This is a guest post by Mark Swedberg.

If you could have one thing in life, what would it be?

Wealth? Happiness? Love?

This was the question I asked myself after dropping out of college in 2006.

What’s the point of this living thing? It just didn’t add up. Nobody seemed to have an answer and I was tired of being empty and unfulfilled.

No matter what I did or how much I accomplished, I was left dissatisfied with life.

Finally, in a fit of desperation and despair, I made a deal with myself. I would devote my life to understanding satisfaction.

Either I would succeed and gain the one thing in life that always seemed to evade my grasp, or I would reach 30 years old and give up, resigning myself to the laws of other people’s reality.

Since then, I’ve owned a non-profit corporation, hacked my way into a multimillion dollar web venture, been part of a Federal sting operation, traveled across the US and Canada (without spending a dime), studied quantum physics, became a bio-hacker, and performed dozens of other experiments on myself and others.

Can’t Get No Satisfaction? Here Are Some Tips!

“The most important thing is to enjoy your life—to be happy—it’s all that matters.”

~ Audrey Hepburn, British actress and humanitarian

Somewhere in-between all of this, I stumbled upon a true and lasting source of happiness. Here’s a few lessons I learned while backpacking my way across the States.

1. Life Is a Journey, Not a Destination

It doesn’t take a 1,000 mile hitchhiking trip to realize that 99% of life is spent trudging through the mud to reach the 1% of ballrooms and banquets. And yet, for some reason, we glorify the champagne and olives-on-a-stick, focus all our attention and energy on reaching those happy occasions, and then spend half the night complaining about the music selection or comparing our costumes to others.

Maybe it’s time to kick off the heels and run barefoot across the hors d’oeuvre table. Hell, drop your dress and take a swim in the fountain. Let’s not lose sight of what life really is: a single moment passing through consciousness. There are no beginnings or ends, just the present path we tread.

2. The End Is in the Means

And what are we to do with this present moment? Well, we can invest it for some later date, stealing from today to provide for tomorrow. But is that really a path you want to take?

What if tomorrow never comes? Even worse, what if it does? Can any accomplishment, no matter how great, make up for all the missed opportunities for joy and happiness it took to get there?

The answer is no! You can never replace a moment of your life. It’s the one natural resource we share equally. It doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor, handsome or ugly, healthy or sick. We’re all stuck with the same moment of consciousness and a choice: what kind of experience should we fill it with?

Stop worrying about tomorrow. Trust your instinct and believe in yourself. Do what you love and let the rest work itself out. Live as if you only had a moment left and make it count.

3. Every Man Is an Island

Ah, I can see your objections already. How can we live for today with bills looming on the 15^th? It’s a legitimate problem, but certainly not something worth ruining your life over.

Here’s the deal, the quality of your life really isn’t determined by what happens on the outside, “out there.” It’s all about your internal environment. After all, it’s the only place you really control.

A lot of people confuse satisfaction for a state, like happiness or contentment. Well it’s not. Satisfaction is a verb, “to act in the most satisfying way every moment.” This action doesn’t have to be external. Maybe you have to go to work. Welcome to reality. But that doesn’t mean you have to hate it, nor does it mean you have to be content with your lot in life.

When the going gets bad, it’s time to make the bad get going. Stop complaining and start growing. You can’t always rely on other people to bail you out. It’s time to build some inner strength and master your emotions.

4. The Both/And Philosophy

Satisfaction is a balancing act. It isn’t enough to live in the present, nor does it work to save for the future. You need to get the best of both worlds.

In 2009, I quit my job, loaded a backpack with a spare change of clothes, and hit the road. I was done with corporate America and desperately in need of change. Life had become dismal, boring, a complete blur.

Twenty-four hours later, I sat in a dew drenched ditch, shivering convulsively and wishing for sleep. Why oh why did I walk into the middle of nowhere only to freeze to death? And that’s when it hit me: life isn’t supposed to be a walk in the park.

It takes planning, resolve, and an indomitable spirit to get through this mire, but it’s worth it in the end. In fact, the dividends for your effort pay off surprisingly fast, but only when you pursue both what you need and what you want.

