Upbeat Living: Freshen Your Brain— and Smile— With Paraprosdokians!

Tags

DHEA, Humor, Kebba Buckley Button, laugh, paraproskokian, smile, stress, Stress Management

© 2016 Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM.  World Rights Reserved.

This form of humor was my favorite, before I knew it had a name: the paraprosdokian!  Yes, that’s a real term, from the Greek, paraprosdokian (I know, same word), meaning “beyond expectations”.  This is a statement that seems to be going in one direction and then goes in another direction, surprising the listener or reader.  It’s the surprise I love.  In Upbeat Living^sm, we know that not only is humor fun, but it literally feels good and is good for you.

These one-liners will usually make people smile.  And smiling literally puts you in a good mood, because, as research shows, your facial expression can determine your mood.  If one of these paraprosdokians really cracks you up, and you chuckle, or even laugh, then you get great health benefits:  production of endorphins and the master hormone, DHEA.  These compounds will make your body run better and feel better, plus they put you in a good mood.  And then you are smiling again, in a self-renewing circuit of wonderfulness.  Plus, people will wonder why you’re smiling, and they will ask you.  So there’s some social benefit as well.

Some paraprosdokians are very familiar, such as:

He who laughs last…thinks slowest.

I could agree with you…but then we’d both be wrong.

Today a man knocked on my door and asked for a small donation towards the local swimming pool…So I gave him a glass of water.

Here are more you may enjoy.  And feel free to smile!

Take my advice…I’m not using it.

I’m great at multi-tasking…I can waste time, be unproductive, and procrastinate all at once.

I was going to give him a nasty look…but he already had one.

Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit…Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.

I was going to wear my camouflage shirt today, but I couldn’t find it.

If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is not for you.

Artificial intelligence is no match… for natural stupidity.

Hospitality is the art of making guests feel like they’re at home…when you wish they were.

Ever stop to think…and forget to start again?

Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright …until you hear them speak.

Evening news is when they start, “Good evening!”… and then proceed to tell you why it isn’t.

You’re never too old…to learn something stupid.

So keep your eye out for these refreshing one-liners and let them recharge your brain, your sense of humor, and your metabolism.  Who knows, maybe you’ll write some of your own and use them at cocktail parties.  And that’s Upbeat Living!

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• If you enjoy 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! Due to a recent FB change, our “likes” look low.  Thanks for your help!

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 .

 

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Upbeat Living: 7 Laws of Healing

Tags

7 Laws of Healing, arthritis, healing, Healing Touch, Jin Shin Jyutsu, Kebba Buckley Button, stress, Stress Management, UpBeat Living

© 2016 Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM.  World Rights Reserved.

From a photo by Nikki Zalewski, Fotolia

Is there something in your body or your life that you wish were healed?  The spectrum of positive outcomes is limitless.  Understandings and many other tools can lead us to comfort, peace, release, and relief.

I like to focus on the positive, the Upbeat Living^sm, the joy– all the Highest and Best.  Not the past or the pain.  However, recently, I was in a healing ministry group gathering, and some were sharing stories of healings they had seen and experienced.  We discussed dimensions of healing: what actually makes it happen?  That day, I was moved to share with this loving group my most dramatic healing story: mine. Here it is.

When I was 26, one evening, I began to feel cranky.  I thought “[H]ow odd!  What’s going on?”  My body replied that the large joints of my hands were burning.  I thought, “[N]o problem.  Mom has had mild arthritis since my age.  I’ll take aspirin, like she does.”  Oh no!  Within a year, I was burning from head to toe.  And there was a terrible stiffness with the pain.  Over a few months, my joints began to enlarge and I could hardly use my hands.  I knew I would be needing a wheelchair by my mid-thirties, and there would be no marriage or children.  As an engineering manager, I went at potential solutions like the engineer of a high-speed train.  I learned the latest on nutrition, controlled my diet, and took up oriental energy healing, primarily Jin Shin Jyutsu.  I learned there are many approaches other than medication, to beat a painful condition.

