What do you dread?

Many hate paying taxes. But, perhaps, this is just a perception problem.  Maybe we should be thankful we get to pay taxes.  Yes, I said thankful.

Do you think I’m crazy?!?  Are you wondering if I’ve gone stark, raving mad?  Why in the world would anyone be happy about paying taxes?

Well, I want to prove a point.  I want to show you that happiness has a lot to do with the way you see things.  If you can look at something just a little bit differently, you can often change your whole perception of the situation.  This can have a dramatic impact on your happiness.

A Poem that Turns Things Upside Down

I ran across what I’m going to call a poem this week that really challenges our perceptions.  I think it has circulated around the Internet a bit so maybe you’ve already seen it, but I hadn’t and I believe it has tremendous value so I’m going to publish it again.  I’m not sure where it came from originally.  If I did, then I‘d definitely give proper credit.  Here it goes:

I am thankful for…

…the mess to clean after a party because it means I have been surrounded by friends.

…the taxes I pay because it means that I am employed.

…the clothes that fit a little too snug because it means I have enough to eat.

…my shadow who watches me work because it means I am out in the sunshine.

…a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and gutters that need fixing because it means that I have a home.

…the spot I find at the far end of the parking lot because it means I am capable of walking.

…all the complaining I hear about our government because it means we have freedom of speech.

…my huge heating bill because it means that I am warm.

…the lady behind me in church who sings off key because it means I can hear.

…the piles of laundry and ironing because it means my loved ones are nearby.

…the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours because it means that I’m alive.

…weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day because it means I have been productive.

Your View Determines Your Happiness

Can you see how your view of a situation matters immensely?

I can certainly get upset and mad that so much money comes out of my paycheck every couple of weeks to pay my taxes.  However, what would that get me?  It would only leave me feeling irritated, frustrated and defeated.  None of these have anything to do with happiness.  On the other hand, I can choose to look at the situation in a positive light.  I can be grateful and happy that I am gainfully employed and that I have the good fortune of earning enough money to support my family.

Here’s my point.  How you interpret your life is your choice.

But, I can tell you that your happiness depends on the way you decide to go.  If you are unhappy, disgruntled and disappointed with your life, you can turn things around by reexamining and reevaluating your view of the situation.  A new choice equals new happiness.

This is an incredibly powerful idea.  I guarantee that you will catch more flies with honey than with vinegar in your life.  If you always go around, “Woe is me.”  No one is ever going to pay you any mind.  After all, who wants to hire, marry, work with, live with, befriend, promote or hang around a person that is unhappy and self-defeated all the time?

Smile.  Be grateful for what you have.  Don’t worry about what you lack.  Choose a positive outlook and interpretation of your life.  You will feel happier and your opportunities will grow.  Even if they don’t, you benefit by choosing to be happy.

You see you can either go through life as an old sourpuss dreading the next thing around every corner or you can choose to be happy.  It is that simple.  Which do you prefer?  I’m thankful I have to pay taxes.

Photo: Copyright PhotoXpress.com

This is a guest post by Surabhi Surendra.

I can recollect the following prayer we used to sing in school:

“Thank you for the food we eat,
Thank you for the world so sweet,
Thank you for the birds that sing,
Thank you God for everything.”

Since childhood my parents insisted on doing early morning prayers even before setting foot on the ground.  I never did.

I have been a rebellious sort since the very beginning.  But now as I progress towards the later or better half of my life, I have started praying – early morning and late night!

Each morning, as soon as I get up, I look at my young, petite daughter and peck her on the forehead.  I then give a glance to my calm husband, hold his hands for a moment, and say prayers to the one above before I get down from the bed.

Prayer and Being Thankful for Little Things

So many times amidst the hustle-bustle of a busy, crazy, stressful life, we forget the small, little things that are there to give us the smile we want and the strength we need. We ignore their importance and slowly and steadily forget them. Suddenly in a crisis, these small, little things appear on the surface providing us a sense of stability and security. And then, we thank God for giving them to us.

I, on the contrary, thank God for such things when I am happy and content. And I hardly pray to God when I am in trouble. I remember a very dear friend of mine once told me, “Surabhi, I think the problem with you is you don’t pray. You should pray to God whenever you are having a problem but I hardly see you doing that. I believe if you pray sincerely in times of adversity, he will certainly listen to you”.

She was right. I hardly prayed. And in times of difficulty, never! But what could I do? Praying to God in adversity seemed such a mean and selfish thing to me. I could recollect that in happy times I would quietly thank God for bestowing happiness upon all of us but in times of grief, I would either agonize or think, think and think of just getting over it.

Now, after almost 10 years after that conversation, I pray regularly. I thank God every single day (many times in a day) and also miss him and ask for his mercy when I am upset.

