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Dont Let Life Happen to You

Don't Let Life Happen To You It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live. - Marcus Aurelius (121-80 AD, Roman Emperor, Philosopher) It's hard to believe that we are nearing the end of another year. As I write this, snow is falling in Colorado, the makings of a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner are in the kitchen, and our newspapers are filled with holiday ads. The end of the year always tends to be a time of reflection as we look back on the accomplishments of... Read More

Divining Your Life Path Number

The Life Path is determined by the sum that is arrived at after reducing your birth date by adding digits together. This number represents the traits and talents that you were born with and the probable journey you will take during your lifetime. In a way it represents what path you will take regardless of your essence, which is represented by the calculation of the Soul Number. If you calculate your Soul Number (as taught in another New Age Notebook) you can contrast the two numbers to see what your unique challenges are in life.First convert the month you were... Read More

Helping Happiness Along

Happiness is worth helping along.The benefits of being a happy person are huge. We live longer, live healthier, and live more lively lives.Unfortunately, all but the most highly-evolved among us have our less-than-happy moments. Fortunately, we can do simple things to recapture a happy mood if we find ourselves lacking one.I found an article that starts, "Everyone wants to be happy, but happiness is more than pasting a smile on your face."True, but that is a great start.Pasting a smile on your face, even if forced, gets the happiness engine started. If you are from the North, a forced smile... Read More

The ABCs Of A Great Life: J Is For Joviality

Laughter, humor, a lighthearted sense of being - all of these are an important part of a well-balanced breakfast, er, life. Without humor, there is no hope. Without laughter, no love. And with a heavy heart, we live only a life of sadness and despair. Our ability to laugh at our foibles and laugh with our friends is a key indicator for predicting how readily we'll bounce back from difficulties and how well we'll handle the curveballs that life throws our way, and a quick smile is always the best defense in a situation that's hit a sour note. In... Read More

Getting To The Root Of Unhappiness

Many people live in clutter, emotionally eat themselves into overweight, live in debt, hate their jobs and otherwise live unhappy lives, unable and seemingly unwilling to change. Why? What do these have in common? What is the core issue? Fear, or rather an absence of love. Fear, and not hate, is the "dark side" or opposite/absence of love, the way darkness is the opposite/absence of light. Whether your self image is controlled by unhealthy or uncontrolled overweight or fanatic perfection, both stem from fear. In the first, food is used to comfort upset emotions and to retreat into - a... Read More

Happiness and the Single Person; Changing Myth Into Reality

Does the expression "single and happy" sound like an oxymoron to you? Are you weary of others (especially other singles) reinforcing the belief that singles cannot be happy? Do you find yourself always planning for the future or putting things off until you "are married and settled? Do you often have a sense that the intense feelings of happiness and joy cannot really be experienced unless you "have someone to share it with?" Do you just feel there is not enough time and other necessary resources available to the single person to pursue experiences that can bring true happiness?If the... Read More

Achievement and Happiness the 80/20 Way

If there was ever a principle that was responsible for the most happiness and achievement in the world, it would be the 80/20 Principle.The 80/20 Principle or Pareto Principle was discovered in 1897 by an Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto while he was searching for patterns of wealth and income in England.What he found was that 80 percent of the wealth was enjoyed by only 20 percent of the population. Additionally, it was consistent in different countries and in different times.This has been found in present day as well and in almost any activity that we perform, business or otherwise.In other... Read More

How To Be Outrageously Happy

You can be as happy as you want whenever you want. Zen masters have proven this - all you have to do is just "be" with whatever you have right now. Yeah, I know. Sitting on the floor contemplating your blank space may not be what you're after. Highly successful people are outrageously happy because they have fulfilling ways to meet their values. What are values? Well I'm not talking about Dan Quayle and Murphy Brown, or Limp Bizkit's recent family values tour. Values are simply what is most important to you. Do your values move you towards great possibilities?... Read More

Design Psychology: How Our Sensory Responses to Aromas Create Happy Homes

Our sense of smell elicits strong emotional reactions and triggers powerful memories, whether we're consciously aware of it or not.Scents and FeelingsOur olfactory system sends a chemical message about the scents around us through the limbic part of our brain, which is the oldest part of our brain. In seconds, that message is telegraphed to our central nervous system, which, in turn, controls how our body functions and how we feel about those smells.Scents also influence the temperature we feel emotionally. For instance, a grass matting floor covering has a pleasant scent, and makes us feel cooler, while the aroma... Read More

Design Psychology: How to Create Happy Homes Using Scents

Our sense of smell elicits strong emotional reactions and trigger powerful memories, whether we're consciously aware of it or not.Scents and FeelingsOur olfactory system sends a chemical message about the scents around us through the limbic part of our brain, which is the oldest part of our brain. In seconds, that message is telegraphed to our central nervous system, which, in turn, controls how our body functions and how we feel about those smells.Scents also influence the temperature we feel emotionally. For instance, a grass matting floor covering has a pleasant scent, and makes us feel cooler, while the aroma... Read More

