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Friday, August 21, 2009

Enjoy Life

Because there is a big difference between living and merely existing…

1. Appreciate Beauty with all your senses. Take a moment to notice the smell of fresh air, a soaring bird, a budding tree, water trickling down a stream, an elderly couple holding hands, feel the warmth of the sun.

2. Connect With Nature. Nature is an amazing healer for the stresses and strains of modern life. It is a truly grand and awesome force. If you can tear yourself away from the cities, deadlines, cellular phones and microwave meals, you'll quickly realize that none of these worries we concern ourselves with really matter in the infinite pattern and diversity of nature.

3. Laugh. E. E. Cummings once said “the most wasted of all days is one without laughter.” How very true. Never be too busy to laugh, or too serious to smile.

4. Have Simple Pleasures. Sleeping In on a Rainy Day. Cooking a nice meal in the evening. People Watching. The Feeling After a Good Workout. Making Someone Smile. Fresh, Clean Bed Sheets. Reminiscing About Old Times with my Closest Friends. When my dog snuggles next to me. The last bright rays of a sunset. These may not seem terribly exciting, but they are some of the simple pleasures I enjoy in life. They bring me joy. If you slow down for just a moment and take the time to appreciate these ordinary events, life becomes instantly more enjoyable."You can become blind by seeing each day as a similar one.

Each day is a different one,
each day brings a miracle of its own.
It’s just a matter of paying attention to this miracle."
~ Paulo Coelho, Brazilian novelist

5. Connect With People. In so many ways, it is our relationships with people that give us the most happiness in life.

6. Learn. There is a strong link between learning and happiness. Given this, there is no excuse not to be stimulating your brain and learning something new each day.

7. Celebrate Your Successes. Lingering in the afterglow of your success, regardless of its size, is almost as important as accomplishing your goal.

8. Know the true meaning of passion. Passions make life real. Whether it is in your career or your personal life, it is important to do something you are passionate about. The enthusiasm you feel when engaged in an activity you are passionate about is powerful. That’s the feeling that makes you want to rise up early in the morning and leaves you feelings satisfied when going to bed at night.

9. Express your creativity. Just create something - don't wait for the laundry to be done, for the mail to be opened, for the dishes to be washed - Just Create!!! Expressing your creativity is a gift you can give yourself each and every day (whether you draw or paint, cook or garden, write or dance). You are a creative vehicle and, in expressing that creative well-spring, you are tapping into a place of unlimited joy.

10. Eliminate energy drains. Have you ever noticed how much energy it takes to stew about something? Stress is your body’s response to an undesirable situation. Identifying Stressors in Your Life and get rid of them! Cluttered surroundings. Negative co-workers. Unproductive relationships. Unhealthy eating. Keeping Details In Your Head, Instead Of In A System. Your brain, like a computer, only has so much RAM (random access memory). And RAM is mental energy.

11. Try to improve 1% each day: this doesn’t seem like much, but imagine how much you will have changed after just one month. So try being 1% happier, healthier, and productive than yesterday and see what happens.

Wishing you all a very happy Friday!

9 comments:

Kathleen Coy said...

Lovely post!
Have a great weekend! :-)

Anonymous said...

Thanks! Great thoughts to live by.

Julia said...

Great words to live by. I am trying!! Really. :)

Five O'Clock Somewhere said...

I'm trying too!!!

Unknown said...

I couldn't agree more! I loved reading this!

storybeader said...

beautiful photos... and good advice! {:-D

Theresa said...

I couldn't agree more!! Excellent post, thanks.

allhorsestuff said...

Sweetest of girls with the bestest of inspirations! Thanks...am printing this and highlighting the ones I need to remember, when I am down and out!
I always can count on you!
KK

The Silver Age Sara said...

I've been catching up on all your posts and reading all the fire posts and I have to say this post is so very true. While I looked and drooled over all the beautiful equestrian facilities, I still believe I'm one of the luckiest people in the world because I enjoy life and I'm grateful for what I do have.
Thanks so much for pointing this out to us and I'm so glad you all are okay. You are all in my prayers.d

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