5 Things Happy People Do Every Day: Part 2 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 segment, visit the iBloom blog to catch up.

The second thing Happy People do Every Day is: Find your funny bone.

Everywhere I turn I hear admonishing words. “Be responsible. Don’t eat that. Watch what you spend. Get rid of clutter. Exercise more. Write your congressman. Lose weight. Dress stylishly. Scrub your floors, clean your toilets. Give money to _____. Lock your doors. Read a book. Cook healthy meals. Work harder. Raise perfect kids.”

Okay, you get the idea. You hear these words too!! And then there’s the news. Day in day out, many hours a day, the news tells us about all the horrible things people do and terrifying events going on throughout the world. It makes me walk around feeling like Thoreau’s quote, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”

Now imagine with me the sound of Batman’s bat-mobile screeching to a halt and turning 180 degrees. I just can’t keep going in the direction of constant admonition. I know, I know. Everyone is well meaning with their words and I DO need to be responsible. I get it. But I don’t need to be perfect. It’s really okay. And the news is business. They make their money by making us think we can’t live without knowing what they have to tell us. Even the weather man, bless his heart, makes me nervous about the storm a week away and then when the time comes it fizzles out and he says we lucked out this time.

Okay, so I still watch the weather. It’s intriguing and I DO love thunderstorms and thrill at the sight of all that red on the radar. But I have stopped watching the news. Sure, maybe just enough to keep updated on the important things, but in general, my spirit just can’t handle all the doom and gloom.

So, have you seen “Funniest Home Videos” lately? Try watching it for a good belly laugh. Or look at real life in a different way. Watch kids do the funny things they do. Go to lunch with a friend who makes you laugh. Share stories about people bumping into things or falling down (uh, is it just ME who laughs at that?) Look for things to laugh about. When you have a day that you spill things, drop things, lose things, bump into things - start laughing about it! FIND your funny bone. Funny things are all around us, but we have to let go of trying to live up to all those admonishing words and redirect our thoughts to the silliness and joy all around us.

Proverbs 15:13 (The Message)
A cheerful heart brings a smile to your face;
a sad heart makes it hard to get through the day

Proverbs 17:22 (The Message)
A cheerful disposition is good for your health;
gloom and doom leave you bone-tired.




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!

5 Things Happy People Do Every Day By Betsy Ringer

We all want to be happy. We want to live happy lives, breathe happy air, and interact with other happy people! We want to love our lives. So what are some things happy people do every day? This blog series explores five things happy people do every day. And you’ll be glad to know you can CHOOSE to do these things!! Join us as we explore these five behaviors:

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.

If you miss one, visit our iBloom blog to catch up.

Find something to be grateful about.

My daughter was home from college on her spring break. She is such good company. Yes, she leaves her messes everywhere: laundry on the kitchen floor, purse and papers on the table, powdered sugar and drippings from the cake she baked, and shoes and clothing in the family room. But her messes indicate life and activity in our otherwise quiet house. I loved doing things with her throughout the week – a lunch out one day; a movie another; a shopping afternoon; laughter and heart to heart talks.

We had been together one afternoon then we departed ways as she went to a movie with a friend. Okay, so this sounds wimpy but an incredible feeling of loneliness came over me. As I drove home, a dark feeling just reached out and grabbed me. I tried to analyze it… she was going back to school in a couple days; maybe I was feeling my mortality inching by; or was it the mounds of responsibility that I had waiting for me at home. None of it really seemed big enough to warrant this immensely dark feeling.

I’m sure you have experienced that dark feeling; the one that seems to strangle your joy and cloud your thinking. Perhaps it’s accompanied by sobs or anger or despair. A part of you wants to give into it and just spiral on down. Another part wants to fight it, but you just don’t think you have the strength.

Thankfully, I CHOSE to think about what I had to be grateful for. I started praising God. I thanked Jesus for His life. I acknowledged the Holy Spirit at work in me. I thanked the Lord for my marriage, children, car to drive, air to breathe, fingers on my hands, daffodils ready to bloom… anything I could think of that was good and life-giving.

As I CHOSE to be grateful, the dark feeling vanished and I was aware of the presence of the Lord. The loneliness and burdens were replaced with joy and strength. When I arrived at home, I put on my “Life is Good” shirt, looked in the mirror and smiled with delight.

