Healthy Happy Loving Life: Get Joy From Gratitude

Tags

Effective living, grateful, Gratitude, In-joy-meant, joy, Kebba, Stress Management

© 2021 Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM.  World Rights Reserved.

Joyful hibiscus tree in the Feng Shui Garden

How many times have you heard people exclaim, “Don’t let anyone steal your joy!”  That’s lovely advice if you started with joy.  But many grew up without joyful relatives or joyful circumstances, and they are not very familiar with joy.

Henri Nouwen said,

Joy does not simply happen to us.  We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.

© 2021 Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM. http://www.kebba.com

The ultimate answer to finding joy is to practice gratitude.  Start with lovely flowers, for example.  Select some that appeal to you and study them and their unreasonable beauty.  Joy will seep into your consciousness as you begin to weave the wonder of the flowers into your mind and heart.  Feel grateful.  Give thanks, if you are a person of faith.

Now study the clouds during the day, the sunset, and the stars at night.  Give thanks for all this beauty.  Watch a toddler run and laugh.  Feel grateful.  Watch a favorite dog or cat and enjoy its hijinks.  Feel grateful.

I believe very deeply that we are in-joy-meant– that we are designed to be in joy.  So keep practicing these studies in gratitude, and you will develop a joy that no one can steal.  And that’s you being ever more Healthy, Happy, and Loving Life^sm!  It’s up to you!  

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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: Choose Joy!

Tags

forgive, joy, Kebba Buckley Button, Practice gratitude, Release the past

© 2020 Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM.  World Rights Reserved.

Photo by Shutterstock

Today we’re talking about the number one thing you can do for yourself:  choose joy!  Joy not only feels wonderful– it causes our body chemistry to shift in ways that make us stronger and more well.  Whatever your state of mind, situation, or health, this is a primary strategy for any good thing you want in your life.  Wait– strategy?  There’s a strategy?  Yes!

And here is how you get there.

• Forgive
• Release the past
• Practice gratitude
• Repeat

Forgive:  Much has been written about the power of forgiveness and how to forgive.  Bernard Baruch said,

One of the secrets of a long and healthy life is to forgive everybody everything before you go to bed each night.

Resentment, anger, and hurt impact your body in specific and pervasive ways.  The longer you hold these within, the more they turn into headaches, back pain, dis-ease, and deep health issues.  I have a number of articles on forgiveness.  You may want to start with this one: https://kebbabutton.wordpress.com/2016/08/10/upbeat-living-lighten-up-with-forgiveness/  And remember, this forgiveness is for you, not for them.

Release the past:  Whatever you need to do to turn forward by releasing your past, do it for you!  You don’t need to contact the friend/colleague/relative who wronged you.  You don’t have to hold confrontations.  You simply need to make a decision that your NOW and your FUTURE are more important than the mistakes you and others made in the past.  And this decision itself will set you free.  Tools like counseling and journaling will also help.  Do it!  A great affirmation, author unknown, is:

I bless and release all past failure, fear, and alienation.

This is a great one to post by your computer, in your kitchen, or anywhere else where you tend to stop and think about your unsatisfactory past.  If you are a Christian, then you know you are forgiven, so it’s definitely always timely to bless and release all that stuff.  Another way to look at your own “E & I”, or Errors and Immaturity, is that it wasn’t the present You who made those mistakes.  You are not the immature person you were at 8, or 18, or any other previous age.  Each day you are a fresh new you, and your NOW and your FUTURE beckon to be created.

Practice gratitude:  This one is the simplest, yet most therapeutic, tools you have.  Write lists of everything, big or tiny, that you are grateful for.  Keep a gratitude journal or a cumulative list in NOTES on your iPhone.  The more you notice that is good and excellent and worthy and enjoyable in your life, the more you will notice.  So write these down.  Marianne Williamson has said,

Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are.

Repeat:  In a noisy world, it is easy to let these tools fade or rust.  Keep this article handy somewhere.  Review it, practice the 3 skills, and notice your joy building!

