Back to Basics Living

By Gentry Ellis

Our children are growing up in a fast paced world very different from the world we grew up in. We have many great advancements and achievements to celebrate in our modern age, yet in many ways we have never been more challenged when it comes to raising our children. Today’s parents must deal with the influence of media and marketing towards children like never before. Children and parents are bombarded with commercials, advertisements, businesses, popular magazines, best-selling books, an array of toys and other products that tell us how to make our kids the brightest, the most advanced, or to give them the most opportunities. Today’s children have more material things than any other generation, yet rates of childhood depression, high school drop outs, and teen suicide are alarmingly high. Today’s children have many opportunities and many disadvantages as a result of modern life.

The modern world brings vaccines and medicines to prevent or treat deadly diseases, technologies that have revolutionized the way we live, inventions and advancements that have prolonged human life and solved some of the world’s largest mysteries. However, modern living can also be isolating, chaotic, turbulent, and unhealthy. We now have more pesticides in our food, more pollution in our water supplies, the highest obesity rates of any generation, we are further behind other industrialized nations in education, we are destroying our ozone layer, and seeing weapons of mass destruction being produced around the world. We’ve lost our since of moral duty, social conscious, and with it our character. Too many people are afraid to stand up for causes and injustices and just go along with their heads down to the status quo.

We need to take control over our own lives before we can effectively bring change in our overall communities. There is a strong need for us to take a look in the mirror and reflect on how we are living our lives. Are we raising our children to the best of our abilities or are we merely surviving parenthood? Why do parents feel the need to smother our kids with materialistic things? Why are our kids overeating? Why are the average Americans thousands of dollars in debt? Are we trying to fill a void? Are we trying to make ourselves happy by over consuming? If so, it doesn’t seem to be working. Studies have shown that compared to individuals of the Great Depression era we have so much more wealth and luxuries, yet American’s are no happier or content than they were during this impoverished time. For many of us, we’ve lost our sense of purpose. We are not living life to its fullest. We need to regain control of our lives and get back to the basics. Materialism can spoil values and happiness. At the end of our lives, most of us will not reflect back on our lives and regret not working longer hours, we will regret not building better relationships or establishing more values in which we live by. Here are some of my tips for living a fuller life:

• You are what you eat. Learn to lessen processed artificial foods in your diet and rely more on healthy whole foods that are naturally found in nature.
• Get active. Find some active things you can fit in your lifestyle and enjoy doing. If you enjoyed roller skating as a child, invest in some skates and spend a weekend on the nature trails. Take nature walks. Take up a new sport. Learn to play tennis with your spouse. Enlist family bike rides. Go hiking. Take an exercise class.
• Establish a support network. You need both friends and family. Join organized groups with people who share a common interest. You might enjoy parenting groups, religious organizations, civic groups, or community centers. Reconnect with old friends from various stages in your life. Relationships are the foundation of life. They need you to nurture them, and work at them. They don’t happen on their own.
• Don’t just spend quality time with your children, spend quantity time with them. Get on the floor and play with them. Attend and actively participate in their extracurricular activities. Know your children’s friends and where they spend their time. Be involved in their school. Read to/with your kid’s everyday.
• Gardening has numerous benefits for people of all ages, particularly for elderly and young children. It stimulates all our senses through sights, sounds, textures, and scents. It can help us connect with memories and the past. Garden as a family. Get young kids and grandparents involved whenever possible.
• Have arts and craft time daily with your kids. The biggest complaint most parents have about art is the mess. Learn to get past this. Keep a supply of crayons, markers, or paints in freezer type bags, purchase art paper or just reuse paper grocery bags. Make a time everyday to get these out and so something creative with your kids. Don’t just put them in front of the art, get involved with them. Older kids might enjoy a more detailed craft such as building wooden models, or scrap booking.
• Cook and eat together as a family. Most times you’ll end up eating more healthfully than you would if you dined out, and you’ll be forced to have some conversation as you sit at the dinner table.
• Involve kids in running errands and housecleaning when appropriate. Even toddlers can help do chores around the house such as dusting, cleaning windows or hard surfaces with non-toxic cleaners. Running errands such as taking the dog to the vet, going grocery shopping should also be viewed as educational for kids. Get them involved by helping you make a list or pick out items from the store. We also enjoy taking our son to specialty stores such as a health foods store or pet store.
• Get outside whenever possible. Bundle up and get out in cold weather, slather on sunscreen and get out in the summer, and put on your rain gear and get out in the spring and fall. Kids need outdoor play and having some of this daily is optimal. Dress for the weather and get them some fun gear such as sleds, rain boots, sand/water toys, bubbles to blow, and get outdoors. Don’t just go to parks, experiment with going on nature walks and hikes, local arboretums or community gardens, large sport fields, etc.
• Have holidays and rituals with your kids. Make these regular things they can have fun and expect on an early basis. You can not only do mainstream holidays but you can incorporate lesser known holidays such as Arbor day, Earth Day, seasonal solstices into your routine. Make a point in making the holiday’s special and fun for kids.
• Teach children to place less value on material things and play up the fun of little things. Make the first blooms of spring even more fun and exciting than getting a new toy. Instead of buying a new book, go the library each week and check out several. As soon as your child can write his/her own name, let them get their own library card. Take your kids somewhere you can feed ducks. Spend money on a membership to your local zoo or aquarium versus buying a new toy for a birthday or holiday. Remember, children learn from us—try to be conscious of how material we live our own lives.
• Do community service work with your kids. Even from a young age, kids can be involved with volunteer work and learn about the community they live in. Visit a nursing home with your toddler. Go tour the local fire station with your preschooler. Have a best used party for your older child. They can have a fun party with their friends with snacks, games and fun. On the invitation have each child bring a sack of items such as lightly used clothing, winter coats, etc. then take the items with your child and donate them to a local homeless shelter the following week. The ideas are limitless.
• Consider taking a pet into your home. Research to determine which type of pet best fits your lifestyle. Even something lower maintenance such as a hamster or goldfish can teach a child about unconditional love and the responsibility of caring for a living creature.
• Have weekly family meetings where you can discuss any issues such as vacation planning to chore work together as a family.
• Vacation as a family at least once a year. This need not be an expensive trip to Disney World—just a weekend getaway to something fun in your own state will serve a useful purpose. If possible, try to also take a vacation once a year just you and your spouse. Offer family members or friends a child swap where you take their kids for a few days and vice-versa and give yourself and your spouse a much needed break.

Gentry is a stay at home mom, with a passion for writing. For more articles on easy living, visit http://www.genstyleliving.com.

Articles are © genstyleLiving

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5 Favorite Forms of Comfort For Cold Weather And-Or "Hard Times"

By Barbara Zagata

Everywhere you turn there's headlines and programming to bring you down. Being in that space won't do you any good. In fact, it ups the wear and tear on your psyche and your spirit. Decisions made from an exhausted state tend to perpetuate more of the same. Here are five ways to bring a smile to your face and relieve a little stress.

I learned this from a friend who specializes in creating nurturing environments---Lighting lots of candles just before dusk creates a feeling of warmth in the home that truly soothes the soul.

Almost as good as having a fireplace, flannel sheets make winter worthwhile! You will love a rainy day when you get to linger in bed and feel embraced by the thick nap of the softest material ever invented! If you want to really spoil yourself you can add a velvet or micro-fiber duvet cover. Then you can spend your weekend mornings pondering which really is softer.

Clear clutter even if you have to put it in boxes until spring-cleaning. Because you'll be spending more time indoors this is more important than ever. While clutter can feel comforting on some levels it also adds a level of low-grade stress. Better to surround yourself with things that really do add to your joy factor.