Happy people choose to be grateful – every day. YOU can do it!!
Philippians 4:8 (New Living Translation)
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

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 Challenge 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!

FREE giveaway from iBloom...

Are you participating in the iChoose2 Love My Life journey?  There are hundreds of women currently going through this Free life-changing experience.  Don’t miss out.  Go to www.ichoose2.us to get started today!

iBloom Founder & President, Kelly Thorne will be sharing the iChoose2 Love My Life talk at the Women of Passionate Purpose Online Conference!  Her session is scheduled for Tuesday, May 25^th at 5:30PM EST.  However, the entire online conference is from Tuesday, May 25^th- Thursday, May 27^th.  There are 13 speaker and this month’s theme is Renewal of Purpose!  And, the tickets are only $15 for ALL 13 sessions!  You don’t want to miss this event.  Plus, it’s completely online, so you can participate in the comfort of your own home in your PJ’s!  And, if for some reason, you’re not able to participate in the live sessions, then your free includes access to the downloadable mp3’s.  So, you can download each of the talks and listen as you workout at the gym!  Click here for more information and to get your tickets today!

But, guess what?!  We have 5 FREE tickets to giveaway!!  The contest ends at 9am on Thursday, May 20^th!

To enter the drawing for this amazing gift, please do the following:

1) Click here to leave a comment about your biggest ah-ha from the iChoose2 journey thus far.  If you haven’t signed-up yet, go to www.ichoose2.us to get started now!

2) Go to www.ibloom.us/facebook to become a fan of iBloom.

3) Follow iBloom on Twitter- www.twitter.com/ibloom

4) If you Tweet, Tweet this: I just entered a giveaway from @iBloom to receive a FREE ticket to an online women’s conference!  www.i-bloom.blogspot.com #iChoose2

5) Facebook this: I just entered a giveaway from www.ibloom.us/facebook to receive a FREE ticket to Kelly’s iChoose2 Love My Life Presentation at the Women of Passionate Purpose Online Conference. Contest ends at 9am on 05/20/10. www.i-bloom.blogspot.com

Best of luck!!

40% of Your Happiness is Up to You by Betsy Ringer

Researchers have found that:
• 50% of our happiness quotient is a result of our genetic makeup
• 10 % of our happiness is the result of circumstances
• And 40% of our happiness comes from our own intentional activities – what we CHOOSE to be, do or have.

Let that sink in. Our feelings of overwhelm, hurriedness, perfectionism, insecurity, and indulgent living lead us to believe we are victim to our circumstances: my kids need scholarships so I must have them in fifty activities; or if I can just get through this week/month things will slow down.

Okay, my house gets messy. Well my LIFE gets messy too. I clean up my house and I can clean up my life. Distractions cause messiness in my life. These distractions are disguised as:
• Physical unhealthiness
• Poor systems of doing things
• Dysfunctional surroundings
• Mental overload
• Time management issues
• Frail relationships

When our surroundings, work, and life are chaotic, so is our day-to-day living. We don’t want to live less than spectacular; we want our lives to BE spectacular. That doesn’t mean perfect. It means you have some tools and resources that help you know where you’re going, untangle some of your messes, and make a plan to live in a way that matters most to you. When you understand who you are, where you are headed, and how to manage strategic areas of your life, you will find happiness and joy in even the most mundane parts of your life. The BIG picture is crucial for the everyday picture to come into focus and clarity.

Choose your happiness today! “…there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.” - Ecclesiastes 3:12



You might be surprised, but small changes – with the right tools and resources – can make a big difference! I invite you to be a part of one of my upcoming iThrive groups. iThrive guides you step by step to:
• Clear the clutter in 12 vital life areas
• Free you from just getting by to experiencing life with confidence and fullness.
• Manage your distractions; experience mental clarity; cultivate sparkling relationships; develop strategic action plans
• BE spectacular.

iThrive coaches you to take action on and manage 12 areas of your life that have been filled with distractions, clutter and uncertainty so you can live with greater meaning, purpose and direction. Remember you choose 40% of your happiness through how you decide to live.

I love hearing stories like this from iBloom clients: "You know I'm loving iThrive - love the blog, the podcasts, all of it! You ladies have a Christ-centered approach without a bunch of psycho-babble, and unlike many other programs (and books) I've looked into, you have really reached where I am... right ...now, yet helped me move forward towards the future. Thank you."

