So I was checking out my Klout score today — having received an upbeat message about how I’m showing so much IMPROVEMENT since I signed up for my account. Go, me! — and the site froze. This was their error message: I laughed out loud for several minutes. I am ever so grateful to the … Read more
Do you remember learning to tie your shoes? Put on pants? Button a shirt? Neither do I, but last evening I was reminded of the experience. I had the pleasure of giving my three-year-old grandson his bath. After I dried him off, he escaped and ran naked into his room, all excited — he has … Read more
Cheryl and I celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary this month, and for many years we’ve promised ourselves a Big Trip to celebrate. We were into our second month of planning when a family event got scheduled on top of our travel dates. We were at first irritated that it cut into our vacation time. We decided … Read more
I am a gardener. My kids got me started years ago with a few tomato and pepper plants in a small strip of ground; we have evolved to large raised beds that generate hundreds of pounds of produce annually. Over time we have battled flooding (thus the raised beds), drought (we now have a watering system), … Read more
The root of human suffering lies in our inability to know the difference between an assessment and an assertion. ~Byron Katie, Loving What Is If you’ve ever taken a personality assessment (like MBTI, DiSC, or a host of others) you know that for all the uniqueness of the 6 Billion people on earth, we all … Read more
One of my mantras is that you — and you alone — are responsible for your own happiness, that it is your decision. And if no one else can “make” you happy, it stands to reason that you cannot make other people happy either. Right? Well, sort of. Just because you can’t make someone … Read more
If you are totally organized and always know what you need to do next, always have control of your tasks, and always correctly forecast how long something will take… I am insanely jealous of your skillset. Starting last October, even as I started to declare 2013 as my Year of Happiness (my 15th anniversary in … Read more
My ambition for this post is to share highlights from a year of Learning. So I sat down to review a year of writing and journaling, seeking the Big Wisdom of 2012. Yet that’s not how wisdom emerges. It’s not a lightning strike. It’s more like the accumulation of dust. Tiny particles of learning and … Read more
Simplify is a suggestion to avoid overindulgence as a lifestyle. When you surround yourself with all the best and the newest, or indulge in richer and more exotic pleasures, you actually narrow your options for experiencing happiness (because you’re weighted down for the “chase”). When you live a simple life, you increase your opportunity for awe.
My friend Craig James of Cat-Strat.com (a man who lives in abundant happiness) shared his vision of personal impact with me, and I called it Happy Math. I am reprinting a portion of one of his blog posts to offer proof that you are AMAZING in your impact on the world. (read more)