So find a way to enjoy every moment of life in the most fulfilling way. Once you can do that, the rest is a cinch!

5. There Is No Failure, Only Quitting

Real adventures aren’t pleasant. They’re sweaty, nasty, stinking things that rear their ugly heads with crooked teeth and send swarms of mosquitoes and biting gnats to torment your every waking moment. Big deal. Swat dem flies and move on with life.

Things will always get better as long as you leave the swamp. But that’s the problem with some people. They just stop moving. They get tired and discouraged and sit down for a little rest. Before you know it, they’ve donated half their blood to the local wildlife and have even less energy to move forward.

So don’t stop moving. That’s the point of satisfaction, it’s about constant forward motion, always acting to satisfy the most pressing desire.

6. You CAN Change the World

Because as long as you keep squashing critters and slogging forward, you’re bound to reach dry land (or die of malaria, but let’s not dwell on that). And as any traveler knows, once you’ve beat one swamp, you’ve beat them all (mainly because you know not to go back).

But seriously, life is a journey. So take it one step at a time. Always move in the direction of your deepest desires. Say no to the distractions and bite me’s, the naysayers and dumb-dumb heads. Never give up. Instead, decide to grow stronger. And step-by-squishy-step, you’ll conquer that marsh and leave a trail through the lily pads for the next unfortunate soul who comes along.

Good luck fellow journeymen, and next time buy bug spray!

About the Author

Mark Swedberg is one of those crazy lifestyle experimenters . . . you know, the kind of guy who runs split tests on his dinner date or randomly finds himself in the middle of a Federal sting operation. Keep track of his latest adventures on A Journey’s Tale, or catch his experiments in real time on Facebook.

Photo: Copyright PhotoXpress.com

This is a guest post by Arvi of Self-Help & Happiness.

I decided to write this piece in response to one of my favorite posts on MySuperChargedLife.com entitled Contentment Versus Wanting More.

I say it’s one of my favorites because it’s a dilemma that I personally know all too well. I hate to say it, but the key to a happy life in this scenario isn’t striking the right balance, it isn’t being content, and it isn’t always striving for more. If you’re like me, you’ll know that playing the balancing game is easier said than done, and more often than not we either feel frustrated in the pretext of being content or we fall into the abyss of forever wanting more.

The key is to “live in the moment”. As cliché as that may sound, it’s something I’ve personally felt, and it is an exhilarating experience. While some may say this is the equivalent of being content, I assure you it is most definitely not.

Living in the Moment Is Better

Contentment is being happy with the way things are, but unlike “living in the moment”, contentment can be easily overpowered when something you desire shows up in your life, especially if it’s out of your reach. It’s easy to say we’re content when we have what we want for the time being. It’s not so easy to sing the same tune when we’re eyeing something that we’ve wanted or needed for a long time.

You cannot be content and want more at the same time. You cannot stay content while constantly wanting that new HD Plasma TV you saw this morning at the mall. You can, however, live in your current moment to its fullest, enjoy every breath, scent, sight, and sound while aiming towards buying yourself that awesome TV.

Contentment is akin to losing an aim in life, while “wanting more” is like an obsession; always aiming for greener pastures and never stopping to enjoy what’s already there. While contentment seems to be the better of the two, it’s only good while it lasts.

Imagine being content for 5 years, then realizing that if you had aimed for something in that time, like making more money, you could afford to pay for that gorgeous apartment you’ve always wanted. Contentment can, and probably will, evaporate at some point.

When you live in the moment, you see the past as an experience and the future as a possibility, but not as concrete matter.

The harsh reality is that the “future” does not exist because it can change at any given moment, and when that happens, you get thrown off-track and see yourself as “not good enough” for your own goals. This is why always wanting more is seldom a good thing, and also why contentment doesn’t work. When we live in the moment, we’re constantly aware of the blessings that we have at this very second, while always working towards making “the moment” better.

Understanding How to Live in the Moment

Now, some will say that living in the moment is a glorified way of saying “I’m a couch potato”. It isn’t. When you disallow the past from molding your impression of the current, and manage to erase all fears of a dull future, you set your mind free of unnecessary burden.