When I was 33, I was at a party, and an acquaintance was talking about her arthritis as though she had married it.  She was obsessed with it, in love with it.  But that’s another column.  I heard myself say to her, “[W]ell, when I had horrible crippling arthritis, I found several things really helped…”  From there, I have no memory of what I shared with her, because I was so shocked to hear myself speak of my hellish, life-killing condition in the past tense.  It had finished leaving sometime over the previous few months!  I learned that just because you have a condition doesn’t mean it has to be progressive.  Just because you have a diagnosis doesn’t mean you have to keep it.  Later, as my joints actually healed and shrank, I learned that just because you have organic body damage, it doesn’t mean it can’t reverse.  These were huge revelations to me.  Now, at 63, most days, I have no pain of any kind whatsoever.  People take me for 20 years younger.

The opportunity to experience that crippling condition was a transformative gift in my life.  I became so fascinated with natural pain solutions and healing possibilities that I left engineering and morphed into an energy- and spiritual healer.  I became an ordained minister, a spiritual teacher and an award-winning author.  The more I helped people heal, the more I saw the underlying role of stress in almost all conditions. I began teaching people to dissolve their stress and actually trade in stress for energy and wellness.  Now, I frequently teach stress management, energizing techniques, and meditation.

Roman statesman Lucius Seneca said,

The wish for healing has always been half of health.

 

Do you want healing?  Then meditate on these top 7 Laws of Healing:

1. There are many approaches other than medication, to beat horrible pain and other health conditions.
2. Stress is a major factor to conquer, for most to get the healing they seek.
3. Just because you have a diagnosis doesn’t mean you have to keep it.
4. Just because you have a diagnosis doesn’t mean it gets to rule your life.
5. Just because you have a condition doesn’t mean it has to be progressive.
6. Just because there was never a medical protocol before doesn’t mean there won’t be one soon, if you like medical protocols.
7. Just because you’re not cured doesn’t mean you can’t be healed.

After decades of my healer path, I now believe literally all things are possible.  I experience the unreasonable and the miraculous every day.  May I assist you in your healing journey?  Your commitment to your own healing means you are stepping into Upbeat Living.

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Energy – Peace – Meditation

• If you enjoy 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! Due to a recent FB change, our “likes” look low.  Thanks for your help!
• 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: bookings@kebba.com .

 

Beating Wake-up Stress: Top 7 Daystarters

Tags

Daystarter, Dealing with stress, Effective living, Health, Kebba Buckley Button, stress, Stress Management, The life you want, UpBeat Living, Wake-up Stress

©2016  Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM.  World Rights Reserved.

Let’s be honest:  almost all of us have experienced Wake-up Stress!  It can be hard to get out of bed!  Most of us resist getting up when we know we need to, to get to work or to meet other responsibilities.  The Upbeat Living^sm philosophy is to make the most of our lives in every way, including on a daily basis, beginning with rising.  Fortunately, adding positive daystarters can end your resistance to rising and get you off to a pleasant and powerful day.  Here are 7 of the best daystarters:  

• Pick your wake-up time by your body’s clock, if possible.  In Chinese medicine, 6 am is the perfect time to rise, as the large intestine wants to activate.  It’s time to go to the bathroom and release solids easily.  You’ll be more awake if you get up when your intestines want to get going.
• Use an alarm ringtone that stimulates without startling.  Classic alarm-clock ringing is coarse and would startle anyone.  Air raid sirens are too much.  How about some Chopin or Bach chamber music (on your smartphone alarm utility), trills, or soft rock?  Experiment to find out which sounds give you a boost rather than a jolt.
• If you really hate starting the day, when the alarm goes off, immediately say, “I’m getting up and making it a great day!”  You’ll be amazed at how different you feel.
• If your metabolism is very sluggish, find an alarm light that glows more and more brightly over a half hour, prior to your alarm going off. The light will stimulate your brain and help your system get moving.
• Once out of bed, as early as possible, greet the Divine or read a positive script to yourself.  Affirm your positive place in a positive and supportive universe.  Paul Valery said,

The best way to make your dreams come true

                              is to wake up.

