Skip to content

Harvesting Happiness: 10 Tips for Leaving Unhappiness Behind

By Lisa Cypers Kamen. If you find yourself focusing on the unhappy moments and things in your life, the following suggestions may start you back on the path to a happier, more satisfying life. Clear out unhappiness. What obstacles to happiness are there in your life? Pay attention to what makes you feel unhappy. Are you especially fearful, sad or anxious? Find someone you can talk to about your feelings, a close friend or family member that you can confide in and whom you trust. Avoid things that make you unhappy. See less of unhappy, difficult people whenever possible. Talk…

Read more

Harvesting Happiness: Control Over Our Destiny

By Lisa Cypers Kamen. Having control over our destiny is something we strive for. There are many, many things we do to bring security, comfort and opportunity to our lives. We all work very hard to achieve the goals that we think will bring us the happiness we deserve. And we are determined to persevere. Innovation and creativity are something we pride ourselves on. Once we have met a goal, we set forth yet another, and another and another. This is not a bad thing… this is what it means to be in charge of our lives and our happiness, isn’t…

Read more

Happy Valentine’s Day

By Gail Lynne Goodwin. There's something about people in grocery stores that often inspire me. Today as I was waiting in the check out line, there was an older couple in front of me, who the cashier greeted as Ginny and Roy. As they neared their turn in line, I noticed that Ginny had a single Valentine's Day card, while Roy was proudly holding a single red rose. Ginny, well into her 80s handed the cashier the greeting card, then started counting out coins to pay for it. Roy waited and watched, smiling. Then, he handed the rose to the…

Read more

7 Movies Sure to Inspire

By Erin Steiner. Movies can be a fantastic source of inspiration when you are feeling low or out of ideas. Here are seven incredibly inspiring movies you should watch the next time you feel like you’re having trouble with your momentum. 1. Julie and Julia In the early years of the 21st century, Julie Powell was feeling down and uninspired and, on a kind of crazy whim, decided to cook her way all the way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child in a single year and blog about the experience (in real time as it was…

Read more

Life is an Epic Vision Quest Adventure!

By Brad Morris. A Vision Quest is a turning point or right of passage for One to find themselves, their Spiritual direction or path in Life. And I tell yah, my life has been a non-stop, action packed, Vision Quest adventure these last 8+ years!  I have been on a conquest to face my fears, know Myself and share my ultimate gifts with the world. Through walking my path clumsily in the darkness of the unknown, I have slipped, fell, hurt myself and got up again and again. I have fallen to my knees in tears, praying for an answer,…

Read more

Harvesting Happiness: The Road Ahead

By Lisa Cypers Kamen. These days it is impossible to see down the road ahead. Our lives are filled with uncertainty. Our jobs, our relationships, our homes, our families are shifting and changing in ways we never could have imagined. "Security" is not a word many people are using lately to describe life. And beneath it all, we are wondering, how we are going to get through this? What kind of world will unfold in the years to come? What kind of legacy will we leave behind for our children? It is so very difficult to move forward on the…

Read more

Managing Your Fearful And Obsessive Thoughts

By Stanley Popovich. There are times when we encounter fearful thoughts that can be difficult to manage. For some people, the more they try to get rid of the thoughts, the stronger the thoughts become and the more difficult they become to manage. If you're struggling with this, here are some techniques that you can use to help manage your fearful and obsessive thoughts. Don't dwell or focus on the fear-provoking thought when it comes. The more you try to reason out the thought or focus on the fear behind the thought, the stronger the thought becomes. The next time…

Read more

Prayer: What Does It Mean To You?

By Gail Lynne Goodwin. Each day millions of people around the world pray for something... perhaps a new job, a relationship, financial independence, glowing health, to hear God's voice more clearly, or like yesterday when it's Super Bowl Sunday, perhaps even for their team to win. But how does God decide which prayers to answer and in what way? Watch the Oscars or the Grammy Awards and most people thank God for their success. Does that mean that God doesn't like the ones who didn’t win? A few days ago I was flying from Salt Lake City to New York…

