Ten Ways to Increase Your Peace of Mind

1. Take time to enjoy the beauties of nature. Listen to the leaves rustling in the wind. Observe the clouds floating across the sky. Notice the varied hues of flowers, plants, and trees. Focus your attention on one beautiful object in your surroundings.

2. Spend daily time in prayer and meditation. If you feel troubled, cast your cares upon the Lord. Ask for help with those issues that concern you, trusting that He will help you.

3. Express gratitude to God and others. Pay particular attention to those blessings you may not have noticed recently: warm water for showers and baths, sheets and bedding, windows, the kindness of friends and strangers, food, electricity, the list is endless. So many do not have the essentials of life that we sometimes take for granted.

4. Do something you love to do. I love to blog, so that’s easy for me. (I’ll be on vacation for a week, so I may not be able to blog for a few days.)

5. Say something positive to yourself and others. One mother of a rebellious teen told him, “I really like the way you’re breathing today!”

6. Remember the many ways that God has blessed and protected you in your life. Record some of them in your journal, if possible.

7. Listen to inspiring music, or sing or hum a favorite song.

8. Forgive anyone who has offended you. Nothing can destroy our peace of mind faster that feelings of bitterness or contention. Turn judgment over to God, and accept and love others the way you wish to be loved and accepted.

9. Take time to relax. When I was a busy mother, sometimes I had to close the bathroom door for a few moments and take a few deep breaths. Hopefully, you can find some time to breathe deeply, reflect on a beautiful thought or two, and just enjoy being alive.

10. Repeat one positive affirmation, such as, “Every day in every way I am getting better and better,” or “I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me,” or “My life has meaning, and as I am a child of God, I have infinite worth.”

© Carol Brown