• Eat the right breakfast, for you. Some people are just not hungry when they get up.  For these people, a beverage to drink and a protein bar in their pocket for two hours later may be just perfect.  Some people really need several ounces of protein and some carbs with their breakfast beverage.  For a speedy munch, how about a peanut butter and honey sandwich on whole grain bread or rice cakes?  Or, how about at least an ounce of almonds or cashews, 2 pieces of fruit, and some tea?  Experiment with the breakfast that fits your metabolism and keeps you going for at least two hours.
• Drink the best breakfast beverage, for you. Notice, I haven’t mentioned coffee until now?  Many of us love a cup or two of joe, and we feel really great after having it with breakfast.  But not all coffees are created equal, and many people feel best all morning after drinking tea, hot chocolate, lemon water, or a fruit smoothie.  Coffee is loaded with antioxidants, not just caffeine.  Green and black teas have other beneficial compounds.  Both have been shown to have health benefits.   And just the heat from a warm beverage can soothe and also stimulate your digestive system, helping you to wake up more. There is so much research on this that we’ll have a separate article on coffee and tea soon.  The bottom line is:  what beverage works best for you, at breakfast time, and two hours later?

Try these daystarters and soon you’ll be replacing Wake-up Stress with Morning Zip! And that’s Upbeat Living!   _____________________________________________________________

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 Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core, Second Edition. Her newest book is Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine. Both that book and Peace Within are available through her office.  Just email books@kebba.com. 
• For an appointment or to ask Kebba to speak for your group: calendar@kebba.com.

 

Authenticity Stress: Why Being Yourself is Best

Tags

Authenticity, authenticity stress, Kebba Buckley Button, stress, Stress Management, The life you want, UpBeat Living

© 2016 Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM.  World Rights Reserved.

Today, I want you to check in with yourself on your level of authenticity stress:  how authentically You are you being?  Are you being true to your desires for friendships, activities, work satisfaction, and health maintenance?  Do you speak your truth?  When someone asks if you would like to go to a basketball game tonight, do you answer from your truth, however tactfully?  There are 5 reasons to be as much Yourself- as authentic- as you can manage.

1. Not being yourself causes stress. It’s endlessly wearing and tiring. Introverts trying to be extroverts, geeks trying to be Prom royalty, active people trying to be still in a chair all day… these are all people cruising for exhaustion.
2. You are the expert on You. So who is more qualified to be You…than you?  By now, you know whether you love to talk or get exhausted from answering phones all day.  You know if cold climates burn you out and hot climates give you energy.  You know if you love going to church on Sunday mornings or if your spirit feels the Divine Presence more in a 3-hour mountain hike on Sunday.  You know if you can’t wait to run a few more miles, or if you feel best taking a quiet yoga class.  You know if you feel best in a monogamous relationship (the right one) or if the single life is for you.  Are you honoring your nature? Or are you trying to be someone else, to get along? If you are, you have authenticity stress.

Shakespeare, in Hamlet, through the character Polonius, said this:

This, above all: to thine own self be true.  And then it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.

3. Maybe God made you this way? If you are a person of faith, you were made a certain way, so might that not be the best way to be You?  If each of us is called to do certain things in this life, how ever will you fulfill your call if you are busy being not-You?
4. People in alignment succeed best. For whatever goals you have, for whatever you wish to be true in Life and the World, people who are in alignment are those most likely to attract and also send out the energy of the results they desire.
5. Follow Oscar Wilde’s advice. Wilde famously said, “Be yourself.  Everyone else is taken.”  You’ll be much less tired.

So here is a perfect opportunity for journaling.  In your life, right now, how are you not being You?  How could you be more yourself?  To what climate, job, activities and friends would you be best suited?  How much quiet do you like?  What do you want in your home surroundings? How can you move in that direction, however patiently?  Why not start now?  Only You can beat your authenticity stress! Now that’s Upbeat Living! ______________________________________________________

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, plus Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core, Second Edition. Her newest book is Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine.  All the books are available through her office.  Just call, or email books@kebba.com.
• Due to FB changes, our Likes appear low. Would you click to Like this blog? Doing that will earn our unending gratitude and a sharp uptick in your Good Kharma!  Thank you!
• For an appointment or to ask Kebba to speak for your group: calendar@kebba.com .      

