Posted: under "A Slice Of Life", "LOVE is LOVELY".
Tags: account, activity, age, aid, America, anxiety, bank, bliss, Britain, care, caring, cemetery, charity, check, child, companion, computer, contribution, couple, dad, day, depression, difference, donation, duty, earth, England, era, Europe, experience, father, finance, fish, fishing, funds, funeral, generosity, ghost, global, globe, government, habit, happiness, history, home, House, husband, inspiration, internet, job, joy, labor, lake, land, life, lifestyle, lifetime, London, love, man, memories, money, neighbor, obituary, ocean, online, others, parent, partner, passion, period, pond, pool, rain, reading, reward, rivers, sea, sharing, spouse, stream, stress, task, time, token, trip, understanding, universe, value, water, wife, woman, work, world
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Writer Gary Jennings said this: “Love and time, those are the only
two things in all the world and all of life, that cannot be bought,
but only spent.”
.
I love that. And HOW I spend my love and time is what it is all
about.
.
My work and interests require me to spend probably an inordinate
amount of time in front of my computer. At least according to my
wife Bev.
.
She and I were talking one day about death and funerals and what to
do with each other’s remains. I asked. “What will you do with my
body? Burial? Cremation?”
.
She answered, “I think I’ll just have you stuffed and propped up in
your chair by the computer. That way when I walk through the room I
won’t even notice that you’re gone.”
.
I got the point - too much computer time. And how I spend my time
and my love is all important.
. The question I ask myself is this: “Do I generously and freely give
love and time away - and especially to those closest to me?”
.
Charles Francis Adams was the United States ambassador to Great
Britain during the Lincoln administration. He had the habit of
keeping a daily diary. He also taught his son Brooks the value of
journaling his activities in a diary.
. One memorable day, eight-year-old Brooks recorded, “Went fishing
with my father, the most glorious day of my life.” It must have been
a glorious day, for the next forty years Brooks repeatedly mentioned
it in his diary. It became a life-long memory.
.
His father also wrote about the fishing trip. His own diary on that Read More
Dec 31 2010
Posted: under "A Slice Of Life", Advice & Tips.
Tags: achievement, activities, advice, appreciation, beauty, bliss, boss, champagne, choices, computer, contribution, control, couple, day, desire, difference, dinner, donation, dreams, earth, experiences, family, focus, friends, future, gift, goal, halloween, happiness, health, home, husband, inspiration, internet, job, joy, kindness, laughter, lessons, life, love, man, moment, money, nature, online, relationships, secrets, smiles, sports, spouse, success, tips, today, Valentine's Day, wife, wine, woman, work, world
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How to Be Happy
================
.
Find joy in the people and places around you!
.
Last night, I had dinner with a friend who has everything I
want: a beautiful brownstone house filled with expensive
furniture, a smart and funny husband, an adorable baby girl and
a published novel.
.
She just told me that she’s miserable.
.
“I know it’s terrible,” she said. “I have nothing to complain
about. But I’ve always been miserable. I get it from my mother
— she was a real grump.”
.
I was surprised; I had always thought she was happy. Not that I
ever asked her. Of course she’s happy, I figured, she has all
the toys. This deduction is a common mistake, says David Niven,
Ph.D., author of “The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People.”
.
“One thing that continually shocks people is that the events of
a person’s life have little to do with how happy he or she is,”
says Dr. Niven.
.
Rather, as my friend suspected, genetics is about 50 percent
responsible for our level of happiness, says Mihaly
Csikszentmihalyi, Ph.D., author of the groundbreaking book
“Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience.” Fortunately, we
have a significant amount of control over the other half.
.
Here are some ways to tend to your mental health and happiness
today:
.
Appreciate the moment:
Many of us view happiness as a future state: something we’ll
achieve when we get that great job, beautiful home or handsome
husband. And while we do often feel quite elated when we attain
these goals, the bliss is usually short-lived — and quickly
followed by a desire for something else, whether it’s more
money, a renovated kitchen or flowers on Valentine’s Day.
“That’s why winning the lottery or getting a promotion doesn’t
work.
.
You’re always looking toward the next step,” explains Dr.
Csikszentmihalyi. To break that looking-ahead cycle, you need
to cultivate an appreciation of your life as it is now —
dissatisfying job and all.
.
Csikszentmihalyi says people have a natural tendency to think
about what’s not working in their lives and ignore the good
stuff. So make a list of everything that you love about your
life — Thursday-night Chardonnays with the girls, the nature
trail nearby, the way your two-year-old looks in her Halloween
costume — and then remind yourself to really savor them.
.
Give yourself a higher calling:
Csikszentmihalyi says that people are happy when they feel that
they are contributing to something greater than themselves,
whether through their job, family or community. “Happy people
don’t ruminate about themselves and their problems. They say,
Life is short. I’d better do something useful.” But you don’t
have to have a large family or a job vaccinating orphans in
order to lead a fulfilling life.
.
Take the real-estate agent I know. Truly invested in helping
people find the right home, he will often steer prospective
tenants away from listings he considers subpar, depending upon
their needs and desires. If he was strictly out for his
commission, he wouldn’t get nearly the same job satisfaction
(and, in the long run, he probably wouldn’t make as much money,
either). So think about the ways you can transform your
perspective of your daily tasks.
.
Build small acts of kindness into your day:
You can always build small acts of kindness into your day, such
as giving up your seat on the bus, putting a quarter in a
stranger’s ready-to-expire parking meter or clicking on The
Breast Cancer Site (www.thebreastcancersite.com), where you can
help fund mammograms for poor women. These things do make a
difference in others’ lives. You flow, girl (or guy).
