A LIE I often hear is some variation of: "Happiness is outside of me" or "I'll be happy when...." Here are some insights from Hinduism, Christianity, and Buddhism on experiencing happiness now.
This car ad is touting quiet, non-interactive children as a primary benefit of a car with built-in wifi. Now bear in mind I'm a big tech fan and readily welcome advances. However, I'd rather hear my child in her boredom come up with something imaginative like "I'm jumping on a chocolate chip trampoline" than have them plugged in and tuned out.
Please, (PLEASE!) banish the comparison/"not good enough trap". For too many people "good enough" is settling because they didn't achieve perfection or excellence in X thing/endeavor/aspect of life.
People (maybe even you) are constantly living in mortal fear that they have not reached the "standard" of how they "should" be, that they have, or will, "screw it all up" and ultimately fail...
An elderly client told me years ago: "When I was a boy my mother said to me, 'Son, everything in this life matters... just not very much." Your life matters. It's a one-shot around this amazing spinning globe. Life is precious and rare in our end of the galaxy. Make the most of it. Enjoy it. Do good. Make the world and someone's life a little better for your passing. Just don't let your ego fool you into thinking you're so darn important.
An elderly client told me years ago: "When I was a boy my mother said to me, 'Son, everything in this life matters... just not very much."
Your life matters. It's a one shot around this amazing spinning globe. Life is precious and rare in our end of the galaxy. Make the most of it. Enjoy it. Do good. Make the world and someone's life a little better for your passing. Just don't let your ego fool you into thinking you're so darn important. Shelley wrote the following famous poem reminding us of just this very thing:
Ozymandias
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: `Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear --
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.'
—Percy Bysshe Shelley
A more modern version might be "all we are is dust in the wind..." by Kansas
Anyway, as we ponder the transience of life, there are a few folks who've left their final mark on their headstones as follows:
Sharing your experiences of trials, pain, acceptance, and endurance that shows me who you are. Keep on going, brighten your day and someone else's. Make a go to list of things that make you awesome, and things that bring a smile to your face when life seems a tad overwhelming, or hugely overwhelming.
Holidays and family togetherness can be wonderful and/or miserable. Either way, there's a LOT to do over the holidays and it can get pretty stressful, and tense, quite quickly.
I doodle and sketch to entertain myself and my children. It actually helps me pay attention. Doodling can do that for ADHD folks like me. Many things are "just because." Like how a circle is just a nice thing to have. Let me explain...
For us, individually and as a couple, frugality, contentment, and creativity have done a lot to strengthen not only our characters but also our marriage…
I teach mindfulness practices and mindsets to my clients. I am grateful for the power these skills have had in my life for reducing stress and in some areas removing it completely, and for its impact in increasing joy in family life and the enjoyment of life in general.
It's the most wonderful time of the year! And it can be the most stressful.
In 2004, The American Psychological Association conducted a holiday stress survey and identified the top six stressors as follows:
1. Money 2. Gift-giving 3. Lack of time 4. Families 5. Diet 6. Children’s issues
This guide addresses each of these stressors in depth, as well as many others, with a focus on providing many more solutions than there are problems. That’s the way it should be.
This guide covers hundreds of ways to bust, cool, chill, deal and cope with all the various stresses of the holidays.
Here's what you'll get:
Hundreds and hundreds of practical, useful and effective stress-busting tips, strategies, mindsets, and techniques for dealing with every aspect of holiday stress.
Worksheets to help you put the concepts into action.
The 30-Day Stress Tracker and the 31-60-Day "Overlearning!" Stress-Tracker