I have a new iThrive group starting April 27. Receive materials monthly that break down the important life areas for success into manageable, bite-sized pieces. Then meet once a month with a fabulous group by phone for coaching and encouragement to make lasting change. Gain tools and resources to manage your one wonderful so you can focus on what really matters.

I really want to see you in my group. I’d love to see you finally make the breakthrough you’ve always dreamed of!

CLICK HERE to find out more and register.

Please leave a COMMENT if you would like to be part of my group but need another time slot. I’ll be starting another group soon.

Live Big! Book Excerpt

Here's an excerpt from my friend Dr. Katie Brazelton's newest release...
LIVE BIG! 10 Life Coaching Tips for Living Large, Passionate Dreams by Katie Brazelton, PhD, MDiv

Imagine that you and I are being pampered in first class, relaxing comfortably on an
afternoon flight to your favorite world-class resort. As we gaze out the airplane window, it seems as though we're floating through an endless sea of marshmallow clouds, soaring together through the heavens. Up here, dreams somehow seem crystal clear. I think it's because we can pretend we've risen above the rough, mountainous terrain of life and can look down on our hills and valleys, seeing events from a fresh perspective.

From this bird's eye view, glance down at what is below: your daily routine, closest
relationships, untapped potential, and countless opportunities. Let this vantage point help you set your sights on a passionate mega dream and an inspiring hope for the future! I would not dare to author a book on such an important topic as Living Big without practicing what I preach. So, as I write this, I am on a flight to Hawaii (I wish it were first class) for an extended stay to consider living there indefinitely. I was raised in Hawaii and the Marshall Islands in a navy family, so the tropical breeze has always been alluring to me. Might this be where I will plant another Life Purpose Coaching Center...or find the time to launch my long-dreamed-of radio show...or finish this book? I don't know the answers to those questions, but I do know that I can't fail, because this is simply a experiment, with memories waiting to be made. I'm not going to rush the process or force a decision, only enjoy the journey to yea or nay. There is no right or wrong way to dream. Well, actually, I do believe there's one wrong way, and that is to let the dream stagnate without taking any action! I am embarking on this time of exploration because I am in a new season of my life, formally ending two decades of single parenting. My son recently accepted an out of state job promotion, taking his sweet wife and my two young grandsons with him. Shortly thereafter, my daughter announced her engagement, which means she, too, will be moving away from our home area. In the blink of an eye, without my permission, I have been thrust into a new chapter of my life. On one hand, I am sad and fearful. On the other hand, now I have no more excuses for not doing whatever I want, which is another way of saying "whatever I feel God is calling me to do next." I am operating in a spirit of super-sized living right now, and not just because I may soon be draped in large muumuus, walking barefoot to the local market to buy macadamia-nut chocolates, and blatantly enticing my family with extended holiday vacations in paradise. Dreaming in high definition and surround sound and then taking appropriate steps to live those dreams is what this book is all about. You may not have a burning desire to move to a distant land, but what do you want out of life? Are you a student anxiously finishing college? A young mom who's busy raising twins? An overseas missionary on a brand-new assignment? A career woman vying for an enviable position? A widow with only a few pressing obligations? Regardless of your role in life, you and I have a few things in common:

-We love to dream.
-God designed us to dream.
-And there's no day like today to start discovering God's best!

I need you to know that I'm not so far up in the clouds that I am unaware of your everyday realities. Life has prepared me well to be your Life Coach. I have a testimony of brokenness, and I'm honored to help you dream. Check out what I call "My 7 Big D's" events that shaped me for nearly twenty years.

My 7 Big D's
1982 Barely survived a serious, four-?month depression.
1986 Devastated by a totally unexpected divorce.
1988 Confused about having to rewrite my doctoral dissertation.
1990 Deeply saddened by the death of my ex-husband.
1991 Angered by a corporate downsizing, which left me laid off just days after buying a home.
1993 Terrified by a dating incident.
2001 Shocked by the death of my dream when my first book contract was canceled due to
budget cuts after 9/11.

What does this list tell you, other than that I must have built up a lot of stamina by now? It says that you can trust me to understand what you're going through and to tell it like it is when I coach you without skirting around the issues. I care deeply about making sure you don't get stuck in the quagmire of life, as I did too many times. These chapters will take you on a journey to find what you're really jazzed about what makes you smile, laugh, play, sing, and dance. It's time to daydream about the adventure God has in store for you!

