The Joyful Living Blog

gratitude-and-thankfulness

Gratitude and Thankfulness – The Formula for Happiness

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“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorns have roses.” – Alphonse Karr Much like forgiveness, gratitude can be a tricky beast to corral. And yet, all the great thinkers and writers extol the power of gratitude and thankfulness for leading a better, more joyful life. In my mind, it’s very simple… That to which you give energy, grows. So, do you want to grow lack or abundance in your life? In other words, gratitude attracts abundance (just as abundance should lead to gratitude). Whether you’re grateful for the wonderful people in your life or the…

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choose-forgiveness

Choose Forgiveness Over Resentment and Anger

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People can hurt each other in many ways; from the trivial to the significant, from the annoying to the terrible, from the irritating to the life-changing. Regardless of the nature of the hurt, and the level of pain it causes, feeling anger and resentment tend to extend the life of that pain. When you choose forgiveness, you begin to end that pain. Consider this… Whatever happened, happened just as it did happen and, although you can’t change what happened, you can choose how you will happen to it. How you choose to happen to something also involves how you think…

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education-and-learning

Education and Learning – Which Came First, the Chicken or the Egg?

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This chapter might as easily have been named “Learning,” for it’s the idea of education and learning that should never end which has value – if you hope to live a truly joyful life. In fact, life itself is a grad school of invaluable proportion, with daily lessons to appreciate and contemplate. As I explain in my book, The ABCs of Joyful Living, you are getting a great education every day, simply by living. Life itself is one of the greatest teachers. All the books we read, classes we attend, professors we listen to, documentaries we watch, and various degrees…

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dance-for-life

Dance to the Song of Life

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Does the title of this piece seem trite or silly to you? Does it seem like an unoriginal platitude that has little real value? Does it seem prosaic to tell you to “Dance to the song of life”? Consider the alternative. In many ways, we are all so lucky to be alive, much less with the choice to dance or not. After all, it wasn’t so long ago that the average life span was just 30 years. Of that 30 years, half were spent in back breaking labor that lead to early death. I have the feeling that not too…

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curiosity

Curiosity Killed the Cat, But George Found Joy

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For me, curiosity and joy are intimately and inextricably connected. In a way, joy is not fully possible for anyone who lives an uncurious life. After all, if everything you see, feel, and do is exactly as expected, the joy of discovery is lost. On the other hand, if every experience and encounter with others has the potential of discovering something new in it, imagine how delightful daily life could be. In my book, The ABCs of Joyful Living, the chapter on Curiosity begins with memories of reading the Curious George books. If you’ve read them, you remember how George…

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breathe-to-live

Breathe to Live & Live to Breathe – An Exercise in Joyful Living

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The phrase “Breathe to live” is so obvious that it may seem ridiculous to even mention it here. Yet, since it is an autonomic function, meaning our bodies perform it involuntarily, I’ve found that few people are conscious of the sheer power to find peace and joy in breathing. You see, we not only breathe to live but we live because we breathe. Breathing is the very first thing we do when we enter this life, and the very last thing we do when we leave it. Breathing is essential to life and, since we were created to live a…

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conscious-awareness

Conscious Awareness – Being Mindful of Every Moment in Each Day

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“Awareness leads to your highest self; ego leads to your earthbound self. When you let the Divine grow within you, awareness will be what you bring to all aspects of your life.” – Wayne Dyer Conscious awareness of the world, as well as your place and purpose in it, is the first step to opening yourself to experiencing more joy in your life. Do you pay attention to your life? Are you mindful of each moment in every day? Do you live in awareness of who you are, why you are, and where you are? If you are aware of…

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rediscover-joy

Rediscover Joy – One Step at a Time, One Day at a Time

By | Joyful Living Blog, Simple Everyday Joys | No Comments

In my book, The ABCs of Joyful Living, it is my pleasure to literally lead you along a path to rediscover joy, from A to Z; Awareness to Zest. Now, in a series of blog posts, I’ll be sharing many of the insights that I offered in my book, in the hope that you too will discover a few of the secrets that I’ve learned about keeping joy in my life daily. If these posts also lead you to buy my book, that will also add to my joy! Before we move into the alphabetized list of tips, I’d like…

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End of Days

Apocalypse Now: How to Prepare for the End without any Fear

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The Apocalypse? That’s not a very loving and joyful thing for a Joyologist to write about, you may be saying. Well just because I’m all about love and joy doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy a good story. I like the TV shows, Movies and books about the terrible impending end of the world just like any one else. Whether it be Zombies of the Walking Dead, a terrible virus, Aliens from another planet, a bloody war between nations, atomic bombs, solar flares, earthquakes, floods, fires or any other type of disaster that will destroy the earth as we know it….

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The Perfect Valentine

By | Joyful Living Blog, Lessons For Daily Living, Simple Everyday Joys | 4 Comments

Is there really such a thing as the perfect valentine? Maybe it’s finding that perfect card that says exactly what is in your heart? Or it could be a beautiful box of chocolates or a dozen red roses? Maybe it’s a surprise date where everything is set up and ordered and delivered in total perfection and blissful love? Or it’s cuddling up with and being intimate with a special someone? Well what about those who don’t have a special someone? What about those who dread this holiday that was truly made just to find the perfect card, the perfect gift,…

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