How to deal with negative people the Jesus way

Do you want know the best way to deal with negative people?

If you do then all you have to do is look at the example of Jesus and study how He handled negative people in Hid earthly life and then implement these strategies in your own life.

Below are some tips on how to handle negative people- the Jesus way:

*  Jesus didn`t focus on those against Him but was focused on His goals for His three year ministry.  The reason why He didn`t stress about all the people against Him was because He had a compelling mission to complete on this earth and was focused on more than `little people`.  Like Jesus, you must have compelling goals that keep you moving forward in life and keep going and not focused on the small fries against you.  When you have exciting goals and a purpose you don`t have the time to focus on negative people.

*  Jesus didn`t even waste His time trying to negotiate or to make amends with the people that were against Him and wanted to kill Him.  Even in the last hours of Jesus`s life when He was charged and taken before the authorities Jesus barely uttered a word when He was put on trial.  Jesus knew what God wanted to do to save humanity and didn`t bother trying to explain Himself or get Himself acquitted by His enemies.

*  However when required, Jesus spoke back to the people that tried to put him publicly to the test and put him down.  He was not afraid to get on the bad side of other people and this is because Jesus had boldness and had no fear of the opinions of other men.  Jesus was not addicted to the approval of others like so many people are in this world. 

*  Jesus was well aware of the character of His enemies and He knew their limits and was not threatened by them.  He saw through everyone`s heart and knew that the people that were against Him were bitten by jealousy and hate and were foolish and narrow minded individuals.  As Jesus knew these enemies of His were foolish He did not take their nasty words to His heart and instead only focused on the words of His beloved father.  The truth is that the people that put you down all the time are the exact kind of people that Jesus had to deal with. 

When Jesus made His first appearance at the temple to read the word of God in the beginning of His ministry, members of the temple started mocking and making critical comments about where Jesus came from and the fact that He was a carpenter`s son in Nazareth.  Nevertheless, Jesus didn`t allow these critics to stop the mission that God had commissioned Him to do on the earth.  Jesus had faith in Himself and never gave up on His dreams just because a few people decided to mock Him and put Him down. 

Like Jesus, understand that it`s no use to give up on the dreams God put in your heart just because some people decided to come against you and put you down.  It`s important for your survival and resilience to understand the motives of why people are negative and like to put others down.  These are the people that are usually unsuccessful in life, pessimistic and miserable individuals who are not satisfied with their lives and always criticize themselves. 

*  Jesus had strong faith in Himself and in God.  In order to face negative people you have to believe in yourself and this will be your source of stability when people try to hit you down and make you feel insecure and unsure about yourself in life.  Whatever a person says to put you down must be ignored and not taken to heart.  Most people can`t properly handle their own lives and give opinions about things that they know nothing about so don`t take them seriously.  In addition, like our wonderful Lord, keep your faith strong in God and run to Him as He is your refuge when things and negative are against you in your walk of life.

Japan Diary ~ Shopping and Study!

Hi friends!

This is Christina reporting!  The last few days we have been studying Japanese very hard..  Now we have joined the local Joetsu community network that the government runs..  We have been assigned a teacher and we are endeavouring to level up on our Japanese..

We drive by car to the government building [as I have an international driving permit] and after we go and enjoy time studying at one of the many coffee shops!

After we spend the day shopping...  Here in Japan the shopping experience is amazing to say the least!  Actually consumerism is one of the strong points of the Japanese economy - the Japanese love shopping!!!

The home appliances are so convenient and more technologically superior than those in the west..  Just browsing home stores and technology stores can take a whole day and there are so many mega stores for electronics!

Actually products are quite affordable and because of such competition [in terms of all products], stores offer point and member cards where you can get quick bonus points, discounts and free products!!  Already we have become members to some of our favorite stores and have reaped so many benefits: free products, discounts and offers! 

The other day at a 100yen mega store I won a 500yen coupon when the staff ran my receipt through the computer...yeaaaaah!!!!!!