The Things I Thank God for Every Day

It is true that as our strings of attachment expand with new relations, new friends, added responsibilities and growing age – we tend to develop faith and beliefs. Since the birth of my daughter, I get frightened easily. Not for myself but always for her. I try to protect her, each moment, and that makes me careful and aware of many dangerous things around. Thus, every morning I thank God for a few things, I believe, I am blessed to have!

1.  Family

A few days ago, TSN asked on Facebook, “What makes you happy?” and my response was, “Happiness around me”. I get very upset when people whom I love are unhappy. I was the eldest of my siblings and thus I was more like a combination guardian and friend to my siblings and cousins. And that is the reason, each time they are upset, I take it upon myself to resolve their problems.

I thank God for giving me a wonderful family with a lovely daughter, loving husband, caring parents and adorable siblings. For me, my family is my strength but also a weakness. Nevertheless, having them around me everyday is a reminder that my world is alive.

We all must love our families and feel gratitude towards them for being there when we need them the most.

2.  Food, Clothes and Shelter

These are supposed to be the basic, essential needs of any human being. Whenever I look at a person who doesn’t have any of these three, I feel sad for him but feel lucky for myself that I have easy and enough access to all of them.

Anyone who is reading this article is fortunate to have a comfortable life that has given him/her food, clothes, shelter (and the Internet).

3.  My Health

I am not very fit (I need to shed a few pounds) but I am not suffering from any serious ailment. This is a good enough reason for me to thank my stars. My mom suffers from arthritis and I can just feel her pain. Still, with her determination and willpower she manages to do a lot of stuff on her own.

I cry my heart out at the sight of a handicapped person. I am glad I can walk on my own, see, hear, speak and take care of myself all by myself.

Health is wealth. This old saying is the truest of all. We all should be grateful to God that we have a healthy life. And if we are not fit and fine, we should work towards it. Being fit is one of the most essential requirements of a happy life.

4.  Gifts of Nature

I live in a place which is lush and green and full of nature. Yellow and orange rays of the sun penetrating through my window wake me up at 5 a.m. and then right outside my home, I see the Saddle Peak (highest mountain peak of this area). Chirping birds, sea waves, cool breeze – all of them give a soothing start to my day. From the bottom of my heart I thank God for creating such beautiful things around us that make us bow to Mother Nature.

Though problems of safe drinking water, malnutrition in children and global warming are on the rise, if we thank God for his creations and respect them, these problems will automatically be tackled.

5.  I, Me, Myself

Last but not least, I thank God for making me who I am. I love myself. I love being what I am. And I am very thankful to God for giving me an opportunity to be able to teach the moral values and qualities that I have.

I believe, it’s extremely important for a person to love himself. Or if for any reason, we are not very happy with what we are, we can improve upon it. There is no harm in developing new habits and becoming the person we always wanted to be. The important thing here is that we should love and respect ourselves in order to love and respect others.

What are you most thankful for in your life?  Leave a comment and let me know.

About the Author: Surabhi Surendra, blogs at womanatics. She lives in Andaman with her family and quit her lucrative day job to pursue her interests. She would be delighted if you follow her on twitter or become a fan!

Photo: Copyright PhotoXpress.com

What are you most thankful for?

This is the traditional time of the year that we stop and reflect on what we have to be thankful for.  I think this is an extremely important exercise for each of us to do.

Our normal, day-to-day lives are so hectic and busy that we seldom slow down long enough to really count our blessings. 

This actually reduces our happiness. 

Intentionally practicing gratitude for all that we have to be thankful for is a free and easy way to increase your overall sense of well-being.  You walk away feeling warm and fuzzy inside.  It is something we should do more often, but at a minimum we have today so, let’s get started.

What I’m Most Thankful for This Year

I believe that writing out a list is the most effective way to really highlight to yourself all of your bounty.  Therefore, in an effort to practice what I preach, I’ve compiled my own list.  I’ll share it with you today in hopes that it kick-starts your own thankfulness.  I’ve kept it simple to show that this doesn’t have to be a big, time-consuming deal.  The payoff, however, is worth every minute you spend.

Here’s my list of the 25 things I am most thankful for this year:

