{"id":1522,"date":"2013-12-22T19:19:25","date_gmt":"2013-12-23T01:19:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lovingonme.com\/?p=1522"},"modified":"2017-05-19T10:13:14","modified_gmt":"2017-05-19T15:13:14","slug":"have-you-had-your-joy-break-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/2013\/12\/22\/have-you-had-your-joy-break-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Have You Had Your Joy Break Today?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Happiness\"<\/a>Wondering how to survive the stressful seasons of life? Laugh your way to balanced living!<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true! Laughter really is the best medicine. It improves your mood, mental and physical health and your outlook for the future. It\u2019s also the cheapest and most effective way of looking and feeling younger.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s be honest, we don\u2019t always feel like laughing. In the busy and trying seasons of life, we sometimes struggle just to keep all of the pieces of our self together. So how can we increase our merriment and still get things done?<\/p>\n

Well, this cute little book I recently read called \u2018Joy Breaks\u2019 offered me a clue. It\u2019s a collection of 90-devotionals from 4 friends who have laughed and loved their way through a series of life\u2019s ups and downs. While all of their stories didn\u2019t make me laugh until I cried, they did give me some ideas on how we can enjoy more of our everyday.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Take 5 minutes each morning to meditate on the good.<\/b> A friend once gave me a plaque that read \u201cPlant flower thoughts not weeds\u201d. I\u2019ve tried to live by that principle by everyday reading something that lifts my mood. For what we sow into our spirit, we\u2019ll reap in the richness of our lives.<\/li>\n
  2. Surround yourself with positive, happy people.<\/b> If we want to keep our outlook optimistic, we can\u2019t keep company with negative people. We all need at least one good friend that makes us laugh out loud. Better yet, let\u2019s try and be the person that adds joy to any atmosphere.<\/li>\n
  3. Find a few moments each day for the simple pleasures.<\/b> During the holidays, my favorite \u201ctreasure me\u201d treat is a peppermint mocha from Starbuck\u2019s. In the middle of my frenetic days I sometimes stop by and pick one up just to enjoy a few minutes of peace. It\u2019s a simple pleasure, but it always makes me smile.<\/li>\n
  4. Celebrate the process and the progress.<\/b> Every now and again we should step back and look at how far we\u2019ve come. We may not be where we want to be, but we\u2019re a long way from where we used to be! And I don\u2019t know about you but when I think back on some of the stuff I used to do, I can\u2019t help but laugh and thank the good Lord I made it through.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Don\u2019t let the everyday madness of life steal your bliss. Even in the midst of trying times there is so much in life to be happy about, to celebrate and to embrace with great delight!<\/p>\n

    Look for the humor in the hundred little things that will go wrong each day. Treat yourself to simple pleasures that make you smile. And every once in a while, take a \u2018joy break\u2019 and lighten the mood.<\/p>\n

    Remember, we help create the atmosphere we inhabit. Are you sowing seeds of joy in our world?<\/p>\n

    Loving on Me as I Love You! Hugs and Blessings\u00a0\u2764<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Wondering how to survive the stressful seasons of life? Laugh your way to balanced living! It\u2019s true! Laughter really is the best medicine. It improves your mood, mental and physical health and your outlook for the future. It\u2019s also the cheapest and most effective way of looking and feeling younger. But let\u2019s be honest, we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":11562,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sharing_disabled":false,"switch_like_status":false,"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Have You Had Your Joy Break Today?"},"categories":[204997546,13748410],"tags":[30789,922,22297,204997786,5840,204997597,15140,122792808,37764,2616],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/happiness.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4eAxC-oy","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1522"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1522"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1522\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9059,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1522\/revisions\/9059"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}