Ideas to create a more happy, peaceful and rewarding life--365!
I happen to love parables or Zen Stories for the simple, but often profound truths they convey. So this week when I was at a loss for a topic to write about, I pulled out my folder of “stories” and found one that reminded me of something I felt worthy to share.
A young woman, depressed and unhappy with her life, decided to visit a Zen Monastery to seek help. [Read more…]
Even though the current pandemic crisis isn’t over, many of us are starting to ask what comes next. Will things just go back to normal? Do we want that? Was normal so great for ourselves, other people or the planet? Or is it possible to use this current experience to learn something and do better than before? This week in our April Vlog Thom and I talk about a few things we would love to see more of in the days to come. And as a surprise, we’ve asked a few of our friends to join in with what they would also hope to welcome as we recover from this tipping point in human history. While none of us expect to convince you of what you should hope to see for yourself, it is SMART to remember that your thoughts and intentions do influence your future. Remember, what you think about, you help bring about. It is done unto you as you believe. Let’s make sure our thoughts are what we hope to experience. Together we can help co-create a better world if we take the time to envision our highest possibilities. Join Thom, me and a few friends as we share a couple of ideas to get started.
Like most everyone I know, my husband Thom and I are focused on staying as healthy as possible these days. Nearly everything you read or hear offers suggestions about what to do to avoid the virus and stay safe. However, I don’t believe there is nearly as much focus on what we can and possibly should be doing to stay sane and psychologically healthy. That’s why when I came across the words “psychological immune system” this week, it hit me that maintaining that immunity is equally as important as our physical health. So here’s what I learned about the term as well as a few ideas that we can all use to keep our mind and spirit strong and operating optimally as we go through this experience. [Read more…]
As most of you know, I’m a big fan of quotes. In the beginning I planned to do just one quote on an inspiring photo. That was until I started researching and came up with so many that I couldn’t possibly only choose one. If you’re anything like me, just reading through these made me feel that life goes on no matter what. I’m not saying it is easy. But let’s never forget that people throughout history have managed to endure, stay hopeful and eventually thrive once it becomes the past. Let’s be those kinds of people.
With that in mind, here are some quotes that inspired me.
My sister Ann 1952-2018
“Life has got to be lived—that’s all there is to it. At seventy, I would say the advantage is that you take life more calmly. You know that ‘this too shall pass.’” ~Eleanor Roosevelt
This morning during my walk I listened to Brene Brown’s new Podcast. In this recent episode she was talking to “grief expert” David Kessler. While I was unfamiliar with his work or his books, I have read the works of his former co-worker, Elizabeth Kubler Ross. After years of research and study, along with their own experiences of loss and grieving, Ross and Kessler offer a road map to any person suffering from loss or grieving. After listening to a great conversation between Brene and David, I was left with several questions. The big one was asking whether it’s possible that those of us over a certain age, say 60-65, have an advantage over the young in these times. Here are a couple of thoughts that popped up for me. [Read more…]
“Sometimes things have to break down before they can break through.”
I read on the internet yesterday that our country, and perhaps the world, is on the verge of a Great Recession. Some commentaries even referred to it as a “Deep Depression,” the likes of which the majority of us have never seen. Yikes! The uncertainty of that idea is nerve racking. However, I’ve been a student of metaphysics and New Thought for decades now, and it has been teaching and speaking about a coming shift in consciousness for an equal number of years. Could this time in history be a signal of a Great Transformation rather than a Deep Depression? Is it even possible for us to consider these times in a (dare I say) more positive view? And even if it isn’t true, is it equally possible that just entertaining the possibility of a “Great Shift” rather than a recession is one of the best things we can do for our own mental states?
March is always beautiful and considered “high season” where I live in the Desert Southwest. This last week it was strangely quiet. Schools are closed, traffic is a trickle, and most restaurants are closed. About the only businesses seeing a crowd are the grocery stores with people looking dismally at mostly empty shelves. Surely we are living in an unprecedented time? Perhaps our parents or grandparents who lived through the last world war recognize the sense of uncertainty that comes when something jolts our sense of safety and understanding about how the world is supposed to work. But most of us weren’t alive then and this is our first introduction to such uncertainty. Thankfully, most of us, like most of them, will get through this crisis with the right amount of care and responsible action. But in the meantime, it is SMART to remember that our how we respond to this experience is up to us. It’s also important to remember we are all in this together. In this, our third SMART Living 365 Vlog, Thom and I share several ideas we hope to implement in the days to come in order to sooth any anxiety or fear lurking inside. We hope you find them helpful as well. And if you have any tips for getting through these times as calmly, compassionately and peacefully as possible, please share them in the comments below.
Note: If you have trouble accessing the video on the link above, please CLICK HERE.
You might think it strange to be writing about luck or privilege with all the news about the Coronavirus or COVID-19 in the airways this week. But as luck would have it, I was offered a free book on the topic that had me asking myself, “Is it luck if you don’t catch an illness?” Likewise, are you unlucky if you do? Does love, wealth and happiness depend on luck? And if luck is indeed involved, is there anything we can do to increase it for ourselves? After finishing the book and listening to a couple of podcasts on the topic, I’ve come to the conclusion that yes, what we typically call luck is involved, but so is privilege. And perhaps best of all, there are steps we can take to increase our luck no matter where we find ourselves on the privilege-scale today. [Read more…]
I’m a big fan of making the most of life and one of my favorite quotes is one by Hunter S. Thompson that goes, “Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!” I also love a stanza in a poem by Mary Oliver that says, “When it’s over, I want to say all my life/ I was a bride married to amazement/I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.” But I’ve seen those quotes so many times on Facebook that I wanted to come up something else that would help me remember to make the most of every day. That’s when I found this new one, by Theodore Roosevelt. It’s short and simple statement offers a great visual that reminds me that I’d far rather wear out than rust out. What about you? Do you have any great quotes that remind you that every day is both a gift and an adventure? Please share in the comments.
Every now and then I feel the need to pause, think about and write about why it is important for me to slow down. How about you? And now that I know from my Enneagram* test that I am a “7” it is even more vital. That’s because I have an almost compulsive need to do more, experience more, learn more, research more, have more fun, etc. You can see how critical the concept of slowing down can be for me. But I’m guessing I’m not the only one who is super busy and overwhelmed these days. So, this morning, after listening to one “more” new podcast, I heard a speaker who got me thinking about why we all seem to resist the idea of taking things slower—even when we know better. That’s when I came up with five big myths that I believe are at the root of the problem.