Be Encouraged

Just hold on! And we do. We hold on to lots of tension. 
This tension is in our heads and gets into our joints and muscles. It makes headaches, and it makes bodies ache. 
What do you do to relieve tension? Have you found anything that works for you? There are thousands of suggestions out there. The promises of relief come in programs, apps and pills. Just do this one thing or take this medicine. Or do this list of things and tension will go away. 
Check out this episode to hear my view of what really relieves tension. It may not be what you think!

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Be Encouraged podcast is practical, in the moment, thoughtful encouragement. 

Nature has lessons for us humans. We're different than animals, of course. But we can learn a thing or two from them. Sometimes their behavior reminds us of ourselves. 
Do you let the first impulse drive your reaction to things? What if you could do something differently? What would you do?

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Be Encouraged podcast is practical, in the moment, thoughtful encouragement. 

There are many noises in our world, literal noises, and things that create noise in our hearts. What is noise to you? Have you thought about it? 
Don't let the noise throw you off course. Check out this podcast episode for a thoughtful consideration of noise and how to deal with it. 

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Be Encouraged podcast is practical, in the moment, thoughtful encouragement. 

Life is hard so rest is important. You need to push through the tough times! Right? But regular rest is needed and sometimes what you are doing just needs to stop; you need to quit!
Go further along on the walk by the Lake with Jay, learning some lessons that can be learned. Don't spend life in a mindless trance; be present where you are, see the sights along the way! And when it is time to rest, rest; when it is time to quit, quit!

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Be Encouraged podcast is practical, in the moment, thoughtful encouragement. 

Wherever you walk, it will be a different experience for you if you just pay attention. It's so easy to be in a beautiful place and have your mind on other things. Then you miss the beauty around you; the experience is less than it can be.
Come along on a hike in this episode and see what you can experience with just a bit of thought and focus. Take a few minutes in a guided time of noticing what you have been missing!

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Be Encouraged podcast is practical, in the moment, thoughtful encouragement. 

The story of Jay's dog Callie and her tendency to get stuck smelling illustrates how we humans get stuck on ideas. You have had it happen, we all have. You don't have to be "OCD" to get your mind caught in a loop of thinking over and over about the same thing.  How to get out? Listen in to this episode for a challenge to get those thoughts unstuck, and how to do it!

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Be Encouraged podcast is practical, in the moment, thoughtful encouragement. 

Everybody has heard the saying, "if you don't use it, you lose it." It's true, unfortunately! It's true of physical muscle and it's true of your spiritual side. If you don't exercise it, you lose strength and resilience. 
This episode teaches a skill you can use to help maintain and grow. 
And there is inspiration to keep up the good fight, as often as possible, as regular as possible. 

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Be Encouraged podcast is practical, in the moment, thoughtful encouragement. 

Being aware of what we eat can help with weight management. It can also be a spark to help us be more aware of everything we do. If you notice as you consume that donut or second helping of fries, you might choose to slow down or stop. If you notice when you drive too fast or lose your temper, you might slow down or stop. This episode is a challenge to pay more attention, and reap some great benefits. 
Just tasting your food is a benefit of mindfully eating. Too often with fast food or rushed habits, we gulp, chew, and swallow while thinking about something else. So only if the food is strong in flavor (good or bad) do we even notice what we are eating. What a shame! take a few minutes to slow down and listen through this episode. 

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Be Encouraged podcast is practical, in the moment, thoughtful encouragement. 

Your mind is bent toward jumping from thought to thought. Especially the attention deficit mind, and let’s be honest, we are all attention deficit these days. Quick, short, exciting stimuli bites are all around us on our phones, on TV and elsewhere. We have been programmed to be impatient with the slow, to get bored quickly with anything that doesn’t engage with the loud, violent, and stimulating. 
The anxiety grows and the ability to handle the anxiety decreases. Only changing the behavior of feeding this “multiple points of attention” monster will increase resilience and calm. 

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Be Encouraged podcast is practical, in the moment, thoughtful encouragement. 

Continual improvement, maximizing your life, having everything! There is pressure to always get better, to never be satisfied, to be your own self critic. 
Getting better is great. being in a state of punishing yourself, not so great. 
There is a better way. Listen in for some practical ideas.

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Be Encouraged podcast is practical, in the moment, thoughtful encouragement.