by Pamela S Thibodeaux

Created on: April 07, 2009   Last Updated: June 29, 2009

Life is full of challenges...work, people, home, family...seems we have more obligations than time. One way to keep everything in balance is to take time for yourself.

How, you ask, do you take time for yourself when every minute of every hour of each day is filled with activity?

Here are a few simple things you can do in as little as 5 or 10 minutes to rejuvenate and refocus.

Walk: Exercise releases the feel-good hormones in our brain and experts say that frequent 10 minute walks are as beneficial as 2 or 3 thirty-minute walks.

Read: devotions, poems, short stories...anthologies like Chicken Soup and Cup of Comfort and devotional books like Penned from the Heart, offer a chance to fill the emotional void stress can cause. Sharing someone else's joy leaves you feeling better about yourself and your life.

Write: devotions, poems, essays, short stories, journal entries...writing helps to focus and reflect.

Meditate: This can be as simple as closing your eyes and taking deep breaths to repeating a mantra (relax, peace, joy, blessings) or affirmations. The two most powerful words in the universe are I AM - so when you find yourself stressed to the max, take a few moments and affirm what you ARE instead of what you aren't (I am blessed, I am healthy, I am wealthy). Another way of doing this is to affirm what you CAN instead of what you can't (I CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens me.) In place of "all things" put whatever it is you are attempting (I can lose weight through Christ who strengthens me, I can save money through Christ who strengthens me, I can finish such-and-such task....) Become the little engine that COULD!

Count Your Blessings: When things get tough, we tend to focus on the negative - turn this around and focus on something positive. Even in a difficult situation, you can find something positive to focus on. Keeping a gratitude journal is a proven technique to bring about positive changes. When you focus on the good in your life with gratitude, you draw more good to you - in other words, you reap what you sow.

We've all heard the saying that life is 90% attitude. The bible is full of advice on how to live a tranquil life.... Proverbs teaches us that life and death are in the tongue. Deuteronomy tells us that God has put before us life and death, blessing and cursing - then He tells us which to choose - "therefore, choose life. Everything in life is a choice, love, peace, joy - when we choose to share these things, they return to us as tranquility in the midst of chaos.

Get in the habit of practicing one or more of these tranquil moments and you'll have little pockets of peace woven throughout the fabric of your daily life.

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