If it brings you down put it down! Inspirational only. Put yourself on a media diet. The world won't end if you don't read all that today. If you really need to know what's going on ask a friend. Then notice how you feel talking about that. With so much fear being cultivated these days it's all the more important to avoid those concrete thoughts.

Small inspirational books that don't feel overwhelming are the best. Focus on finding thoughts that are uplifting, then consistently absorb those and your heart will feel lighter.

The pleasures of the table---Whatever it takes to make this happen, make it happen---Sunday dinners. Invite a friend or an entire family to join you. When you cook together it won't feel like another chore on your to do list. Let the kids help. They actually enjoy it! Make an entrée plus a big pot of soup for the next day. You'll still only have to clean the kitchen once and Mondays will feel a little less like a Monday when you have some warm bread and home made soup to look forward to...

Enjoy! Financial Inspiration is the next best thing to a Cash Injection! Barbara Zagata is the CEO of Santa Barbara Soul Food and the author of Don't Stress~Manifest---an empowering little E-book designed to set you financially free forever.

For ongoing financial inspiration, subscribe to Pathway2Abundance, the FREE Ezine to help you continuously increase your quality of life.

You can find lots of Freebies , including a mini poster ($7 value) of just the "golden nuggets" of inspiration from Don't Stress~Manifest, special reports, more articles and a link to my blog at http://www.StressFreePersonalFinance.com

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How to Relax and Be Happy During Hard Times

By Wil Langford

Knowing how to relax and be happy, no matter what is happening around you, is a real gift. There have been real life accounts of people who were rich and healthy, who seemed to lead an ideal life, and yet, they were unhappy or sad. On the other hand, there have also been accounts of people whose lives were hard, even painful, and yet, they were happy. How can this be?

The reason for these paradoxes is that happiness and sadness are not determined by circumstances, but by our state of mind. That may be one of the greatest gifts of life and each of us may partake of it merely by learning how to focus on things that bring peace, relaxation, happiness. Whatever we focus on will determine our mental, emotional, and even physical state. Of course, there are some limitations, but I have rarely found a person who couldn't be happier or more relaxed.

I learned the value of focusing my mind many years ago when I had to overcome a very big challenge. I had a young family to support and managed to land a job in a shipyard repairing submarines. It was a good job with health benefits and security that I needed for my wife and son. However, I was assigned to the torpedo room and was told that I would be working inside tanks and even inside the long torpedo tubes. I had suffered from pretty severe claustrophobia all my life and had omitted to mention that when I got hired because I was afraid I wouldn't get the job if I brought it up.

For those of you who may never have been on a submarine, particularly a small, fast attack submarine, let me describe it for you. Every square inch of space in a submarine is precious and almost every part has equipment and pipes in the way. Humans are the last piece of equipment to be added and therefore, we have to work around all those pipes, wires, machines, pumps and gear. Worse yet, a torpedo tube is a long metal pipe, like a big gun barrel, with a door on each end. At one end is the torpedo room and at the other end, the ocean. It is cold, dark, and so small you have to crawl in and out. There isn't enough room to turn around in a torpedo tube so if you crawl in headfirst, you are looking at the dark end.

The first day I went into the torpedo room, my boss asked if I was afraid of tight places. I tried to hide my fear and said, "No." He then told me to crawl inside the torpedo tube with an inside micrometer (a measuring device) to measure at certain intervals the entire length of the tube. I was afraid that I would panic once in the tube, but managed to crawl inside with my drop light and micrometer, pen and paper. Then, a thought occurred to me. Maybe if I kept focused on measuring and writing, I wouldn't notice the tight spot or think about a panic attack.

I crawled to the far end of the tube, about 30 feet away, all the while thinking about the job and how to do it. Before I knew it, I was at the far end of the tube. I put the light down and started measuring and writing the measurements on the paper. When I say I focused, I mean I really focused, consequently, I did a great job. Unfortunately for me, I did such a good job that I wound up working in those torpedo tubes day after day, measuring and grinding them back into shape.

