Tag: Happiness

Practicing Mindful Happiness

We are a world of people in a hurry. We are stressed and striving to make it through another day. We sometimes feel used and abused. And every now and then, we want to scream at the top of our lungs, joining in the chorus of miserable people saying, "I'm sick of my life!" When is this chaos going to end? Where are we all going? What are we trying to accomplish by living our lives in pursuit of something we can never seem to catch? We're always trying to get a better job, to improve our relationships, pay off…

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Want to Be Happy? Make Time for Exercise

I wish I had knew how important exercise was earlier in my life. Since I found a love for tennis, my whole life has improved. I play several times a week, travel to watch matches, have a whole host of tennis friends, am fitter and stronger than I have been in twenty years and I am much happier. As a psychiatrist practicing for 20 years, the single best advice I can give is to find a sport you love and make it a regular part of your life. As a brain scientist, I know that not only am I secreting…

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The Traveler in Time

There was that search for meaning, that longing, the perpetual longing. How would I make sense to myself? My eventful life never seemed to stop until I just couldn't cope with all its ups and downs. I had successes and failures; I sensed deep love and then the inevitable separation that followed. There was no sanctuary, no peace, no place to call home. I wondered: is my life controlled by me or am I subject to the whims of events beyond my control? One day I felt great and the next I was depressed. My confusion yielded a search and…

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Blessings to YOU!

Recently, my friend Marci Shimoff shared a story with me that really touched my heart. Her friend CJ was very ill with lupus, but rather than complain about the situation, she was inspired to become a messenger of blessing. Everywhere she went she silently shared this blessing on behalf of others in her life. "May you be safe, may you be happy, may you be healthy, may you live with ease." From strangers on the street, to friends and family, CJ spent a year blessing other people. When waiting in line at the grocery store, she would say her mantra…

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What’s Your State of Mind?

Let's play a little game of word association. I'm going to say a word and I want you to think of the first thing that comes into your mind. You folks in the northeast are really going to enjoy this. Are you ready? Just after you read the word, close your eyes and feel the feeling… okay, ready? Here's the word… summer. Are you smiling yet? I'm writing this on an airplane, flying to the Caribbean. I couldn't help but notice the screen on the in-flight monitor of my Jet Blue flight, advertising Orlando (visitOrlando.com). The slogan of their ad…

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Happy Monday!

Happy Monday! When I first realized I was awake this morning, I smiled and then I remembered it was Monday. I had a great weekend and would have been happier if today would have been Sunday all over again. And then I laughed, for what makes Monday any different from Sunday or Friday for that matter, but my thoughts about it? A day is a day and nothing more. It's the labels and expectations that my thoughts place on the day that make it different from any other day. The hopes, the fears, the expectations all come from within me!…

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