What do you do with a person that rarely appreciates you?  If you are feeling underappreciated, think with a beginner’s mind.  Don’t try to do the new like the old.  Don’t edit your feelings.

Instead of coming to a full stop, ease into a slow down by practicing a pause.  Taking time out gives you a chance to take in your surroundings and check in with how you feel.  Change is one of the hardest things to grasp.  Whether it is a positive or negative change, taking a breath in between can give you the reinforcement you need to accept either.

Let things you can’t control go.  Accept and embrace reality.  You don’t have to like it, but it is easier to do.  You can either regret or rejoice.  We learn from every step we take.

Remember to keep the circle positive, peaceful and loving. ©

Written with love.
#goodthingswillcome

Joy M. Mills
Copyright © 2016

It is time for all of us to get emotionally, physically and spiritually healthy.  We have to connect with ourselves and find our identities.  Your sense of worth should be something greater than you.  God loves you.  You are valuable and worthwhile.

The one thing that drives us and keeps us going is resilience.  Human beings have strength and endurance.  Spiritual growth only comes when you have hurt beyond what you believe you can endure.  If you continually internalize everything, you are thinking, not expressing.  You could be in a bigger mess than you are trying to clean up.  You have learned the pain.  It doesn’t have to be the sorrow in your future.

It took decades for me to figure out some of these things and to learn to live my life with power while owning my integrity.  Where there is life, there is hope.

What matters is that you have the power to try and use practical solutions for everyday life.  Ultimately it is our thoughts that hurt us most.

Keep the circle positive, peaceful and loving. ©

Written with love.
#livewithintention

Joy M. Mills
Copyright © 2016

Decide to stay away from negative conversations.  It is a downward spiral – UNLESS – there are positive solutions.

There are people out there that will make you feel like you are going to have an anxiety attack, and you want to scream.  Their quality time is secret code for I have a need and can you fill it.

The great skill is learning to compromise. Don’t be willing to concede. The concession is accepting it, and there is no strength in character there. Accepting it is when you know you are allergic to Kool-Aid, and you drink it.  Compromise has the word promise in it, which is a debt unpaid and you can always meet someone halfway if both parties are willing.

Not everybody is always going to be satisfied. There are even some that will expect more; they have insatiable appetites. Great relationships are on a foundation of trust, and that life can be amazing where new joys are gifts that come as a bonus.

Remember to keep the circle positive, peaceful and loving. ©

Written with love.

Joy M. Mills
Copyright © 2016

All of us can rise above any situation life hands us.  All of us can find a sense of peace and purpose.  We have to reset.

Resetting means letting go of the picture of the way you want it to be.  It means letting go of trying to control things in which you have no control.  One of the prime causes of our suffering is we want things to be different than what they are.

Sometimes life doesn’t hand us what we want.  When we reset our hearts from needing it to be a certain way, we can breathe a sigh of relief and open the door to a more peace-filled life.  Something meaningful on the road to home!

Remember to keep the circle positive, peaceful and loving. ©

Written with love.
#helives #home

Joy M. Mills
Copyright © 2016

The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts.  It has taken me a very long time to erase the who that I once was, and it is a work in progress.

I have chosen to be a new me.  A different me.  To be confident in me.  To stand up and be the best version God intended me to be.

The difference today, from time to time when those old tapes play again, I have learned to forgive myself and others.  Light shines through broken places.

We were never created to live depressed, defeated, guilty, condemned, ashamed or unworthy.  We wouldn’t be alive if God didn’t have a purpose for us.

Keep the circle positive, peaceful and loving. ©

Written with love.
#journey #letyourlightshine

Joy M. Mills
Copyright © 2016

People who enjoy laughter get strength from this.  Be wise enough to follow in their footsteps.  You don’t need to let negativity and drama get the best of you.

If you sit around feeling sorry for your circumstances instead of taking some responsibility for your role in life, it could be a mountain to climb.

I still have bad days.  Who doesn’t?  However, I keep climbing that mountain in front of me.  I will be forever grateful I have found me through laughter, tears, ups and down, challenges and everything in between.

Remember to keep the circle positive, peaceful and loving. ©

Written with love.
#mountainstoclimb

Joy M. Mills
Copyright © 2016

Down the Rabbit Hole

If I could stand up

take my place

where would that be

With all of this doubt

skepticism

where would I find

me

How hard is it to pull up

understand yourself

How hard is life when negativity

sets in

all is absorbed

not repelled

You can whine

complain

so much

no one will listen

no one

will hear your words

The choice would be

give up

or have a plan

It might need some work

could be hard

As a matter of fact

I am sure it will be

The pieces fall into place

then nothing will feel missing

So for the shadow side

of yourself

it must go away

Don’t lend it gravity

Life is tough

so are we

Take a breath

try hard

work hard

At the end of your days

there should be

nothing left undone

nothing left to do

You might not understand

these words

the first time or two

If you don’t pay attention

you will begin to see

the reminders all around

everything in a heap

they will be

Change it while there is time

So if it feels wrong

It surely is

Try again

Rewind…

Or down the Rabbit Hole

you will go

No light there will be.

Keep the circle positive, peaceful and loving. ©

Written with love.
#poetry

Joy M. Mills
Copyright © 2016