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Happiness is …
“Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it.” ~Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love While we’re focusing on optimism and positive thinking this week, we might draw some inspiration from countries that seem to master it. Finland continues to rank first place in the World Happiness Report, with other Scandinavian countries topping the list as well. What’s going on up there? You can learn more…
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Positive thinking
“Research suggests that positive thinking and optimism can impact your health. Positive emotions are associated with a decreased production of the stress hormone cortisol, along with improved immune function, and reduced disease risk.” ~ Andrew Weil, M.D. After weeks of stressful, disturbing news, I believe we could all use a break. Dr. Andrew Weil, the father of alternative medicine, reminds us that our physical health depends on our state of mind. Keeping a positive outlook is as important as exercising and eating a healthy diet. I know it’s unwise to blindly ignore what’s happening in the world. And it’s foolish to pretend that everything is peachy when it’s not. But…
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Owning our mistakes
Everyone makes mistakes at work. Some professional errors, however, are more public than others. If you’re a journalist or published author, for instance, the mistakes you make on the job are public and remain in print forever. There were times when I made errors that were, luckily, caught by editors before they made it to print. But sometimes they weren’t caught — and I was humbled when my readers pointed them out. As sociologist Brene Brown notes, if you’re going to put yourself out there, expect to get your ass kicked. But if you don’t want your ass kicked in public, you’re better suited to working in a career where…
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Chaos? Bring it on!
“If chaos is a necessary step in the organization of one’s universe, then I was well on my way.” ~Wendelin Van Draanen Talk about chaos? Nearly every room in our house is being repainted, which means we’re living in a state of perpetual disorder. Following the schedule of our painters, we’ve been moving all of our stuff — including furniture — from room to room for the past two weeks. Last week, our living room looked like a ransacked junk shop while the painters worked in the dining room and kitchen. But after years of living through various home improvement projects (see page 14 in my book, Writing Home), I’ve…
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Inner compass
“Pay close attention to your inner compass. If you stop steering by your own compass, you’ll hit a rumble strip. Don’t panic. Just question your assumptions and you’ll be back on the road in no time.” ~Martha Beck We humans are creatures of habit. We often follow the traditional routes mapped out by others — and find safety and comfort in doing so. Likewise, as kids, we’re taught to respect “authority” in all its guises, including our parents, school teachers, pastors, priests, and police officers. We assumed they were always right, always acting on our behalf — and we were reprimanded for doubting or disobeying them. I like to think…