1. My awesome wife who is also my best friend.
2. My two smart, funny and beautiful daughters.
3. My home that keeps me warm and safe.
4. My country where I enjoy a tremendous amount of opportunity and freedom.
5. The peace and security in this country that seems more and more rare in the world.
6. The chance I get to write and freely express my opinions here on this site.
7. That people (like you) actually read what I write and find it useful.
8. My job that enables me to do so much.  Thankfully, I have a job when many do not.
9. My health and soundness of mind  -> (questionable at times).
10. My parents that taught me so much about how to live a great life.
11. That despite tornadoes, earthquakes and winter storms in Oklahoma this year, I’ve escaped all of it without any real trouble.  Many others were not so fortunate.
12. That my cholesterol is back down in the normal range.
13. That my Oklahoma State Cowboys have had their best football season ever.
14. That my kids are doing so well in school.
15. That when I turn on the faucet, clean, fresh water miraculously comes out.
16. That I get to freely worship my God in the way I want, out in the open, without fear of reprisal.
17. That the economy here in Oklahoma has held up pretty well through all this economic turmoil.
18. That I have a warm, soft, clean bed to lay down in each night.
19. The hugs I get from my kids.
20. For the little weekend trips we’ve taken together as a family this year.
21. That I get to work with a bunch of really nice, smart and dedicated people.
22. The feelings that well up inside of me when I hear The Star Spangled Banner.
23. The health insurance I have so my family and I can go to the doctor whenever we need to.
24. The love from all of my family members near and far.
25. And last, but certainly not least, all the FOOD!

So, I’ll ask again, what are you most thankful for this year?  Leave a comment and let me know.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Photo: Copyright PhotoXpress.com

Thanksgiving is a day set aside to help us reflect on all that we have to be grateful for in our lives.

It is incredibly easy to get bogged down in all the negative news flying around on the Internet and on the evening news, but today we need to stop and remind ourselves of the good things in our lives.

Mindfully and intentionally practicing gratitude is a powerful thing you can do for yourself not just today, but every day.

A Few Resources to Help You Practice Gratitude

Thanksgiving Day is often full of warm feelings and joy, but how do we carry those positive emotions forward into our everyday living?

You need to give yourself the gift of gratitude.

If you aren’t accustomed to practicing gratitude often enough, and most of us are not, then here are some resources that will help you to get into the right mindset.  You can use them as often as necessary.

• Be Grateful Because We Are So Incredibly Fortunate!
• Living Life To The Fullest On A Fine Fall Evening
• 7 Things In My Life That Fill Me With Gratitude and Joy
• I Wish Money Could Buy Happiness
• Avoid The Pitfall Of Comparing Yourself To Others
• 7 Reasons My Life is More Fulfilling
• Mindfulness: The Art of Living in the Present

Have a Happy Thanksgiving and Carry It Forward

I wish you the most enjoyable Thanksgiving you can imagine.  May your day be full of love, gratitude and joy.  May you be surrounded with family, food and tons of good football.  May you carry the good feelings of this day forward into the rest of your life!

Photo by marksdk

I sure wished that money could buy happiness.  It would be so much easier if we could simply buy our way to a better life. 

However, no matter how much money you throw at the problem, it just doesn’t work.  You can buy toys, gadgets, gizmos, systems, fads, fakes and costumes, but eventually the new wears off and you are right back where you started.

Usually when we try to buy happiness, we end up even unhappier.  We get our hopes up, get excited and then crash when we realize the latest thing isn’t as great as we hoped.

Call it buyer’s remorse or whatever you want, I call it a broken strategy.  Living life to the fullest requires a different approach.

The Ways We Are Sold Happiness

The marketers are always trying to sell us the idea that we can buy happiness.  I think the car companies are the best at it.  Just take a look at this Mazda commercial.

The marketers are obviously trying to sell you on the idea that if you drive their car that you’ll have excitement in your life and be envied by others for how lucky you are.  They want you to believe that your life will be much better if you just buy one of their vehicles.

Now I’m not picking on Mazda.  They certainly aren’t the only ones out there using this approach.  In fact, most marketers are trying to reach you in this same way.  They know we are emotional creatures and that if they can tap into our emotions, then we are more likely to buy their product.

They want us to believe we will be happier, more popular and satisfied emotionally if we own what they are offering.

Here’s another great example from Apple Computer.

Apple wants you to feel that you’ll be much cooler if you buy a Mac versus a PC.  You’ll look more suave and you’ll get the supermodel girl to boot.  They are totally trying to manipulate your emotions.  They want you to believe you’ll be happier if you buy a Mac not just because of what it can do, but because of what it is.

Please notice that in both the Mazda commercial and the Apple commercial that there is very little information about their product.  It is all about how their products will make you feel about yourself.  This is very powerful stuff.

The Power of Selling Happiness

It is easy to laugh and dismiss this, but it works.  It influences us.  In fact, I think it has a greater impact than we want to give it credit for.  I believe ads like this make us think we can buy happiness.

Why do I believe this?  Well, just look at credit card debt in the United States back in 2007, before the recession started.  We owed on average almost $10,000 per household on our cards.  This has gone up since then, but that could be because some people are buying necessities on credit now.

I’d be willing to bet that the majority of people that owed ten grand on credit cards in 2007 could not tell you what they spent their hard earned money on.  They wouldn’t know because it was all kinds of stuff that they thought would make them happy.