Your creativity will flow, your mind will be more focused, and you’ll be happy for all the perfection that you have right now at this very instance.

The ultimate goal here is to keep the moment going, but not to force it to be the way you’d like it to be. Are you still with me?

Bad things happen in life, that’s a fact. Events don’t always play out the way we’d like them to. If you allow yourself to construct a concrete future in your head, more often than not you’ll find disappointment waiting at the end of the road. But if you’re able to set goals for yourself, work towards them, and enjoy each and every second for what it is without desperately yearning for the end result, you’ll find that life has much more to offer along the way, and you’ll attain your goals one way or the other.

Living in the Moment Is Choosing to Be Happy

Living in the moment is the true meaning of “choosing to be happy”. It is often mistaken for contentment. All living things deny contentment. Animals move to greener habitats where there’s more food and water, and plants do whatever it takes to survive in the thick rainforests, climbing their way up bigger trees to get a glimpse of the sun.

We’re engineered to make things better for ourselves and to find ways to be happy. We have this false belief that in order to be happy we either need to stop wanting more or we have to attain what we want first before we’re made whole.

We could both constantly want more and run after our fantasies, forever resisting change, or we could be content and not work towards anything else for the rest of our lives, forever living within our comfort zones. OR, as a third option, we could set our goals and work towards them, while always remembering that changes happen for reasons we may never truly understand. We can choose to resist these changes and be disappointed, or seize the opportunity to learn from them, allowing them to make us stronger.

Doing so, we can hop back on track, continuously aiming for our goals, while constantly enjoying the life that we have right now, never once allowing envy, greed, jealously, fear, or desperation to get in our way.

That is the true meaning of happiness, and the right way to reach our goals, in my humble opinion.

Stay happy.

About the author : Arvi isn’t a self-help guru or a hippie who sings sappy songs around a campfire (not that there’s anything wrong with that). He is, however, as perplexed as you are about the lives we lead and the struggles we face. Therefore, he’s made it a point to try and grow happier each day, one day at a time. Also, his hair doesn’t need combing because it’s awesome just the way it is. Read more articles from Arvi at selfhelpandhappiness.info.

Photo: Copyright PhotoXpress.com

Are you content or do you always want more?

It is difficult to find the correct balance between wanting more and being happy with what you have.

I’ve put off writing on this topic for awhile now simply because I have more questions than answers.

However, I figured we can explore it together.  I’ll lay out my thoughts and you can help fill in the gaps.

The Dilemma Between Contentment and More

Here’s the dilemma as I see it:

Contentment is being happy with one’s situation in life.  I want to be happy.

Setting goals and pursuing more is how you accomplish things.  I want to use my life wisely.

How do you balance the two of these?

It seems that the desire for more comes from discontent.  In other words, you want more in some area of your life because you aren’t completely happy with the current circumstance.

It seems that wanting more is in direct opposition to contentment.  How do you resolve this dilemma?

Is Wanting More Bad?

I certainly think there are some bad aspects to wanting more.  For example, I think that desire that stems from envy, greed and/or jealousy is bad.  In other words, it doesn’t produce anything positive in your life.

Many people have ruined themselves constantly pursuing more.  They’ve become obsessed and overwhelmed themselves with debt or seriously compromised their values or just fallen off the deep end chasing after some proverbial brass ring.

Of course, as I write this I also think that we are sometimes driven to want more out of competition.  Is competition bad?  I’ve never thought so, but isn’t it somehow related to envy or jealousy?

Personally, I have a thirst for achievement and accomplishment.  I’ve always thought of it as drive or motivation which I’ve believed are good things.

I mean if everyone was perpetually content and never pursued anything, then where would we be?  Wouldn’t we still be sitting in the dark, cold and hungry?  Wanting more has pushed great men and women to invent, create and innovate.  These folks certainly didn’t seem to quit wanting more and I’m glad for it.

Contentment and Happiness

While I see the value in thirst for achievement, it also has a dark side.  It feels unquenchable.  It sometimes feels like a bottomless hole inside that you can never fill.  This, on occasion, robs me of happiness which I don’t like.

