What Feels Good

Today's McLinky Blog Hop is based on Anything That Feels Good!
So I am going to share with you 5 photos of feel good times for me.

#1 Landon, my young grandson. I love this photo where he is wearing his "Coppie's" (Dear Hubby) cap. His eyes are bright and love is shining through. Anytime I see my grandbabies I am overwhelmed with those feel good moments.

#2. My College Girl always makes me happy. But here is a feel good moment for her. How good it feels when your at work and someone shows up with a comfort meal for you to enjoy.

#3. It is always wonderful to have a good looking man smile for your camera, thanks Steve. But more than that is having a hug from a beautiful pet. How good this feels.

#4. This is one of my favorite feel good things. And it is Nessa who is getting the pleasure of enjoying the soft warm grass as she parades around barefoot. Sad that College Girl can not do this since she is allergic to chiggers which are prolific in Texas.

5. This is a fantastic feel good for me. Being out with the sun shining, water all around and fishing with my friends. Thanks again to Nessa and her Dear Hubby for making this possible for me this year.

If Mama Ain't Happy

Well we have all heard the saying "If momma ain't happy then no one is happy!" and that is so true.
How do we stay happy? Especially when so many mothers have to juggle so many responsibilities what do we do. Have you lost sight of what makes you happy? Do you make conscious choices every day to take care of your happiness the way you take care of your health?

"What Happy Working Mothers Know" is a new book that guides us in positive psychology to leading a healthy and happy balance in our work and home life. Written by a behavioral scientist and global leadership guru, and an international lawyer and career coach, this mom-friendly guide offers practical tactics that truly work. Cathy L. Greenberg, Ph.D. and Barrett S. Avigdor J.D. wrote this book as a way to help energize and inspire women. They help remind us of that saying above. And no one can make us happy so we have to do it ourselves too!

So how do we stay happy?
Well we can look at the word happy and apply it as an acronym.
Healthy
Adaptive
Proud of Family
Proud of Work
Young at Heart

Do you try and fulfill these and if so how do you do that?

In "What Happy Working Mothers Know" you will discover the following.

• Includes interactive activities that illustrate important lessons in the book
• Shows you how to use positive psychology to shift from a scarcity mentality to an abundance

Image by zen via Flickr

mentality for workplace success
• Helps you tap into your own sense of joy every day for your own happiness and the happiness of those around you
• Science-based and packed with real case studies of real working moms

I know that with all the different 'hats' I have been wearing it is harder to focus on myself and not on my responsibilities. Super woman I am not, but as so many of us do, I try to be. Thinking that I can do it all. Care for family, home, jobs and still be out there offering more. Do you do that? Well, here is a guide to help me find my balance. Making sure I remember that
Momma is happy and healthy in order to care for her family.

"THREE THINGS EVERY PARENT SHOULD TEACH THEIR KIDS"

Here is this Monday's McLinky Blog Hop.
"THREE THINGS EVERY PARENT SHOULD TEACH THEIR KIDS"

Now we are not talking about the big things like be honest, love your parents, love God, be kind to others, accept Jesus as your Savior. But those less than obvious things.

So what would I say were the three things I taught my College Girl.

Well, let me think. I know that we had 10 rules to life. But I will not post them here. What else?

If it was a guy here I am sure we would have how to make armpit farting sounds and how to play pull my finger. And the 'goody goodies' are likely to say follow what your told by your elders and alway say yes sir and no sir.
But I am looking for those lil things that we end up finding invaluable later on.

So here is my attempt.

#1 Rely on yourself first. When you can care for yourself then you can start having others as a relationship. This way if something happens your not staying in a bad relationship because you do not have a way of caring for yourself.

#2 Pass it on. Try every day to pass it on. Do some good deed or act of kindness. Weather it is picking up the tab of the person behind you in line at the drive through. Or simple as giving a smile to the person next to you. Just find ways to Pass It On.

#3 Round up your totals in your checking account. If you write a check for 10.59 the round it to 11.00. You will never be overdrawn and at the end of the year have a lil nest egg to move to your saving account.

So what are your 3 things? Post them on to your blog and jump on the McLinky Blog Hop.