Read more

Today’s Brilliance from Mason Partak

Here's what I think are some important things to know: 1. Do what you want to do in life. If you don't, it will be a long time of no fun. Find a way. There is always a way if you really want something. 2. Be happy in life. Sometimes things make us happy, but that usually doesn't last. Experiences that make memories make me happy, like becoming a cook and helping other people learn to cook, especially kids. Cooking at events with so many volunteers helps me see how many people it takes to make fun things happen for a community.…

Read more

Craziness Is in the Eye of the Beholder

By B. Lynn Goodwin. "I love my crazy husband," says my battle-gray shirt, which is splotched like an artist's canvas "I love my crazy wife," says a similar one that he wears. We got them on a visit to Padre Island, not far from Corpus Christi, TX, where my husband grew up. The night we purchased them, we also wore them to dinner. Maybe I was grinning self-consciously. More likely I was beaming. A woman in the bar with dark eyes and curly gray hair nodded as she read them. Her eyes were filled with understanding and approval as she…

Read more

Choosing A Different Direction

By Gail Lynne Goodwin. Life may provide the circumstances, but we get to choose how to respond to them. I've just returned from sailing with a mastermind group in the British Virgin Islands. We set sail from Anegada to The Bitter End in Virgin Gorda, which is backwards from the trek that most sailors take. As we were sailing our course, there were a lot of boats sailing directly towards us, a 180 degree different heading from our own. One of our crew, who is new to sailing, mentioned that he was amazed that we were able to sail in…

Read more

Harvesting Happiness: Career Day

By Lisa Cypers Kamen. When I participated in my first career day, I was barely old enough to walk to the bus stop by myself. What does a fourth grader know about a career? Very little, but boy, did we try to dream up big goals. Clustered in my elementary school’s tiny library, my classmates and I were each on a mission to find the perfect careers to compliment our strengths. Doctor was a popular pick for the science geeks. There were many future firefighters and presidents in the room, mostly among the classmates who were natural leaders. The more talkative…

Read more

10 Tips for Inspiring Your Kids to Be the Best They Can Be

By Laura Burkey. Children are our pathway to the future, and their well-being is paramount to our world's and our family's survival. When we are at our best, we can inspire our children to do their best whether it’s on the athletic field, in the classroom, or anywhere in the world. It might seem easy to push our youngsters to be great, particularly when they are small. As toddlers, we applaud their toilet-training techniques and jump with glee when they count to 10 without any prompting. As parents, our proud meters routinely surpass the stratosphere because, let’s be honest, we…

Read more

En”vision” 2013

By Natalie Forest, PhD. On my way home from the "Festival of Lights" recently, while thinking about some of my students I realized that I needed to write another blog, one to help jumpstart 2013 for everyone - so, here it is. One thing that I have learned about and begun to teach about in more specific ways is the Law of Attraction.  It can be very intriguing when you begin to really pay attention and become aware of your thoughts and how negative they often are.  The amazing part about the Law of Attraction is that is always works…

Read more

Today’s Brilliance from Jaden Mitchell

If you can dream it, you can do it! I want to be a policeman when I grow up. My sister Shandi wants to be a teacher. Even though I am only 7 and my sister is 3, we are dreaming big. It does not matter if we change our dreams over and over again. If you can dream it and set a goal you can do it! If you want to be the president of the United States of America, you can do it! Our mommy and daddy give us a ton of encouragement everyday which helps us in…

Read more

Harvesting Happiness: Enemy #1

By Lisa Cypers Kamen. If life was one long-running cartoon, we'd spot anger right away - beet-red face, steam shooting out of the ears, sweat dripping from the forehead.  We'd be able to see anger build up in ourselves and maybe, just maybe, get our emotions in check before they boil over. Life is not a cartoon. Steam will not shoot out of your ears. You will probably never sweat enough to be soaked head to toe during your angry spell. But, chronic anger is linked to physical health issues — higher risk of coronary artery disease and heart attack,…

Read more

Empowered YOUth: 5 Ways to Restore Peace and Repair Connection in Your Family

By Michael Eisen. In a day and age where parents and kids text more than they talk, where a family that doesn't feud is an anomaly, and where the one thing that most parents and kids have in common is the stress and anxiety they face—something's gotta give! If we are going to empower the next generation and generations to come to live up to their true potential and to live a life full of passion and optimism, it is incredibly important that we create a more supportive and understanding family unit. Below are five principles and strategies that will…

Read more