Tag Archives: Motivational message

4 Reasons You Should Smile More

Creative Emphasis Art by Linda Dawkins

          Smile because you’re beautiful!

4 Reasons You Should Smile More

Smiling might be one of the most underrated things in life. It might not seem like it, but a smile can influence our mood. Most of us have had someone tell us to smile more often.

Smiling triggers the release of endorphins, neurotransmitters that act as natural painkillers and mood elevators, leading to a sense of well-being and relaxation.

Additionally, smiling can reduce levels of stress hormones like cortisol, which can help lower blood pressure and improve heart health.

Furthermore, smiling is contagious and can improve social interactions, fostering better connections and relationships with others. Overall, smiling more can contribute to a healthier and happier life.

Smiling has been related to many positive things and influences our outlook on life. So, if you are looking for ways to grow, consider smiling. Something simple can help improve your life directly or indirectly.

**Here are four reasons that you should smile more often: **

  1. It will improve your mood. When you smile, your mood isimmediately improved, and you feel lighter and happier, even if it is for a moment. Try it and enjoy the feeling!
  • When your mood is improved, it affects everything you do. You seemmore positive, and it also helps to ease a tense situation. It can also influence those around you to smile.
  • **Remember to think about positive memories and smile whenever youfeel sad,** then see how that suddenly improves your mood.
  1. It helps reduce stress. When you smile more, you releasehormones called endorphins. The release of endorphins helps manage stress effectively and prevents pertinent health issues like heart attacks, strokes, and more.
  • Smiling makes you feel good. **When you feel good physically, youare likely to feel better mentally.** The impact of smiling is like going for a good workout, taking a run, swimming, or spending some time in the sun.
  • Avoid situations and people who only make you stressed, but if youfeel sad, smile; it’s free and easy to do!
  1. It helps you focus. Stress makes concentrating difficult, and wenow know smiling helps lift our mood. When you reduce your stress, you increase your chances of focusing on the task.
  • **Smiling increases the combination of dopamine and serotonin, whichimproves your overall mental health.**
  • For instance, If you find it hard to focus on work, try watchingsomething funny or listening to a song that makes you smile and then go back to work. You’ll see an immediate improvement.
  1. It improves your immune system. Studies have shown that peoplewho smile or laugh often have more white blood cells than people who don’t smile and often. Hormones like dopamine work to activate the immune system and increase the production of antibodies and other illness-killing cells.
  • **Our immune system works more efficiently when we are in a goodmood.** This means they are stronger as a result. So ultimately, a happy person is a healthy person.
  • If you want to improve your health by boosting your immune system,try smiling more and engaging in activities that only serve you well.

Remember, smiling is free, and you can do it anywhere. It’s a ticket to improving your life and mental health. So, if you haven’t smiled today, try smiling right now! Smiling cheers you and those around you up and can improve your day.

9 Benefits Of Knowing Your Life’s Purpose

Creative Emphasis Art Blog by Linda Dawkins

9 Benefits of Knowing Your Life’s Purpose

Do you know your life’s purpose? Most people don’t. In fact, few people have even considered it. That’s a shame, because knowing your life’s purpose makes life more exciting and satisfying.

Imagine being excited to live each day! Most people dread getting up and spend the week waiting for the weekend.

Determining your life’s purpose is worthy of your time and consideration!

Consider these ideas:

  1. It’s easier to plan your day. Most people spend their day trying to figure out what to do. When you don’t have a clear objective and purpose, it’s easy to become lost. What are you attempting to achieve each day?
  2. It’s easier to resist distractions. Your life’s purpose is something that’s compelling to you. Distractions are hard to resist when your life feels meaningless, or you feel bored. Your ability to focus is enhanced when you know your purpose.
  3. It’s easier to make decisions. Your purpose is the overriding consideration in your life. Decisions are much easier to make when you clearly understand what you’re trying to accomplish.
    • For example, if your purpose is to be a world-class marathoner, the right diet choices become much clearer. You also know that getting to bed on time each night is more important than running around all night with your friends.
  4. Fun. For most people, a fun activity is just something done for distraction. It’s not something you would want to do all day, every day. Riding a rollercoaster is fun, but you wouldn’t want to do it for eight hours every day. Eating ice cream is fun, but it’s not enjoyable to eat five times a day.
    • When you know your purpose, the activities associated with that purpose can be “fun.” You know you’re living the life you’re supposed to live. That’s the ultimate source of fun. Imagine having fun at your work!Contentment. You feel content when you know and live your purpose. The nagging feeling that you should be doing something else with your life dissipates. Contentment is what remains. This is the emotion that most people crave, even if they don’t realize it.
  5. Enthusiasm. You feel much more motivated. You feel less internal resistance. Knowing your purpose unleashes your enthusiasm. In fact, enthusiasm is one clue that you’re living your purpose. Are you enthusiastic about going to your job each day?
  6. You make meaningful progress in your life. Happiness is largely the result of making progress toward meaningful goals. You have a much better chance of being happy when you’re aware of your life’s purpose.
    • Do you have goals? If not, why? If you do have goals, how do you feel when you’re making progress toward them?
  7. You become more interesting to others. Have you ever known someone that was clear on what they wanted from their life? It’s exciting to be around someone like that. You become much more interesting and magnetic when your life has a clear direction. Your social life improves in many ways.
  8. Your creativity is fully utilized. Pursuing anything meaningful will involve overcoming obstacles. When you’re fully energized, your creativity can operate at full power. You’re surprised by your ability to solve problems.