It was clothes and gadgets and accessories.  It was stuff they believed would make their lives more enjoyable and make them or their kids more popular.  It was convenience and luxury items.  It was stuff and more stuff.  It was a lot of keeping up with the proverbial Joneses.

Happiness Is Not For Sale

Please make no mistake about it.  We have been sold on the idea that we can buy happiness, but we can’t.  It just doesn’t work, but you probably already know that if you’ve taken even a moment to consider it.

Real happiness doesn’t come from stuff.  No matter what you buy, you are not going to make yourself happy.  Oh, you might get a small emotional high out of it, but that isn’t real happiness.

In addition, as I mentioned earlier, continuing to believe you can buy happiness will likely only leave you feeling empty and buried in debt which causes stress and leaves you feeling even worse.

What do I recommend instead?  I’d suggest three things to make yourself happier:

1.  Simplify

I’d strongly suggest going in the opposite direction away from acquiring more stuff.  It just makes your life feel bloated and cumbersome.  It adds to your stress by increasing what you have to store, maintain and pay for.  Clean things up and declutter to find more happiness.  Keep your life simple and you’ll be happier.

2.  Get Active

Physical activity actually stimulates the production of chemicals in your brain that make you feel happier.  In addition, getting fit will help you to feel better about yourself, have more energy and become more attractive.  These are all much more effective ways to increase the quality of your life. 

3.  Practice Gratitude

It is so very easy to “forget” about all the positive things we have in our life.  We get distracted and dissuaded by advertisers and our culture into thinking we are missing out on something.  The best way to counteract this is to actively practice gratitude.  Recount to yourself all that you have to be thankful for.  It is a very simple strategy, but it is amazingly effective.

Stop Trying to Buy Happiness

The true path to happiness is not paved with gold.  Money is a tool, but like all tools it has its limits.  It simply cannot buy us the happiness we so fervently desire.  However, the good news is that happiness is not as elusive as you might imagine.  There are some very intentional things you can do to make yourself happier and most of them don’t cost a dime.  In fact, scientists have concluded that it is often the simplest things like practicing gratitude that make us the happiest.

If happiness is one of your goals, then I’d suggest checking out The How of Happiness: A New Approach to Getting the Life You Want.  This book really helped me to see how I chased after happiness in the wrong ways and it provided concrete alternatives that I could use to increase my happiness and satisfaction in life.  It is a great resource for living life to the fullest!

Have you tried to buy your happiness?  Leave me a comment and let me know your experience.

Photo by OakleyOriginals

We are all selfish to a degree.  We want what gives us pleasure and makes us happy.  However, every action we take has consequences.

The main thrust of my message on this site is about living life to the fullest.  I encourage regular people to pursue what they really want in life.  However, I also emphasize that this must be balanced against one’s conscience.

It is easy to be lured into thinking the grass is always greener on the other side or that others have life so much better than we do.  Some examples include our financial status, whether we are married or not, the amount of free time we have,  where we live, our role at work, the vacations we take and our collection of stuff.

Regardless of our circumstance, it can be tempting to shirk our responsibilities, rationalize our actions and chase after the pleasure of what we want without listening to our conscience.  Of course, this never really works out.  It may provide some short-term satisfaction, but in the end it will leave us feeling guilty, empty and depressed.  It is counterproductive to living life to the fullest.

Our best life is one that is principled, disciplined and guided by a well-honed conscience.

Understanding the Value of Our Conscience

There is only one duty, only one safe course, and that is to try to be right.
~ Winston Churchill

In order to know what it means to seek pleasure without conscience, we first need to try to understand what our conscience is all about.

The conscience is like our onboard navigation system.  It guides us through life trying to keep us from doing things that might harm us or others.  It is our sense of right and wrong.

A big component of a healthy conscience is empathy.  Empathy is basically the capacity to put yourself into another’s shoes.  It is the ability to understand someone else’s feelings and point of view.

Another component of conscience is guilt.  Guilt is sort of like fear.  We typically think of it negatively, but it has a good purpose.  It helps to keep us out of trouble by warning us of potential consequences.

Pleasure Without Conscience Does Not Equal a Better Life

Do not bite at the bait of pleasure, till you know there is no hook beneath it.
~ Thomas Jefferson

Our desire for pleasure must be bounded by our conscience.  We have to weigh the potential effects of our actions on others before we engage.  We must look before we leap.

Going after what you want without any regard to how it will impact those around you that depend on you and love you is definitely not my definition of living life to its fullest.

People get this wrong in a number of ways.  Here are a few of the common situations where people ignore their conscience and get into trouble:

• Engaging in extra-marital affairs.
• Spending their way into overwhelming debt.
• Gambling away their life-savings (in casinos or in business).
• Running away from their family (physically or emotionally).
• Numbing their inner pain with drugs or alcohol.
• Failing to put their best foot forward at work.
• Becoming a workaholic.
• Checking out on the couch every night to watch sports.
• Falling into a fantasy life via porn sites.

