fun when new words come into being.

I remember the first time I heard of a totally new word. It showed up in Time Magazine, and everyone was talking about it. Many were indignant that a new word should be used. Parents objected, and teens were amused. This happened in the late 1960’s, and Time Magazine had put the word “hassle” on the cultural map. Not “hustle”. Not “haggle”. The new word carried a sense of stress, pressure and annoyance. It was perfect for an accelerating world beginning to recognize its impending Future Shock. And thanks to author Alvin Toffler, for the best seller entitled Future Shock and the concurrent entry of the title phrase into our language.

Loving language, I found a British source which documents the use of new words. I was completely charmed when Paul McFedries, “The Wordspy”, sent out an article on wallet neuropathy. Being in mental/physical holistic health, I naturally first thought he was going to talk about people’s spending anxiety in these depleted and uneven economic times. I expected perhaps a definition based on economic disturbance of the nerves: an emotional stress condition. But no, even with less money and fewer credit cards, apparently people are getting a physical neuropathy, basically an ongoing nerve irritation, from carrying wallets in their back pockets. Yes, it’s true. Some people are sitting on their assets and getting a pain in the backside. The pressure of a wallet in the back pocket can press on the sciatic nerve, down the center of the buttock, and deep into the muscle layers. Symptoms may include discomforts or numbness, all the way to the ankle or foot. This can not only be a pain but also a hassle. The good news is that a walletectomy, a complete removal of the wallet from the back pocket, is the complete course of therapy. Several companies also offer wallets with one round corner, so they fit better in front pants pockets.

Other names for this condition include: wallet neuritis, wallet sciatica, fat wallet syndrome, hip-pocket syndrome, and even McFedries’ favorite: credit carditis.

Those who carry their wallets in their back pockets should consider moving the wallet to a front pocket, at least when driving or sitting for other reasons. I know it’s a hassle, but it’s that or the complete walletectomy.

And that also will be me and you, shaping the lives we want, ever more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert, holistic healer, and award-winning author who celebrates life. She has a longtime natural healing practice and is an ordained minister. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), Inspirations for Peace Within: Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire, and Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine. The books are available on Amazon and through Kebba’s office. They are also available in Scottsdale, Arizona, at the Franciscan Renewal Center bookstore and at the bookstore at St. Barnabas on the Desert Episcopal Church. Or simply email us to order: kebba@kebba.com . Thank you!

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Images from Mayo Clinic on Wordless Wednesday

26 Wednesday Jan 2022

Posted by Kebba Buckley Button in beating cancer, Dealing with stress, stress, Stress Management, the life you want

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beating cancer, Kebba Buckley Button, The life you want, UpBeat Living

“My help shall come from the mountains–from God–from the mountains.”

And that’s Upbeat Spiritual Living^sm.

And that also will be me and you, shaping the lives we want, ever more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Can You Forgive Someone’s Hate?

25 Tuesday Jan 2022

Posted by Kebba Buckley Button in Dealing with stress, Forgive someone's hate, Forgiving, stress, Stress Management, the life you want

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Forgiveness, Forgiving, Forgiving someone's hate, Healthy Happy Loving Life, Kebba Buckley Button, The life you want, UpBeat Living

Can you forgive someone’s hate? About ten years ago, I had the joy of attending a retreat with (the now late) Fr. William Meninger. A Trappist monk of St. Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer, MA, he was one of the most inspirational teachers of my life. I had studied with Fr. William before, in a weekend retreat on The Process of Forgiveness (image below, photo by Barbara Hamilton). This more recent workshop was called, Seeing With the Eyes of the Heart. I was praying for a heart-opening through this retreat day, and I got it.

The actual program was structured around understandings of contemplative prayer, a form of Christian meditation. It was not a forgiveness workshop. Yet, from this program, I got a huge key for forgiving hate. Fr. William believed, as I do, that God loves everyone. Everyone. Absolutely everyone. God loves us when we’re dirty, when we’re sobbing, and when we’ve made terrible wrong turns. God loves us when we are overweight, when we waste food, and when we hurt others.

