Health & wellbeing
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Make your bed
“When life feels like an emotional roller coaster, steady yourself with simple rituals. Make the bed. Water the plants. Rinse off your own bowl and spoon. Simplicity attracts calmness and wisdom.” ~Marc and Angel Chernoff, Marc and Angel Hack Life There’s comfort in creating order out of chaos. The effort it takes to launder your bed linens, for instance, is rewarded when you pull back your fresh sheets and retire for the night. I used to think that being tidy was overrated by professional organizers — but now I believe the hype. Whenever I’m struggling with bigger issues, clearing the clutter from my personal space improves my mood. Today I’m tackling the…
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Small treats and rituals
“One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats.” ~Iris Murdoch After dinner, my husband and I grab a mug of tea or coffee and head for our favorite chairs to watch World News Tonight with David Muir on TV. Sometimes, on summer evenings, we treat ourselves to ice cream. It’s a ritual that our dog, Coco, happily anticipates — because we also reward her with a handful of dog biscuits if she finished her dinner. Watching her savor each cookie never fails to bring me joy. Sometimes we set our goals impossibly high, deluding ourselves into thinking that happiness depends on huge wins and rewards. But…
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So, the dog ate your homework?
“When you blame others, you give up your power to change.” ~Dr. Robert Anthony, Beyond Positive Thinking Excuses, excuses. It wasn’t my fault …. It was the wine talking …. I came from a dysfunctional family …. Someone gave me bad advice …. The dog ate my homework. When we make a mess of things or miss the mark, it’s tempting to reach for an easy excuse. We might try to save face by placing the blame on someone or something else — even when we know that we’re responsible for our own mistakes. In today’s quote, psychologist Robert Anthony shines a light on the blame game. He reminds us…
- Friendship and relationship advice, Greenfield Village and Henry Ford Musuem, Health & wellbeing, Spirituality
It’s all so complicated …
“Life is actually quite simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” ~Confucius Human beings have a knack for crafting lives of infinite complexity. For starters, we shame ourselves if we’re not always busy or productive, yet we expect everyone else to be available on demand. We overburden our schedules with more commitments than we can easily manage. Then we spend hours chatting on the phone or responding to followers on social media — and wonder why we don’t have a spare moment to meet real friends for coffee. This summer, why not aim for simplicity in every aspect of our lives, from household chores to social connections? Isn’t it…
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What do you take for granted?
“We never know the worth of water until the well is dry.” ~Thomas Fuller, English historian, 1608 – 1661 The opposite of feeling grateful is taking someone or something for granted. Anything worth keeping needs our time, care, and attention — because nothing we have is truly guaranteed. You might want to try an exercise I’ve used in my journaling classes: Make a list of everything and everyone you value and would hate to lose. For instance, do you maintain and appreciate the items you own at home and rely on daily? Are you grateful to have a job or are you just putting in your time? Do you assume…