Amos 4:13 tells us that God reveals His thoughts to us: "He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals his thoughts to mortals, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth the Lord God Almighty is his name." We want to do whatever it takes to be ready for that revelation. As your Life Coach, I will come alongside you like a Barnabas (a name that Acts 4:13 tells us means "son of encouragement"). We will enjoy life changing chats about you, stealing precious moments within your hectic schedule. I know how hard it is for you to find time for a conversation about your legacy, your destiny, your divine urge. As you are able to sneak away from your daily routine, it will be my job and my joy to sit with you and draw out of you the distinct calling God laid on your heart eons ago, before you were ever born. And then, equally important, we will put baby steps in place to help you live out your exciting, God-designed purpose, which has long been the desire in your soul even if it has lain dormant.

This book is loaded with modern, true stories of everyday saints, Bible character parallels, inspirational quotes, some of my favorite Scripture verses, heartfelt prayers, ten coaching tips, forty action steps, reflection questions, and practical exercises with sample answers from my own life to trigger your thinking. (Don't miss the Web downloads, too, which are my special gift to you!) You will hear from real women, students, wives, mothers, a widow, career women, church staff members who all have tremendous testimonies to share. I urge you to break all of the normal book reading rules and jump into the chapters in any sequence you please. Did you know that doing the unexpected can change your perspective, which will then cause you to see your world through new eyes?

I've chosen these particular topics for us to explore in detail as we discover what it takes to Live Big!
1. Face Your Fears
2. Learn to Exhale
3. Honor Your Deepest Longings
4. Don't Ever Give Up
5. Use Your Past for Good
6. Expect Miracles
7. Forgive Someone
8. Eat Dessert First
9. Ask Jesus for Vision
10. Capture Your Live Big! Dream

I can't help but think: If only someone had told me that! or Why didn't I learn that in school? Frankly, I feel there ought to be a law mandating that schools teach us to be tenacious, forgiving, and courageous. We need classes at church that help us reach for our dreams, expect miracles, focus forward, and breathe calmly through adversity. But most important, we must learn how to play and to stop taking ourselves so seriously and to start cherishing God's incredibly specific plan for our lives. In this way, we address the habits that help us attract or sabotage God's boldest wishes for us. Each of the ten coaching tips will give you a broader, richer understanding of how to run and finish the race well.

You probably picked up this book because you want to travel boldly down the path to
purpose and fulfillment, yet perhaps you've lost sight of your dreams, hopes, and longings possibly because of regrets, exhaustion, stubbornness, fears, sins, and so on. We're all burdened with something. You want to bring glory to God with your life, but you may be carrying such a heavy weight of boredom, loneliness, doubt, pride, and/or hopelessness that you've forgotten how to unleash your creativity. The biblical perspective in this book will help you hear God's promptings more clearly and act on them with pure joy.

I encourage you to dream big dreams during this eye-opening, heart-pounding quest. Let me share with you forty proven, incremental steps that I personally have used for years and have coached my clients through action steps that will help you to live a significance filled life. God will be honored, and you will be blessed. You will find yourself empowered beyond your wildest imagination as you Live Big!
Will you take your first small step today?


Click here to order the book!

Some more valuable information about Katie Brazelton, Ph.D., M.Div., M.A., she is a life coach and bestselling author. She is the founder of Life Purpose Coaching Centers International which trains Christians worldwide to become Life Purpose Coach professionals and assist others to discover and fulfill God’s plan for their lives. Dr. Brazelton was formerly a licensed minister and director of women’s Bible studies at Saddleback Church and now is a professor at Rockbridge Seminary. She lives in Southern California and has two children and two grandchildren. She is the author of the bestselling series Pathway to Purpose for Women and Character Makeover: 40 Days with a Life Coach to Create the Best You.

iBloom’s very own Kelly Thorne and Betsy Ringer are trained Life Coach instructors. If you feel led to become a Life Purpose Coach please CLICK HERE to contact us for more information or email us at info@ibloom.us.

Be All There by Glen Schneiders

Glen Schneiders is the Lead Pastor of Crossroads Christian Church

Are we fully anywhere anymore?  As I walk into a meeting or church gathering, I note the number of cell phones in texting mode. I can’t help but wonder how many of us are fully engaged – in anything; that includes the meetings at work, the family dinner, or church services. With wireless on computers and emails arriving by phone day or night, there is no such thing as a vacation. (Unless you have had the misfortune of a company imposed furlough, then you could lose your job if you responded to email.)