You’ll notice that some of the things on this list we consider more extreme than others, but all of these items are wrong.  Deep down inside our conscience tells us so.  We should listen to it.

We must let our conscience guide us toward a truly fulfilling life.  There are no shortcuts!  We must bridle our desire for pleasure and do the hard work to build a great life one stone at a time.

3 Ways to Keep Yourself on Track

A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes.
~ Mohandas Ghandi

Changing your life means changing your thoughts.  I’ve written before about elevating your thoughts to elevate your life.  As Ghandi and others have pointed out very clearly, we really do become what we think about. 

Therefore, if you’ve been chasing pleasure without listening to your conscience or if you want to avoid doing so, here’s what I would recommend.

1.  Practice Gratitude

We often seek shortcuts to pleasure when we think things are hopeless.  However, our situations are rarely as dark and desperate as we build them up to be in our minds.  We all have things to be thankful for in our lives.  We just aren’t in the habit of recognizing them. 

Set an appointment with yourself to spend just 15 minutes every morning making a list of things you have to be grateful for in your life.  Acknowledge the positive characteristics of your spouse, your boss and your kids.  Count up how fortunate you are for what you do have.  List all the so-called little things that you take for granted.  Add as many things as possible to the list.

This is an incredibly powerful exercise.  It may be a little difficult at first, but don’t give up.  Your list will start to grow longer every day as you tune yourself into to all you have to be grateful for in your life.

2.  Practice Humility

I think that in order to properly empathize with others that we first have to put ourselves in the proper light.  We often become self-absorbed.  The best way I’ve found to overcome this is to practice humility.

Being humble is simply having modesty.  It is recognizing that we aren’t the center of the universe.  Yes, we deserve certain things, but so do others.  What do they want and need from us?  How do they depend on us to do the right thing?

There are two places that I find myself humbled.  The first is in nature and the second is at church.  I’d encourage you to spend some time in both.  It will help you to let go of some of your selfishness and to recognize that you and your problems aren’t as large as you think.

3.  Practice Long-term Thinking

The final suggestion I would make is to practice long-term thinking.  I have explained the benefits and made a lot of suggestions on how to do this in Long-term Thinking Is Your Greatest Tool For Success.  I’d encourage you to read it, but I’ll share some thoughts about it here too.

Basically, we need to decide what we want most out of life and then ask ourselves if the action we are about to take is really going to get us closer to what we truly want.  We have to be able to listen to our conscience and objectively answer this question.  All too often, regular people are willing to rationalize our behavior or hope against overwhelming odds that we will get away with taking a big chance that rarely pays off in the long run.

Risks are a part of life, but don’t bet on the ones that fail.  Pleasure is tempting.  However, getting what we want right now is often detrimental to getting what we really want down the road just a bit.  Long-term thinking really is your greatest tool for success and living life to the fullest.

Listen to Your Conscience and Enjoy a Great Life

Character is much easier kept than recovered. 
~Thomas Paine

It is often difficult to undo big mistakes in life.  Seeking pleasure without conscience will certainly produce unwanted consequences some of which can last a lifetime.  There are examples of this all the time in the news.  Listen to your conscience and let it guide you.  Practice gratitude, humility and long-term thinking and you’ll be well on your way to a really great life!

 Photo by Richard0

Joy, fulfillment and happiness don’t just grow on trees.  You can quote me on that!  I firmly believe we must pursue these states with intention.

You can either let your life and thoughts drift to wherever they may land including places like negativity, bitterness, depression, fear, discouragement and helplessness or you can take a stand.

I’ve consciously chosen to enjoy my life.  Does this mean that I always get what I want?  No way!  I experience the same trials, obstacles and setbacks that you do.  However, after a brief period of moping, I shake it off, get up and move on to better ground.

When it rains, we can either let ourselves drowned or we can go out and splash in the puddles.  Which is it going to be?

Are you choosing to enjoy your life to the fullest or are you allowing yourself to remain stuck in a bad place?  Please make no mistake about it.  It is a choice.  One that we all have to make day-to-day and moment-by-moment.

The Ways I Willfully Choose to Enjoy Life to the Fullest

I won’t even pretend that you can simply follow what I suggest below like a recipe and expect it to work for you.  It might or it might not.  Enjoying life to the fullest is a very personal and individual thing.  We are all unique.  What makes me tick might not even strike a chord with you.  However, by sharing what I do, I hope it will open your eyes to the possibilities in your life.