I crawled all over those submarines during the next two years, in tighter spots than the torpedo tubes, too. My method was always the same, just focus on what you want to do and do it. The fact that I was also studying meditation and learning how to focus was a great help to me, as well. It was a valuable life lesson about how your surroundings have less to do with your feelings than your attitude and desire. My desire was to provide for my family and myself, even if it meant doing something difficult and fear producing, my attitude was that I could do it if I focused on the job.

It may be the same for you. Focus on what you want in life. I am not talking about material things, but rather, the feelings you want. What thought makes you feel happy? You will only be as happy or sad as you feel and thoughts lead to feelings. While chemical changes in the body and brain do affect our feelings, our thoughts affect the chemicals in our bodies. Every thought that you have is an electro-chemical event in your body and produces polypeptides and hormones that affect how you feel, even your physical health. While clinical depression is a medical condition that does require medical care, for many of us, our thoughts and learning to use them for our own happiness, is all it takes to feel good even when times are bad.

Wil Langford, R. Hy. offers his guided meditations for relaxation and exploring the self, at http://9best.info/guided_meditation.html

His guided meditations for relaxation and happiness have helped many people to find happiness and change their lives for the better.

He is an expert on human consciousness and the author of Parts Consciousness Therapy. http://yourlovedonesyourself.com as explained in his book, "Your Loved Ones, Your Self; Finding and Raising the Family Within."

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8 Steps To Stay Abundant During Hard Times

By Daisy Baad

There's more than enough money in the world to get you through hard times. That's the first thing to keep in mind during financial troubles. I went through some tough conditions several times in my life and I'm still amazed at how I got through them.

I've put together some tips you could use to get you moving forward again.

1. OPERATE FROM THE MINDSET OF ABUNDANCE. This is the best way to set the stage on staying abundant amidst financial crisis. The Abundant Mindset begins by believing that there is more than enough supply of anything and everything for anyone and everyone at anytime, every time.

2. PROCEED BY MAKING A CHECKLIST OF WHAT YOU NEED TO GET YOU THROUGH THE WEEK AND PRIORITIZE. Be specific when you identify the items and include the day you need it the most (e.g. income generating activity by next week, five hundred dollars for electricity by Friday and the like). You may put them in columns for easy reading.

3. FOLLOW IT UP WITH A LIST OF PEOPLE WHO COULD HELP YOU ACCESS THE SPECIFIC ITEMS YOU NEED. The best people who could help you are members of your family and close friends. Include them in the list for they are blessings provided for you. If you know people who may have direct contact with influential individuals whose help you need then include them in the list as well.

4. EXPRESS THE TRUTH ABOUT YOUR SITUATION. Communicate with the people on the list and tell them about your present condition. It may not be an easy task for it requires you to be vulnerable. Do it anyway, for the process in itself helps you heal whatever wounds you may have incurred in the recent past. In my case, it healed a broken relationship with a family member.

No matter how uncomfortable it may be, the fact remains that we do need the wisdom and resources of others to help us succeed in life. I'm sure you've helped others before and maybe these same people are just waiting for an opportunity to help you in return. Give them that chance.

5. BE OPEN AND WILLING TO TAKE ON NEW WAYS OF GETTING THINGS DONE. Accept whatever these family members or friends can offer. If they can give advice then accept the advice willingly and consider them in your decision making. If they offer more than you expected then by all means receive it with gladness and joy. Dr. Deepak Chopra has said "Receiving is as necessary as giving. To graciously receive is an expression of the dignity of giving".

Be willing to take the necessary actions that go along with the assistance they offer you. If it need be that you learn a new skill or do something beyond your comfort zone then take the challenge with pride. Approach the task as one that brings hope and faith.