Fr. William talked about his feelings about the 911 disaster. He said God told him to forgive. He told God, “I will, but I need time to hate them first.” It took him about a year to move into forgiveness. Here is the key. As Fr. William says, “Each person you can’t stand is beloved of God!” And how can you hold resentment against someone God loves?

The late Fr. Thomas Keating, also a Trappist monk of St. Joseph’s Abbey, essentially gave life and shape to the modern contemplative prayer movement. He has said,

There is nowhere you can go to find God, and there is nowhere you can go to escape Him.

We cannot be separate from God, and neither can those who destroy 4000 lives at once. In a sense, we cannot be separate from the 911 pilots. Each of them was beloved of God. We cannot be separate from the mass shooters or police-who-killed of recent years. Each of them was also beloved of God.

So we must declare a new day. We must choose to forgive, even if that’s hard, and even if it takes some time. We must choose to live without the heavy burden of unforgiveness. As Mother Teresa has said,

Yesterday has gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.

Will you try to unload the heavy burden of unforgiveness? Will you try to begin? It’s your life.

And that’s Upbeat Spiritual Living^sm.

And that also will be you, ever more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Should You?

24 Monday Jan 2022

Posted by Kebba Buckley Button in Dealing with stress, should, should-ing, stress, Stress Management, the life you want

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Healthy Happy Loving Life, Kebba Buckley Button, should, should-ing, UpBeat Living

I’m “should-ing” on myself today, I realize. I found out after breakfast that it’s National Compliment Day! There is so much I appreciate about so many people. I thank and acknowledge and compliment people all the time. But with an official National Compliment Day, I feel guilty. I should be doing something about this, today! At the same time, I am aware that this adds another “should” to my extensive list of “shoulds.” Here are a few of mine—and you think of yours while you’re reading my list:

I SHOULD have done a post about NCD, and I SHOULD have complimented a lot of people today.
I SHOULD have styled my hair today. It’s only clean, dry, and brushed.
I SHOULD have written my articles for this week early, so I could put them in the best order.
I SHOULD have already cleaned up and replanted the Feng Shui Garden, as I did for the front-door potted plants this week.
I SHOULD have already contacted G.K.’s family and condoled, as I just learned Sunday that he had passed in December. I SHOULD have stayed in touch enough to know he passed in December. I SHOULD have already contacted other people we worked with long ago, to make sure they know G.K. has passed.
I SHOULD have contacted Mayo to set up my next several chemo appointments.
I SHOULD have contacted Big Bank to get my late husband’s name taken off our joint account, and I SHOULD have already closed that account.

You get the idea. Part of my brain believes I can live in a perfect world, with the house perfectly clean and all the bills/paperwork/filing caught up, plus yard and home maintenance all perfectly caught up. In fact, because everything is a process, new things will be happening and needing attention all the time. Laundry will still need to be done, the car will still need fuel, and the birdfeeders will still need to be refilled.

Abaidev has said,

“The cause of our despair is the sentences at the back of our minds, all of which contain the word ‘should’. It shouldn’t have been… I shouldn’t have… It should be… These are the sentences that we need to avoid. We shouldn’t use ‘should’ too much.”
― Abhaidev, The Influencer: Speed Must Have a Limit

So what happens when we let these SHOULDS stay forefront? We feel guilty, which stresses certain parts of the nervous system. Our hearts feel heavy. We can even get sick from too actively carrying guilt. So what can you do? Laughingly make a list, as I did above. Keep adding to it whenever you think of another unrealistic expectation. Then laughingly dismiss or rescale your efforts. It’s important to cut back or quit “should-ing” on yourself!