As you practice moving more into joy, you’ll find your heart getting lighter and your smiles becoming more frequent.  Your relationships will shift.  You’ll feel more healthy.  There may be people and situations you will vibrate away from or who will vibrate away from you: you are simply too joyful for them.

 And now you’re in the realm of Healthy Happy Loving Life^sm!

————————————————–

Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert and award-winning author who celebrates life.  She also is an ordained minister and has a natural healing practice. 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

Fear Stress vs. Joy in the Storm

Tags

fear stress, joy, Kebba Buckley Button, peace within, stress, UpBeat Living

© 2016 Kebba Buckley Button, M.S., O.M.  World Rights Reserved.

Almost 5 years ago, I wrote a column called, “Joy in the Storm”.  I argued that, no matter what is going on around you, it is crucial not to give in to a bad attitude or to give up your positive vision.   At the time, a lot of people in the US were depressed and anxious.  I wrote, “As a nation, we are again at a crux.  Gas prices are fairly high, the stock market has hit record lows, foreclosures are still on the rise, and more jobs are being cut.  Hurricanes crippled some areas of our country.  Our national leaders are arguing over more bailouts for the financial and automotive industries.  They still debate what to do next with spending to fight terrorism.  Many are tense and worried, about their own income and investments, as well as about the state of the country.  Many are in outright fear.  In a sense, we are in an emotional storm system.”

Does all that sound familiar?  Yet we survived.  We restructured the mortgage industry and much of Wall Street.  We drilled for oil within the US and brought gasoline prices to half what they were 5 years ago.  The economy is not perfect but is much improved. Lively debates about running the country are taking place in all 50 states, as we consider what the best Presidential candidates are for our upcoming election.

On the dark side, we now face global terror threats and in-country mass shootings on scales we never imagined five years ago.   Millions have lost their homes in the Middle East and Africa.  The European Union, the US, and others are struggling to assist the refugees.  Global weather is shifting and we debate global warming.  Weather systems have brought massive storm destruction to Texas, Missouri, New Mexico, and others.  Floods have destroyed areas of California, as well as areas in the South.  We now deal with challenges that are on a new scale.  Some are asking if we are in the beginning of World War III.  Some ask if this is the Biblical Apocalypse.

But, as was true 5 years ago, this is the very time to work against our fear.  In our health, fear damages the immune system and causes exhaustion.  In relationships, fear makes us brittle, defensive, hesitant to move ahead, and sometimes, it makes us look and sound angry.  Many seem ready to snap.  And that may be exactly why we have so many shooting sprees.  On a national and international level, fear can cause a plummet in the stock markets or a run on the banks, either of which can be disastrous for financial systems.

The truth is that this is the very time to feed our positive feelings.  This is the ideal time to savor every convenience and blessing, being thankful for all the good in our lives.  The body chemistry of gratitude leads to a sense of satisfaction and joy, in essence washing away the biochemistry of fear.  Despite the negative idea storm around us, this is the ideal time to be in touch with the joy in our lives. It is the ideal time to get in touch with our Peace Within.

Goal planners and metaphysics practitioners say it is crucial to hold your intention and your vision of what you want.  Both say thinking negative thoughts leads to more negative occurrences, and holding positive, joyful visions leads to more positive results.  Jesus is quoted, in several books of the Bible, as saying that it is important to stay joyful to get the life results you want.  In John 16:33, Jesus says,

In the world, you have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.

Can you have joy in the storm?  Nurture your faith and your Peace Within.  Why not try?  Your life is worth it.  And that’s Upbeat Living!

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Energy – Peace – Meditation

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert.  She also has a natural healing practice and is an ordained minister. She is the author of the award-winning book, Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), plus the 2013 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core, Second Edition(http://tinyurl.com/mqg3uvc ). Her newest book is Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine, available through her office.  Just email SacredMeditation@kebba.com. 
• For an appointment or to ask Kebba to speak for your group: calendar@kebba.com .

 

UpBeat Living: More Love

Tags

joy, Love, social satisfaction

© 2014 Kebba Buckley Button, M.S., O.M.  World Rights Reserved.

