Monthly Archives: December 2011

Harvesting Happiness: Keeping Resolutions

By Lisa Cypers Kamen. If you find it difficult to keep your resolutions and you have a habit of breaking them, try the following: Make only positive resolutions, such as "Go to more movies" or "Have friends over for a meal." Make it something that you would find enjoyable to keep. Give up a resolution if necessary. If you find yourself constantly breaking a specific resolution then consider giving it up completely. Don’t let an unfulfilled resolution to lose five pounds block you from making other, smaller resolutions that might give you a happiness boost. Every day keep your resolution. It’s…

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Creating Your Frazzle-Free Family

Consider the last time your everyone in your family was having fun and not feeling frazzled. What was happening that contributed to things going so well? Below are some of the things that come to mind for my family when things are going well. Everyone is pitching in with household tasks joining the family for meals acting respectful feeling supported and loved remembering to let the rest of the family know where they are and when they'll be home feeling like they have enough time and don't have to rush healthy, getting enough rest and exercise having some time for…

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Kindness- The Gift that Keeps on Giving

By Gail Lynne Goodwin. Each day, with every action or inaction, whether intentional or not, we change the world around us. With every smile or grouchy comment, we affect others and as they pass it on, we change the world around us. We’ve all heard the expression that we’re all one, and what we reap we sow, yet sometimes they sound like just expressions and we lose the meaning behind the words. But, when you go a level deeper, it’s so obvious that everything we do affects those around us. If we’re snippy to the woman at the coffee shop,…

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spring-trees

Does the Abundance Theory Really Work?

"Okay all. I've been known at times as the "glass is half full person", but the theory of abundance isn't saving the Arctic, or the homeless, or the abused. I'm not a hand wringer, though. I put out my voice, take action, and share and donate time and money. I wonder how many of these new age philosophers, pulled themselves up or luckily had access to education or seed money for businesses. There's a major piece of compassion missing here for everyone who doesn't believe in new age spiritualism. Is their lack of belief justification for homelessness, being downsized, no…

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Today’s Brilliance from Paul Dunn

My Mum is now just over 100 years old. And until four years ago, our relationship was, shall we say, "challenging." Like most Mums, mine believed I was still three years old! And she never seemed to get excited at the things I felt I was achieving. Communication did not flow easily. Then, it all changed. The simplest way to say it is Mum lost her head. Alzheimer's disease took its hold. And I realised that for all those years I'd been communicating with my Mum "head-to-head." Now, the ONLY way for us to communicate was heart-to-heart. And it changed…

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Harvesting Happiness: Happiness During the Holidays

By Lisa Cypers Kamen. You are feeling stressed and it seems like you don't have enough time to get everything done during this holiday season. You still have presents to get and you wonder if you will have enough money to buy all the presents for your family and friends. Before the stress overwhelms you, stop for a minute and take a deep breath. It’s time to focus on what’s important during this time of year. It isn’t the things we have that matters the most, it is the people we have in our lives. Take the time during this…

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Helping Kids Gain Positive Control Over Their Thoughts

By Kathy Slattengren. How often are your children thinking negative thoughts about themselves? Sometimes you know their thoughts are negative because they blurt out something like "I'll never get this!" As they grow up, your children will be their own harshest critics. It is their own negative self-talk that they will hear most often. Everyone’s mind produces a steady stream of thoughts. When these thoughts turn negative, fear, doubt and frustration quickly sets in. Stopping negative thoughts isn’t easy and it starts with actually noticing those thoughts.What are your kids saying to themselves? What your children say out loud gives…

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Can Gratitude Come Naturally?

