(30) Give – Beat Loneliness | 57 Ways

THIRTY (57 Ways to Beat Loneliness & Depression)

Give

The amazing thing about giving is that not only does it have an amazing way of coming back to you many times and in many more ways than you could have imagined, but the very act of giving and depriving yourself motivates you to think of ways to accomplish your goals despite what you no longer have.

The other day, I wanted to attend a conference, but I also really wanted to give to this charity. I had been procrastinating giving to the charity for months, until finally I decided that I would just give to them, and figure out how to pay for the conference some other way. The funny thing is that I was able to volunteer to help out with the conference and only had to pay half of what the conference was worth! I ended up getting my money back almost immediately because giving that money forced me to think of other more creative ways to accomplish my goals.

Whatever it is you are really desiring, give it away. If it’s companionship, give it to someone else, and just listen to them and be there. If it’s money, give it to someone who is less fortunate. If it’s encouragement, give it to others. If it is friendship, become the best friend you can be to others. If it is time, serve others with your time. You will be amazed to see how much more of everything you have when you are willing to freely give.

Remember life is meant to be won!

Want to learn more about beating loneliness? Click here

Happy 4th of July!

Here in the U.S. 4th of July is when we take the time to celebrate the independence of the United States of America. Yes it’s not perfect here, but it’s better than in many other places.

Let us take the time to celebrate, be thankful, and be appreciative that we can live in freedom.

So how are you celebrating independence day?

 

When I doubt God: Every Single Woman's Battle – Book Review | IyasOStuff.com

I have excuses, many good ones, and many not so good ones.

I can always say my friends said it was okay, or that I was weak, and I did not know better, but the truth always remains, I did not trust God, I doubted his goodness, I doubted that he would never withhold something good from me.

Regrettably, it can be so easy for us to doubt God as single women, that’s why I’m thrilled to be reviewing the book* Every Single Woman’s Battle by Shannon Ethridge (coincidentally the same week the Boundless Summer challenge is beginning)

What can I say about the book, but that I am grateful that people do what God tells them to do.

  1. First of all, it’s a workbook, I generally dislike workbooks, but this workbook was good, I enjoyed it.
  2. What is it that concerns you? Do you feel weird because women are not supposed to be sexual beings, but you are?
  3. What is it that bothers you? Do you think that masturbation is okay because no one gets hurt, even though it doesn’t feel quite right?
  4. What is it that you really want? Do you wish you were who God wants you to be, but you feel like you could never be?
You feel like you’ve already messed up, you’ve already compromised, there can never be any reprieve. You continually tell yourself how weak you are and how you can never be strong – letting the devil, his words and his suggestions continually condemn you.
Well there’s HOPE! Hallelujah!
Pick up the book, it will bless you.
* WaterBrook Multnomah provided me with a free copy to review.

(29) Set Goals – Beat Loneliness | 57 Ways

TWENTY-NINE (57 Ways to Beat Loneliness & Depression)

Set Goals (with plans to accomplish goals)

There are many things we wish would happen. I often wish that I could have so much money that I would never have to worry about money, or that I knew who my future husband will be (so that when some random guy came up to him I could just smile and say “no thanks”), or that carrot cake cupcake with almond sprinkles would not taste  oh so delicious (or that if they continued tasting delicious then at least they would be zero calories). But wishing and setting goals are two completely different things.

When we decide to lose weight, or to stop a bad habit, or to spend more time with family, if we don’t have a plan to accomplish what we have set out to do, then what we are doing is just wishing. When we are serious about accomplishing something, we must create a goal, and come up with a plan to help us accomplish that goal.

I know there are probably hundreds of things you would like to do, or change, or become, but we must start with one. Just one. There is incredible power in focus. So pick one thing you would like to do, and give your self a month to accomplish this goal (or at least a major part of the goal), and then go ahead and do just that! And watch your confidence sky rocket!

Remember life is meant to be amazingly surprising!

Want to learn more about beating loneliness? Click here

(28) Pick Intimate Friends Wisely – Beat Loneliness | 57 Ways

TWENTY-EIGHT (57 Ways to Beat Loneliness & Depression)

Pick Intimate Friends Wisely

We all long to belong, to connect, to feel like we are accepted for who we are. When we meet people who seem to accept us in all our “mess,” we get really eager. We want to turn them into best friends or sometimes we want to make them our spouses immediately. The problem with this is that it all takes time. It takes time to really get to know someone. It takes time to really know how you feel about someone. It takes time to feel like you can be comfortable with someone. It takes time to feel like you can truly trust someone.