Special thanks to Purell Hand Sanitizer for sponsoring this blog hop.

Using Your Strengths

Kids do not come with instruction manuals do they? And we all feel like we should have some sort of booklet that says "Now Your a Parent". So there are many self help guides out there and many have some sage advice. But our lives are changing and sage advice does not always work in today's situations. So where do we go from there.

"Parenting by Strengths" is a workbook for the challenging situations that we have in today's world. This workbook is made up by 7 different authors. A collaboration of advice that they have found works. Using positive psychology and personal strengths to help us guide our young ones. Also giving advice on how to work as a team to parenting. There is also a website with more information with a blog like feel to it.

So if your looking around and wondering how the kids got in control or where is the other half of your equation then you may want to look at this guide. You may find some workable solutions and helpful ideas waiting for your here.

Help, No I Can Do It Myself!

I was visiting with a lady I work out with at Curves just the other day. She is a bit older than I and was telling me about when she fell and hurt herself. You see she lives alone and her children are not really thrilled about that. And I could see their point as I have my mom live with me. I feel better with her where I can help out. But my friend still enjoys her Independence and her children do not live in the area.

So I asked her how did she come to a compromise with them? And it was because she has life alert. And she did use it when she fell. I am so glad that she had thought that far ahead. But what would happen if she could not push the button? I imagined if she fell down in the house so badly that she could not even push a button because she was knocked unconscious. That thought scares me and I am sure it has come to her children's mind too.

Well my friend told me that there is a fall detector available. And it will alert emergency if they have fallen and can't push a button. She has that along with monitored smoke detectors and a big help button. Life Alert has found ways of improving her quality of life.

It is for in the home and has a fall detector that alerts 24/7 emergency personnel that they have fallen and cant even push a button. Life Alert has many different ways of working. And it seems that this smart lady is on top of all of them. I am so proud of her since she is working out so hard at Curves to keep up her strength. This helps so she can continue to live on her ranch and enjoy these years as she chooses.

Is your Child Good Enough?

Today we have a guest post by Jan Denise. Jan Denise is a syndicated newspaper columnist, an

Cover via Amazon

empowerment guru, and author of the new book, Innately Good: Dispelling the Myth that You're Not (Health Communications, 2009). You can find out more about her and her teachings at www.innatelygood.com.

5 Ways to Raise a "Good Enough" Child

By Jan Denise

How many times have you told your ebullient child he's too loud or too active? How often have you told your contemplative, cautious child not to be a scaredy-cat and so shy?

In subtle ways, you are giving your child, when he's expressing his or her unique temperament, the message that he's not good enough. He will get the same messages at school, at church or temple, and from the media. By the time your child is an adult, he will have learned how not to follow the beat of his own drummer and how not to be himself. He will have learned exactly how to act in order to get the approval of others.

If you think that's not much a problem for a child, wait till she grows up and marries someone she thinks she should marry, works in a job she hates because it's expected of her, gets in debt buying a house or car that makes her seem more successful than she really is, or is on a perpetual diet and hates her body because women are supposed to be rail thin.

You can stop this negative conditioning! As a parent, you already instinctively know that your child is good enough. Your child was born good enough. Here are five ways to reinforce that positive message.

· Be there for him. Let your child have his true feelings--sadness or fear, for example. Show him with your support, reassurance, and presence that it's okay to have emotions, and that you'll stay with him through all those feelings, without judging.

· Teach her not to personalize rejection. If someone tells her she's ugly or too brainy, for example, remind her that someone else's words aren't the truth. The truth is that she's fine--just the way she is.

· Teach him not to worry what other people think. If he's afraid to take chorus at school for fear of being teased, or cuts class with his friends to be part of the "cool" crowd, help him understand that following others' opinions won't help him be happy.

· Encourage her individuality. If your child wants to wear a pink tutu to church and it embarrasses you, consider the message you might be giving her about being an individual and expressing herself. Unless it's an act that could harm your child, try to allow her to be and do what she needs in order to fully explore who she is.

· Show him he is loved--unconditionally. Remind your child dozens of times a day, in gestures, words, and acts, that you love him just the way he is. A child who learns that he really is good enough will grow into a confident, healthy, fulfilled adult.

* * * * *