Life With Happiness

Before Happiness, There is Adversity

jsmith — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:20:36 +0000

I have seen no green in my yard since the snows started in the third week of December. As the ENORMOUS piles are now melting away, spring is popping up all over. This little montage captures some of what is emerging in my yard — notice how in two of the shots you can see [...]

Do You Truly Value Happiness?

jsmith — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:30:15 +0000

Sigh. I just deleted from my mailbox YET ANOTHER newsletter that promised insights or wisdom about Happiness, yet turned out to be hawking STUFF. I sometimes feel frustrated that so many marketers — on TV, in print, and on the Internet — hijack the concept of happiness. Because that’s been happening so much, we’ve gotten [...]

Practice Does Not Mean Perfect

jsmith — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:10:58 +0000

I practice yoga. I have to continually remind myself of that notion. I PRACTICE yoga. I continually strive to be better at it. But sometimes, I forget about the “Practice” part, and I try too hard to be Perfect…which is how I’ve ended up with two yoga injuries six months apart. How can something that is GOOD [...]

Let Music Shift Your Mood

jsmith — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:05:59 +0000

I didn’t feel very well (physically) over the weekend, and slept really poorly. I woke up Monday morning with the alarm, feeling VERY sleep deprived and nauseous. I made the decision to take care of me, and slept in until 8:30. FINALLY caught up on sleep. Showed up at the gym at time I’m usually [...]

The Universe Wants You to be Happy

jsmith — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 02:38:00 +0000

I generally dislike car commercials, if for no other reason that they are so blatantly manipulative, relying heavily on vanity, lust, envy, or sex to sell their product. So I’ve been pleasantly surprised by Ford’s new marketing. Having been (justifiably) accused of disconnection from the real world, they have responded with elegant simplicity. One of their [...]

Do you get “typical results” from your life?

jsmith — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 02:00:59 +0000

As part of my Marketing homework, I’ve been studying online sales sites - you know, those really long web pages that tell you everything possible about a product or service, with a Buy Now button at the bottom of the page. A feature common to most such sites is Testimonials, usually from people who achieved to-die-for [...]

Do you want to stop struggling with self acceptance?

jsmith — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 03:46:53 +0000

Last Sunday was Valentine’s Day, when we turn our thoughts to the important Others in our life, the people we love. Clearly, it’s important to acknowledge the loves in your life, but… what about you? I coach many different people, yet see a very common human concern show up often: a struggle with self-acceptance and self-love. We [...]

Do You Keep Happiness “In Place?”

jsmith — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 03:26:52 +0000

Six weeks ago our youngest son bought us a new chandelier — something that goes better with our remodeled great room. When we took down the old chandelier, however, we decided it was still in superb condition. So we polished it up, and hung it… in the master bedroom. And ever since then, we’ve been getting the [...]

39 Rules for a Good Life

jsmith — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 02:23:44 +0000

I received this in email at the beginning of the year & loved it. But I was overwhelmed with other stuff at the time, so I set it aside. Pulled out the article today and I STILL love it (unable to find an author attribution). It’s called Handbook 2010, but it’s more like Rules for [...]

Happiness is a Great Mac-N-Cheese!

jsmith — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 03:36:50 +0000

Met a client for lunch today at a little gem of a restaurant in Tremont (a ‘comeback’ region of Cleveland) called Lucky’s Cafe. I’ve had many meetings at this location over the past year, but they’ve always been “meet for coffee” events, so my experience of Lucky’s is as a coffee shop — with a great [...]