6. VIEW EVERY ACTIVITY AS ONE FILLED WITH OPPORTUNITY AND VALUABLE LESSONS. Remember that the power to recreate the self anew comes as more knowledge and wisdom is gained through experience. Notice the abundance of knowledge and skills presented to you with every act you decide to take. The process then becomes an exciting adventure of personal growth and maybe even professional growth.

7. BE GRATEFUL EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. Stay connected to the Source of all abundance by having a grateful heart and more of that which you appreciate will come into your life. Moving with the attitude of gratitude will surely bring in more opportunities to develop, increase, grow and bear fruit.

8. KNOW THAT ALL IS WELL IN LOVE. You are an individual with the power to turn your life around for it is inherent in man to create a better life for himself and his family to express love. Love has motivated you through all the steps. Let it be the strong foundation with which you now live your life.

Be proud of what you've accomplished by following the eight steps. Through it all you have learned to stay abundant during hard times. The "hard times" now begin to transform into "growing times" and that is part of what we call living the Abundance Lifestyle.

One of the authors of Loving Abundance where you can find more ways to live a lifestyle of abundance. She also conducts Abundance Workshops and Motivational Talks. She is currently the Artistic Director of Out of the Box Training and Productions.

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5 Tips To Keep On Being Motivated In Hard Times

By Suhardi Wang

"It's not what's happening to you now or what has happened in your past that
determines who you become. Rather, it's your decisions about what to focus on, what things mean to you, and what you're going to do about them that will determine your ultimate destiny" - ANTHONY ROBBINS

It is always true that every person in this world must have experienced or been trapped in trouble and in hard times, regardless who you are; poor or wealthy, looking-good or not, young or old, male or female. Nobody is free from the trouble. All of the people truly want that happiness always comes to them.

However, good times and hard times always come in rotation. Sometimes you will have good times and sometimes you will have hard times. People have a tendency to feel good and great while the good times are coming to them, and otherwise they tend to feel bad, down, depressed and disappointed while they are in hard times and face the trouble.

That is not really the barrier if you can simply overcome your trouble so it will not affect all aspects of your life and break you down. There are some persons who are able to survive and get up in hard times and finally succeed in overcoming the trouble. These all depend on how you react, interpret and are going to do with them.

There are some tips that can help you to keep on being motivated although you are in hard times, so they can get you up or at least make you better ahead.

1. Realizing that the troubles do not make you down, rather they will make you better and stronger than you are today.

When you are facing the troubles, that means that you are being prepared to be a better and stronger person to face the bigger troubles and challenges in the future. The god will not give you the troubles that are bigger than your ability to solve them. Take them as your stepping stones to be more successful and better person. Even there is a quote that says if you want more success, you must multiply your failure and troubles.

2. Seeing something from different point of view.

You need to know that behind the troubles or hard times, there must be positive things we can take, so you can learn from them to solve them. Instead of feeling bad and down due to your troubles, it is better if you see them from different angle or point of view. It's like you are the producer of yourself that can change the viewing angle of the camera as your will.

3. Motivating yourself

One of the differences between the one that succeeds in getting up from hard times and the one that keeps on being down is that the one that gets up from hard times always self-motivate no matter how hard the moment they have. Motivation is your fuel to survive from your hard times. If you simply have no motivations, it will be easy for you to give up soon when the troubles and difficulties attack you. For more about self-motivating, please see my article "the power of motivating yourself".

4. Humor and laughter

Humor and laughter is an effective way to cure your sadness. This is free resource you can get anywhere and anytime with no cost. Even the laughter can give you better health and young-looking. Humor and laughter can make you laugh and smile that can destroy your bad mood. Turn on your TV and watch the humor programs or shows.

5. Refreshing yourself

Another way to eliminate your negative feeling is by refreshing. Refreshing is good to refresh your body and mind so you can think more clearly and wisely in solving your problems. Stressed and depressed mind can't help you more in overcoming them. You can visit your favorite place like beach with the relaxing sound of birds and wave, fresh-aired mountain, or you can do your hobbies like fishing in the sea, swimming or others. That will make you more relaxed. Refreshing will make you like the full power battery that has been re-charged so you are ready to face your life.

