Tag Archives: happiness

How To Combat The Blues

Without a doubt one of the most dreaded things about January is coming back to work after the long holiday break to face all the emails, voice messages, and letters that have piled up during your absence.  Seeing all that work that’s accumulated and realizing how long it is going to take you just to […]

Close Your Book of Grievances

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas! I love how Christmas season casts a truly amazing spell on the world. People’s walls come down, their hearts are softened, they notice the needs of strangers, they have the desire to care for their fellow man, and hurts anger seems to get let go and be […]

Happier Giving Or Getting? That is the question…

We’ve all heard the saying “tis better to give than to receive”, but did you realize that’s actually a scientifically proven fact?  Cause it is!  In an article was posted in Psychology Today titled “Giving really is better than receiving: Does giving to others (vs. the self) promote happiness?” they explain it: “Research by social […]

Hard Times Lead Us To Question

When good people pass away it can cause those left behind to start questioning things – Why did this good person with so much to live for have to be taken too soon?  Why would a loving God take them from us when they are so needed by so many here?  What good purpose does […]

It’s Gonna Be An ‘Add To Cart’ Workout Kind Of Day!

Welcome back everyone – I hope you all had an amazing Thanksgiving holiday!  I, for one, had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  My husband and I didn’t have our kids this Thanksgiving as they were all at their in-laws, so the two of us decided to fly out to Dover, Delaware where we got together with two […]

The Importance Of Saying Thank You

My two year old grandson came barreling in the door of the house calling out “Grandma…Grandma” as he ran over to me to give me a hug.  I’m telling ya….that is seriously just about THE GREATEST thing in the entire world! As I sat with him playing it made me long for the days when […]

Never Work A Day In Your Life?

Last Thursday was quite the whirlwind of a day!  I started off my day in the morning heading down to Provo Utah to speak at an event put on by RevRoad. RevRoad is a business accelerator for entrepreneurs that offers coworking space, legal services, marketing, accounting, mentoring services, etc in return for equity.  They asked […]

What Joy Looks Like

Did you know that Psychologists have linked family tradition and routine family rituals to overall family happiness, emotional well-being, lower anxiety levels, higher academic success and higher marriage satisfaction?  Cause they have… Family Traditions are what joy looks like. As a kid my family moved a lot.  With all the moving from State to State, […]

Have You Ever Met A Hater Doing Better Than You? Me Neither.

“Haters don’t really hate you. In fact, they hate themselves because you’re a reflection of what they wish to be.” – unknown Today was World Day for Bullying Prevention, so it seems appropriate to share some past thoughts I’ve shared about bullying: Haters, bullies, mean people – they all suffer from one of the following: […]

Don’t Carry Excess Baggage

I’d packed and unpacked my suitcases so many times this last year that I wouldn’t even finish unpacking for one trip before I began packing again for the next one. Then I finally got around to unpacking them after my last trip but I left my suitcases sitting open on my bedroom floor because I […]

Don’t Let Your Mind Be A Dumping Ground

“If you suffer from worry, from grief or shame, from jealousy, disappointment, or envy, I have something to tell you. Somewhere near your home there is a vacant corner lot. Although adjoining yards may be well tended, a vacant corner lot somehow is always full of weeds. There is a footpath across it, a bicycle […]

All It Takes Is One Day To Change Everything

It was 12 years ago today…my friend Steve and I pulled into the parking lot of a shopping complex to meet up with two guys driving down in a second car that were going to follow our car down to Lake Powell for a houseboat trip.  When the other car pulled in an the man […]

Life Flashing Before Your Eyes

It was nine days ago and my husband and I had just arrived down to our houseboat on Lake Powell to prepare things for the group of families we would be hosting for the upcoming week.  I began unloading groceries as my husband climbed down into the hull of the boat to check our tanks […]

Forgive, Forget, And Leave It Alone

“When we believe or say we have been offended, we usually mean we feel insulted, mistreated, snubbed, or disrespected. And certainly clumsy, embarrassing, unprincipled, and mean-spirited things do occur in our interactions with other people that would allow us to take offense. However, it ultimately is impossible for another person to offend you or to […]

