Be A Better Person!

If you've read any of my blogs, you know that I am currently obsessed with Pinterest. It's the big "idea" website where you can customize your boards according to your interests and "pin" websites to them for easy access. If you've never gone there, I would strongly encourage you to do so.

I currently have 23 boards with just over 2000 pins. Some of my boards are the usual kinds of things, "gluten free" recipes and tips, "health", "crafts", "Thomas Kinkade" "genealogy", and on and on it goes.  All the things that interest me, with more boards and pins being added regularly.

One board that I set up has kind of been a catch all for just general good ideas. I named it "Be A Better Person". This is all the sites that give tips for working smarter, developing better habits and traits, and just generally becoming the person you wish you could be. This is not healthy living, I have another board for that. It is not fitness, I have a board for that also but have never added much to it or really used it, it just makes me feel better to have it. This be-a-better-person board just has all kinds of awesome ideas for becoming a happy, efficient, well-functioning person...and we know there's always room for improvement!

So what have I learned from my "Be A Better Person" board? Well here are a few of my pins and what they are trying to develop in my life.

• 11 Habits You Need to Stop Doing: 1. Stop watching too much TV. 2. Stop talking about people behind their backs...because we all know that people who talk about other people behind their backs are also talking about us behind our backs! 3. Don't be a scarcity thinker..think big. 4. Stop living paycheck to paycheck...have a financial margin. 5. Don't blame someone else for our circumstances..take the blame and take control. 6. Don't be your own worst enemy...be your own best friend. 7. Stop trying to help people who don't ask for your help...and don't keep helping people who won't step us and help themselves. 8. Stop comparing yourself to other people...we always come out on the losing end in our own minds. 9. Don't wait to celebrate small wins...in fact don't wait to do anything, tomorrow is not promised. 10. Don't say "yes" when you want to say "no"...I may need to work on this one! 11. Don't think you don't have what it takes...because you do, you only need to believe in yourself.
• The 6 Smartest Things You Can Do Every Night and Morning: 1. Make a "night before list"...which is even better than making the list the next morning when the day is already crowding in on you, and you might be more prepared to begin the next morning. 2. Set your clothes out for tomorrow...how many mornings have I discovered that I don't have enough clean clothes to put together an outfit for the day? 3. Forgive yourself...every night review the day, give yourself credit for the things you accomplished, review what went wrong and own it, then forgive yourself and get rid of the bad feeling. 6. Every morning do something for yourself. Your greatest inspiration can come while you are on your walk, praying, or in the shower. 5. Have a routine, which is even better than a list because it's a no-brainer. 6. Begin your day's work with something big...or small, depending on what inspires you.
• And one more sample, What Does it Take To Be Happy?: 1. Take care of basic needs, eat, sleep, and exercise. 2. Connect with others, be social and helpful. 3. Get outside, enjoy sunshine and fresh air. 4. Find your talent, we all have something to give the world. 5. Practice gratitude, see previous blog post from a few months ago. 6. Stay in the present, don't dwell in the past or be distracted. 7. Forgive, because you're only hurting yourself by not. 8. Meditate...or in my world pray! 9. Smile, because you can become happy by smiling at others and make them happy also.

Now one would think that if I was to take all this good advice to heart that I would be nearing perfection...and that would be so, but somehow I manage to fall short in most areas even though I have all kinds of wonderful, life-changing advice at my fingertips. It's just part of the human condition. But the most important thing is that we never become comfortable with less than being our best, because it's a fact of life that if we aren't moving ahead, we're falling behind...and some of us don't have far to fall! 

One day our struggle on earth will be over and we will go to our heavenly reward (at least that's what I'm striving for) and then we can rest on our laurels and receive our rewards. Until then, I will rely on Pinterest (and Jesus) to try to make me a better person!

Have a great day!