Contentment is a source of joy and inner peace.

I occasionally meet people that seem to be content with their station in life.  They love their job.  They love the people around them.  They just seem to love life.  They don’t seem to want for anything.

They make contentment look very good.

Many people say we choose whether we are happy or unhappy.  We decide.  For me, it seems like contentment is difficult, if not impossible, to choose.  I’m not saying that I’m completely discontent.  I just can’t stop wanting more.

Is There a Balance?

Is it possible to be content in one area of your life while at the same time being discontent in another?  I think this might be the best I can hope for.  Is this balance?  I’m not sure, but I’ll relish in the moments where I feel happy in an area even if I’m wanting to improve in another.

Fortunately, I don’t usually want much in the way of physical things.  I don’t overspend and I’m not a hyper-consumer.  I just constantly want to improve.  I forever seek that utopia of living life to the fullest.

Where are you on this scale?  Are you happily content or do you always want more?  I’m keenly interested in how others deal with this.  Please respond in the comments below and let me know.

Photo: Copyright PhotoXpress.com

I’ve been writing a lot lately about money, but the accumulation of wealth can be a false yardstick for success.  As we’ve seen in our economy, money comes and goes.

True happiness or joy in life needs to be built on a more solid foundation.

How we judge success really does determine our happiness.  Picking the right things will give us a sense of contentment, joy and peace regardless of circumstances.

False measures of success will steal our happiness

Often we get distracted pursuing things that ultimately don’t matter.  Yes, it is fun to have nice things, but you can’t let yourself build a life on what is temporary.

Let me expand on this by naming a few of the false measures of success and explaining how they are shaky ground for true happiness.

1.  Job, career, business

Work consumes a good portion of our lives.  It is therefore very easy for it to become the measure of our success. 

It doesn’t matter whether you work for yourself or for someone else, your current situation is subject to change.  Look at all the layoffs and business closings that have occurred lately.

If your measure of success is based on your title, earnings or the fact that you own your own business, then you might want to reexamine your life just a bit.

I’ve learned time and again that these situations change in the blink of an eye.  No matter how secure you think your work situation is, it can disintegrate without notice.

Men especially seem predisposed to getting a lot of their self-worth from what they do for a living.  Yes, work can be satisfying and provide some significance, but we need to be sure it isn’t all we live for.

2.  Money

Money cannot buy joy and contentment.  It just opens up your options.  There are plenty of rich people that are miserable.  Happiness is a choice.

Nevertheless, many people want others to think they are rich whether they really are or not.  I guess they believe it makes them look successful.

They live over-inflated lifestyles supported by credit cards and other forms of debt.  However, contrary to popular belief (and the commercials) the truly priceless moments in life cannot be bought.

Money is fickle.  As I mentioned above, it comes and goes.  How many times has Donald Trump been broke?

Believing that you will be happy when you make or save more money is a fallacy.

3.  Possessions

We often seem to think that we will be happy when we get a bigger house, a nicer car or new furniture.

Yes, these things do sometimes make us giddy for a bit, but once the newness wears off, then we have to buy something else to renew the high.

There will always be something to buy and someone else will always have something a little better or newer or fancier than you.

Most of us eventually realize that while possessions are nice to have, they are not a source of true happiness.

Don’t measure your success by your toys!

4.  Social status

I have a harder time relating to this one.  My social needs are pretty modest, but I know there are many individuals that measure their success by their number of contacts.

Of course, there are many of life’s circumstances that effect how others feel about us.  Public opinion can turn on a dime.

Relationships can change based on marital status, job changes, financial means or a myriad of other factors.  Popularity in the eyes of our acquaintances and colleagues can fade quickly.

A better way to judge success and be happy

There is a better way to be happy rather than relying on temporary, external measures of success.

Here are my suggestions:

1.  Choose happiness and success

First and foremost, I believe that if you want to be happy and successful, then you have decide to be.  You have to make it happen for yourself.

Happiness in life really is a choice.  It is all in the way we arrange our thoughts.

What lens are you going to use to see your life through?  You get to pick.