Here’s how I willfully choose to enjoy life to the fullest:

1.  Practicing Active Gratitude

The quickest way I know to rejuvenate my joy is to start counting all the things I am grateful for in my life.  It is very easy to take things for granted.  Active gratitude is stopping for a few moments to mindfully and purposefully list mentally, verbally or on paper all the things we have to be thankful for.  For me, this always humbles me and restores a sense of perspective.  Here are a few of the things that regularly appear on my list:

• My Wife – I am fortunate to have someone so loyal, caring and practical in my life.  She keeps me grounded and provides reliable counsel.  I am lucky to have her to celebrate the good times with and to split my burdens with.  She is truly my best friend and partner.
• My Daughters – They are beautiful!  I treasure their smiles, energy and innocence.  They warm my heart and open my eyes to so much of life that I would otherwise miss.
• My Health – It only takes a minor sickness to remind me how precious my good health is to me.  I am very grateful that I don’t have to struggle against a physical disability or disease on a daily basis.
• My Job – I work with some great people and together form a fantastic organization.  I’m truly blessed to be able to make a nice living doing something I enjoy.
• My Possessions – I have every single thing a guy could ever need and then some.  I’m spoiled.  Most of us in America take our homes, our food and what we own for granted, but we shouldn’t.

Of course, the list above is not by any means all-inclusive, but just going through it right now I feel my spirits lifted.  Give active gratitude a try yourself and see what it does for you.

2.  Pursuing Accomplishment

I’m convinced that we all need a reason to get out of bed every morning.  I know I need something that forces me to continue to grow and expand as a human being.  The sense of accomplishment that comes from doing a job right is uplifting.  It doesn’t matter if it is weeding the flowerbed or designing a new software system, I enjoy life a lot more when I’m off my butt getting something done.

I get stuck in mental quagmires from time to time.  When I do, I often resist the idea of starting a new, challenging project.  However, it never fails, if I force myself to do so, I feel so much better once I’ve done it.  I stand back and admire my work drinking in the pride and happiness it produces.

3.  Seeking Adventure

One of the traps that I fall into is getting into ruts.  I’m very habitual and if I’m not careful I’ll find myself doing the same old things over and over even though my enjoyment of those things is waning.  The best way I’ve found to jolt myself out of running on autopilot is to pursue some sort of adventure.

An adventure, by definition, contains risks and unknowns.  These stimulate my mind and heart.  They awaken my soul and make me feel alive!  I feel like I become super aware of my surroundings.  This heightened state of being stirs my creativity and helps me to recognize all kinds of new possibilities.  A life without adventure isn’t really worth living!

Choose Right Now to Enjoy Life to the Fullest

Make your own choice to start enjoying your life to the fullest today!  Again, exactly how you do this is a very personal and individual thing.  You need ideas and inspiration.  Hopefully, I’ve given you some, but I also invite you to check out Mandi’s thoughts and views about this in her article titled 31 Days of Organizing for a Better 2010 – Enjoy Life to the Fullest.  You are likely to get a slightly different point of view that might clarify things even more for you.  Enjoy!

How do you choose to enjoy your life to the fullest?  Leave me a comment and let me know!

Photo by Todd Baker

A clear, well-defined life purpose brings everything into focus.  It clarifies and simplifies your life because it explicitly defines who you are and what you are about.

Over the last week, I have explained why having a purpose is so important and I provided the steps for defining a clear life purpose statement. 

Today, I’m going to share my own life purpose with you as an example so you can see the power in this.

The Four Values That Are the Bedrock of My Life Purpose

I explained previously that your life purpose should be based on the values that resonate the most with you.  You want to build your life on a solid foundation.

Here are the four values that are a part of my life purpose:

1.  Excellence

I consider excellence to be one of the seven key characteristics of living a Super-Charged Life.  Therefore, it only makes sense that it would be one of the values I consider most important, but what does it really mean?

Well, for me, some of the things that come to mind when I think of excellence are expertise, wisdom, high standards, attention-to-detail, continual improvement, and just generally being the best you can be in all aspects of life.

This is absolutely one of the values that ignites my passion.  I’ll admit that I’m hard on myself.  I’m my own worst critic because I want to be excellent in everything I do!

2.  Integrity

I want to have high moral standards.  I believe that to live the best life possible, other people have to be able to trust me.  Why?  Because I can’t do it alone!  Life takes relationships and trust is an essential component.

When I think about integrity, it conjures up words like honesty, faithfulness, commitment, authenticity, transparency, virtue, sincerity and candor.  Living a life of integrity means not doing anything in secret that I wouldn’t freely admit.

A man is only as good as his word.  I want to be a man that can be trusted and loved without worry.  Integrity is certainly one of my core values.

3.  Faith

I believe there is more to this life than what meets the eye.  Faith in God adds meaning and significance to my life.  It gives me a moral compass that keeps me on track and guides all my endeavors.  It reminds me that there is something bigger out there that is in control over all the chaos in this life.

Faith is a lifelong pursuit.  It encompasses things like hope, love, joy, peace, forgiveness, fellowship and principles.