The conclusion is motivation can make you not to give up too soon when you are facing troubles. If you are chasing your goals and dreams, you will be faster and easier in achieving them with your motivation.

If you enjoy this article, find more excellent motivational articles and don't miss information at Daily Motivation

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How We Made Hard Economic Times the Best Time of Our Lives

By Francine Larson

Henry Ward Beecher: Wealth Quotes
It is not what we take up, but what we give up, that makes us rich.

All of our plans and dreams are broken now. If everything had happened the way we planned, we would be taking trips. We would be enjoying the dinner theatre. We would be debt-free. However, due to the housing market slump, we lost quite a bit of money. Within a few months, the value of our beautiful home had deteriorated about $70.000. We had put it up for sale so that we could down size and reserve some money for traveling and unexpected expenses in our old age. Foolishly, we had purchased another home before this one sold. You know the rest. As they say, the rest is history.

We both came out of retirement and got jobs. We were just existing. I got a job in retail. I was dog-tired every night but actually that kept me going. When I wasn't at work, I was sleeping or eating. I was trying to mask my depression. Jim was working in telemarketing. He dreaded each day of begging people to buy magazines. As most of us know, it is not easy to get a good job in our retirement years. (I hope that the next generation will forgive people for being old and give them a chance to earn a decent living). Somehow, we barely managed to pay two mortgage payments, two utility bills, double home- owners insurance and taxes.

It is now two years later and we are still under the cloud of debt and shame. Our realtor is still trying to sell our home. (People who are looking at it are offering about $100,00 less than it was listed for.) These buyers remind me of vultures coming to eat the last remains of a dead carcass. Having said that, I would probably do the same if I were on the other end of the situation.

The stress and humiliation brought us both to our knees. Every month that went by was like a beating. Every beating seemed to hurt worse.

Jim was such a good planner for retirement. Many years he worked two jobs and we saved and invested in stock. Now, the stock market was plunging. My heart ached as I thought of how hard we both had worked, only to have it snatched away.

Then one day, it dawned on me that I had to change. The circumstances were not going to change. We had already wasted two years of our life worrying and stressed. I could not go on another day feeling so hopeless and victimized.

We moved to our new home that we had purchased. (We had tried to sell it, also.) It didn't really matter which home we lived in and the new one was paid for. We would now pursue at least part of our plan, even though the mortgage and expense of the other house loomed over our heads.

I was still sleeping every chance I got. I knew I had to pull myself up and get going again.

I started looking for things to be thankful for.

New acquaintances urged me to walk with them every morning. I made myself do that. (See my other story: "Weight Watchers and Me.") After a couple of weeks, I began to go to the pool. Jim began to make new friends. We were going through the motions of every day living. I was smiling but inside crying.

See this video, "Smile." Can you watch it without crying? Here is little Connie Talbot: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRuPJSZnXiM

Again, I realized the situation was never going to change. We had to change. We turned in our cell phones, got the cheapest cable TV we could. We began to cook nutritious cheap meals. We also had to cut down on giving gifts. We still give, but within our means. (See my article: "My Good Goodie Drawer."

One day when our granddaughter, Alayna was visiting us, we decided to go on a picnic. It was a very simple thing. We drove up on a high hill near our house. The view is always beautiful. We took chocolate cake. Sunny, our faithful dog went with us. Alayna looked us at the breath-taking sunset and said, "This is the best day of my whole vacation! This is one of my very best days!"

I knew she was right.

Lucretius: Wealth Quotes
It is great wealth to a soul to live frugally with a contented mind.

Henry Ward Beecher: Wealth Quotes
It is the heart that makes a man rich

He is rich according to what he is, not according to what he has.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Francine_Larson
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