Make the best of what is offered to you.  Choose to see things in a positive light.  Choose to have a good attitude and better things will come your way.

Your life is usually going to measure up to your expectations.  Expect less and you’ll get less. 

Demand more from life by positively applying the talents and resources you have and you’ll find yourself getting ahead.

2.  Focus on the love you give and receive

True success is really about the relationships we build and nurture along the way.  Love is what makes life meaningful.

Most often when you read a story about someone with a terminal disease, where to they turn their focus during the last days of their lives?

Let me give you a hint, they generally don’t start working more hours or buy more possessions.

Dying people want to spend quality time with their loved ones.  Why wait until your days are numbered to do this?

Start loving more deeply today!  Measure your success by the love you give and receive.

3.  Give and help those that you can

One of the reasons that I want to be more financially successful is so I can give more.  I believe you have to be generous to truly prosper.

The more you give, the more you get in return.  Life is just richer and more fulfilling when you donate your time, expertise and money to help others.

Have you ever considered judging your success by how much you are willing to give?

I’m not talking about just charitable giving either.  Give your all at work.  Don’t be greedy.  Do a pro bono job once in awhile when someone really needs it.

Giving of yourself is a great way to open up a whole new avenue to happiness in your life.  You will likely find a deep fountain of fulfillment that you never knew existed!

4.  Tap into your spiritual side

I believe there is more to us than just flesh and bone.  Get in touch with your spiritual side.

If you have never explored this aspect of life, then now is a great time to do it.  Go find out what you believe.

You have a lot more to offer than what you might imagine.  Discovering and deepening your spiritual connection is essential to being truly successful in life.

There will always be a hole in your heart until you resolve this for yourself.  This is where the marrow of life truly exists.

Turn success and happiness into contentment and joy

Ultimately, when you pursue the right things in life, your feelings of success and happiness will turn into true contentment and joy.

You will be satisfied.  You will cease always longing for things that are temporary and inferior.  You will be wise enough to avoid common pitfalls that steal our joy.

I’m certainly not there yet myself, but I long for the days.

Where are you at on this journey?

Photo by dreamymo

Why is this?  There are a few that seem to be living with a deep sense of contentment.  What makes their lives different?  What are they doing to achieve such satisfaction?

These are the questions that I ponder regularly and intend to answer as I write this blog.  I named this site My Super-Charged Life, but I certainly haven’t arrived there yet.  It is a journey that I am on, not necessarily a destination.

What is super-charged living?  What does it mean?

Mary from Simply Forties recently wrote a guest post for me a few weeks ago.  In the opening paragraph, she mentioned that she didn’t know what “My Super-Charged Life” really meant to me. 

Frankly, I was a little shocked when I first read her statement.  Have I done such a poor job of communicating my purpose?  Apparently so!

It was then that I started thinking about writing this post.  I’m glad that Mary brought this to my attention.  It gives me a chance to address it and to reflect and refine the intent that guides my writing.

As I read my about page, I realize that over the last year, my goal for this blog has evolved, matured and clarified.  In fact, I think I’ll make some updates to the about page pretty soon.  In the meantime, let me dive into explaining some of my thoughts about Super-Charged Living.

Original intent of creating significance and joy still holds true

I still feel confident that my original narrative that I wrote over a year ago about Super-Charged Living is still valid.  In it, I emphasized what I believe are some of the key characteristics of a super-charged life. 

I wrote about things like excellence, continual learning, adventure and financial wisdom.  The rest of the key characteristics coincide with the categories I use to classify my articles on this site.

However, over the last year, I’ve come to realize the reason that I believe in striving towards these key characteristics is because they lead to creating significance and joy.  In other words, they make my life meaningful and fun.

I think this has always been part of my intent, but maybe I hadn’t quite grasped it before.  There are many things I’m still learning myself about Super-Charged Living.

Things to avoid when seeking significance and joy in life

Beyond having a clearer picture of what embodies Super-Charged Living, I also have arrived at some conclusions about what it is not.  What I mean to say is that some things may seem to characterize a Super-Charged Life, in reality do not.