Clearing a Path for Happiness

In the United States, the pursuit of happiness is a god-given right and Americans have a document to prove it. But I wonder why the Founding Fathers deliberately phrased it, 'the pursuit of happiness', as if to say --- happiness in itself cannot be granted because it was, and still remains, tied to materialism. In the "pursuit" of happiness, it is each person's own definition: riches, health, religion, etc.Take, as an example, the pessimist and optimist. If anything bad happens, the pessimist believes it will not last long but will surely undermine his life. He feels the deck is stacked... Read More

Getting Connected

"The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise grows it under his feet." -James OppenheimToday is very special. Besides being your "un-birthday", it's the first day of the rest of your life.We've all heard that one. We acknowledge the wisdom and move on --- checking our watches and calendars to see how long before the "good stuff" starts happening.Our impatience and anxiety prevent us from focusing our awareness on "now". As a result we never discover it's full potential or give ourselves permission to enjoy it.We recognize many important holidays on the calendar; Christmas, New Years etc...and these... Read More

The Secret to Staying Centered and Happy in a Troubled World

Many of us are probably so used to crisis in the world that it has become a natural part of our mental scenery. We've grown accustomed to living in a world where acts of bitter conflict, unrest, and inhumanity are everyday things, and their constant contradiction with our essential values almost seems normal.But are we really aware of the effect that these daily messages have on our minds and attitudes, on our inner life? How do we deal with our real feelings about the war, terrorism, the elections, the environment, and other issues? Do we even know those feelings are,... Read More

10 Steps to Happily Ever After

Do you know what all happy and healthy marriages have in common? In every one of them you will find two people committed to making each other happy. You will find a man who cherishes his wife and puts her needs above his own, and you will find a wife who respects and trusts her man. We live in very selfish times. Pop-psychology messages are everywhere in the media encouraging us to love ourselves, do right by ourselves, and generally please ourselves first. If you really want a happy marriage, don't buy into that type of self-centered thinking. Instead, try... Read More

Happiness Increases Longevity...Where Do We Find This Gift of Life?

According to U.S. research, you can add seven and a half years to your life just by being happy!Backing this claim up is Laurie Hayes, Life Strategy Coach from Ontario, Canada who also states that genuine happiness is the key ingredient being sought after by most people who come to her.Ms. Hayes has been working with people who have recognized this missing element in their lives and want to take corrective action towards a more meaningful, balanced existence."The pursuit of authentic happiness is an ongoing quest for many," says Laurie. "Some people believe that by earning more money, working longer... Read More

See for Yourself : 12 Step Tools Can Bring Happy, Joyous and Free into Everyones Life

We are all familiar with or have heard of the many Twelve Step programs and communities. The reason the 12 Steps are so effective in helping people create happy, joyous and free lives is because it is a program of solution based on principles written so simply that anyone can use them in their daily lives. As partly a Sober Living Coach, agapelegacycoach.com I team up with clients who already have a strong recovery foundation to transition from recovery into enhanced Sober Living. I also coach those who wish to craft and design Legacies of Excellence in all areas of... Read More

Happiness Fleeting

"You cannot capture happiness no matter how hard you may chase after it. Happiness is something that follows you." The words of the old sage echoed in the young man's heart, sounding a constant beat like the song that plays over and over without reprieve. "What does that mean?" he asked himself. "Time to walk," he continued, trapped in his own inner dialogue.He thought about how many ways he tried to find lasting joy-from the cheap thrills to the bigger emotional investments that still left him bankrupt, at square one, with no more to show than a few scars and... Read More

A Surefire Way To Manage Your Fears While Leading A Happier, Healthier Life

Imagine discovering a way to get rid of your fears in a quick and painless manner. In fact it can even become fun!Did you know only two of all the fears you have are innate: The fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. Most of your fears were learned in early childhood and then in later life under stressful conditions.Traditional therapeutic approaches would probably have you trying to figure out where your fear originally came from. Maybe they'd have you digging around in your childhood memories, recalling times you ate the next-door neighbours purple Tulips. This type of... Read More

Happiness is Yours for the Taking

Happiness. The pursuit of so many. In fact, we are known in America as those who live for "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.'But so many seem without happiness. Why is this? Is happiness truly elusive or do we simply not know how to take hold of it? It is my contention that happiness is yours for the taking. That is, anyone can be happy if the choose to be... and if they know how to get it.So what does it take to bring us to a state of happiness? Here are a few thoughts to get you on... Read More

How to Find True Happiness!

To maintain an unchangeable sweetness of disposition, to think only thoughts that are pure and gentle, and to be happy under all circumstances, such blessed conditions and such beauty of character and life should be the aim of all, and particularly so of those who wish to lessen the misery of the world. If anyone has failed to lift himself above ungentleness, impurity, and unhappiness, he is greatly deluded if he imagines he can make the world happier by the propagation of any theory or theology. He who is daily living in harshness, impurity, or unhappiness is day by day... Read More