 

Natural Help for Allergy Stress

Tags

allergy, Allergy stress, Feeling energized, Health, Kebba Buckley Button, s, stress, Stress Management, The life you want, UpBeat Living

© 2016 Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM.  World Rights Reserved.

 

 

 

Peak allergy season is upon us, in many parts of the country, and the misery of allergy stress is keeping sufferers from enjoying Upbeat Living.  Sniffles, congestion, headaches, sore throats, raspy voices, brain fog, fatigue, and even nausea are all symptoms people are having this week.  For those who want to track the density of pollen in their area, websites like Pollen.com can send out a daily email alert, with a rating of 0 to 12, and the types of pollens that are high that day.  Today, my city, Phoenix, rings in at a whopping 10.6.

Everyone knows there are over-the-counter antihistamines of several different types.  If you have been taking one, and it isn’t working while a particular pollen is high, you may want to try another type.  Also, there is now a different type of medication for allergy, an antileukotreine, that may work better for you.   A popular prescription brand is Singulair, with the generic name Montelukast.  Check with your doctor about symptoms and possible interactions with other drugs you may be taking.

But wait!  This column is usually about natural solutions!  Yes, and these tend to be low-cost and pleasant, with quick- and also extended relief.  Here are some you may want to try.

1. Rinse your sinuses with salt water. You can purchase a pot with a pointed end through which to sniff or snort the salt water.  It might be called a neti pot.  Be sure to follow the instructions on keeping the pot clean.  You can also put warm water and a pinch of salt in a small bowl, and simply sniff or snort the salt water.  Hold your head back or down, and hold your nostrils, to get the salt water into your sinuses.  Blow the water and possibly mucus out and repeat several times; you may also want to gargle with the leftover salt water.  There are packets of salt water available to add to your warm water.
2. Stay inside and be sure your air system filter has been changed. You can also run room-size air filter units ($39 to $450); park one near your work area.  Some types are silent, and some make a humming or whirring sound.  Some require purchased replacement filters, and some simply have a contact plate inside to wipe clean.  Play around with different models, to find the best type for you and your budget.
3. Outside, filter what you breathe. Wear a mask if you like, and have a fresh air filter installed in your car. There is probably also an “air recirculate” setting on your air conditioner or heater.  Use that to limit the amount of fresh air coming in.
4. Vacuum and dust. Allergens such as dust can make your seasonal allergies worse.  Use a water-bath vacuum if you have one, and use a damp cloth for dusting.
5. Try a salt lamp. Salt lamps favorably change the ions in the room, and they are said to purify the air.  Until more research is done, think of salt lamps as pleasant glowy things that offer a comforting, soft light, and may be beneficial to your health.  These are available in white or amber, in natural mineral shapes and as spheres,  from golf-ball size to bowling-ball size.  My office has an 8” round salt lamp in each room, with embedded dimmer switches; found online, they were about $35 each.
6. Wash and dry your hair every night. Yes!  Your hair efficiently picks up odors, smoke, dust, and pollens, during the day.  Then, when you lie down to sleep, you are breathing a special concentration of the very irritants that are causing your allergy stress.  So wash that hair every night.
7. Put a small, fresh towel across your pillow every night. Especially if nightly hair washing doesn’t work for your lifestyle, at least you can give yourself a clean surface to sleep on every night.  In the morning, throw that little towel in the wash and launder it on HOT with natural detergent.  Dry it on HOT.  You can also use a bath towel you have folded into a pillow size and shape.
8. Do yoga or chikung (Chinese yoga) to increase breath. Ask your yoga- or chikung teacher, or try these exercises:  in yoga, do Suryanamaskar, the Salutation to the Sun.  In chikung, do the Northwest Exercise.
9. Take Vitamin C and its friends. Vitamin C increases breath and strengthens your blood vessels.  Some Vitamin C supplements are available with other helpful vitamins, minerals or herbs that may reduce your allergy symptoms.  The two most popular are Emergen-C and Airborne.
10. Elevate your head when sleeping. If you are very congested, despite your best efforts, sleep on a wedge pillow or simply add an extra pillow.  As always, experiment to make it the most comfortable.
11. See your doctor. If your throat feels raw, or your nasal discharge is white or green, it may be time to let your doctor check for strep and its friends.  Infections are even less fun than allergies!