The world is full of people aimlessly drifting through life without a purpose. Most people have never taken the time to consider what they want their life to be about. This is a huge mistake, because there are so many benefits to knowing and living your life’s purpose

If you don’t know your life’s purpose, stop everything you’re doing and give it some serious thought. You only have one life to live!

Be The Hero Of Your Own Story

All Art by Linda Dawkins

Be the Hero in Your Own Story

Who doesn’t love a story with a successful hero? Heroes have been around since the beginning of time, in real life and within stories.

What if you could be the hero in your story? What if you simply adopted the mindset of being a hero? Your life might get a whole lot more fun and exciting. This is easier to do than you might think.

  1. Imagine a brave and intelligent character faced with your challenges. What would such a character do in your situation? What are the logical first steps to solving your challenges and creating an adventure for yourself?
  2. List the thoughts, mindset, and behavior of a hero in your situation. Imagine the perfect hero for living your life. What would they think? How would they behave? What skills would they have?
  3. Ignore your past failures. We’re talking about the hero version of yourself, not yourself at your most vulnerable, least successful, or least resourceful. We’re talking about right now. The past has no place in the mind of a hero. Leave the past behind.
  4. List things you won’t tolerate from yourself. Would a hero sit on the couch, eat a bag of chips, and watch the entire Breaking Bad series for the third time? Would he feel sorry for himself? Would he procrastinate? What are the thoughts, habits, and other behaviors that you need to eliminate from your life to become the hero of your story?
  5. Visualize yourself being the hero in your story. Take a look at the first steps you need to take. Imagine yourself taking them. See yourself thinking and behaving like a hero. Get used to the idea of being heroic.
  6. Let go of your ego. A big part of your ego’s job is to keep you where you are. It’s all based on consistency and fear. Allow yourself to think the thoughts you need to think and to do the things you need to do. Free yourself from the concern of what others think. You can be much more than you’ve been demonstrating recently.
  7. Thinking of your life as a story is liberating. It makes it a little less personal and a little more like a challenge to conquer. It creates a little distance, which is helpful. It allows you to better see the truth of the situation and to make better decisions.
  8. Be active. Heroes don’t sit around waiting for things to happen. They make things happen. The average person is passive, so stop being passive. Take control of the situation and of your story. What can you do right now to get started? Just do it.
  9. Heroes don’t accept mediocrity. One of the greatest causes of misery in first-world countries is settling for mediocrity. The average person knows in his heart that he could be much more, but he can’t quite get himself to do it. It’s a tragedy that only becomes more painful as one ages.
    • Refuse to accept mediocre goals, effort, and results from yourself. Raising your standards is a necessary first step for enhancing any part of your life. You get what you’re willing to tolerate.

There is no one rushing to save you from your circumstances. Your salvation ultimately lies with yourself. Few people develop themselves fully and live their lives to the fullest.

Be courageous and willing to pay the price that life is asking of you. You can have anything you want if you’re willing to step up your game. Rise up from the ashes and be the hero of your story.

Like this…

Title: The Brave Explorer

Once upon a time, there lived a young adventurer named Alex. Alex had always dreamt of exploring the mysterious forest beyond the village where they lived. However, tales of wild beasts and treacherous terrain kept most villagers away.

Despite the warnings, Alex’s curiosity burned bright. One sunny morning, with a heart full of courage, Alex set out into the unknown forest. The dense foliage enveloped them, but Alex pressed on, guided by the thrill of discovery.

As Alex journeyed deeper into the forest, he encountered challenges at every turn. Yet, with determination and ingenuity, he overcame each obstacle, learning valuable lessons along the way.

Hours passed, and the sun began to set, casting long shadows across the forest floor. Just as doubt began to creep in, Alex stumbled upon a hidden clearing bathed in golden light. At its center stood a majestic waterfall, its cascading waters a symphony of nature’s beauty.

Overwhelmed with awe, Alex realized that the real treasure of his journey was not the destination but the journey itself—the courage to pursue dreams, the resilience to overcome challenges, and the joy of discovery was all it was all about.

With a heart full of gratitude, Alex returned home, eager to share his tale with the villagers. His bravery inspired others to embrace adventure and explore the world beyond their doorstep.

And so, Alex’s journey became a legend—a testament to the power of courage, perseverance, and the boundless possibilities that await those who dare to dream and take the first step into the unknown.

…and you can too!

Journey into the unknown Art by Linda Dawkins