Inspiration
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Four of My Favorite Inspirational Quotes
“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” —Maya Angelou
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Parenting Advice From A Happiness Expert
I’m reading Shawn Achor’s book: The Happiness Advantage Shawn has an excellent point when he calls attention to the fact that we are programmed to delay happiness until a certain goal is attained but then the bar is always raised higher and another goal is set leaving us to delay happiness once again. As parents we can pass this onto our children in the form grade achievements in school. A 90 percent is good but a 99 percent is even better. This can lead to an eventual 4.0 GPA is nice but a 5.4 is stellar! In sports as well as music programs it’s the same. What if we taught children to…
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Happiness Now
Answer this question: I’ll be happy when…. It’s easy isn’t it? We’re programmed to put happiness somewhere in the future. If you’re a writer, maybe it’s: I’ll be happy when I have an agent. I’ll be happy when I’m published. For writers that already have those things the bar is raised even higher. I’ll be happy when I make the bestseller list or I’ll be happy when I earn more money than J.K. Rowling. Okay maybe not that high… When I first became a teacher I was motivated, happy, excited. I spent a fortune on classroom supplies, decorations, and educational games. I worked all the time creating my own bulletin boards and lesson plans.…
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The Gift Of Love
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” —Maya Angelou June 14th was Eric’s birthday. While I prefer my birthday’s to be low-key Eric craves excitement on his big day. There was the year we went wind surfing and then there was the year he strapped on a jetpack and sailed over the Gulf. The man has just as much energy as he had when he was thirty! This year I asked Eric if he’d like to invite some friends to share in a drink or two at a local brewery. He loved the idea. In…
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How Bed Bugs Taught Me to Face My Fear
Are you ready to laugh? Picture me balancing on top of my mattress, my head dodging the dangling light from the ceiling, steam cleaner in hand, pulling the trigger sending puffs of hot steam everywhere. The comforter, pillows and blankets are baking in my car. The smell of Lysol so strong I’m forced to open the windows and let in the Florida heat. Die bugs, die! So much for the pacifist in me. The cats were hiding they didn’t want another bath or more flea meds, the dog was drying on the lanai, and I was mopping, laundering, bleaching, and vacuuming everything in sight. The next day, I woke up with more…
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When Inspiration is Lost
Keeping up with two posts a week can be challenging, especially when I’m working on other projects. Sometimes a numbness takes over. I feel frustration which usually leads to thoughts of giving up. There’s a countdown in my head…two days until my post is due…one day until my post is due… I watch Super Soul Sunday episodes on DVR. I pick up magazines and read inspirational articles. I water my trees. I tell Eric, “I have no idea what to write.” He then offers suggestions and I shake my head. I meditate, watch TED TALKS, and search Pinterest for recipes to distract me from thinking about having nothing to write.…