Have fun experimenting with a few, or all, of these natural helps.  Remember, what relieves your allergy stress may or may not work for your friend or your relative.  Hopefully, you’ll be much more comfortable after using these tips, and you’ll be able to enjoy your life during pollen season.  And that’s Upbeat Living!

______________________________________________________

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, plus Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core, Second Edition. Her newest book is Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine. All the books are available through her office.  Just call, or email books@kebba.com.
• Due to FaceBook changes, our FB likes look low.  Would you please click “Like” for this blog?  You’ll get our unending gratitude and a large uptick in your good kharma!
• For an appointment or to ask Kebba to speak for your group: calendar@kebba.com .

 

Break-In Stress and a New Normal

Tags

Break-in Stress, Kebba Buckley Button, stress, Stress Management, The life you want, UpBeat Living

© 2016 Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM.  World Rights Reserved.

Break-in November 18, 2014

He gave us Break-In Stress and a New Normal.  Let’s call the man “X”.  He was finally sentenced this week, a year and a half after he changed our lives.  A year and a half after my stomach started living in a knot.  Mr. X will have to pay restitution for the window damage and the cash rental payment he lifted off the dining room table.  He will not have to pay for my tension or the cleanup of the broken glass (still being found months later), the broken mirrors, or the cuts on the furniture.  The court mandated he pay us $1300.  And if he does make those payments to the court, his felony will be converted to a misdemeanor.

I’m having trouble letting go of Break-In Stress. Maybe that’s part of my New Normal.  Maybe it always will be. I want to share with you my letter to the court, which I read aloud at the final sentencing hearing, this week.  I had to write it, even if it didn’t change the sentence or X himself.  At the end of the hearing, the judge did assign 36 months probation with X having to pay the court system $65 per month to administer his probation, plus $50 per month for our damages.  Here’s my letter.

RE:  State vs. (X)

While we were out to dinner one night, Mr. X broke into our home, through the kitchen window, in November 2014, destroying a screen and its frame, a glass window and its frame, and breaking slats of the wooden blinds at that window.  He turned all the lights on and raced through the house, removing electronics, and breaking and cutting various furniture and décor on the way.  He took $900 cash that was lying on the dining table, and had he not been seen by a neighbor and stopped by police, he would next have taken my $3000 computer, which is my livelihood.  It was next to the suitcase he emptied for the next haul.

This is not just an issue of someone breaching our privacy, damaging our property, and stealing a $900 rent payment —which was also a part of our livelihood.  It’s an issue of changing our lives.  As long as we have the recliners that were new when Mr. X was in our home, we will see those cuts in the leather every time we look at the recliners.  It is hard, now, to relax in our home. My husband could think of nothing else for several days.  He lived on the internet, searching for security systems.  Now we live with an electronic surveillance and alarm system that reports directly to the police. Our cost of living has gone up by about $60 per month for that system, or about $750 so far. 

Many hours of our professional time were laid waste by many postponements of these proceedings over the 1 ½ years since the crime.  I had to forgo speaking engagements and individual appointments with clients, because I was perpetually saving a few days of the next week.

I hope that Mr. X will take this day as a turning point in his life.  I hope that he will imagine the life he wants and then point his efforts toward making a good life happen, if only for that baby I saw in the court hallway.   We all have choices every day. I hope the Commissioner will designate a probationary period of at least 26 months, and we hope Mr. X will pay us the $1300 restitution we have requested, which does NOT cover many of our tangible and intangible costs.  If we are paid $50 per month for 26 months, we will have been repaid what we requested.

Our thanks to all the attorneys, court personnel, and everyone who has helped bring this matter to this conclusion. Sincerely, (Signed by me)

After any event like this, we need to somehow get back into our Upbeat Living.  Have any of you ever experienced a break-in?  How did it make you feel, at the time, and later?  Were you able to continue enjoying that home?  What did you do or say to comfort yourselves?  I would like to hear about your experience.     ______________________________________________________

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, plus Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core, Second Edition. Her newest book is Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine. All the books are available through her office.  Just call, or email books@kebba.com. 
• Due to FaceBook changes, our FB likes look low.  Would you please click “Like” for this blog?  You’ll get our unending gratitude and a noteable uptick in your good kharma!
• For an appointment or to ask Kebba to speak for your group: calendar@kebba.com .

