A Less Stressful and Happier Life

It is of the small joys and little pleasures
that the greatest of our days are built.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Maybe life isn't really as complicated
as we make it out to be.
Perhaps a simple child-like attitude would create
a less stressful and happier life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

In dwelling, live close to the ground.
In thinking, keep to the simple.
In conflict, be fair and generous.
In governing, don't try to control.
In work, do what you enjoy.
In family life, be completely present.
- Lao Tzu

Today's project:
Meaningful and joyful lives are lived by adhering to one's personal value system - one's principles. Today, write your six to eight most important values on an index card, and refer to that card as you go about your life today.

Further reading: Ten Little Tips to Feel Happier Right Now

The Secret of Happiness

A Simple Life

What If Happiness...
     

Seek Balance in Life

The ancient Chinese Yin-Yang symbol represents the balance of yin (peacefulness, serenity, acceptance, rest, rejuvenation, roots, tradition) with yang (activity, strength, striving, movement, change, wings, invention, progress). A meaningful and joyful life is to be found in balance.

Be aware of wonder.
Live a balanced life -
learn some and think some
and draw and paint
and sing and dance
and play and work every day some.
- Robert Fulghum

In the midst of movement and chaos,
keep stillness inside of you.
- Deepak Chopra

To go beyond is as wrong as to fall short.
- Confucius

Manage the remarkable balance between acting
from your heart and close to your gifts
with completing the obligations
that your labor and tasks require of you.
Leverage opportunity AND seize joy.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Maintain a balance between skepticism and faith.
Maintain a beginner mind. Be open to possibility.
Don't give in to skepticism,
but don't give in to fantasy either.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Seek Balance in Life

Go With the Flow - Six Ways to Live a Happier Life

Balance Work and Play
     

Every Day Is A Day To Be Thankful

The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest.
- William Blake

Every blessing ignored becomes a curse.
- Paulo Coelho

A wonderful gift may not be wrapped as you expect;
be open to receiving the bounty of the Universe.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The unthankful heart... discovers no mercies;
but let the thankful heart sweep through the day
and, as the magnet finds the iron,
so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!
- Henry Ward Beecher

Blessings flow toward gratitude.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Feeling Blessed

Gratitude for This Food

Release the Struggle

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life

Appreciating Our Blessings
    

Principles are Sacred

Rules are not necessarily sacred, principles are.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt

In matters of conscience,
the law of the majority has no place.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

If we desire respect for the law, we must first make the law respectable.
- Louis D. Brandeis

It is not desirable to cultivate
a respect for the law,
so much as for the right.
- Henry David Thoreau

Possession isn't nine-tenths of the law.
It's nine-tenths of the problem.
- John Lennon

Principles have no real force except when one is well-fed.
- Mark Twain

Further reading: Live Your Principles

For Future Generations

The Price of Standing for Something Important

Either Accept It, or Change It
     

You Make Your World

There are no facts, only interpretations.
- Friedrich Nietzsche

We want the facts to fit the preconceptions.
When they don't, it is easier to ignore the facts
than to change the preconceptions.
- Jessamyn West

Your point of view sets you up well in advance
for how you view the events as they unfold.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Judgements prevent us from seeing the good that lies beyond appearances.
- Wayne Dyer

What we see depends more on ourselves than on what is "out there."
We see what we assume will be there.
We see what we expect to be there.
We see what we fear will be there.
And we see what we wish will be there.
Then we label what we "see" as fact.
...
Your world IS as you believe it is.
If you believe your world is a scary place, you are right.
If you believe your world is loving and supportive, you are also right.
You make your world with your attitude toward it.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Wherever there are disagreements and confrontations, there are at least two interpretations that are vehemently labeled as "fact." Almost everyone considers "I'm right, you're wrong," to be a fact - the only difference is to whom "I" and "you" refer. 

Further reading: What Is Reality?

Choosing the World You Live In

You are the Window

Assumptions