Come Alive

"Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."-Howard Thurman

Day 6, Friend Day

Friday Friend Day!

Take a friend out for coffee or lunch.

Remind them how much they mean to you.

Do something with them that they love to do.

Help them with a project they haven't had time to get to.

Day 5, 28 Ways, 28 Days

Day 5:  Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Recycle Day

Recycle those old magazines that have been laying around.

Pick up the trash in your local park or roadway.

Take the scraps of things you find around your house and make something creative!

Go through your closet and take you clothes donation to your local mission.

What Is Your Legacy?

What legacy are you leaving behind?  What will others remember about you?  Will they remember you were loving, caring, giving or will they remember the opposite?  If you are reading this, you are still breathing and have time to make changes right now.  Don't wait to tell someone you love them, you are proud of them.  Don't wait to lend a helping hand, a kind word.  Decide right now to live the life you want etched in the minds and souls of others.  Life is short.  Live it out.  

Faith

Life Is Happening....Disconnect!

3 out of 5 people admitted they spend more time on their cell phones than with their significant others. Do you really need to be on your phone while with them, too? If you haven’t turned off your phone and spent time with your significant other for awhile, pledge to go electronics-free for a night. Your relationship will thank you.

I was at dinner with my husband the other night, we chose to leave our phones in the car. I glanced around the restaurant and 9 out of 10 people were on their phones, playing games, checking FB, tweeting. All had either their significant other, friend, or child with them. Very few looked away from their phones. Very few had real conversations. Only a handful put their phones down long enough to order. Real relationships matter. Real conversations matter! Choose to put your phones away and invest in face to face real conversations.

Self Sabotage

Stop Sabotaging Your Potential for Change. 

Subconsciously, we use defense mechanisms to protect ourselves from situations we perceive to be scary or painful. A part of you may want to grow and change, but another part may be resisting because change always takes you into new territory in your thinking and emotions.

If you find you are getting anxious, fearful, angry, frustrated, dismissive or unmotivated, then defense mechanisms are at work. Watch for them and know they are signs of fear that want to hold you back. Once you identify that fear, courageously move through it and keep going!

Rehydrate Your Soul

Take some time away from your phone, TV, computer, and just be quiet. It's good to rehydrate your soul.

Be The Change

People find hope when you offer them time. Time to listen, time to help out, time to just be there for them. Don't waste sharing hope with someone.

Leave It Behind You

It's Monday, decide to leave fear behind this week.  

Push forward, take the first step.  

You can do this.

Make Real Memories

Make real memories 

With those you LOVE

Today!

New Week Challenge

Will you take this challenge this week?  

Make A Difference

Help someone out today, in some way.  

You could help them with yard work, make them some cookies, watch their children, 

but mostly just listen, 

be compassionate, and be available.  

Live Life Now!

Live Life Now! Stop waiting and go for your goals now.

7 Signs You're Spending Too Much Time Looking At Your Phone

What other signs can  you add to this list?  Keep an eye on your social media time, and make sure to put real life, real relationships ahead of your phone/tablet time.  

7 Signs You’re Spending Too Much Time Looking at Your Phone

A few warning signs that are not to be ignored.

Jesse Carey is a contributing editor to RELEVANT and a mainstay on the weekly RELEVANT podcast. He's also a really funny guy, as evidenced by his Twitter account.

When the entire world is at your fingertips, the temptation to never let it out of your sight is understandable.

Life-altering online advancements like GPS location software, social media connections, Candy Crush and an unending supply of Fail GIFs are available to us whenever we want, wherever we want. It’s an amazing time to be alive when anyone can watch this “Thanks Obama” clip on an endless loop while they wait in line at Starbucks.

Recent research has confirmed that cell phone “addiction” is actually a real thing. Professionals have even devised methods of determining if you suffer from a psychological condition that warrants actual medical intervention (symptoms include: reduction of competing behaviors, engaging in the behavior despite risks and negative consequences, withdrawal, etc.). But even if you’re not neurologically dependent on playing Kim Kardashian’s iPhone game for a few moments while you’re pumping gas, there still may be ways to determine that you are spending too much time looking at your phone.

Here’s a list to help.

1. You Look at Your Phone While You’re Bored at Church.

Even the best pastors have off days. And, let’s just be honest here, it’s easy to let your mind drift on Sunday mornings from time-to-time. But a sermon is no time to be checking Twitter. That’s what announcement time is for.

2. You Use Your Phone as a Crutch in Socially Awkward Situations.

We’ve all been there: You show up at a party before the rest of your friends, and you don’t know anybody. Instead of attempting to meet new friends, you pull out your phone and pretend you are texting someone something REALLY important. Next time, try keeping the phone in your pocket and do what they did in the old days—mingle.

3. All of Your Alone Time is Spent on Your Phone.

If every moment of solitude, waiting at a restaurant, bathroom break or evenings by yourself is filled with browsing the Internet or playing phone games, you may want to cut back.

4. You Consistently Have ZERO New Items in Your Facebook Newsfeed.

Yup, you’re checking Facebook too much.

5. It’s the Last Thing You See Before Bed, and the First Thing You Look in the Morning.

Besides avoiding some negative health effects, it’s probably a good practice to give yourself a little time before bed and when you wake up before checking your email. Pray, talk to your spouse, read—whatever you do, stay unplugged for a few minutes and enjoy some moments of non-digital life.

6. You Check for Social Media Updates at Traffic Lights.

If every red light is simply an excuse to look at something on your phone, you are walking the (literally) dangerous tightrope of texting and driving. Trust us, that’s never a good idea.

7. Airplane Mode Induces Anxiety.

If a flight attendant asks that you place your phone in airplane mode, and you consider defying FAA regulations so as not to end a text conversation, miss a Twitter update or continue to play an online game, you might have a problem.

Read more at http://www.relevantmagazine.com/culture/7-signs-you%E2%80%99re-spending-too-much-time-looking-your-phone#IspwTP800G0bt7XQ.99

Screen Disease

Make the time with your family a time actually WITH your family, not electronics. 

Disconnect when you are  together.

No Fear

What would you do if you let fear go?

Learn To Laugh

Learn to laugh at yourself and at the world. Instead of getting bogged down in the mud of worry and fear, laugh and be happy because I am by your side. Just as parents delight in the laughter of their children, so I delight in hearing you laugh. I feel happy when you trust Me enough to enjoy your life." -Jesus Calling for Kids by Sarah Young

Let.It.Go

There is enough heartache and sorrow in this life without our adding to it through our own stubbornness, bitterness, and resentment. –Dieter F. Uchdorf   

Seeds of bitterness, left unchecked, can harbor into a full-blown anger that consumes us. It festers and eats away at us.  It destroys our happiness and steals our joy.  Ultimately, bitterness only hurts ourselves, and not the person we are angry with.  Letting go of bitterness is a conscious, intentional act.  Letting go of bitterness restores our joy, and gives us freedom to truly live life again.  

Be Someone

Be someone who inspires others and makes them feel important.