Fear Stress: Could Fear be Your Friend?

Tags

Dealing with stress, Effective living, Fear, fear stress, stress, Stress Management, The life you want, UpBeat Living

© 2016 Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM.  World Rights Reserved.

Fotolia

Fear is wearing, fear feels bad, and fear holds us back: that’s Fear Stress.  And we all have fears.  Many try to squelch fear, because they see fear as the enemy.  Yes, you can actually fear your own fear.  However, holding us back is fear’s job.

Fear serves the primal function of revving your metabolism so you can run from a saber-tooth tiger or another dangerous enemy.  Fear causes the adrenal glands to squirt out many useful chemical compounds that boost your heart rate and other functions so you can race away from danger.  In an office environment, the extra adrenaline from fearful reactions just makes you tremble, possibly flush, and definitely feel “stressed”.  Some would use the word “apprehensive.”

We have small and large fears.  Some are spiritual, some mental, some emotional, and some physical.   Here are a few real-world examples of those.  A small spiritual fear might be, “[D]id I get the Pastor’s theme Sunday?”  A large spiritual fear might be, “[I]s God really there for me?”  A small mental fear: “[C]an I find the Chandler Library?” A large mental fear:  “[W]ill I get my taxes done correctly and on time?”  A small emotional fear may be: “[O]h no, here comes that annoying person!”  A large emotional fear: “[W]ill I ever get a soulmate?”  With fears in the physical sphere, a small one might be, “[W]ill I get to the dry cleaners before 5?’  And a large fear might be, “[W]ill that breast lump be malignant?”  Small fears often pass for worry.

You can actually fear your own fear!  Wouldn’t you rather dissolve it?

Why not make a few notes for yourself on the large and small fears you have?  Do you see patterns? Sometimes, we feel fearful, but we can’t zoom in on the actual fear.  If we can at least become aware that we are feeling fear, then here is a tool to use:  paper and pen (or keyboard) in hand, ask yourself “what am I feeling?”  Write that down.  Keep asking yourself, “[W]hat am I feeling?” and “[W]hat’s that about?”  Stick with it until you are clear on your fear or fears.  Ask yourself what your fears are telling you right now.

Now consider the twofold opportunity in befriending each fear.  Yes, opportunity!  First, where would you take your life without these fears?  What would you have accomplished already, had you not been fearful?  Second, how could you grow so that your fear would dissipate?  Journal your thoughts and feelings.  Leave space so you can add more thoughts later.  Truly, you can make those fears your friends.  Fears are your partners in opportunity.

Study of spiritual principles offers us various ways to beat Fear Stress, of whatever magnitude.  Perhaps the most powerful way is to fill your conscious mind with the positive, so that fear is crowded out.  Philippians 4:8-9 gives this method: “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.”

This works even for those with no faith!  Feed the positive in your life and the negative will have no home.  Consider your fears, journalling out your thoughts and feelings.  Be honest with yourself. Then develop new habits that will displace your old fears.  It’s a new journey, but one that will endlessly enrich and expand your life.  For the life you want…why not start now?

  That’s Upbeat Living! ______________________________________________________

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, plus Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core, Second Edition. Her newest book is Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine. All the books are available through her office.  Just call, or email books@kebba.com. 
• For an appointment or to ask Kebba to speak for your group: calendar@kebba.com .

Your Radiance: Dissolving Stress with Light

Tags

Dissolving stress, Kebba Buckley Button, let your light shine, radiance, radiant, stress, Stress Management, The life you want, UpBeat Living

© 2016 Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM.  World Rights Reserved.

 

Perhaps this is the ultimate two-pronged Lightsaber for cutting down stress and building the life you want: cultivating your radiance. Huh?  Stay with me.