Tommorow we are heading for Tokyo!!!!!!  Our old home!! [we worked in Tokyo a few years back].  We are deciding where to go to see Christmas illumination scenes, where to eat where we get a high tower view of the nightsky of Tokyo city!!  We bought a Tokyo guide book from the magazine store yesterday and we are reading it for recommendations.. It is in Japanese, but our level is ok to understand enough!

Perhaps we will go to the Park Tower Prince Hotel for stay and the view is so nice at dinner time!!  This is the view:

So nice for Christmas time!!

We plan to spend a beautiful Christmas eve with our special friends from Tokyo!!

Keep posted dear friends - we will be leaving for Tokyo on Friday morning by car and plan to keep you posted about our adventures as much as possible!

Lots of love dear brothers and sisters in Christ!

Love Christina [and Teppie]

Adventures in Japan Update!

Hi everyone- this is Teppie from Dream Believe and Manifest!  It has been a long time since we posted and that is because we have been so busy here in Japan!  We definitely will be keeping you updated in this blog post on what we have been up to!!!

Basically it has been snowing nearly everyday here in Niigata!  Growing up in Australia we all dream of a white Christmas and snow and it looks so perfect and beautiful...but actually when you get used to it, it`s very messy and inconvenient and dangerous at times when walking and driving.  Me and Christina have slipped on a countless number of occasions!!!!!  That was scary!!!We are not very used to driving in the snow!!!!

We took a drive from the city of Joetsu where we are living at the moment and drove to Nigata city where the whole place has been beautifully lit up with Christmas illumunations!  Recently Japan has been obsessed with the Christmas season and everything associated with this beautiful event. 

Things have changed dramatically over the years in terms of Christmas becoming a very big part of Japanese modern culture!!!  Unfortunately, in terms of the religious aspect of Christmas, most of the Japanese do not see Christmas as a time of celebrating the birth of our beautiful Lord Jesus Christ...but it is great to feel the Christmas season alive and kicking in Japan!

Actually I was so touched in one clothing store .. they were playing a beautiful song about Christ and how he died for us and the beauty of his birth.. I nearlly started crying in the store.  To come so far to a country steeped in Buddhism and to hear this playing is truly amazing...  I love you Jesus!

Me and Christina have been over induldging in the tastes of Japan!!  In particular the hot beverages and desserts which are absolutely delicious!!  To be honest, we have been treated like Princesses!!

YUMMY!!!!!  Berry and Berry Waffle with ice cream and fluffy vanilla cream!!!  We both loved the ice-cream and berry flavoured sause!!!!!!

Here we are at Tully`s Coffee a cool hangout to have a great coffee or tea and dessert and just hang out!!!  Tully`s is like the equivalent of Starbucks in Japan and has amazing drinks and great atmosphere!!!  

We love going to coffee shops at least once or even twice a day to muse, read the bible and other books and to make new ideas for our blog that are fun, exciting and informative! 

The service here is amazing!!  As it is winter here and very cold, this coffee shop Tully`s offers complimentary soft blankets for customers to cover their legs to provide that extra comfort on those chilly winter days.  Here I am [Teppie] enjoying my hot irish cream latte with a cosy blanket over my cold legs.

Very comfortable and a great time to relax after a hard day in the snow!!!!

Finally after the end of a snowy day I took an onsen.  Onsen is the word for therapeutic bath in Japanese.  I have been taking these baths nearly every day!!!  I have become addicted to them and every Japanese home has a bath- quite different to the western bath but personally I think it is more comfortable!!! 

I have been using aromatherapy - mineral bath salts for a German company called Kneipp.  They offer a whole range of herbal, non chemical bath salts and they are a great way to relax and calm you after a hard day or to rejuvinate you in the morning!!  This time it is Gute Nacht formula with Hops and Valerian..  I recommend this Gute Nacht bath salt very much!!!  Also lavender and orange are amazing - I recommend you to try them!!!!

Anyway, until next time my dear friends!!!  Take care and enjoy during the Christmas season.  I`ll be posting soon, so please visit my blog to check out my new post!  God bless you all from Teppie [and Christina!] xxxxoooo

Christmas mania and more!

Hello friends in Christ!