You’re welcome! And that will be you, ever more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: 5 Secrets to Tap the Power of Journaling

23 Sunday Jan 2022

Posted by Kebba Buckley Button in Divine, meditation, Spirit, stress, Stress Management, the life you want, Upbeat Spiritual Living

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Divine, Healthy Happy Loving Life, Journaling, Kebba Buckley Button, meditation, Sacred Meditation, Spirit, spiritual stress management, UpBeat Living, Upbeat Spiritual Living

Image by Megapixl

Journaling is one of the great tools of a successful and fulfilling meditation practice. And the most difficult aspect of this practice is remembering to spell the word with one “l”. It can multiply the effects of your meditation and accelerate your spiritual growth in the Divine slipstream. There are 5 secrets to tapping the power of journaling:

Do it. Set your intention to do it, then do it. Don’t worry about rules like “journal at the same time each day” and “set aside the same amount of time to journal each day.” Open that journal whenever you have a comment to make to it.
Find the format that works best for you. This may be handwritten napkin notes you save in a drawer, scribbles on loose paper, neatly dated . Or it could be a gorgeous bound volume. You may like a spiral-bound notebook so the front can be folded easily back. Play around with what feels best. Some like to journal for several minutes at a time, in the Notes app on their smartphone. Since most people have their smartphones with them all the time, they can quickly open their journaling folder/documents and record some thoughts. They can even take notes during a counseling session or class. Then they can email the notes from their phone to their email cache and pull the journal paragraphs out into a word processor document. For those who are writers and keyboard-fluent, simply keyboarding into a word processor document may be most satisfying and easy to file. Sometimes, you may feel moved to include drawings or photos. Then do that!
Keep different journals for different areas of interest. Yes, some people have a few journals! I know a woman who has seven! One might be for your thoughts on your workplace and career, one for relationships, one for world affairs. Or perhaps you are in a recovery program, and you want one journal simply for your observations, questions, resources, and progress.
Find a private place for your journal, and keep it there. This will allow you to feel safe about writing whatever is on your heart and writing as many details as you feel you want to. If you live in an unsafe environment, your journal may be safest hidden under the driver’s seat of your car. Another safe format, if you journal by word processing, is to name your journal something irrelevant (i.e., “Records”), and store it in an irrelevant drive (i.e., “Accounting”) Then, from time to time, back it up to a thumb drive and hide the thumb drive in a safe deposit box. And be sure to use the special Protection Meditation (Sacred Meditation, Chapter 15).
Notice how different you feel with journaling. Notice how much more clear and relaxed you are as you have been practicing journaling and trying different formats. It is beautifully liberating to “speak” with complete candor, as you can when you share your thoughts and feelings in your journal, in perfect privacy. Notice how the “next steps”, the things you need to work on next, the areas in which you know you want to grow, become crystal clear. Notice your heart becoming lighter as you sit down to meditate. Notice how receptive you are becoming to Divine Guidance. Make notes on these experiences in your journal.

The late prominent writer Anais Nin was said to have started journaling at age 11, for a total of over 10,000 pages, plus novels and contributions to other works. (How did she have time to write all those pages?) She was a leading cultural influencer of the Sixties and Seventies. No one is asking you to compete by volume. You may be more concise than Ms. Nin, or you may be even more prolific. Try weaving journaling into your spiritual practice and your secular hours. The Divine can take you places you’ve only ever dreamed of.

And that’s Upbeat Spiritual Living^sm!

And that would also be you, increasingly Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Peace Meditation

22 Saturday Jan 2022

Posted by Kebba Buckley Button in Divine, knowing our Good is manifesting, meditation, peace meditation, Spirit, stress, Stress Management, the life you want, Upbeat Spiritual Living

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Divine, Healthy Happy Loving Life, Kebba Buckley Button, meditation, peace meditation, Prayer, Sacred Meditation, Spirit, spiritual stress management, UpBeat Living, Upbeat Spiritual Living

This is the next-to-last piece in our series on meditation, based on excerpts from my book, Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine. Today, we offer a type of Peace Meditation.

This meditation is a type of Special Purpose Meditation, which may be used to shift the energy of situations and places. For any special purpose meditation, begin by going to your special quiet practice place. Write down your vision for your desired results. Include sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and sensations. Be as vivid and complete in your vision as possible.

Sit comfortably and quiet your breathing. Be aware of Luke 12:32 (KJV):

It is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.