I recently went to the memorial service of one of the most radiant women I have ever known.  She was married to her soulmate for 35 years and was an award-winning chef.  She had children and a grandchild, siblings, friends, cousins, and many, many fans. Her life was marked by a special joyful satisfaction in helping others reach their potential: at a special camp, in classes she taught, and in her relationships.  She looked really ill on Easter morning, but she still wore that blazing, joyful smile and air of apparent optimism.  The cancer closed her eyes that week.  I believe she loved everyone, and they felt her love.  Her memorial service was the largest I have ever seen.

Another recent passing was a 30-year friend I met when I worked for the Army Corps of Engineers (really) as a hydrologist.  He was my supervisor, lucky me.  This man was a civil engineer.  He was effective, clear-minded and serene, laughing easily and helping others to be comfortable.  People knew they could tell their truth to him.  He seemed not to have stress at all.  One coworker called him “Dad”.  He was happily married for the last 35 years.  I believe people felt his unequivocal loving radiance.  His memorial service was mobbed.

Several months ago, we lost another amazing friend.  He had achieved great wealth through building a business, from which he was now retired.  Now he played golf as often as possible and enjoyed dinners and other outings with his wife of 30 years.  He married her knowing she had M.S., and knowing there might never be protocols for that condition.  But he was a generous-hearted man with a loving sense of adventure.  My husband knew him through the Shrine, which raises money for its own specialty hospitals for burned and crippled children.  Our friend rode with the motorcycle unit in parades for a number of years.  Wherever this man went, he asked people about themselves and their dreams.  He listened.  He was generous. The hundreds at his memorial service included dozens who were employees of the Biltmore Country Club, where he played golf.  Our radiant friend loved them and cared about them, and they knew it.  I have never heard so many people speak at a memorial.

Each of these three souls had a generous heart and cared greatly about people.  They took joy in uplifting others, and that uplifted them.  They listened.  They were present to others’ cares and dreams.  They extended themselves to help others reach their potential.  They cultivated their enthusiasm, their joy, their radiance.  They let their Light shine, and others were warmed forever by that Light.  Did these three have stress?  I think they disregarded stress when it tried to come their way.  They were too busy shining Light wherever they could.  They were too busy loving others.

Stress has no power in the face of great creative light.   If you are a person of faith, remember that Mark 5:16 advises us all to “let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in Heaven.”  And some people seem to pull that Heavenly Light through into their lives, sharing it with all.  Would that be a life you would want?

That would be Upbeat Living!   ______________________________________________________

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, plus the 2013 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core, Second Edition. Her newest book is Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine. All the books are available through her office.  Just call, or email books@kebba.com. 
• For an appointment or to ask Kebba to speak for your group: calendar@kebba.com .

Rudeness Stress

Tags

Dealing with stress, Effective living, Kebba Buckley Button, Rudeness Stress, stress, Stress Management, UpBeat Living

© 2016 Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM.  World Rights Reserved.

Today, I had Rudeness Stress for 20 minutes.  Someone was rude to me, in comments about one of my articles, and I was trying to decide how to respond, or if I should.  I had spent a lot of time selecting a photo and building a quote poster, and of course, writing an article I passionately believed would help people with stress.  The Rude Responder had a personal issue and saw it somehow in an aspect of the quote poster, in the background of the photo.  Yes, seriously!  Her Hot Topic was nothing whatever to do with the theme of my article.  Yet, she kept posting Facebook comments on her Hot Topic, more and more fervently, since no one was giving her the response she wanted: either a fight or an agreement.

Clearly, this woman was not familiar with my work, or she might have interacted very differently.  I teach positivity and boundaries, among other principles.  The woman was wasting her time and energy, dwelling on a negative topic she imagined was hidden in my quote poster, and over which she had no control.  So she sustained her own stress over at least a half hour period, as she kept posting the increasingly insistent anxious comments.  She was also completely off-topic for the article, and several kind comments from others did not pull her back to the topic.

When you think repeatedly about unpleasant situations, your body takes instruction from your brain.  It responds exactly as if you were actually in the stressful situation. You then feel stressed and tired and can’t think clearly.  As I struggled to explain or excuse the RR’s behavior, I felt myself getting tense.  Finally, I took my own advice to end my energy investment in this negative stress.  I cleaned out the RR’s comments and unfriended her.  Someone else’s rudeness is your opportunity to practice your boundaries and make the right energy choices.