I have realized that some who stumble upon my site might confuse Super-Charged Living with a jet set lifestyle.  They might think that I aspire to something that could be seen on The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.

This is simply not true.  Super-Charged Living is NOT about:

• being overly selfish
• making rash, illogical decisions
• being completely and utterly irresponsible
• pretending to be someone you’re not
• or undisciplined consumerism

We all display some of these behaviors from time-to-time, but none of these will lead to a life of significance or joy.  In fact, they lead in completely the opposite direction.  Fame and riches are fine, but they are not central to what I’m striving for.

The journey toward Super-Charged Living continues!

Obviously, I have learned some things and grown over the past year.  It is amazing how this blog has been such a great teacher.  Yes, I learn from it probably even more than you do!

Of course, it hasn’t been just the exercise of reflecting and writing that has helped me learn more about significance and joy.  The greatest lessons have come from you, my readers.

You are a vast source of encouragement, insight and intelligence.  I truly value your willingness to join me in my journey.  I hope that along the way we can both find greater meaning and happiness in living! 

I hope we can find the keys to living a Super-Charged Life.  Thanks for indulging me as I took the time to make this clearer!

Are there any questions I can answer for you about Super-Charged Living?

Photo by Bitterroot

We often drive ourselves crazy pursuing more. In fact, constantly wanting more is what has pushed America into a recession. Greed, envy and an obsession for more has taken it’s toll. Let us now pursue contentment!

Three fantastic articles about contentment and having enough

There is no better time to become content with what you have. We are richly blessed! When was the last time that you even had to concern yourself with the basic necessities of life? Many struggle every day just to survive. We need to remind ourselves of this more often!

1. Accept that your paycheck is enough!

I really enjoyed David’s article this week over at MoneyNing. He wrote 5 Surefire Ways to Stop Thinking Your Paycheck is Never Enough. I’ve been guilty of this. Again, we make plenty. We simply get caught up in thinking we need more. Raises will probably be conservative in 2009 for most people. David’s advice to stop comparing yourself to others and to avoid jumping your lifestyle ahead of where it should be is very timely.

2. Material possessions do not make us happy!

David at My Two Dollars wrote Finding Contentment While Others Around You Want More. He warns us not to fall into the trap of believing that a new possession will make us happy. I’ve made this mistake a ton of times in the past. I, like David, have experienced the rush of making a new purchase only to be let down in a few weeks or a few days. David shares some great ways to help us avoid repeating this mistake.

3. Start enjoying today right where you’re at!

Rather than continually seeking happiness elsewhere, become content right where you’re at! Sara at On Simplicity shares some Simple Ways You Can Start Enjoying Today. I like her suggestion to stop saying, “I’ll be happy when…”. Again, been there, done that! We are in control of our lives so, why do we continually make ourselves so miserable by always wanting more? Why not just enjoy what we have? If we don’t, life will be over and we’ll have wasted it.

Happiness is a choice!

We have the power to be content with our lives and savor the good things in it. It is a choice that we make every waking moment. What will you choose today?

Here are a few other articles I enjoyed reading this week:

• 10 Businesses You Can Start For Peanuts (or less!)
• 6 Reasons Why I Joined Toastmasters
• As Long As You Can Make The Payments – You’re Fine

Photo by exfordy

It’s not having what you want.  It’s wanting what you’ve got.
~ Sheryl Crow

When Thanksgiving is over this year and all the hubbub dies down, will our lives be full of contentment and joy or will we make ourselves crazy striving to have just a little more?

When Thanksgiving is over, will we still be truly thankful or will we allow ourselves to slip into ungratefulness?

When Thanksgiving has come and gone, will it have just been a speed bump in the run up to Christmas?

When Thanksgiving comes this year

Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.  ~ Buddha

On Thanksgiving, most of us pause, at least just for a moment, to be mindful of the riches in our lives.  We briefly give thanks for family, friends and comforts.  We count our blessings. 

We feast on the bounty of our harvest.  We gather together to say a prayer and to share our excess with loved ones.

For a moment when Thanksgiving is here, we remember the pilgrims that went before us blazing a trail into the promised land.   We think about our forefathers and the sacrifices they made.  We stand on their shoulders and feel proud of our heritage.