Feel your heart slow and relax. Feel your core pleasantly melting toward the floor. Know that you are grounded in the Earth’s creative energies.

Extend your awareness from your heart, up through your mind, and up toward Heaven (or out into the Universe). Feel yourself connect strongly with the Heavenly Source, and feel the Source Energy flowing down through you, comingling with the Earth energy that is rising. Now you are in your most creative space, or state of being. Now bring your vision of a desired thing into your consciousness. See the images, hear the sounds, taste the flavors, smell the fragrances, and feel the sensations of your desired reality. Sit with this multisensory vision for a few minutes.

In this moment, know that your vision is now true. Feel your gratitude. Give thanks to God/the Divine/Spirit. Repeat this step whenever you think of the situation you want to be different.

PEACE MEDITATION

Now consider a Peace Meditation, a meditation directed at bringing peace, to yourself, to people, and to the Planet. We live in times of much conflict in many areas. Mass shootings and bombings shatter communities. A global pandemic threatens travel and supply chains and hospitals like never before. Nations disagree with nations, and supranational terror groups are claiming to be nations. Even in the US, conflicts may seem to dominate at the highest levels of government. Many yearn for personal, local, and global peace.

For your peace meditation, begin with contemplation or prayerful listening, using prayers such as this short prayer for peace, from the Church of England:

Gracious God,
We pray for peace in our communities this day.
We commit to you all who work for peace and an end to tensions,
And those who work to uphold law and justice.
We pray for an end to fear,
For comfort and support to those who suffer.
For calm in our streets and cities,
That people may go about their lives in safety and peace.
In your mercy, hear our prayers,
now and always. Amen.

Sit, saturated in the feeling and knowing of peace, for a few minutes. Now journal out your feelings. Observe any change in your relationships over the next day and week. Repeat as desired. And that’s Upbeat Spiritual Living^sm!

And that would also be you, increasingly Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Mantra Meditation Quickstart in 9 Steps

21 Friday Jan 2022

Posted by Kebba Buckley Button in Divine, knowing our Good is manifesting, Mantra Meditation, meditation, Spirit, stress, Stress Management, the life you want, Upbeat Spiritual Living

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Divine, Healthy Happy Loving Life, Kebba Buckley Button, Mantra Meditation, meditation, Prayer, Sacred Meditation, Spirit, spiritual stress management, UpBeat Living, Upbeat Spiritual Living

Today, we continue a series on meditation, based on excerpts from my latest book, Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine. Mantra Meditation is a powerful yet simple controlled practice of opening the mind. It takes the meditator to a deeper brain state, increasing awareness, insight, and relaxation. It then allows release of stress: negative thoughts and feelings a person has been holding. Emotional attachments and judgements will tend to soften and disperse. The beneficial medical effects of true meditation have been documented since the 1970’s.

Here is a quickstart in 9 steps, to try this amazing method on your own:

Select a harmonious word, or mantra, to repeat. To start, try “Om” or “Spirit” or “Love”. For a deep treatment of the subject of mantras, refer to the work of Herbert Benson, M.D.
Sit in a quiet, undisturbed area, in a comfortable chair. Uncross your legs and place your feet on the floor. Sit up fairly straight. You may want to be barefoot.
Select some quiet music or turn on a humming room fan if something is needed to screen background noise. To use music or not is up to personal preference.
Exhale and drop your shoulders. Find a comfortable balance in your posture.
Close your eyes and repeat your selected harmonious word or mantra. Notice your shoulders releasing tension and dropping pleasantly.
Set a pleasant-sounding timer and continue your meditation for 15-20 minutes. Notice how your different body/mind/heart/spirit systems are responding. You may find your eyes are pleasantly streaming tears and your entire system has a deep sense of relaxation. Your breathing may be much more comfortable.
After your selected time, gently open your eyes. If you have trouble opening your eyes, rub your hands together until they are warm, then hold them to your eyes for a half minute.
Gently allow your system to come back into consciousness. Take your time.
Journal your observations and realizations for a few minutes. Notice any change in your body, your spiritual perspective or sense of connection.

