SMART Living 365

Ideas to create a more happy, peaceful and rewarding life--365!

Priming the Pump and Other Reasons To “Act As If”

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Filed under: Aware, Meaningful

 

Anyone who has studied positive thinking, New Thought or the Law of Attraction understands the concept of acting “as if.”   You know—acting with confidence and grace even when you’re shaking in your boots, or putting a smile on your face and acting happy even when you woke up feeling terrible.  Many people believe that those actions can actually lead to their desired results.  But while “faking it until you make it” might sound like nothing more than an unsubstantiated urban legend, plenty of evidence now proves the process is beneficial in dozens of ways. [Read more…]

SMART Living—Seeking Wholeness and Balance In Everyday Life

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Filed under: Meaningful, Rightsized, Sustainable

Happy SMART Day Everyone!

Photo by mbeo on flickr–see link below

Have you been wondering what living responsibly and within your means has to do with positive thinking and happiness?  Or what about articles focused on the search for meaning and purpose, and how those ideas relate to being grateful and appreciating what you have?  And what do any of those have to do with staying curious, open-minded and conscious? In case you haven’t noticed, I write about all these and more here on SMART Living on a fairly regular basis.  And while they might appear at first to be unconnected, I’m convinced that all of these topics and ideas flow together to create a balanced and whole life.  In fact, embracing all of those ideas just might be the perfect way to achieve happiness and a sense of well-being every single day. [Read more…]

Five Big Benefits From Having & Keeping Friends

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Filed under: Meaningful, Thankful

This last weekend Thom and I drove to Carlsbad to visit with our friends John and Michelle.  It took some gas money to get there, but once we arrived, we hunkered down with a couple of bottles of wine, a great dinner that Michelle prepared, and talked for hours, and hours.  We eventually went to bed (lucky for us they have a guest room) and then got up and talked and laughed over breakfast before returning home to the desert.  Once the overnight bag was put away, it occurred to me that our brief trip was one of those priceless moments with friends that takes relatively little money but offers huge returns.   In fact, cultivating deep friendships may be one of the SMARTest things any of can do on a regular basis to live a great life. [Read more…]

Need A Raise? Cut Your Overhead!

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Filed under: Rightsized, Sustainable

Happy SMART Day Everyone!

Our new "shared" yard saves us about $7,000 a year!

When was your last raise?  Everyone I know would love to have one, but they don’t usually come all that often.  Still, if we consider that a raise is just a new inflow of money—we all have one readily available.    That new inflow or “raise” in income is always within your grasp by simply cutting your overhead or monthly expenses.   And even if the idea of cutting back sounds like a sacrifice, you may just discover that reducing overhead—especially when unnecessary or unused—can actually be a pleasure.  And your pocketbook will thank you as well. [Read more…]

Do Know Your Well-Being Score? It’s Our Recommended Site for 12/5/11

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Filed under: Meaningful, Rightsized, Sustainable

Happy SMART Day Everyone!

Photo by Robo Android

An enormous part of the SMART Living lifestyle is the daily awareness of our overall well-being.  Do you know how you rate?  Conveniently you can now go to a website named “Twitter Well-Being Tracker” and take a short and simple online test that will give you a score.   Why is it called the “Twitter Well-Being Tracker”?  Probably because you have the option of posting your score on the Twitter website or not.  (Not sure why anyone would want to—but that is your choice.)  A big reason that we think this website deserves attention is that as the busy holiday season kicks in during the next few weeks, it will benefit everyone to stay mindful and aware about what truly makes us happy and content—and the Well-Being Tracker is great for just that! [Read more…]

The Power of Positive Thinking

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Filed under: Meaningful, Sustainable

Mom & Dad March '02

Mom & Dad March ’02

This last week the CBS Sunday Morning Show featured a segment titled, “Just how powerful IS positive thinking?” According to the report, experts cannot agree whether positive thinking helps or hinders people recovering from illness.  Some of those interviewed said no—and that it creates unnecessary guilt and frustration when a person continues to be ill.  But others who had recovered from a life-threatening disease said it is vitally important.  Doctors also seem split on the choice. But what caught my attention, and still has me thinking, is whether we are asking the wrong question?  Instead of asking, “Is positive thinking powerful enough cure my cancer?   Maybe we should be asking, “Can learning to think more positively make my life better (happier, more fulfilling, less painful) no matter what I’m going through?”

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Three Simple Ways to Practice Thanksgiving 365

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Filed under: Aware, Meaningful, Thankful

One of the shortest and sweetest paths to a happy and fulfilled life is the daily practice of giving thanks.  From one perspective, no other single spiritual practice is more universally accepted than the idea of being consistently grateful.  Not only is gratitude a fundamental element in most spiritual traditions, it is also an ongoing, reoccurring theme in most self-help, inspirational and motivationally focused books on the market.  Even science is jumping on the bandwagon and has begun to study the practice of gratitude as a way to increase the health and quality of a person’s life on many levels.  Simply put, being thankful 365 is the most important activity anyone can practice, at any stage of life, to create a happy, healthy and contented life.

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SMART Living 365 Recommends Your Local Public Library—For Free!

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Filed under: Meaningful, Sustainable, Thankful

Happy SMART Day Everyone!

During the last couple of months SMART Living 365 has made it a habit to recommend a website or resource that brings richness to our lives.  Most of our recommendations have been online businesses or charities—but today’s recommendation is something many people (at least those that live in the US) take for granted.  And while some of our readers are international, and not every US citizen lives in an area with a large library system, we still want to point out the amazing benefits many of us can regularly use to increase the quality of our lives—and it’s mostly free!  That resource is your local public library.

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Seeing the Beauty Around Us

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Filed under: Aware

What did you notice when you woke up this morning and started your day?  Was it beauty?  If you’re anything like me, you might not see much of anything until after a cup of coffee.  But once my eyes begin to focus, I attempt to make a regular habit of looking at the beauty I see all around me.   Actually, I believe that seeing beauty all around us is a habit we can all develop to create a happier life.

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How Happy Do You Want To Be?

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Filed under: Aware, Meaningful

One of the best-known quotes about happiness comes from President Abraham Lincoln.  He said, “A person is about as happy as he makes up his mind to be.”  That’s right, Lincoln, who was said to be the most respected and loved of any American President basically implied that my happiness, and your happiness, is up to us.  But why don’t more of us accept that as true?

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