A friend commented that this sequence dovetailed nicely with my recent articles on Junk Stress.  In those articles, I argued we should clear away anything we don’t need and then enjoy our cleaner, clearer, more energized environment.  I got the RR’s negative stress out of my life in only a short time and alleviated the Rudeness Stress I was experiencing. I do believe I’m feeling lighter, looser, and younger already!  And that’s Upbeat Living!

______________________________________________________

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, plus the 2013 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core, Second Edition. Her newest book is Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine. If you enjoyed this article, why not buy Kebba’s books?  All the books are available through her office.  Just email books@kebba.com. 
• For an appointment or to ask Kebba to speak for your group: calendar@kebba.com .

 

Stress Called in by Your Mind’s Eye

Tags

Effective living, Kebba Buckley Button, Mind's Eye, stress, Stress called in by your mind's eye, Stress Management, The life you want, UpBeat Living

© 2016 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.  

Stress is often caused by what our mind thinks is true, whether it is real or not.  Yes!  Whatever your belief system, to have the life you want, you have to hold the most positive thoughts and images in your mind.  Ernest Holmes (1887-1960), the founder of Science of Mind, described “The Law of Mental Equivalents.”  He said, basically, that what you hold in your thoughts is what you will get in your reality.  This has been proven true in a number of fields, as your brain and body take instruction from your thoughts.

Do you ever wonder why some people always cheerfully get success, while others are moody and fail at many points in life?  Success is very much rooted in what your mind thinks it knows.  Your thoughts are then acted out by your nervous system.  Even if you believe in God and that God is working for your success, a negative mental framework can crash any hot opportunity God puts in your path. Try this experiment.

1. Find a 10-pound object or a gallon bottle of liquid, and lift it before and after you say these phrases.  Ready?
2. Lift the object. Notice how heavy or light it is for you at this moment.
3. Say 10 times, at any speed, “I am a weak and unworthy person.” Your nervous system will take this literally.
4. Now pick up the object again. Notice how much heavier it is?
5. Now reverse the effect. Say 10 times, at any speed, “I am a vital, strong, valuable person.”
6. Pick up the object again. Notice it has become lighter.

Always remember that your brain and nervous system are listening to everything you say.  Consider the phenomenon that your brain and nervous system do not know the difference between a real situation of terrible conflict, like a nasty fight or an assault, and a portrayed situation, as in a TV show or movie. Truly, you choose what stress and negativity you feed your mind and body.

Consider an apparently simple example. Think of a really hot, humid summer day.  Think of a day so hot that you would rather not be out, but relaxing in your air-conditioned home, your air-conditioned car, or your air-conditioned office.  That’s a healthy strategy!  However, we all know people who, on this kind of day, must chant out loud, “Boy is it hot! It is so sticky!  Aren’t you hot?  How can you wear that?  Aren’t you miserable?  It’s just miserable!”

Chanting like that, the person will begin to feel hotter and hotter, because the brain is listening to every word they say and making it true.  And if you listen and/or repeat their comments, silently or to others, you will feel hotter also!  Do not dismiss this as “just psychological.”

The sensations are real, and you have a right to live the best and most comfortable life that you can construct for yourself.  That is the basis of the Upbeat Living philosophy.  So have several cheerful replies ready for when the heat-chanters start in.  The one I use most is, “Yes!  You know, it’s almost like Phoenix in the summertime!”  Then I leave.

Do not get sucked into anyone’s negativity, on any subject!  You will pay for it with fatigue and an unclear mind.  If you are a person of faith, remember God wants you to use your creativity to make the most of your life and your gifts. Do you want to live your best life now?  Good!  Then notice stress caused by your mind’s eye, and change your focus to create the best brain, body, and lifestyle you can.  That’s real Upbeat Living, and it’s up to you.

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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, plus the 2013 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core, Second Edition. Her newest book is Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine. All the books are available through her office.  Just email books@kebba.com. 
• For an appointment or to ask Kebba to speak for your group: calendar@kebba.com .