"My thoughts of joy and peace are fleeting. Usually I am thinking and thinking. Unable to stop and smell the flowers. Although I do work on feeling grateful. Do you think it will start to come naturally?" ~ Linda Linda, any time we start a new practice, it takes a bit of time before it becomes a natural process. Our brain is literally wired the way it is because of the thoughts and  habits that we have formed in our past. The good news is, we can rewire it at any time simply by consciously changing the way we think.…

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Turn Your Anger Into Passion

I'm Dallas Jessup and I'm Calling All Heroes Ages 7 to 24: your country and the world need you. I used to think I was unique as a kid who created a non-profit which grew into 43 countries. My photo was on Doritos bags, the big screen at Times Square in New York, and I get to hang out with celebrities but it turns out I'm just one of a thousand kids who are saving the world in a hundred ways and we're seeing thousands of other kids join us on the frontlines of youth activism every month. Have you…

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Harvesting Happiness: The Power of Optimism

By Lisa Cypers Kamen. Optimism can and does make a difference. If you don't believe me, try looking at others around you. By observing others' optimism, you will most often find that those who are happy have a better outlook on life as well as being healthier- physically and emotionally. Michael J. Fox has a book called Always Looking Up: The Adventures of An Incurable Optimist. He also had a primetime special of the same title in which he went around the world and studied people from different cultures and backgrounds, looking for the commonality of optimism….literally everywhere. I know…

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How Do You See the World?

By Gail Lynne Goodwin. What if the world showed up for us in exactly the same way as we showed up to the world? In other words, what if we start our day with thoughts of gratitude and only expected good things to happen. What if we see only the good in every person, and in every experience of the day? What if we see only the blessing in every situation? How differently do you think the world would show up for us? I've been experimenting with this concept and I'm convinced that the world will show up to match…

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The Anatomy of Listening Effectively

By Michele Howe. I admit it. I’ve always considered myself a good listener. I was wrong. Not until I read Stephen Covey’s book, The 8th Habit, did I realize how limited my listening skills have been. Perhaps my biggest mistake is trying to formulate a response while someone is still talking with me. Instead of giving my full attention to the speaker, I’m guilty of (1) allowing my mind to race ahead trying to solve a problem and (2) busy deciding if I agree (or not) with the one talking. In either scenario, I’m not fully engaged in what’s being…

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Leading Your Children Instead of Bossing Them

By Kathy Slattengren. Bossing children around tends to produce resistance instead of cooperation. How does the thought of being managed by someone else make you feel? Irritated? Angry? Rebellious? If you're like most, you react negatively to someone trying to boss or control you. Your children are no different. They also do not like when you try to control their behavior. You can test this out by watching their reaction to commands like “Hurry up!”, “Stop fighting!” or “Quit your whining.” The role of a parent is similar to being a boss, manager or leader. If you shy away from…

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The Present of Your Presence

By Gail Lynne Goodwin. In this holiday season of giving presents, let’s not forget the greatest present we can give to another person… that of the gift of being present.  Recently I was in a coffee shop in San Francisco, watching a group of people seated at a table together, all texting on their phones, to someone else. Chances are that if they weren’t with the friends they were with in person, they would have been texting them too. Yet, they were together physically, but still focused elsewhere. What a lost opportunity to connect! We’ve become addicted to being connected,…

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Harvesting Happiness: Six Steps to Success

By Lisa Cypers Kamen. Save some money in a "rainy day" fund. Organize your responsibilities each day. You want to have money to spend and a plan for your life- even a simple plan can make a difference. Simplify. Get rid of the things we don’t need; don’t buy things you don’t need. There will be less to clean and less stuff that can get in our way. Smile, even though things may not be perfect. This can make a big difference and contribute to overall peace in your life. Single out the people in your life who mean the…

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Happy Birthday Mom

My mother would have been 78 years old today, had she not passed away from a very unexpected, very sudden stroke nearly 6 months ago. She went from a healthy, vibrant, active senior, still working out daily and riding her bicycle many miles each week, to comatose within 15 minutes and passing away within a day. There was no warning and no time to say “Goodbye for now”. We all know that  our parents will pass away. It’s all part of the circle of life and is nothing surprising- until it happens to us. Then, life as we know it…

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1, 2, 3… Simple Ways to Reverse the Aging Process (No Purchase Necessary)

By Michele Howe. Sometimes we make things way more complicated than they are. Every marketer tries to sell us a product that includes a promise to reverse the aging process. In truth, it would be much easier if these products worked. But since they don’t…we have to rely on doing things the old-fashioned way by implementing self-discipline and doing some lifestyle introspection. Like most people, I love shortcuts…but with health and aging, they simply don’t work. Here’s what does…in three simple steps. There are several lifestyle changes that can result in improved health and positively affect the aging process. Promise.…

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