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Creating Peace Within Your Environment:

I believe home should be a haven; a place where everyone walks in and says, "Ahhh!"

Here are a few simple steps to make your home feel more peaceful.

1. Clutter is an energy drain. Pare down and organize.

2. Decorate. Cheerful, inspiring decor does wonders. I recently redecorated my living room, adding pops of cheerful turquoise and a few calming decorations, and it's now my favorite space in the house. When my mood needs to shift, I go there.

3. Create physical spaces for self-soothing activities. For adults, a corner dedicated to your hobby, whether it be journaling, scrapbooking, sewing, reading, etc., is a nice space to go to. Allow children to design (or help design) their own soothing spaces. Perhaps a calming area for toddlers or a reading nook for older children.

4. Scents affect moods. Aromatherapy is getting quite a bit of attention, and for good reason. Research shows it relieves stress and promotes physical well-being.

5. Music is another reliever of stress and can quickly boost your mood. Incorporate soft background music for a peaceful effect.

Related Article: Capturing Miracle Moments

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Creating Peace Within Your Relationships

Peaceful communication is key to healthy relationships. Practice peaceful, non-violent communication with your spouse or partner as well as your children. How? Address others in the home respectfully. Show compassion. Disagree with empathy (put yourself in the other's shoes). Treat conflicts as opportunities to learn and grow. Use your words to build others up, pointing our their positive qualities.

Create a family mission together and decide upon which values you will uphold as a family unit. I have found this to be a helpful tool when correcting my own children. When one stepped outside the bounds, I would bring out our mission statement and go over our values, then help him to find ways in which he could stay within those bounds under the circumstance he was facing. The mission statement sets an overall tone for the family and gives clear direction so that everyone knows which path to stay on.

Siblings can and should have peaceful relationships with one another, and there is no room for teasing, fighting, or rivalry. For solutions to sibling rivalry, click here.

"What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family." - Mother Teresa

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Rebecca Eanes is the bestselling author of multiple books including Positive Parenting: An Essential Guide, The Positive Parenting Workbook, and The Gift of a Happy Mother. She is the grateful mom of two boys.