We have been spending our time going around enjoying the sights and sound of northern Japan.  Our Japanese friends have been so wonderful to us, taking us around and being great hosts! We are very lucky!!

So, in a few weeks we will celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ!  As for me and Christina we will be spending Christmas in Japan, I am so excited to spend a white Christmas here!  In Australia we always have hot summer Christmas days so this year we are lucky to have a winter Christmas again in Japan! 

Although Japan is a non Christian country, we have found that Christmas is becoming increasingly popular amongst the Japanese people more than ever before.  Streets all over the country have been set up with illuminations and everywhere you go you see beautifully decorated Christmas trees and Christmas music is played in all the stores, coffee shops and restaurants - even more than in Australia! 

In addition, a very big trend here in Japan for Christmas is the Japanese Christmas strawberry short cake.  There is a heavy focus on these cakes in the media and people all over Japan are already ordering these cakes for Christmas.  Some cakes are even priced as much as $150 dollars!

These cute cakes that sell for 300 yen each [US$3 or so...] and are small versions of the Japanese strawberry shortcake for Christmas time!

Also popular with the Japanese all times of the year is pudding which is pronounced "purin" in Japanese.  You can buy these at most department stores and supermarkets.  I particulary love the pink bottle tops, very pretty so I had to add take a picture of this!

This is another photo that I had to snap.  Whilst strolling through a mall I saw a group of junior high schools students in interesting uniforms.  These andriod looking life size dolls are part of a national campaign for school uniforms.  An interesting sight to see yet a little eerie as well...

Only in Japan!

Finally after so much walking around and sightseeing today we stepped into a Mr Doughnut store.  Mr Doughnuts is as famous as Krispy Kremes in the U.S and offers complimentary refills of coffee for customers and is a great place to have a break, drink a beverage and muse...

Today I chose an ice coffee and a chocolate doughnut sprinkled with honey crisps!  Christina chose a hot blend American coffee and a classic iced choc doughnut. Yummy!

So until next update.  God bless!

Adventures in the Far East!

Hello everyone and greetings from Japan!  We are having an amazing stay here and getting to do so many things in this land that never ceases to surprise us. 

We have been doing a lot of eating here in Japan as the food is not only amazing but so affordable [compared to restaurant prices in Australia, so so cheap!]

Me and Christina are particulary fond of `tan tan ramen'.  This is a very spicy noodle soup dish that sets your stomach ablaze and keeps it so warm on cold winter nights.  We definitely need it for these cold months here in north Japan where it will start to snow heavily soon where we are staying.

The coffee drinks here in Japan are divine!  In Australia I rarely drink coffee but with so many delicious coffee drinks available hot or iced I am finding myself drinking so much coffee!!!  My favourite is iced Vienna coffee.  It is just iced coffee topped with the most delicious whipped vanilla cream.  Beware if you are ever in Japan and you try this drink.  It is addictive!

We have also been doing a lot of exploring [spending hours!] at electronic shops checking out the latest technological devices and things here in Japan are definitely ahead of the rest of the world at least 5 years!!!

In addition as we are crazy about anything that is cute we have gone shopping on a number of occassions and bought so many things!!!  I think me and Christina have to send some things back home in boxes!!!
I just can`t resist, everything is so cute!!!

We have also been doing a lot of driving and travelling by car to other places in north Japan.  The driving experiences here in north Japan is amazing.  Having to drive through countless mountain road tunnels and seeing all the beautiful red and yellow Fall trees.  Also spending time at roadside service areas that are more like high tech malls that provide Starbucks coffee shops and sell everythting from hot curry, traditional pickles to Hello Kitty souveneirs!

Friends in Christ, please stay tuned for the next blog post of our adventures in Japan!  Until next time, God bless!

Teppie [and Christina]

Expose the negative voice in your head!

Imagine two men sitting in congested traffic during the rush hour.  The first man starts to feel trapped, and says to himself “I’m so angry I could scream,” “This is really going to destroy my day,” “Why does this always happen to me?”  As a result he feels anxious, angry and frustrated.

The second man though, sees the traffic as an opportunity to relax and put on a new CD.  He thinks to himself “I might as well unwind now until the traffic eases,” or “Finally I can stretch my aching neck and relax.”  As a result this man feels a sense of inner peace and acceptance.