You also have to make sure that the person as an intimate friend values the same things that you value. If you value honesty and integrity, and your intimate friend does not, there will always be disappointments. If you value chastity and your intimate friend does not, there will be times when your inner voice and your friend’s voice will be suggesting you do two completely different things.

Your intimate friend does not have to believe the exact same things you do, but they must have the same values you do, or else you will find yourself in some stranger’s house doing things you never dreamed of doing, and wondering how you got to this place.

Remember life is meant to be valued.

Want to learn more about beating loneliness? Click here

(27) Spend Time With Kids – Beat Loneliness | 57 Ways

TWENTY-SEVEN (57 Ways to Beat Loneliness & Depression)

Spend Time With Kids

Kids are the most amazing creatures in the world! They are so smart and so confident and so capable of doing the most awesome things. To them nothing is impossible. They are very trusting, yet very wise – and so full of curiosity. Sometimes when I take a walk with my niece I notice things that had always been there, but I was just too busy to notice. She looks at the grass and touches it and tries to taste it (she’s curious about what it taste like). She looks at the fire hydrant and asks me for the hundredth time to tell her what it’s called, which I patiently and willingly do, no matter how many times she asks. She hears a dog barking in the distance and asks if it’s a dog? Yes little one it’s a dog. When things start to scare her, she holds my hands tightly, but other times she explores and she learns something new every time.

When we spend time with kids we realize how much of life we have missed so far, and how delicious life could really be if we let it. We learn that what we think is so important and so serious is not nearly as important or as serious as we think it is. We learn to be confident again, because if we are patient enough to continue encouraging kids, we must be patient to continue encouraging ourselves. We learn to trust again, because if this little one can trust us, even though we know we have made many mistakes, then we know we can trust others even though they may make many mistakes.

Remember life is meant to be delicious!

Want to learn more about beating loneliness? Click here

(26) Forget what you think people are thinking – Beat Loneliness | 57 Ways

TWENTY-SIX (57 Ways to Beat Loneliness & Depression)

Forget what you think people are thinking (about you)

We spend so much time worrying about what other people are thinking about us. The funny thing is that we are all so busy thinking about our own lives that we barely have time to think about and acknowledge the existence of other people around us. So when you find yourself wondering what people are thinking of you, realize that they are probably not even thinking of you at all.

Yes you may have made a mistake, and you feel like you will never live it down. Don’t worry about it, most people have already forgotten about it, while the rest of them probably don’t really care about your mistakes.

We all have busy lives, and fortunately (or unfortunately) for you, we are all a little selfish, so if it does not concern us, we don’t spend to much time thinking about it. When you find yourself wondering…”I wonder what he is thinking about me,” or I wonder what she is thinking about me”… forget it, they are most likely not even thinking about you.

Remember life is meant to be enjoyed!

Want to learn more about beating loneliness? Click here

(25) Pay off your debts – Beat Loneliness | 57 Ways

TWENTY-FIVE (57 Ways to Beat Loneliness & Depression)

Pay off your debts

There’s a song that came out recently and one of my favorite lines in that song is “I just want it all.” This line is so descriptive of most of us today. We don’t want much, we just want it all, and we are not very patient about getting it all either.

What do we want? – Everything!

When do we want it? – Now!

The problem is that this lack of patience leads us to make horrible decisions. Then we are tied down to things that we buy, and have to stay at miserable jobs because we need to be able to pay our bills. Credit can be useful, but most times we use credit to buy things we don’t need to impress people we don’t like, and then we find ourselves stressed out trying to pay off our debts.

Get a plan today to help you pay off your debt – you will be amazed to realize how freeing it is to live a debt-free life.

Remember life is meant to be explored not lived tethered down.

Want to learn more about beating loneliness? Click here

(24) Speak – Beat Loneliness | 57 Ways

TWENTY-FIVE (57 Ways to Beat Loneliness & Depression)

Speak.

Injustice still exists. And we need people like you to speak for truth. We need people like you to speak – not to hurt other people’s feelings, or to deprive them of their rights, but to protect those who can’t speak for themselves.

Not only do we need you to speak, YOU need you to speak! If you don’t speak then you will always be a shadow of yourself. You will always wonder what would have happened if you had spoken, you will always wonder how the world could have been changed if only you had the courage to speak.

Instead of wondering and hoping, SPEAK!

Remember life is meant to be lived, not just observed.

Want to learn more about beating loneliness? Click here