Faith means believing in that which is unseen and unproven in human terms.  It is a leap.  It takes courage and it takes commitment.  I want to continually grow in my faith.

4.  Gratitude

Fostering gratitude is very important for maintaining a positive attitude and for being happy.  I have a lot to be thankful for in my life!  However, for whatever reason, I find it easy to forget all that I have.  Therefore, I want to focus on always cultivating gratitude.

Gratitude is comprised of thankfulness, appreciation, humility, offering praise and counting one’s undeserved blessings.  It is both an inward acknowledgement and an outward expression.

I have a lot of work to do in seeking to be more grateful.  I especially want to learn to express gratitude more freely and openly towards the people in my life.  I want to really emphasize gratitude so I included it in my life purpose.

Pulling My Purpose Together Into One Cohesive Statement

These four values are definitely the ones the are the foundation for my life purpose.  They inspire me!  They may do nothing for you, but I own them.  They are exactly the things that I want my life to be about.  Here’s how they come together in my life purpose.

I want to spend my life pursuing excellence, integrity, faith and gratitude.

This is my life purpose.  It is simple, yet profound.  It is broad, yet establishes boundaries.  It is bold, yet achievable.  My life purpose is worthy of my lifelong fidelity!

A Life Purpose Really Makes Sense

The purpose of life is a life of purpose.  ~Robert Byrne

I hope this helps you to see the value of clearly defining your life purpose.  I can’t say enough about the value of having it spelled out.  If you take the time to do this for yourself, you will be amazed at how good it feels!

What is your life purpose?

Photo by whossein

Maintaining a positive, optimistic and enthusiastic attitude is smart living.  Your attitude largely defines your actions.  Your actions decide the results you get.

A pessimistic sourpuss rarely sees any good in life.  They are constantly focused on the negative so negative is all they get.  They don’t see the silver lining in circumstances that come their way because their eyes are only trained to see the downside.

Choosing a positive, optimistic and enthusiastic outlook on life opens up a whole new world of possibility.  It enables you to be happier and to see brilliant opportunities that were hidden before.  It unlocks a great life and is truly smart living!

What does a positive attitude and optimism look like?

Positive thinking and optimism is the state of mind where you expect favorable results.  You get up in the morning believing this is going to be a good day.  You regularly think life is full of opportunity, prosperity and expansion.

I think of myself as a pretty positive person and maybe you do too.  However, negativity creeps in on us in ways that is hard to detect at first.

I challenge you to monitor your thinking for a few days.  Make a mental note every time that you catch yourself thinking a negative thought.  This includes noticing the little voice in your head that is critical of yourself and others.

I’ve done this and it amazed me at just how many times a day I caught myself going off down a negative trail.  This kind of thinking has to take its toll.  After all, whatever you think on the inside manifests itself on the outside.  We have to choose positivity and optimism!

This appears easier for some than it is for others.  There are those people that are positive and enthusiastic all the time.  They are often the ones we call “the morning people”.

We’ve all seen or worked with them.  A positive and cheery attitude seems to come easy for them.  I wonder though are they naturally this way or are they taking conscious steps to maintain their positive attitude?

It may be a little of both, but this is good news because it means a choice exists.  We really can make ourselves more positive and optimistic with just a little effort.  Personally, I’ve been amazed at how little effort it actually takes.

I’ll share with you some of the things I do to maintain a positive attitude in just a moment, but first let’s talk about how enthusiasm leads to smart living.

Using enthusiasm for smart living

Enthusiasm is contagious.  It sweeps people up and into your cause.  It motivates people to think and act like a team. 

Don’t you want to be enthusiastic about what you are doing?  Well, instead of waiting for the “right thing” to be enthusiastic about, why not be enthusiastic about what you are already doing?  Enthusiasm will create new results that can transform any situation to something better.

Use enthusiasm to lift your current pursuits to a whole new level.  Create a vivid vision for a great future doing whatever it is that you do today and then use enthusiasm to fire everyone else up about it too!

You have two choices.  One is to be mild and mediocre or the other is to be enthusiastic and remarkable!  Which one will you choose?

Assignment: Learn to be more positive, optimistic and enthusiastic!

With each of my smart living rules, I have been offering assignments to help you explore the rule further. 

Here are the assignments for this smart living rule:

1.  Gather ideas on how to be more positive, optimistic and enthusiastic

Having a better attitude is a choice.  You do not have to continue to be buffeted by your circumstances.  It has taken me several years, but I am slowly but surely learning the truth in this statement.  Start finding ways to choose to be more positive by reading the articles below:

• The Science of Happiness: How To Get The Most Out Of Life
• The Vast, Unstatable Importance of a Positive Attitude
• 11 Steps to a More Positive You 
• Top 10 Tips for Maintaining a Positive Attitude
• 15 Proven Tactics to Fire Up Enthusiasm

2.  Take steps to increase your positivity, optimism and enthusiasm

There are several ways that you can help yourself to be more positive.  It really is a choice you make every day.  You decide your thoughts, actions and reactions.  Of course, there are some techniques available to help.