Change the mantra you try from time to time, and find out which takes you deeper or relaxes you faster. Try meditating like this twice a day for two weeks, and notice your unpleasant emotions dissolving. Make notes on what you experience. Consider making this a long-term part of your spiritual practice. Remember that you attained this new level of BE-ing absolutely free, in exchange for simply choosing to try it out. Celebrate!

And that’s Upbeat Spiritual Living^sm!

Now journal out your feelings. Has your sense of stress already shifted? Observe any change in your relationships over the next day and week. Email us at kebba@kebba.com with any questions you have on meditation. And now you are in Upbeat Spiritual Living^sm!

And that would also be you, increasingly Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Protection Meditation

20 Thursday Jan 2022

Posted by Kebba Buckley Button in Divine, knowing our Good is manifesting, meditation, Protection Meditation, Spirit, stress, Stress Management, the life you want, Upbeat Spiritual Living

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Divine, Healthy Happy Loving Life, Kebba Buckley Button, meditation, Prayer, Protection Meditation, Sacred Meditation, Spirit, spiritual stress management, UpBeat Living, Upbeat Spiritual Living

Today I offer a type of Protection Meditation. This is part of a series of articles on meditation, based on excerpts from my book, Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine. The more you play with these methods, the more you will find your stress shifted and the closer you will find yourself with the Divine. Meditation is a powerful stress management tool. It will increase your productivity and magnify your efforts in every good thing you put your mind to. Bless you in your journey!

This special purpose meditation should be done whenever you realize you are feeling unsafe, due to financial hazard, the loss of a loved one, neighborhood crime, or a stalker. It is also a good meditation when you feel unsafe due to international conditions of conflict or contagion. This would also include feeling vaguely unsafe, even though you don’t know why.

Any special purpose meditation can shift the energy of situations and places. Begin by going to your special quiet practice place. Take a minute to think about your purpose. Write down your vision for your desired results. Include sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and sensations. Be as vivid and complete in your vision as possible.

For the Protection Meditation, try beginning with contemplation of this portion of Psalm 91 (NIV). Or study the entire Psalm, when you have the time:

⁹If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling,
¹⁰ no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent.
¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways

Vision in detail how safe you and your family truly are. Remember to give thanks that all this is true. And repeat whenever you think of these feelings. Consider posting a sign on your mirror that says, “He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.”

If you are threatened by a particular enemy, such as an aggressive ex, a stalker, a nasty neighbor, or an abusive boss, you may want to begin with a contemplation of this scripture, Psalm 25: 1-3 (NIV):

¹To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul;

² in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.

³ No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse.

Now journal out what you hear and experience while contemplating and meditating on God’s protection. And, as always, give thanks for what you are visioning for. In this case, it’s your safety.

Now journal out your feelings. Has your concern already shifted? Observe any change in your relationships over the next day and week. Email us at kebba@kebba.com with any questions you have on meditation. And now you are in Upbeat Spiritual Living^sm!

And that would be you, also, increasingly Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Pray and Believe

19 Wednesday Jan 2022

Posted by Kebba Buckley Button in Divine, knowing our Good is manifesting, Spirit, stress, Stress Management, the life you want, UpBeat Living, Upbeat Spiritual Living

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at choice, Divine, Healthy Happy Loving Life, Kebba Buckley Button, Prayer, Spirit, spiritual stress management, UpBeat Living, Upbeat Spiritual Living

What have you prayed for lately? Are you perhaps praying for the New Year 2022 to have the qualities you want? Many people think prayer is asking God/Heaven/Spirit/Jesus/Buddha/Allah/Krishna for something. Or pleading, if the need is great. But there are a few forms of prayer, and you can choose. It’s your prayer.

Consider a prayer in which you celebrate your Good, celebrate all that is busy manifesting in your life. New Thought churches say, if you don’t like what’s happening in your life, choose a new thought. Many people are affirming their issues, not living in ways such that they are open to their Good. Thought attracts, but not just psychologically. Your Good is coming in all the time. You need to notice and welcome it and say, “Thank You!” to the Divine.