Photo by Egidijus Mika

It’s February, and love is in the air.  February 14^th is Valentines’ Day, and despite the dubious pedigree of the day, people adore celebrating it.  In stores and online, we see special cards, foods, and trinkets created just for this holiday.  There are heart-shaped jewelery items, mugs and trays, together with pink- and red heart-bedecked socks, purses, and sweaters.  Candy makers offer heart-shaped candies and heart-shaped boxes of chocolates.  Love-themed movies are released in time for Valentines’ Day.  Collections of love songs are released.  Restaurants offer romantic dinner specials.

Nowhere is enthusiasm for love more evident than in the romance novel industry.  There are NASCAR romances, historical romances, suspense romances, inspirational romances, and even inspirational suspense romances.  Romance novels are the fastest growing segment of the e-book market and comprise 55% of all paperback book sales.  Readers, it seems, are very interested in love.

For singles, the 5 top U.S. matching services have a combined 64 million members.  There are companies that help many specific groups of singles:  straight and gay; Christian, Jewish, Messianic Jewish, and LDS; Latin, Black, Chinese, Asian, Russian, Australian; Military; overweight (their word, not mine); and SoCal, Virginia, and Capital Area (DC).  The unattached can meet at dances, at dinners, through a matchmaker, or online.  If you are looking, just be ready to answer many questions about yourself.  What are your real attitudes and values, your shining traits and the irksome ones?  Is there anything you want to change about you, before you meet the One of your dreams?  What are you really looking for in your match?  You may as well be honest, with so many potential partners out there.

For people in committed relationships, this is a great time of year to celebrate all that’s wonderful about your spouse or Particular Friend.  I like to pull my husband aside and say, “You know, I only love you because…” and then I go on for many sentences, about how great and amazing and enjoyable he is.  If you pull this stunt, be sure you have picked a time when your beloved is not in the middle of solving an accounting problem or just starting to dial the phone.

People communicate love most with words, touching, gifting, doing-for, quality time, and money (think, teenagers).  Are there ways in which your beloved has been expressing love to you, and you’ve been missing it?  Are there different ways in which you can share your love with him/her?  The number one thing that makes people feel loved is being listened to.  This year, would you like to give that gift to your beloved?  Often?  You may be surprised at the great results.

So where else and how else would you like to give love?  Do you have a family member that needs more time and conversation?  Is there an older person from your church who needs help?  Within your community, do assistance agencies pull your heartstrings?  Is Habitat for Humanity calling you?  Is animal rescue or food bank service or soup kitchen volunteering tugging at the back of your mind?  Paul McCartney wrote and sang about love, more than any other subject.  He sang, “And in the end/the love you take/is equal to the love/you make”.  Give from the heart, and you’ll be singing “Baby, I’m amazed!”

________________________________________________________

● Kebba Buckley Button is the author of the 2013 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core (Second Edition).   It’s a book to keep with you constantly, to quickly recharge your Peace Within, with quotes, photos, and poems that take you directly there!  Kebba is a corporate stress management trainer, and she also has a holistic healing practice.

● Liked this article?  Why not buy Kebba’s books?  Just click the links!

• Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core (Second Edition) (http://tinyurl.com/mqg3uvc)             
• Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br). 

● Enjoyed this post?  Please click “like” in the FB widget in the right hand column!  You’ll have our undying gratitude plus a huge rise in your Good Karma.

● Please leave a comment!  

 

UpBeat Living: What I Learned From The Golden Globe ® Awards

Tags

at choice, choices, Effective living, Enjoy the journey, happy, joy, Share the journey

© 2013 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

 

It was an unusually cold night in Los Angeles, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.  Twenty million viewers sat at home, riveted to their TV sets, enthralled as the stars made their way slowly along the red carpet.  It was the 2013 Golden Globe® Awards. The men were in elegant suits.  The women wore stunning, graceful designer gowns, many reminiscent of eras past.  News teams dotted the length of the red carpet, interviewing and photographing the stars, the directors, and key industry icons.  Despite the 40 degree air, the stars walked slowly, apparently relaxed, in joyful expectancy of a delightful evening.

