Happiness

Healthy Tips: Practicing Gratitude

by

Practice gratitude: Take time each day to appreciate the good things in your life.

Practicing gratitude is an act of humility. It is acknowledging thanksgiving for a gift. When one considers it, everything is a gift. We’re not entitled to any of it. It’s there for us to enjoy. Consider the miracle of our bodies. Scientists speculate that there are billions of actions occurring within our bodies at any given moment. Imagine that these happen continuously and harmoniously.. You and I are breathing, walking miracles. Gratitude is the foundational rock of happiness. If we choose to be grateful, we will be happy. They go together. Each night after dinner I go for a walk. I name all the people and events for which I am grateful for during my day. I literally walk with a smile. People must think I’m nuts. No, I jam ust grateful.

Is Your Stomach Sounding an Alarm?

by

We’ve got to do lists. We have check lists. We have reminders we can schedule on digital equipment We are easily trapped into a got to, got to, got to mentality. A got to mentality robs us of our peaceful mentality. When we’re moving from one task to the next and thinking of the tasks yet to come we leave no space for ourselves. Think of the tasks that lie ahead and ask, “which of these are essential? Which can wait? Which can be discarded or postponed? Free mental space up for yourself. Don’t surrender this space. Your emotional and physical health depend on you securing that peaceful space. Here’s a hint, your stomach is often an early warning alarm that what your are doing is upsetting your equilibrium. If your stomach is screaming at you, it may be time to think about strategies that tone down the task that is causing your stomach to sound the alarm.

Stop Being So Religious ~ A Poem by Hafez Shirazi

by

Stop Being So Religious

Hafez Shirazi

What do sad people have in common?

It seems they have all built a shrine to the past, And often they go there and do a strange wail and worship.

What is the beginning of happiness?

It is to stop
being so religious

Like

That.

Source

Healthy Tips: Is it Really That Important?

by

Today’s Health Tip

Manage stress: Practice relaxation techniques such as yoga, meditation, or deep breathing.

I’m a pretty much laid back guy. It’s probably why south Texas appeals to me. It has a nice laid back feel to me. It wasn’t always this way with me. There was a time when I was traveling at warp speed (note the reference for Star Trek fans). I went on a silent retreat to a Benedictine monastery. I was there two hours and knew it was a mistake. I had to make it to Sunday noon. I didn’t think it was possible to be quiet that long. Surely these monks didn’t understand the importance of noise and chaos in one’s life. Surprise, surprise. By the time Sunday noon rolled around I’d experienced a deep sense of personal peace. I was beginning to discover what was important and what wasn’t as important as I thought it was. My life changed.

Make 2025 A Great Year

by

“Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.” — Helen Keller

Don’t Take Your Troubles to Bed ~ A Poem by Edmund Vance Cooke

by

Don’t Take Your Troubles to Bed

Edmund Vance Cooke

You may labor your fill, friend of mine, if you will;
You may worry a bit, if you must;
You may treat your affairs as a series of cares,
You may live on a scrap and a crust;
But when the day’s done, put it out of your head;
Don’t take your troubles to bed.

You may batter your way through the thick of the fray,
You may sweat, you may swear, you may grunt;
You may be a jack-fool if you must, but this rule
Should ever be kept at the front: —
Don’t fight with your pillow, but lay down your head
And kick every worriment out of the bed.

That friend or that foe (which he is, I don’t know),
Whose name we have spoken as Death,
Hovers close to your side, while you run or you ride,
And he envies the warmth of your breath;
But he turns him away, with a shake of his head,
When he finds that you don’t take your troubles to bed.

Source

The Gladness of Nature ~ A Poem by William Cullen Bryant

by

The Gladness of Nature

William Cullen Bryant

IS this a time to be cloudy and sad,
When our mother Nature laughs around;
When even the deep blue heavens look glad,
And gladness breathes from the blossoming ground?

There are notes of joy from the hang-bird and wren,
And the gossip of swallows through all the sky;
The ground-squirrel gaily chirps by his den,
And the wilding bee hums merrily by.

The clouds are at play in the azure space,
And their shadows at play on the bright green vale,
And here they stretch to the frolic chase,
And there they roll on the easy gale.

There’s a dance of leaves in that aspen bower,
There’s a titter of winds in that beechen tree,
There’s a smile on the fruit, and a smile on the flower,
And a laugh from the brook that runs to the sea.

And look at the broad-faced sun, how he smiles
On the dewy earth that smiles in his ray,
On the leaping waters and gay young isles;
Ay, look, and he’ll smile thy gloom away.

Source

Time for New Beginnings

by

Every ending marks the start of a new beginning. Don’t attempt the impossible and hold on to something that ended. That can be difficult if it is a relationship that ended; yet, the only way out is the way forward. Most times new beginnings happen in uncharted territory. Don’t fear the uncharted territory. They are places It’s there to challenge us and help us grow into more authentic, compassionate, and loving human beings.

It’s What I’ve Always Wanted

by

I can give things for Christmas, and I do. Things are important, not so much for the thing I give, but for the symbolism of the giving. When I give a gift it symbolizes that the person receiving the gift is important to me. Receiving a gift is much more important than the giving. If I focus on the thing I get as a gift, chances are I’ll be disappointed. It doesn’t fit. I don’t like the color. I don’t need this, etc. That may all be true. Another way to look at is, for each gift we receive, someone took the time to think of us. Being thought of is a powerful action. It means that I see you and I want to share something with you. It is a recognition of our deeper human connection. On Christmas day when I am with my family and I open a gift and feel my daughter and her family looking me, I’ll say as I open it, “Ah, I love it, a sweatshirt with a large dinosaur on front and its tail on the shirt’s back. It’s what I’ve always wanted.” I’ll slip the sweatshirt on, it may be the only time I wear it. Merry Christmas. Spread the joy and love and peace.

Make the Ordinary Extraordinary

by

Each of us have an amazing gift when we awake in the morning. We have an opportunity to let go of yesterday and embrace today. Today is waiting for us to cast our artistry over it. When we look at today as our creative workspace we become the craftsperson to transform the ordinary into the extra ordinary. Every ordinary thing can become extra ordinary. Think of a simple thing like making a sandwich for lunch. I can immerse myself into creating an incredibly tasty sandwich. Instead of taking two pieces of bread and instead of just slapping some protein on it, I can toast my bread, layer my protein, cut cherry tomatoes in half and spread them out on top. I’ll make it extra special, I’ll sprinkle some non fat mozzarella cheese on top of the tomatoes and protein. Then I’ll place it in the microwave long enough to melt the cheese. I add the other piece of toast to the top to it when I remove it from the microwave. Now I can add mustard, salsa, or whatever. My two dollar at home sandwich becomes a 9 dollar sandwich at a restaurant. The ordinary became extra ordinary. We can do this with any task we have to do.

Verified by MonsterInsights