Self improvement and religion might seem like two totally diverse concepts. Many learned people are of the opinion that religion places people in boxes where they have to fit a specified mould, this prevents them from reaching self actualization. Others believe that religion is a vehicle in which a person may embark on a journey of eternal progression. Between these opposite views are some principles which could help you improve.
Most religions have a set of guidelines or standards which governs behaviour, e.g. Christians adhere to the 10 Commandments. By living up to the guidelines, a person will receive rewards (blessings). The standards also prevent believers from indulging in harmful practices. It follows then that a righteous person will be able to progress better with their self improvement.
The guilt believers experience when breaking commandment can have a negative effect on self improvement. Even non-believers experience feelings of guilt to some extent when doing things that bring unhappiness to others. Guilt fills a person with negative feelings and lowers self esteem. These feelings are counter productive to improvement. The process to over come these negative emotions is called repentance. Different religions provide for this in different ways. Part of this process most often involves confession.
Confession can also lift your burdens even if you are non-religious. Just talking about your problem with your closest friend will make you feel better. If you have done some injustice to someone else, just speak to them and iron out your differences. It will make you feel more positive.
Prayer is probably the most used religious principle and can have a real positive influence on self improvement. Prayer is defined as communication with God or a superior being. It is believed that God answers prayers. Religious and non-believers practice prayer in some way or another. Those who pray find strength through the belief that the prayer will be answered, the verbal expression of their needs, the sharing of their dreams and goals motivates them to succeed, belief that they will be assisted in overcoming their problems and feeling that they are not alone in their struggle.
Reading scripture i.e. Holy Bible, Koran, etc can have a positive influence on self improvement. These books abound in examples of people being able to overcome weaknesses and to become more perfect. You don not have to be religious to benefit from reading Holy Scripture.
Being a member of a religious group provides social support to the member. Fellow members understand the need to become more perfect and thus provide support in self improvement efforts. You will most probably find that they are also in turn trying to improve in one way or another.
The most powerful concept offered by religion is that humans are sons and daughters of a God and thus have unlimited potential. This realization can assist believers in motivating themselves to tackle very difficult self improvement projects, knowing that they are very likely to succeed. It also gives them emotional strength and faith to keep on trying when things might look hopeless.
Taking all things into account, maybe self improvement and religion are not as diverse as expected!
Posts Tagged ‘Improvement’
How Religion can Affect Self Improvement
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010Home Improvement Loan
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010Do you have some improvements that you would like to make to your home or property? Most of us do not have the cash on hand that we need to make major improvements to our home or land and that is why a home improvement loan can be just what you need to get the work done. A home improvement loan is a loan that is made for the express purpose of improving your home. Many of the loans require that you do specific things with it while others leave the improvements up to you. You can often get 50% or more of the value of your home to help finance your improvements, which should allow you to undertake all of the projects that you envision for your home.
If you aren’t sure where to get a home improvement loan you may want to start with your mortgage lender. You can often secure very good rates with the lender that you are already working with because they know that you’ll pay and they also have an interest in you improving the property so that it is a place that you would like to live or that they can easily sell should you default. If your mortgage lender doesn’t deal in the home improvement loan market, there is no need to worry. There are literally thousands of lenders out there that would like to give you the home improvement loan that you need. Whether you have perfect credit or credit blemishes most will find that they have no problem getting the loan that they need. Home improvement loans are a great way to increase the value of your home so that you can take pride in it and also to improve your chances of selling it in the future.
DIY Home Improvement Help and Loans
Thursday, June 24th, 2010Help can be found easily when it comes to home improvements. You can hire a local handy man to come and help you or you can pull in some favors from friends and family members, either way it is very easy for help to come and guide you through your project.
It doesn’t just need to be family or friends that help you can also hire some professionals, of course you are more likely to pay them a heck of a lot more than you would some friends and neighbors. Either way you look at it, help is always available and of course in this day and age it is available twenty four hours a day, seven days a week and three hundred and sixty five days a year.
Help can be in the form of people or of course you can turn to technology. You can either use television, computers or even state of the art tools to get your work done. They are all great ways to help you in your quest for home improvement. Many people are looking for the best way to do up their home and everyone gives different ideas to everyone else. You can only choose the help that suits you though, don’t invite any one along that is going to jeopardize the timeframe or the work that is going to be completed. Also when watching a DVD about home improvement don’t change your mind half way through the project that you want it done another way instead of the way you had originally planned as this will make your hired help not in the best of moods.
Help is of course like I said very easy to find and of course you can get cheap labor slapping your mates on the back asking them for a favor so why not try that approach rather than contracting some very expensive professionals to get the work done for you! It is always cheaper in the long run to employ some friends and neighbors instead of contractors as you have to pay for their over priced labor charges and material charges. At the end of they day if you can’t be bothered with all the hassle of hiring some help then just go for it alone, you may find out that it would probably be quicker than putting up with everyone else’s demands and you will also get exactly what you want done without splashing out some extra cash.
Home Improvement Loans
Loans are the easiest way to finance your home improvement projects. Financing is not difficult if you are working and you are able to afford repayments on a loan. You don’t have to be squeaky clean to get credit anymore which is fantastic as that opens up a lot of options for people who have had bad experiences with credit in the past but are ready to make amends! Home improvement financing is one of the more important parts of the project and needs to be sorted out one hundred percent before venturing into any home improvement project.
You can’t get anything for free these days and of course why should home improvement be any different. Financing is serious and should be given the utmost consideration and thought before embarking on taking out any loans especially if they are secured on your home or your car! You can lose everything if you can’t keep up with the repayments so make sure that is the first thing that you do. There is no point investing all the money that you have borrowed into your home only for your home to be taken off you because you couldn’t repay the money that you borrowed.
Financing is a serious responsibility. Loans and the like are only available to those who are over the age of eighteen as this is deemed as credit and the law states that you are an adult and allowed these things when you hit eighteen! Of course the law in the USA states you are not an adult until you are twenty one but you are still allowed to access credit facilities.
Home improvement financing is easy to come by if you are old enough and of course have some money coming in. Home improvement financing is now easier than before so there is no reason why you should be putting off your projects as they can easily be carried out with the littlest of hassle.