The Awards ceremony itself was a good-natured gathering of the entertainment industry, brought together by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA).  Informal humor abounded, as colleagues kidded colleagues.  When Jennifer Garner stood to present an award, she apologized, laughing, saying her husband, Ben Affleck, had forgotten to thank two people.  She thanked them on Affleck’s behalf, then went on to present the award as scheduled.  There were a number of takeaways from the evening.

• Year-round maintenance of your skin and figure are vital.  You may need to be at an important event any time.  The stars all looked fantastic.
• Smiling is paramount, regardless of the cold, and the fact that your unspeakably beautiful designer gown would be comfortable at 80 degrees.  The stars all looked pleasant and happy.
• People are always watching your act and noticing your expression. Try to be aware of where the cameras are.  An impression may last a lifetime.  The stars all looked joyful, expectant, welcoming, friendly.
• “Of course, the best journeys are shared.” Damian Lewis said it, and I’ll quote him many times.  With whom are you sharing your journey?  Would more sharing feel good and be more satisfying?
• An evening of sharing and laughing with and celebrating your friends is one of life’s greatest experiences.  So finish your workout, get your smile on, and share that journey.

———————————————

● Kebba Buckley Button is a corporate stress management trainer and the author of the award-winning book, Discover The Secret Energized You, and the 2012 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core.  She also has a natural healing practice and is an ordained minister.

● Your comments are welcome!

● Get these articles by email– just click the Subscribe Free option in the right column.

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

UpBeat Living: Beat Stress With Laughs

Tags

Beat stress, choices, energy, Feeling energized, joy, Laughing, laughing at stress, laughs, stress, Stress Management

© 2012 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

Laughter is powerful

One of the funniest and most dear videos rippling around the Internet currently is a tiny movie about the tiniest black pig (YouTube, “Kingsford the Piglet Goes for a Swim”).  The piglet is smaller than a woman’s foot, jet black, eager, and passionate to be included with his humans.  Watch this video once, and you’ll feel so charmed, you’ll have to watch it again.  The piglet’s antics make you laugh.  Another video is YouTube’s “Dancing Bulldog”, in which a small bulldog is evidently boogeying to some fun music.  Of all the videos I have seen in recent months, I laughed the hardest at “Silent Monks Hallelujah Chorus”, in which cards are held up to encourage the audience to sing along.  Impish variations surprise and make you laugh.  What videos or movies have made you laugh?

Laughter feels good!  It makes you relax, from your muscles to your skin to your attitude. Laughing very hard can cause you to clutch your spasming abdomen, gasp for breath, drool a bit, and wipe your teary eyes.  A good, hearty laugh can make you feel refreshed, even totally rested.  And there seem to be medical benefits: improved immune function (fewer allergies and illnesses with regular laughter) and better blood vessel function leading to better blood pressure than when you are stressed.  However, researchers say the medical benefits are hard to measure.  Rather, it is easier to observe the social benefits of laughter: it is both symptomatic of happy relationships and contagious, creating more social connection and happiness (Robert Provine, Laughter:  A Scientific Investigation, Penguin Books, 2001).  Women laugh about a quarter more than men.  Those who say they laugh a lot also tend to be in good health.  Laughter therapy is used for cancer patients, who find it helps their quality of life.  Laughter can increase the release of endorphins, the anti-stress brain chemicals that can lessen pain and stiffness.

Laughter is a part of our makeup.  Babies start laughing when they are as young as 10 weeks.  And adults are immediately drawn in, trying to see what they can do to get the baby to laugh again.  Watch a normally calm parent of a 3-month-old, making faces and tickling the baby, producing any noise or gesture that will make the little one laugh.  The urge to get a laugh is right up there with the urge to laugh.

Yet there can be a poignant edge to humor—a place where discomfort can be portrayed in a way that makes us laugh and discharge that discomfort.  A popular expression is, “You have to laugh to keep from crying!” Folk wisdom advises us to shrug off or laugh off our troubles.  Comedienne Ellen Degeneres made her early career describing uncomfortable events from everyday life, in a comical way, with a look of consternation on her face.  She delivered her vignettes in ways that made people laugh, and laugh, and laugh.  Today, she has a top-rated television show, Ellen, many endorsements and guest host opportunities, and an estimated income of $45 million per year.  People can relate to her humor, she makes them laugh, and this has built her success.  People need to laugh at their troubles.