When Thanksgiving comes, we make our own annual pilgrimages returning home and to our roots.  We say thanks for how far we’ve come from our humble beginnings. 

When Thanksgiving is upon us, we are thankful.

When Thanksgiving is over this year

Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed. ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Yes, we are normally pretty thankful on Thanksgiving, but what is going to happen the day after?  It seems that Thanksgiving has become just a rest stop for the race to Christmas.

We all know the day after Thanksgiving is the retailer’s delight.  The stores open earlier and earlier every year.  We go out in throngs shopping and trying to get a good deal.

We fight for parking spaces, wrestle for bargains and overspend our way to nowhere.  Isn’t there a better way to act when Thanksgiving is over?  Here are my suggestions.

When Thanksgiving is over…

• Let’s continue to be thankful for what we have.
• Let’s live within our means.
• Let’s pursue a simpler existence.
• Let’s spend more time with our kids.
• Let’s relish in the company of good friends.
• Let’s agree we have enough.
• Let’s treasure our freedom.
• Let’s be more content.
• Let’s smile and laugh more often
• Let’s stop worrying and live in the present
• Let’s demonstrate our patience
• Let’s offer forgiveness
• Let’s give a little more of our true selves
• Let’s be kinder to others
• Let’s live in peace
• Let’s set an example
• Let’s share with someone that really needs it
• Let’s save some for tomorrow
• Let’s remind ourselves we are blessed
• Let’s continue being thankful!

Thankfulness doesn’t have to end when Thanksgiving does!

I thank God for my handicaps, for, through them, I have found myself, my work, and my God. ~ Helen Keller

We have so many things to be thankful for in our lives.  It is all in our perspective.  It is how we use what we have.  Why not go forward today living a little more thankfully?  Why not set an example for your family and those around you?  Why not try to truly live a few of the items on the list above?

What do you have to be thankful for?  How do you show it?

Here are a few other articles that you might find helpful:
Be Grateful Because We Are So Incredibly Fortunate!
7 Things In My Life That Fill Me With Gratitude and Joy
14 Benefits Of Simplicity That Lead To A Good Life
A Simple Life Is A Good Life – I Believe Less Is More

Photo by xybermatthew

“Happiness consists more in the small conveniences of pleasures that occur every day, than in great pieces of good fortune that happen but seldom to a man in the course of his life.” ~Benjamin Franklin

Living life to the fullest is often found in the simplest pleasures of life.  Things do not have to be big, exotic, expensive, or complicated to be enjoyable.  I find that the deepest, richest moments of my life are brief times filled with common things combined in an uncommon way.  It is like a “perfect storm”.  All the perfect elements of a great life just seem to mix together into a wonderful moment.

I experienced this last night.  My wife and two daughters cooked out hamburgers on our patio in our backyard just after sunset.  It was a fantastically beautiful Fall evening.  The stars were out and a cool breeze was blowing.  We ate a very tasty, but simple meal and then snuggled up in a couple of chairs to stare at the stars.

My wife and I each had a kid on our laps.  There was just enough coolness in the air that we could cover up with a light blanket.  Sitting there in that chair with a warm and snuggly kid in my lap looking up at the twinkling stars and bright moon was heaven on earth!  A deep sense of fulfillment and thankfulness filled my heart.

The moment didn’t last long.  That’s the way it seems to be with these “perfect storms”.  They come and go in the blink of an eye.  That’s why recognizing these moments  and drinking from them deeply is so important.  I am so thankful for our time last night.  It warms and enriches my heart right now just thinking about it! 

Don’t miss these moments as you carry on with your life!  This is where the marrow of true joy and fulfillment exists.  These fleeting times, when added together, equate to a life well lived! 

Stop waiting or chasing after something that may never come and start enjoying what you have right now!

Have you had a similar experience?  Please share it and let me know how you found happiness in simple pleasures.