From A Cloud Of Depression Into The Sunshine

“To press on in noble endeavors, even while surrounded by a cloud of depression, will eventually bring you out on top into the sunshine. – Ezra Taft Benson Ezra Taft Benson also suggests several things we can do to help pull us out of a cloud of depression and help bring us out into the sunshine: […]

To A Footstool A Chair Is Everything

Every Sunday our family has a tradition that as we sit around the kitchen table for dinner together we always go around the table and each take a turn sharing something that touched us in church that day. Then we discuss the thoughts shared.  This tradition is something we value tremendously because it’s a time […]

Choose Your Perspective

My Mother is a woman of many talents. She writes poetry, she’s written song lyrics, she’s published a book, she draws, she does beautiful sculptures, and the list of her talents goes on and on, but at the top of that list has to be raising ten children. Having raised two children myself I can […]

Paying It Forward With A Reminder That Today is #FreeSlurpeeDay!

I decided to post tonight’s blog early today because I want to make sure everyone is aware that because today 7/11 it is FREE SLURPEE DAY at 7-Eleven. But to get your free Slurpee but you’ve got to get in there by 7pm today so I wanted to post today’s blog in plenty of time […]

Let The Celebration Begin!

As we prepare to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday this week may we remember to “pledge ourselves to each other, and to the cause of human freedom, the cause that has given light to this land and hope to the world” as described by President Ronald Reagan in his speech given July 4, 1986: […]

Give Your Mental Health A Fighting Chance

Tonight I’m flying back from two back to back trips I’ve been on the last few weeks. I had some awesome experiences on my trip that I’m super excited to share with all of you, but given that my plane won’t get me back home until long after midnight tonight I think I’ll postpone sharing […]

Some Words Of Advice Are Timeless

Some words of advice are timeless…the words in this poem qualify as such… Wear Sunscreen  -by Mary Schmich Wear sunscreen.  If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than […]

The Fastest Way To Turn A Bad Day Around

Have you ever noticed that no matter how tired you are or how worn out you feel, the instant someone puts on great dance music you can’t help yourself from starting to bop your head and tap your feet to the beat. Nothing can lift your spirits faster than an impromptu dance party. For those […]

Why Is It That When It Rains It Pours?

Seriously, why is it that when it rains it pours…why can’t it ever just be a light drizzle?! If it was someone else asking me that question I’d probably respond with something motivational like – the harder it rains the bigger the rainbow – but after the week I’ve had I’m thinking I might just […]

The Good OCD: Organization and Cleanliness equals a peaceful Disposition

For the last five months my husband and I have been helping redo a house for my son and his wife to move into before their next baby is due to arrive. Going into the project we didn’t think there would be that much to redo, but the further we dug in, the more we […]

We Are Ultimately In Charge Of Our Own Happiness

“So often we get caught up in the illusion that there is something just beyond our reach that would bring us happiness: a better family situation, a better financial situation, or the end of a challenging trial.The older we get, the more we look back and realize that external circumstances don’t really matter or determine […]

The Day That Changed My Life Forever

I can’t believe that it has already been 26 years…26 years ago I was at work when my water broke. It took me a minute to figure out that’s what was going on because, let’s face it, wetting yourself isn’t that unheard of when you are nine months pregnant with a baby kicking your bladder. […]

Twenty Seconds Of Insane Courage Or Recognize That In Standing Still We Can Lose The Most

”You know, sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.” – Benjamin Mee in movie We Bought A Zoo I was taking the long five hour flight back from New York City to Salt Lake […]

Lessons Learned From The Easter Bunny

I hope everyone had a marvelous Easter weekend. I don’t know about you all, but I ate far too many jellybeans over the weekend – I’m about as sugar-rushed as a person can be as I head into this week ahead, which may prove to be a good thing because I’ve got all kinds of […]

Customer Service Isn’t About A Product Or Service, It’s About A Feeling

I’m writing tonight’s blog as I’m sitting on an airplane flying home from Orlando, Florida where I’ve just spent the last several days at a Business Leaders’ conference where I had been asked to speak. It was a great conference to be a part of and it was fun to spend time with some truly […]

Key Elements That Led To My Success

Today I spoke at a business leaders conference where I was asked to speak on how my values helped me succeed in business. The fact is that my values didn’t just help me succeed, they are the very reason FOR my success. Because when you know who you are, and what you are going to […]