Recently, Dr. Phil McGraw ran a show about comedians who transformed terrible personal pain into comedy.  The episode of Dr. Phil (http://www.drphil.com/shows/show/1753/) highlighted two comedians, Darrell Hammond and Chris Titus.  Each overcame horrific backgrounds to become well-known and successful in comedy.  Darrell Hammond is now the author of a book, God, If You’re Not Up There, I’m F***ed.  His humor has helped many to laugh at their troubles and take a lighter view.   Chris Titus knows humor can literally be lifesaving:  a fan who was about to kill himself accidentally sat on his TV controller, and the TV popped on to a Chris Titus performance.  The fan began to laugh and changed his mind about killing himself.

What makes you laugh until you cry?  Do that more!  It’s your life, your health, and your relationships.

______________________________________________________________

—  Comments welcome!   —

Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

 

UpBeat Living: More Love

Tags

joy, Love, social satisfaction

© 2011 Kebba Buckley Button, M.S., O.M.  World Rights Reserved.

It’s February, and love is in the air.  February 14^th is Valentines’ Day, and despite the dubious pedigree of the day, people adore celebrating it.  In stores and online, we see special cards, foods, and trinkets created just for this holiday.  There are heart-shaped jewelery items, mugs and trays, together with pink- and red heart-bedecked socks, purses, and sweaters.  Candy makers offer heart-shaped candies and heart-shaped boxes of chocolates.  Love-themed movies are released in time for Valentines’ Day.  Collections of love songs are released.  Restaurants offer romantic dinner specials.

Nowhere is enthusiasm for love more evident than in the romance novel industry.  There are NASCAR romances, historical romances, suspense romances, inspirational romances, and even inspirational suspense romances.  Romance novels are the fastest growing segment of the e-book market and comprise 55% of all paperback book sales.  Readers, it seems, are very interested in love.

For singles, the 5 top U.S. matching services have a combined 64 million members.  There are companies that help many specific groups of singles:  straight and gay; Christian, Jewish, Messianic Jewish, and LDS; Latin, Black, Chinese, Asian, Russian, Australian; Military; overweight (their word, not mine); and SoCal, Virginia, and Capital Area (DC).  The unattached can meet at dances, at dinners, through a matchmaker, or online.  If you are looking, just be ready to answer many questions about yourself.  What are your real attitudes and values, your shining traits and the irksome ones?  Is there anything you want to change about you, before you meet the One of your dreams?  What are you really looking for in your match?  You may as well be honest, with so many potential partners out there.

For people in committed relationships, this is a great time of year to celebrate all that’s wonderful about your spouse or Particular Friend.  I like to pull my husband aside and say, “You know, I only love you because…” and then I go on for many sentences, about how great and amazing and enjoyable he is.  If you pull this stunt, be sure you have picked a time when your beloved is not in the middle of solving an accounting problem or just starting to dial the phone.

People communicate love most with words, touching, gifting, doing-for, quality time, and money (think, teenagers).  Are there ways in which your beloved has been expressing love to you, and you’ve been missing it?  Are there different ways in which you can share your love with him/her?  The number one thing that makes people feel loved is being listened to.  This year, would you like to give that gift to your beloved?  Often?  You may be surprised at the great results.

So where else and how else would you like to give love?  Do you have a family member that needs more time and conversation?  Is there an older person from your church who needs help?  Within your community, do assistance agencies pull your heartstrings?  Is Habitat for Humanity calling you?  Is animal rescue or food bank service or soup kitchen volunteering tugging at the back of your mind?  Paul McCartney wrote and sang about love, more than any other subject.  He sang, “And in the end/the love you take/is equal to the love/you make”.  Give from the heart, and you’ll be singing “Baby, I’m amazed!”

________________________________________________________

 

Reach the writer at Kebba@kebba.com