.
Find your flow:
We’ve all had those moments when things feel completely right in
our world. Perhaps you were cross-country skiing through a
beautiful ice-coated forest or creating a scrapbook of snapshots
and ticket stubs from your trip to Los Angeles. You spent the
day completely immersed in the activity, and when you finally
looked at your watch, you were startled to realize how much time
had passed.
.
Csikszentmihalyi says these moments of complete absorption are
when people are happiest, a state he calls “flow.” “These are
the moments people treasure in their lives, and the more of them
you get, the better off you are,” he says.
.
To find your flow, first get a hobby — an activity you do for
pure enjoyment. Think about the stuff you loved to do as a kid
— ballet lessons, pottery, pickup basketball — and then just go
with it.
.
Examine your options:
One crucial difference between happy people and unhappy people
Posted: under "A Slice Of Life", "When You're Down to Nothing God's UP to Something", Inspirationals.
Tags: action, advice, aid, anxiety, attitude, behavior, belief, blessings, burden, comfort, courage, cross, depression, difference, drugs, eyes, faith, finance, future, God, heart, help, humanity, inspiration, language, lesson, life, listening, load, love, man, medication, medicine, moment, money, mountain, obedience, others, pain, peace, prayer, rain, rainbow, sound, storm, strength, stress, struggles, surprise, tips, trust, understanding, voice, waiter, weight, wisdom, woman, words, worries
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Let Go
=======
.
One day while climbing towards a high cliff a man slipped and
fell over the edge.
.
Frantic - he grabbed at a branch jutting out from a tree and
yelled out,
.
“Oh, God, help me.”
.
He looked down while holding on tight and saw only jagged rocks.
.
Clutching even tighter to the branch he cried out again,
.
“God…Please help me.”
.
Suddenly he felt God’s presence and heard God ask,
.
“My son, what can I do for you?’
.
The man, somewhat relieved, answered,
.
“Please God, help me. Save me.”
.
God said quietly,
.
“Do you love me?
.
Do you trust me?
.
Do you believe in me?”
.
“Yes, yes, I love you. I trust you and I believe in you,”
the man shouted.
.
“Well, if indeed you love me, trust me, and believe in me,
.
LET GO.”
.
With some hesitation and another look below at the jagged rocks,
the man asked,
.
“Is there anybody else up there I can talk to?”
.
We often seek other answers when our real answer can only come
when we “Let Go” of some things.
.
Though the above is an often-told joke, it is a true parable.
So often in counseling, I tell people the same thing.
.
“You have got to let go. That situation is killing you.
It is killing your peace, your finances, and your future.
.
You must let go!”
.
Often they will inwardly feel just as the hanging man asked,
.
“Is there anybody else that I can talk to, because I am afraid
to let go? I know the situation is killing me, that’s why I’m
here. I know that what I am holding on to is destined to die.
I know I cannot fully live while I remain embraced with it.
.
But I am soooo… afraid.
.
Afraid that I might fall if I let go.”
.
Like a person on drugs, you often must “come down” before you
Read More
Jul 24 2010
Posted: under "LOVE is LOVELY", Inspirationals.
Tags: achievement, belief, blessings, care, character, child, choices, classroom, confidence, difference, education, encouragement, focus, freedom, goal, happiness, heart, history, honor, humor, image, imagination, influence, job, joy, kindness, knowledge, laughter, learning, life, link, love, message, motivation, movie, music, pride, respect, responsibility, school, smiles, soul, spirit, strength, student, teacher, teaching, value, video, vision, winner, work, world
.
This week is Teacher Appreciation Week - a time to honor teachers who have made a difference in the world.
..
Here’s a special message we would like to share with you from Simple Truths founder, Mac Anderson:
..
I grew up in Trenton, Tennessee, a small town of 5,000 people. I have wonderful memories of those first 18 years and the teachers who helped shape the person I am today.
..
Fred Culp was my history teacher in high school. To this day, he is still the funniest person I’ve ever met. In addition to loving his history class, he taught me that a sense of humor, especially laughing at yourself, can be one of life’s greatest blessings.
..
If you’re a teacher, or if, like me, your life was greatly influenced by a teacher, you’re going to love this movie! The beautiful poem,
Read More
May 02 2010
Posted: under "LOVE is LOVELY", Inspirationals.
Tags: care, comfort, difference, feelings, friends, happiness, hug, inspiration, joy, life, love, memories, moment, needs, respect, smiles, thought
.
> What
>
>
> would you do if for every moment you were truly
> happy there would
> be 10 moments of sadness?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> What
> would you do if your best friend died tomorrow
> and you never got to tell them how you felt?
>
>
>
>
>
> So, I just wanted to say,
Read More
Apr 28 2010
Posted: under Inspirational Poetry.
Tags: belief, courage, difference, faith, feelings, friends, gentleness, hope, inspiration, life, love, scripture, strength
.
It takes strength to be firm.
It takes courage to be gentle.
***
It takes strength to stand guard.
It takes courage to let down your guard.
***
It takes strength to conquer
It takes courage to surrender.
***
It takes strength to be certain.
It takes courage to have doubt.
***
It takes strength to fit in.
It takes courage to stand out.
***
It takes strength to feel a friend’s pain.
It takes courage to feel your own pain.
***
Read More
Feb 26 2010