Photo by JelleS

The road to a better life is full of a lot of sinkholes.  I think some of the well-meaning self-improvement material is misleading.  It gives advice that leaves us feeling depressed and disillusioned.  I know because I have been down this road more than once.  I have sought the key to quick riches and happiness.  I have searched high and low for the one book that would unlock the mystery and enable me to achieve everything I dreamed of in my life.  Here’s a tip.  It doesn’t exist!

The 3 quick and easy steps that get me nowhere fast.

I have found a fantastic recipe for making myself miserable.  I’m wondering if anyone else experiences the same.

1.  I Read a good self-improvement book.

I couldn’t count the number of self-improvement books I have read.  I love them.

However, sometimes they get me fired-up and headed down the wrong path.  Notice this step says read a "good" self-improvement book, not a great one.  A well-meaning author of a "good" book will sometimes fill me with discontentment because my life doesn’t accommodate their ideas.  These books usually include 3 quick and easy steps to achieve ultimate success.

This leads me right into the trap.  I don’t blame this on the author or the book.  It is totally me, but it could be you too.  I want to learn to avoid falling for it.

2.  I Become convinced that my life could be great, if only…

I become convinced that if I could ditch my present life and recreate it from scratch, then I would be happy.  If only I could break the shackles I’ve created through all my past decisions, then I could be free to live a great life.  I start feeling trapped and depressed. 

I daydream about throwing away everything I’ve worked so hard for so I can be happy.  I fall for this trap over and over again.  Every time, I start out believing that this time I might discover the secret that will transform my circumstances into an idyllic utopia.

3.  The misery creeps in as I come down off the high.

Of course, I never run away.  I know I have it too good, but this doesn’t stop the miserable feeling.  It creeps in, if I let it, as I realize my fantasies are just that.  Why do I do this over and over again?  Why do I set myself up and fail to see it coming?  Why don’t I see the light at the end of the tunnel and realize it is a freight train barreling towards me?

This is when the disillusionment starts.  I start wondering why I even try.  I think about giving up and throwing in the towel.  It is a bogus pit brought on by misguided thoughts.

I then wallow in my misery for varying periods of time feeling sorry for myself.  It is all completely absurd and counterproductive.  There is another way.

Real self-improvement begins with contentment.

Our lives are the sum of all the past decisions we have made.  For me, most of these decisions were good ones and therefore led me to things I desired such as being married and having children.  Yes, these things create certain boundaries in my life, but that isn’t bad.  Here’s the truth:

True self-improvement begins with accepting your life as it is today.

It is not throwing everything out and starting over.

I can’t emphasize this enough!  I think that all too often self-improvement books lead us to think that we have to rewrite our entire lives to be happy.  This usually isn’t true.  It is normally a fallacy.  It is the same kind of thinking that leads us to try get-rich-quick schemes.

There are no short cuts to a better life.

We start believing that there is an easy way to a better life.  A way to get what we want and get it fast.  BEWARE!  This is a terrible trap!

Many people start thinking that quitting their job, divorcing their spouse, and running off to a foreign land is the answer.  This will not solve anything.  It will only complicate and mess up your life to a point where true happiness may be put out of reach or at least delayed for many years.

Real self-improvement occurs within your existing life.

Real and lasting self-improvement is carved out within the life you already have.  If your marriage is the pits, then fix it.  Yes, it will be a lot of hard and painful work, but it will be worth it when you have a rich and rewarding relationship with your spouse.  If your job sucks, then work your way to a better place.  Will it happen overnight?  Probably not, but at least you won’t still be stuck here six months from now.

Be grateful for what you already have.

Count the blessings you have!  Practice gratitude.  Remind yourself of all the good things you have to be thankful for.  This is the foundation of true self-improvement.  If you build upon this solid rock, then you will make progress.  You will stop experiencing so many peaks and valleys.  Instead, you will steadily climb toward your goals.

Start where you are and make it better.

I have not given up on improving my life.  I seek to live life to it’s absolute fullest day by day.  I do so starting exactly where I’m at.  I accept my past decisions and build upon them.  I make it all work because I know that this is the path to real happiness.  It isn’t necessarily fast or easy, but it is trustworthy.  Will you join me?

What sinkholes have you fell in on the road to self-improvement?  Where have you found success?

Photo by ceonyc