The Divine is always smarter, knows more, sees more, knows what has been, and knows what is to come. God knows the desires of your heart! How could God not know?

Years ago, I worked with a Greek engineer, whose faith was that of the Greek Orthodox Church. Speaking about prayer one day, he asked me, “but doesn’t any prayer indicate uncertainty?” I was rocked! He was saying, since there is nothing hidden from God, and since God loves us, how would we not believe that God was/is taking care of things?

In fact, Romans 8:28 (KJV) offers this:

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

So God is looking out for us. And who, with what smarts and skills, would you rather have looking out for you?

So, what if you do pray, that is, ask God to direct His particular attention to your finances, or your cancer, or your brother’s marriage-on-the-rocks, or your Mom’s malfunctioning knee? He already knows about it. So go ahead, pray, and KNOW that God knows, God loves you, and God is taking care of it, usually in ways beyond our imagining. Print this, from Mark 11:24, for your bathroom mirror, and ponder it often:

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

So if you want to have faith in your faith, ponder this astonishing thunderclap advice: God loves you, God is for you and God is taking care of things. Believe it to be true. The answers to your prayers are busy manifesting. Believe that to be true. Repeat. Amen. And the more deeply you take in these principles, the more joyfully you will be in Upbeat Spiritual Living!^sm

And that would be you, increasingly Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert, holistic healer, and award-winning author who celebrates life. She has a longtime natural healing practice and is an ordained minister. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), Inspirations for Peace Within: Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire, and Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine. The books are available on Amazon and through Kebba’s office. Email us to order: kebba@kebba.com .

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: A Coffee Prayer

18 Tuesday Jan 2022

Posted by Kebba Buckley Button in Coffee Prayer, Divine, Spirit, stress, Stress Management, the life you want, UpBeat Living, Upbeat Spiritual Living

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at choice, Divine, Healthy Happy Loving Life, Kebba Buckley Button, Spirit, spiritual stress management, UpBeat Living, Upbeat Spiritual Living

When your feet hit the floor in the morning, what are your first thoughts? Do you ever greet the Divine/ God/ the Universe/ Spirit in the morning? If you don’t, have you ever thought of doing that? Reaching out to the Divine as soon as you come to some consciousness when you rise– this will set your whole day in motion. It will calibrate you with God, with Jesus, with the Living, Loving, Spirit of All Life, by whatever name/s you call the Divine. You will feel more “in the groove” if you take a couple of minutes to do this before launching into your normal busy day.

I start early. I like to step outside, whatever the weather, for a couple of minutes, and greet God and pray a bit. I like to feel the weather, listen to the birds, look up at the sky and give thanks for the beauty of God’s Universe. I also pray for blessings and uplift/meant for several groups of people.

But perhaps you would like to sit in your prayer chair and read something quietly. Here is a short prayer I call “The Coffee Prayer”, that you can use and edit as you find most meaningful. While you sip your morning beverage, you might like to read this prayer over a few times, then start adjusting the words to work best for you. Ready? Here it is:

The Coffee Prayer

Good morning, Lord! I love you so much. I just feel the fullness of Your love and grace in every hour. I feel Your hand in everything that happens. At the same time, I know that you have gifted us each with certain intelligence and abilities. I know it’s my responsibility to hold up my end–to do my best every day to be the person you want me to be. I lift my coffee mug to you in awe and thanks and praise. In Jesus’ Name I pray: together, LET’S MAKE IT A GREAT DAY. Amen.

Let me know how you liked this idea, and what edits you made for it to feel just right for you.

And if you don’t believe in prayer, is there another way you set yourself up for a great day? I would love to hear about it.

And that would be you, increasingly Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert, holistic healer, and award-winning author who celebrates life. She has a longtime natural healing practice and is an ordained minister. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), Inspirations for Peace Within: Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire, and Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine. The books are available on Amazon and through Kebba’s office. Email us to order: kebba@kebba.com .

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

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