Galatians 5 talks about the fruits of the spirit.  Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self control.  Today, we’re talking about how to have self control.

We live in a time where we have SO much available to us.  There are endless things to occupy our time and our attention.  Also, endless things to distract us from the things in life that are better.  The things that are CALLED to.

First, we’ll define ‘what is self control.’  We’ll talk about the importance of self control, and how to have self control and grow in it.

You want to know how to escape the rat race.  This means you already know what the rat race is.  But let’s just make it really clear.  The ‘rat race’ is a race that no matter how fast or hard you run… you don’t get anywhere.  EXHAUSTING.

Here’s what I’ve learned: Apparently the life of rats can echo the life of people… but the rats are smarter.

In 3 days, I’m hopping on a plane and flying for 6.5 hours to the beautiful island of Maui.  That’s all pretty exciting.  But you know what I’m most excited for?  6.5 hours on an airplane to PLAN.  Yea, I’m fully aware that I’m a nerd.  I’ve been researching the best planners for busy moms, and I finally decided.  So, I went and bought a brand new planner, a fresh notebook, and a whole bunch of nice pens… and I can’t wait for the uninterrupted time to make some plans & set some goals.

This is a guest post from Shanda Fulbright.  Shanda was generous with her time and went live in my Facebook group to discuss this topic- Chasing Perfect.

We were on our way to church and my son wasn’t happy. He looked down at his resin
sculpture, a dog he created with a mold he made, and sighed in disgust.
“What’s wrong?” I asked him. He worked on this piece all day. He was so proud when it first
came out of the mold. He sanded it, cleaned and polished it. He even touched up the edges
and smoothed out the imperfections.

I love social media.  But I also hate social media.  Relationship status = COMPLICATED.  When done right, social media is a huge blessing.  It’s a way to connect with friends and family who are far away.  For me, it has also led me to some of my best friendships!  And clearly, as a blogger, I do rely on social media as part of my job.  But when social media is done wrong, it adds all sort of clutter, stress, and unhealthy habits to life.  Sometimes, limiting social media is exactly what we all need in our lives.

I want to help you to say ‘adios’ to the days that you feel like you’ve accomplished nothing. I hate that feeling, and I know that I can’t be alone in that.  When we learn how to be more productive in life, our joy increases, our health increases, and the amount that we can engage with our family and friends in a healthy manner increases.  So let’s talk productivity tips.

Simple Health Tips.  When I think of overall health, illness prevention, and inflammation reduction, initially, I think, “wow! That’s a big, broad topic.” There are so many things I could say, tips I could give, and ways
I could actively guide you to improve your situation.

While I enjoy learning the nitty-gritty, I don’t always enjoy teaching it. Because simplicity is the name of my game. My overarching goal in everything I do is to leave you in such a capable place, that you no longer need me, in order to live the healthy, happy life you dream of. My goal is for you to own it!

So, I’m going to give you my “big three” for simple health tips.  This will cover over-all health…  including tips for reducing inflammation.

I really wish low self esteem and insecurities were uncommon.  Unfortunately, though, it seems to be a very common, nearly universal struggle.  Here’s the thing about common, though: Common doesn’t mean it’s God’s design.  God calls us to abundant life, and that is not a life lived in fear with low self worth.  That’s why I wanted to write this post on how to overcome low self esteem and insecurities.