Distractions for Joy!

We all do! No matter what your situation is, distractions are very important. It is especially helpful if we view them in a positive light, right from the start. For those of us who are extremely busy, it will be necessary to schedule your distraction, otherwise you won't get to benefit from it. For those of us who have too much time on our hands, we too need to schedule our distractions. This may sound awkward, but I believe if you give this a good try, you just might find fulfillment, joy, and knowledge. Not to mention that other people will benefit from our "distractions" too.

Distractions, they can be so annoying, right? But wait, 'Distractions for Joy', that's a different idea all together. Whether you are accomplishing your routine day to day tasks or you're being challenged with extra-ordinary feats; distractions can bring you joy.

People have certain tasks that "must" be done every day, usually with accompanying time frames too. It might be just a combination of personal tasks, family needs, household chores, job requirements, appointments, traffic or ALL of it. Let's face it, we can be very busy folks.

How many notice that you run out of time to accomplish everything you had on your 'To Do List' each day? With today's technologies, our phones and computers have become our digital list keepers, calendars, and address books. We are scheduled for each and every person, place or thing that 'must' be done each day. So many people feel they are literally running a race everyday. Then there are also many who don't have very much to do or are unable to do very much leaving them to face boredom or solitude.

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1. Spend several minutes talking to God. If you normally do this everyday, then do it an extra time when you wouldn't normally do it.

2. Find a positive way to help someone in a simple way. It could be a kind word, a compliment, a phone call, a positive conversation, a smile, a hug, a handshake, holding a door open, helping carry something, send a card, send a positive text or write a kind note. Any form of appropriate positive gesture will do.

3. Stop what you're doing and take a few minutes to stretch your muscles. You could roll your shoulders in slow circles and then again in opposite directions, repeat with your head, reach toward your toes several times, raise your arms up high, twist side to side, go for a short walk outside, walk up some steps, do some calf and toe raises, march in place, or any way that is accessible for you to be able to stretch out your muscles. Just getting your body moving and stretching will help you feel really good.

4. Take a few minutes each day to read something. Read from your Bible everyday, You could then read from a book, find a new recipe, research something you've been curious about, find something to be curious about, read something different or new. Explore and expand your knowledge.

5. Start having a healthy snack in between every meal and drink some water with each one too. Health information now tells us to spread our food out into 6 small meals everyday instead of 3 large or medium ones. If we can make a habit of healthy eating more often and drinking water each time we eat, we will feel a huge improvement in our bodies. Less really is more!

6. Play a game. If you have someone who wants to play a game with you, then make a point to do this at least once a day. It could be as simple as a game of hangman, cards, I spy, a guess the number game, scrabble, chess, dominoes, a board game or a game you create yourselves. If you don't have someone to play a game with, still don't skip the game. You can get a deck of cards and play something yourself, a crossword puzzle, word search, a video game. There are game sites online that have people from all over the country playing games 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. There is always someone, somewhere who wants to be your opponent or partner. It's a great fifteen minute break.

7. Sing something. Use your voice to make some music. Even if you don't normally enjoy singing, give this a try. You could sing anything. Make up a song. Sing a happy song or a silly song. Sing a praise song to God. Sing something you heard as a child or something that you like from the radio. Just lift up your voice in song. You don't have to sing on key, just sing for the sake of singing.

8. Focus on smiling. Make a point to put a smile onto your face for an extended amount of minutes each day. Even if you cannot determine the reason that you are wearing your smile, still do it. Think about something good while you wear your smile. It's okay if people see you smiling and don't understand why. Just keep on smiling for several minutes while you dwell on some positive and happy thoughts. Try to maintain your positive thoughts as long as possible, even while moving on to other tasks.

9. Talk to yourself. Tell yourself encouraging things. It doesn't matter if you do this verbally or mentally. You are not exhibiting any form of weird behavior by doing this, so don't feel silly or self conscious. When you use positive self talk you are feeding your own soul. It's very beneficial and valuable to do this to yourself each day. Find the good and dwell on it. Tell yourself good things.

10. If you have family members or friends around you each day, hug them every day. If you don't have anyone that you can hug, then give yourself that hug. Seriously, reach your arms around yourself and hold them there tightly. Hugs really are very important. Don't be afraid to ask for one from your family or if appropriate, from your friends. And don't neglect giving your own self one too. It may sound absurd, but you will find that it is not.