Posted in {Discussions} on May 30, 2007 | 3 Comments »
“Happiness comes from within”: Trite but seemingly true.
Optimism, then, should be key to happiness, and I think it is. But critical thinking is a fun and useful part of human existence (mine anyway), and it almost seems that one excludes the other.
Imagine you’re traveling down the freeway on your way to visit out of town [...]
Posted in {Things That Made Me Smile}, {Wonderful Quotes} on May 29, 2007 | 1 Comment »
I feel it again, and again no matter
Whether I am old or young:
A mountain range in the night,
On the balcony a silent woman,
A white street in the moonlight curving gently away
That tears my heart with longing out of my body.
Oh burning world, oh white woman [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on May 25, 2007 | No Comments »
I’ve decided to lump today in with the long weekend. See you all on Tuesday!
Posted in {Point of Focus} on May 24, 2007 | 1 Comment »
As you go about your day, try to notice the lightness of things: a piece of paper floating as it falls off the table, or a leaf dancing in the breeze.
You can also shift your attention to the humor in everyday situations. Find a few opportunities to take life less seriously then come back tomorrow [...]
Posted in {Discussions} on May 23, 2007 | 9 Comments »
I grew up in a Protestant and increasingly fundamentalist Christian family, and since leaving the church I’ve kept discussion of ‘my beliefs’ fairly limited, particularly with my parents.
Last Fall, however, my mom said something that surprised me: She worries I’ll never be happy until I take comfort in the Christian God.
I wasn’t sure how to [...]
Posted in {Things That Made Me Smile} on May 21, 2007 | 12 Comments »
Pearl at Interesting Observations wrote a wonderful post on how she chooses to be happy. In the post, she includes a happiness quiz, some statistics on (US) National happiness, and her own words of wisdom, including these:
By changing the way we think, by changing our outlook on life, we can control and even improve our [...]
Posted in {Point of Focus} on May 21, 2007 | No Comments »
The last few days have been feeling a little complicated, so I’m keeping this week’s point of focus exercises simple: Colors.
As you go about your day today, pay extra attention to the color red in your environment. Notice different shades of red. Look up, look down. Let large patches of color and [...]
Posted in {Point of Focus} on May 18, 2007 | 2 Comments »
The idea for today’s point of focus comes from Gregg Krech at the Todo Institute. He says:
“Keep track of your mistakes today. You may not make any. But perhaps you’ll leave a typo in a memo at work, or spill some juice while pouring it into a glass…”
Each time you make a mistake, ask yourself [...]
Posted in {Giving} on May 17, 2007 | No Comments »
“Even though I don’t expect it, when I give from my heart it always comes back to me in wonderful ways. That’s the way of life.” –Reuben del Rio, hotel bellman quoted in How We Choose to be Happy, pg. 168.
Because it’s more focused on action than mindset, giving can offer large rewards [...]
Posted in {Naikan}, {Projects} on May 16, 2007 | No Comments »
A truncated version of yesterday’s reflection. Click the image for a better view.
If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ve probably heard me mention Naikan more than once. It’s a powerful tool for anyone who wants to be happy.
So I invite you to join the Naikan Challenge.
Spend just 30 minutes a day [...]
Posted in {Attention}, {Point of Focus} on May 16, 2007 | No Comments »
Yesterday, No Impact Man posted about severing his link to the power grid. It got him thinking about salt, coffee, and instant gratification. He says:
what’s confounding me at the moment is trying to figure out how to have everything I want at a moment’s notice without making any packaging trash. My mind is conditioned to [...]
Posted in {Scaling Down}, {Simplicity} on May 15, 2007 | 3 Comments »
“We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” –Joseph Campbell
In yesterday’s post on Necessary Skills, Peter talked about the interplay between mindsets and environments, particularly as they relate to being a digital nomad.
It got me thinking: for most of us, [...]
Posted in {Quick Tips} on May 14, 2007 | 6 Comments »
What impression do you leave on other people? Does it match the picture of the person you want to be?
Take a moment to write a brief description of the way you wish other people saw you. Write it as if it were true, e.g. “Maile is the, happiest, healthiest, most compassionate person I’ve ever met.”
Now [...]
Posted in {Things That Made Me Smile} on May 11, 2007 | 4 Comments »
Darren at problogger just put up the last crop of entries for the Top 5 writing project. I’ve narrowed them down from several hundred to my top five–a mix of topics but all things that made me smile. I hope you like them, too.
Green Ignorance: Top 5 Mistakes I’ve Made While Trying to [...]
Posted in {Things That Made Me Smile} on May 10, 2007 | 2 Comments »
Hundreds of bloggers have submitted their top 5 lists to the Problogger Group Writing Project. The project is open until the end of today (Thurs, May 10th); if you want to participate, you’d better hurry!
I just spent the last hour reading entries. Here are a few that made me smile:
The Top 5 Things [...]
Posted in {Quick Tips} on May 10, 2007 | 40 Comments »
Back in the good ol’ days of the Enron scandal, pictures of Ken Lay flooded the media; chances are at least one stuck with you. Try to call it up in your mind (or cheat and do a google search). I’m willing the bet the guy’s smiling. Even as they dragged him [...]
Posted in {Intention}, {Simplicity} on May 9, 2007 | 1 Comment »
Simplicity is an important factor in my happiness and something that I’m always striving to improve.
Getting free of extra physical stuff has been (fairly) easy; working on my mindset is much harder. I guess this is why my simplicity score is only 4.
What’s yours? Scroll down to the bottom of this page to [...]
Posted in {Attention}, {Quick Tips} on May 9, 2007 | 2 Comments »
Imagine what it would be like to break your ‘good’ arm or wrist or hand. You must learn to do things with the opposite side. Mundane tasks become exercises in focus. Your brain stretches to adapt. Everything slows down. How would this affect your life?
With this exercise, we’re going to [...]
Posted in {Point of Focus}, {Wonderful Quotes} on May 7, 2007 | 4 Comments »
My sister said this to me the other day, and I thought it would make a nice daily practice for the blog:
Along the lines of silently wishing people well, I caught myself being very frustrated the other day at a donut shop … And I decided that when I catch myself judging people, it’s [...]
Posted in {Wonderful Quotes} on May 4, 2007 | No Comments »
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