Saturday, June 19, 2010

5 Things Happy People Do Every Day: Part 4 by Betsy Ringer

This blog series is focusing on five things happy people do every day. You’ll be glad to know you can CHOOSE to do these things!! If you missed the first three segments, visit our iBloom blog to catch up:
1. Find something to be grateful about.
2. Find your funny bone.
3. Let love ooze out of you.
4. Allow yourself to be playful; i.e. don’t take yourself so seriously.
5. Find something meaningful to do.

Allow yourself to be playful; i.e. don’t take yourself so seriously.

“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” Plato

Remember when you were young and in love? You were probably very playful! If you have young kids or grandkids you are probably playful with them. Does your playfulness show other times? Are you still playful with your spouse or do you just talk about things that need to be done? When was the last time you sang gleefully while doing housework or stopped by a lemonade stand?

My husband has a wonderful sense of humor. The things he says tickles my funny bone. They are actually kind of corny and I guess I could choose to just groan and go on. But instead I choose to be playful and allow myself to laugh until I get tears in my eyes. This has made a great impact on our kids over the years. Our boys, now young men, have often commented, “I hope my wife laughs at my jokes like that.”

One time a friend and I went to our church women’s retreat. Our husbands got to have some quality time with the kids. On the way home we stopped at a mall in another city. We were admiring all the prom dresses. Before we knew it, we scooped up a bunch of them and went into the bridal dressing room with a platform and tried on prom dresses. Yes, I was in my forties and she was in her thirties!! We laughed and had a great time. Then we went to the hat department and tried on hats and giggled again. Our next stop was the jewelry store. A clerk asked how he could help us. With a twinkle in my eye I said, “I’d like to try on the biggest diamond ring you have.” He knew we had escaped our normal routine and were looking for a thrill so he had a great time showing us lovely rings that I can only afford in my dreams!!

Life zooms by so quickly. Happy people renew their spirits by engaging in play. They cast aside, for a time, their to-do list and drink in the freedom that comes with dancing in the rain, swooping down a slide or picking wildflowers.

Oops! Gotta run. A goofy friend is outside! It’s a warm summer day and she’s here with the top down on her convertible. Going for a ride!!!

“Be aware of wonder. Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.” Robert Fulghum

“Play keeps us vital and alive. It gives us an enthusiasm for life that is irreplaceable. Without it, life just doesn’t taste good.”
Lucia Capacchione

“It is a happy talent to know how to play.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson


We invite you to sign up for our FREE iChoose2 journey. iChoose2 Love My Life is one avenue we use to equip you with the essential tools needed to really live a life of passion, balance, purpose, and fulfillment.

Here’s how it works:

1. Go to iChoose2 Love My Life and sign up (fill in your name & email in the box to the right of the page)
2. For the next 40 days, you’ll receive an email from iBloom with your daily iChoose2 challenge.
3. WARNING: At the end of this 40-day journey, if you’ve really participated in each challenge, then your life will be different! You’ll be on your way to really living a life that you love!

Monday, June 14, 2010

You're Invited to a PARTY!


Twitter will be the place to be on Monday, June 28th, especially if you want to choose2 have FUN and meet lots of fantastic women!
You’re Invited to an iBloom Party!
We invite you to join us for a fabulous iBloom Twitter Party.  The fun starts at 9:00 P.M. EST on Monday, June 28th. We will be using the hashtag #ichoose2.
Your hosts include:
  • @KellyThorne
  • @TaraMcClenahan
  • @LeighAnnNapier
  • @BetsyRinger
You Could Win GREAT prizes!
iBloom has partnered with several GREAT organizations to bring you the BEST twitter party prizes!  We have 10 prizes that you won’t want to miss.  Stay tune to @ibloom as we tweet clues about these fantastic prizes.
Don’t forget, it all happens on Monday, June 28th from 9PM-10PM EST. The hashtag for the party is #ichoose2.

Are you new to Twitter Parties?  Click here to get a FABULOUS resource "How to be a Cool & Hip Twitter Partier" by iBloom Associate, Tara McClenahan.  She'll teach you what a Twitter party is and walk you through a step-by-step process for participating!
Will you be there?
Please RSVP with your twitter handles. We hope to see you there!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

5 Things Happy People Do Every Day: Part 3


This blog series is focusing on five things happy people do every day. You’ll be glad to know you can CHOOSE to do these things!! If you missed the first two segments, visit our iBloom blog to catch up. To review, here are the five things happy people do every day that we are focusing on:

1. Find something to be grateful about.
2. Find your funny bone.
3. Let love ooze out of you.
4. Allow yourself to be playful; i.e. don’t take yourself so seriously.
5. Find something meaningful to do.

Number 3: Let Love Ooze Out of You

Yeah, yeah. We all know we are supposed to love. We all know that even when someone gets us all riled up or when we strongly disagree with them or when they just plain irritate us we still love them, right? Really, way down deep inside we love them. But what good is all that way down deep inside kind of love? When I keep it stuffed inside and what is showing on the outside is disgust, offense, irritation, and disappointment, then the message I am conveying to the other person is, “You aren’t good enough. There’s something wrong with YOU. You’re a slimeball.”

If my love isn’t oozing out so people can see it, then I’m no different than the Pharisees Jesus said “Woe!” to. (Matthew 23, Luke 11)

Please don’t gag when what I’m about to say sounds syrupy sweet to you: HAPPY PEOPLE LET LOVE OOZE OUT OF THEM.

It’s very difficult to let our love show. We’ve gotten in the habit of critiquing others, engaging in “innocent” gossip, or fearing WE will be rejected or ridiculed.

So what’s the key? How can I let my love ooze out?
1. Happy people choose to know they are secure in God. WOW!! God sent His precious son so that we might have LIFE. He tells us over and over in His word how much He loves us… no matter what!
2. Also happy people choose to love others because GOD loves them. Just as God loves us when we make mistakes or behave in hurting ways, He chooses to love the people WE think behave badly.

Choose to know you are secure in God. Choose to love others because GOD loves them, not because they behave the way we want them to behave.

Okay so I just typed out 10 ways you can show love and I deleted them. TMI. Just focus on interacting with people in a warm loving way, even if you don’t “feel” warm and loving. Smile and tell people how they are valuable. You will feel good and they will feel even better. Let your love ooze out!

Jeremiah 31:3 (New International Version)
"I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with loving-kindness.



We invite you to sign up for our FREE iChoose2 journey. iChoose2 Love My Life is one avenue we use to equip you with the essential tools needed to really live a life of passion, balance, purpose, and fulfillment.

Here’s how it works:

1. Go to iChoose2 Love My Life and sign up (fill in your name & email in the box to the right of the page)
2. For the next 40 days, you’ll receive an email from iBloom with your daily iChoose2 challenge.
3. WARNING: At the end of this 40-day journey, if you’ve really participated in each challenge, then your life will be different! You’ll be on your way to really living a life that you love!