In both cases, the men faced the identical situation, but the feelings expressed were very different.  Why?  This is because of internalised monologue or what is mostly referred to as self talk. 

If you usually engage in negative self-talk you may be one or more of the following types:

• The Worrier: 

This type of self talk promotes anxiety by imagining the worst case scenario. 

It also tends to overestimate the odds of something bad or embarrassing happening.  For instance, [“What if they laugh and stare at me for being fat at the party?”]  The worrier also creates grandiose images of potential failure or catastrophe happening, [“What if I shake when I’m giving the speech and make a fool of myself?”] 

• The Perfectionist:

Perfectionist type of self talk promotes chronic stress and burnout. 

It generates anxiety by constantly telling you that your efforts are not good enough, that you should have everything under control and that you should be constantly working harder, [“I should always be the best.”]  A perfectionist will determine their self worth according to things external to them such as money, achievements and acceptance by others. 

• The Victim:

The Victim form of self talk plays a big role in creating depression. 

The victim holds negative beliefs such as [“I’m hopeless”].  An individual plagued with this type of self talk believes that in some way they are defective or unworthy as human beings.  This type of self talk increases the propensity to give up in life, [I’ll never be a success, so what’s the point in trying?”] 

• The Critic:

This type of self talk promotes low self esteem. 

The critic tends to constantly point out your flaws and limitations whenever possible.  It jumps on any mistake you make to prove that you’re a failure, whilst ignoring your strengths and positive qualities.  A favourite expression of the critic is [“What a disappointment you are!” or “That was stupid of you.”]  The critic may be the voice of your critical mother or father, a dreaded teacher, or anyone who wounded you in the past with their criticism.

Dream Believe and Manifest.com is a Christian personal development resource that offers self development enthusiasts access to a variety of information including articles, videos, personal development products and coaching. Dream Believe and Manifest.com covers everything from understanding yourself and others to spirituality, health, relationships and success. Follow us on our interesting and unique blog and become our friends on Twitter and Facebook. Dream Believe and Manifest – Your resource for personal development!

12 ways to skyrocket your happiness in life

1.  Watch very little television.  Do not let the television become a part of your daily life.  Not watching the garbage displayed on television will protect you from being bombarded with fear and negativities.

2.  Acknowledge and tap into your higher energy.  Bask in this energy.  This energy is from God and is already present within you. 

3.  Don’t allow low energy things or people who are out there in the world bring you down.  Refuse to bring yourself down and join into other people’s negative energy - you have nothing to do with other peoples' issues and negativities.

4.  Don’t bring the energy of fear into your problem- no amount of fear you have is going to bring solutions to any of the problems you have.

5.  Make it your mission not to wallow around in lower energies like misery, hate and self pity. 

6.  Be happy and enjoy yourself-this is the purpose of life.  Don’t let yourself be bombarded with all the reasons why you should unhappy, miserable and depressed.

7.  Choose to express yourself and live the way you want to live.  Discount and ignore the mockery and criticism of others.  The truth you should always remember is that at the end of the day these people will not matter to you and won't be around.

8.  Bring high energy to the presence of low energy.  This may include bringing hope to someone who is in despair and hopelessness or staying positive in a negative environment.

9.  Maintain your connection with God through prayer and meditation.  Take time daily to make conscious contact with God through silence.

10.  Learn to let go.  Know that there’s a higher power working on behalf of you and allow God to work the wrongs out for you.

11.  Detach yourself from the outcome of a situation and be independent of the opinion of other people.  Cultivating this is a talent and will make your life sweeter.

12.  Understand that you are ever alone.  God is with you and there is no separation from God’s unconditional love.

Dream Believe and Manifest.com is Christian personal development resource that offers self development enthusiasts access to a variety of information including articles, videos, personal development products and coaching.  Dream Believe and Manifest.com covers everything from understanding yourself and others to spirituality, health, relationships and success.  Follow us on our interesting and unique blog and become our friends on Twitter and Facebook.  Dream Believe and Manifest – Your resource for personal development!