Not all these tips, steps or methods work for everyone.  You will likely find that some work better than others for you.  I’ve given you several resources above that list ideas to try.  Here are a few that I’ve found useful:

1. Maintain a gratitude journal – We overlook and forget about hundreds of good things that happen to us every single day.  Keeping a gratitude journal will help you stay positive because it reminds you of all the good things you having going for you.
2. Read positive, uplifting material – Stop watching and reading the news!  It is all negative.  Instead, start reading positive, uplifting and inspiring material.  Our minds are like computers.  Garbage-in, garbage-out.  Choose to be positive!
3. Feed your emotional bank account – To be positive, optimistic and enthusiastic, you must be emotionally strong and healthy.  You must take care of yourself.  You must tend to your own emotional bank account.  Celebrate the small victories in your life with a treat, a day off or a special night out on the town!

These are just a few of the ways that I work to keep myself positive, optimistic and enthusiastic.  They may or may not work for you.  My advice is to find what does work best for you and use it religiously!

Smart living is being positive, optimistic and enthusiastic!

You can accomplish so much more of what you value in life by being positive, optimistic and enthusiastic!  Adopting and fostering these attitudes is smart living.  Use them to open your eyes to all kinds of new opportunities that are just waiting for you to claim!

Follow this link to discover all the rules for Smart Living.

Photo by Syma Sees

We believe a lot of erroneous things about happiness.  These happiness myths cost us a great deal in terms of enjoyment and fulfillment in life.  They send us off on wild goose chases seeking a better life in all the wrong places.

Fortunately, as with most myths, once they’ve been debunked, they lose their power over our lives.  Furthermore, once we are exposed to the truth, we can embrace new beliefs about happiness and experience all that we’ve been missing.

Five common happiness myths debunked!

I have compiled what I believe are five very common falsehoods we often believe about happiness.  I hope that by exposing these I can help you debunk the way these myths rob you of happiness in your day-to-day life.

By the way, I have bought into all of these at one time or another in my life so I know firsthand how they destroy our happiness.

Myth #1 – You are either happy or you’re not and that’s that.

Some believe that you are either born happy or you’re not and while it is true that as much as 50% of our happiness level is determined by our set point, research reveals that ample opportunity exists for us to affect our happiness through some effort.  It is important that we take personal responsibility for our own happiness and educate ourselves on ways to make ourselves happier.  Increasing happiness is possible and it’s not that hard.

Myth #2 – Happiness is a feeling that mysteriously comes and goes

Happiness can sway with our emotions, but again we have a significant level of influence in this process if we choose to exercise it.  Our happiness level really isn’t as mysterious as it may seem.  Scientists have compiled ample research to show that by engaging in intentional happiness activities, we can lastingly elevate our happiness level.

Myth #3 – Happiness should be effortless

Sustained happiness requires conscious effort.  Real happiness is not just a result of designing our lives with all the right circumstances either.  In fact, researchers have discovered that our circumstances, whether we are rich or poor, married or single, healthy or unhealthy, only determines a small portion of our happiness level.  Those that experience happiness without effort just have a higher genetic set point.  The rest of us need to exert effort to experience greater happiness.

Myth #4 – I’d be happy if I was rich and didn’t have to work

The way you perceive your life has a lot more to do with your happiness than your actual circumstances.  We all know or have heard of rich people that seem exceedingly unhappy (e.g. Paris Hilton, Britney Spears).  We also are aware of poor folks that seem incredibly happy (e.g. Mother Teresa).  Exercising gratitude for what you have instead of focusing on the negative side of your circumstances can greatly influence your sense of well-being.

Myth #5 – I’d be happy if all these people weren’t irritating me

It is easy to blame other people for our lack of happiness.  However, the truth is that most of our happiness lies in our attitude and reaction to what people do around us.  If you teach yourself to think differently about these situations, you will stop giving up the power to be happy.  Happiness is a choice that we make daily.

Expose the lies and set yourself free to be happy!

Living life to the fullest requires us to acknowledge many miss held beliefs.  We have to debunk the myths and find the truth to discover the freedom to be happy. 

Letting go of these myths isn’t always easy.  In some cases, we’ve been conditioned over many years by our families, society and the popular media to believe these are true.  It takes work to turn your thinking around, but I’m finding that it is definitely worth it.

I’ve been working hard lately to overcome these myths and it is paying off!  I hope you too are able to see these for the lies that they are and start to experience more happiness every day!

Which of these myths are you most prone to believing?

Photo by billaday