I am not anti-technology.  The conveniences of bringing the world to us cannot be ignored.  But what if we want to be truly off for a day or a week?  What about the biblical concept of Sabbath rest (one day in seven that is designed for rest, refreshment and reflection)?  Do a number of stress related illnesses that affect more and more get propagated by our constant availability to people?  Have you ever received an email on the weekend that you wished you had waited to read until Monday morning?

Allow me to make some suggestions for being all there:

• Turn off your phones at dinner.  Refuse to let something less important distract you from what is most important.  If you are really brave, refuse to read email for at least one day of the weekend.  If that goes well, you might be ready to try it for some portion of your next vacation.
• In meetings, determine to be fully there.  No texts, no emails.  As an aside, I believe as leaders we owe it to people to not waste time.  Get started on time, get to the point, and then get out.  We are all busy.
• In church, sit enraptured by the amazing words of wisdom by the preacher.  Okay, at least give the guy a chance instead of tweeting about him.  Remember God spoke through a donkey in the Old Testament.  He might want to do it again!  Come to think of it that analogy might apply to your boss as well.  

Ecclesiastes 9:10 (New American Standard Version) “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…”  (Hard to do when diverted by multiple inputs.)

Jim Elliot observed, “Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God." 

Determine to be all there this week … at work, at home, at church.

Five Secrets that Turn Good Intentions into Real Results by Betsy Ringer

I pulled up to the red light and glanced at the van positioned next to me, slightly forward. The woman in the driver’s seat was on her cell phone. Her head was looking down like she was searching for something in her purse. Three kids were in the back seats with school papers and one was putting on soccer shoes. The mother flung her arm back with an object for one of the kids. It looked like she was talking frustratingly to someone on the phone or maybe she was on hold and reprimanding the kids. I don’t know. But as she snapped the phone shut and our eyes met, we recognized each other. Her frazzled face turned into a broad smile and she waved as the light turned green and she quickly zoomed away - probably a bit embarrassed.

This scene reminded me so much of myself when I was about that age. I had a full life with work, husband, kids, home, friends, and a to-do list that kept me in constant turmoil. I carried around a sense of discontent and felt guilty about it. I seemed to look at what wasn’t quite right rather than really realizing how great things were nor feeling equipped to make things better. I found a quote that popped me into awareness, “What a wonderful life I’ve had! I only wish I’d realized it sooner!” (Collette, French novelist who wrote Gigi)

Since then I have learned many secrets about shifting from living to thriving. I have worked with thousands of women sharing tools, stories, insights, resources and perspective shifts. Gradually they move from feeling like life is slipping away to the ability to manage important life areas and then focus on what really matters. They learn how to turn good intentions into real results that brighten their lives.

Today, I’d like to share just five of those secrets:

1. Develop a compelling vision for how you want your life to go. Before you take a trip or drive to a new city you consult a map and decide which route you will take. Do the same for your life.

2. Find resources that help you be the strong person you know you are. We can’t know everything so find the “experts” and let them guide you.

3. Make friends with time. Craft today – truly the only day you have – so that it is well-lived. Guard against being in a hurry – it’s a sickness.

4. Give yourself permission to be happy. Get healthy, de-clutter, embrace your inner Pollyanna, and choose to manage your life a way you can thrive.

5. There are some things you must give up to get what you truly want. We have been brought up to be consumers and addicts - shopping, food, email, busyness, perfection, activity, etc. It’s so difficult to let go of what’s destroying us but when we do we make room for what God truly has for us!

This is just the beginning. You no longer have to ask, “But how do I start?” NOW is the time to invest in others by investing in yourself. You can begin this month to turn your good intentions into real results in 12 key areas of your life.

I have a new iThrive group starting April 27. Monthly, you will receive materials that break down the important life areas for success into manageable, bite-sized pieces. Then you meet once a month with a fabulous group by phone for coaching and encouragement to make lasting change. You can realize the wonderful life you live and gain tools and resources to manage it so you can focus on what really matters.

I really want to see you in my group. I’d love to see you finally make the breakthrough you’ve always dreamed of! It's not too late to begin.

CLICK HERE to find out more and register.

Please LEAVE A COMMENT if you would like to be part of my group but need another time slot. I’ll be starting another group soon.