Ideas to create a more happy, peaceful and rewarding life--365!
Moderation and Simplicity are great Paths to SMART Living
Several months ago I had the pleasure of doing my first live interview around the subject of simple living. A website named Midway Simplicity.com made it a regular practice to talk with a number of simplicity and minimal living bloggers about his or her version of minimalism or simplicity. I was honored to be included. [Read more…]
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…]
Happy Holidays everyone! For those of us who are aware of the abundance of holiday celebrations that occur during December around the world, it’s easy and SMART to admit how appropriate that greeting is for us all. It means no disrespect to anyone, and instead acknowledges that different people experience different ways to find meaning in their world. In fact, even if you have a favorite way to celebrate, acknowledging with love, kindness and compassion the diversity among us, just might be the most spiritual and enlightened way to celebrate and enjoy the season. [Read more…]
Happy SMART Day Everyone!
I’m taking a chance here that there are some of you who read SMART Living 365 who don’t already know about TED.com. But if you don’t, then it is definitely time you did. TED.com is mostly a website that posts videos of people who speak at TED conferences held annually around the world. The very best of those talks—called Ted Talks—are condensed versions. What is TED? TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design. But a better way to think of TED is explained on their website where it says they are, “Ideas worth spreading. Or Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world.” How SMART is that?
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Happy SMART Day Everyone!
In order to be happy and fulfilled, all people everywhere share one fundamental need regardless of their background, race, religion, education or any number of cultural differences—that one thing is “meaning.” When we have meaning, we believe our life has a purpose and that our being here matters. In other words, in order to live SMART every day, a sense of meaning is critical.
One of the champions for the value of meaning was a man named Viktor Frankl. As a three-year survivor of the horror of Nazi concentration camps, he eventually became an eminent psychotherapist. While many of Frankl’s fellow prisoners died in the camps, he believed that a key reason for his survival was the inner strength he derived from meaning.
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Happy SMART Day Everyone!
It occurred to me that it would be wise to go through and explain what I am attempting to include with each letter in the word SMART. As some of you know, Thom and I have been actively involved in the “green” and sustainable movement for the last couple of years. We never, or at least I never, considered myself to be a “treehugger.” I still don’t. But what I have grown to discover is that living in a green or sustainable way means that you take care of what you have, you aren’t wasteful or inconsiderate with what you use, you honor the gifts that are given and don’t abuse them, and you realize what you give out you get in return. Not only does that philosophy apply to how we treat planetary resources, it also applies to just about every thing we do–physically, emotionally and spiritually.