We live in a world where the options seem to be endless, but instead of making life easier, sometimes that make our lives more difficult. For example – when someone asks you where you want to go to lunch it isn’t just a choice of hamburgers or pizza….noooooo…there are literally hundreds of places to eat […]
Starve your distractions and feed your focus. That advice is genuinely golden. Lately I have felt myself being pulled in a million different directions. Whenever that happens in my life I inevitably end up feeling less happy rather than feeling happier. I think the reason for that is that when any of us are distracted […]
The last few weeks my schedule has been out of control…which I admit is totally my own fault because I had committed to do a bunch of things without realizing they were all happening at the same time. But believing I am Wonder Woman I decided I could handle it all and so I determined […]
I think most all of us have either been guilty of either saying something we shouldn’t have, or listening to something we ought not to, and likely we’ve made the mistake of doing both. It’s likely we have all made those mistakes more times than we wish we had, and I can’t think of a […]
This weekend marked the beginning of my family’s holiday season traditions beginning. Each year in October my parents and siblings and their families who are in the area all come together and we go to a place called Rowley’s Red Barn where we start by enjoying their homemade donuts and apple cider for breakfast and […]
For the last two days I was invited to be part of a special project in which I was introduced to 28 strangers who came from incredibly different backgrounds and who had incredibly different personalities. This particular group of people would likely never have crossed paths with one another in the course of normal life […]
Anyone that knows me knows that music is a HUGE part of my life. I love music and I love to dance. So does my family. You will often find us dancing around our kitchen or driving in our car belting out a song at the top of our lungs. I think the reason we love […]
“Charles Plumb was a US Navy jet pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent 6 years in a communist Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now lectures on lessons learned from that experience! One […]
Late Friday night my husband and I began our drive home from Idaho where we had attended our Aunt’s funeral, back home in Utah. We had intended to get an earlier start home but we had spent the day scanning in all of our Aunt’s photos and papers so the family members could have digital […]
Today I want to pay tribute to an amazing woman named Iris who happens to be my Aunt. Aunt Iris would have celebrated her 98th birthday this week, but sadly on Friday we got word that Iris had passed away. On the one hand I am incredibly sad to see Iris pass from this life because she was such a […]
Those of you who read yesterday’s blog post learned that my 20 year old daughter Ashley’s birthday present to me this week was to write a few blog posts that I could use in order to give me a few nights off on my birthday week to enjoy myself. This post she wrote below is […]
First, I want to take the quick opportunity to say “Thank You!” to all those who sent birthday wishes my way. I can’t think of a better birthday gift then words of kindness from others and I received that today in spades 🙂 I also want to share with you an amazing birthday gift I received today […]
“You don’t need money to lead a rich life. Good friends and a loving family are worth their weight in gold.” Last week was a week about friends and family for me and it was definitely a reminder of how our friends and family really are worth their weight in gold. From the start of […]
“If you don’t believe in miracles perhaps you’ve forgotten you are one.” I’m sure there are those who wonder if miracles are real, but I love the quote that says “We live on a blue planet that circles around a ball of fire next to a moon that moves the sea, and you don’t believe […]
“In the long run the pessimist may be proven right, but the optimist had a better time on the trip.” –Daniel L. Reardon I love Brian Tracy. He is a motivational speaker who has some great books and audio recordings that have helped me a lot over the years. He shares some thoughts on the […]
Most days when it rains outside we tend to feel bummed out about it and we seem to behave a little less cheery those days. But something happened last weekend that reminded me how easily we can rectify that. It was a bright yellow raincoat just hanging on the rack at the Mall. My 20 […]
This week I have been sharing life lessons I learned during my family trip through the Mediterranean on the Disney Magic cruise ship where we visited Spain, Italy, France, and Monaco. To wrap up my posts for this week I will share the biggest life lesson I gleaned from my trip – “Where there is […]
The next life lesson I learned on my European Adventure came about the day we boarded our Disney Cruise ship in Barcelona. I have taken many other cruises before but never have I gone on a Disney cruise. For one they charge significantly more than other cruise lines so I have always opted for the […]
We have only one life to live. That is why it is so important to decide how you will choose to live your one remarkable story! Do you want to try to accomplish incredible things, or do you want to sit on the sidelines too afraid of failure to ever take the risk of even […]
“Today before you think of saying an unkind word– think of someone who can’t speak. Before you complain about the taste of your food– think of someone who has nothing to eat. Before you complain about your husband or wife– think of someone who is crying out to God for a companion. Today before you […]
Once upon a time, a very strong woodcutter asked for a job in a timber merchant and he got it. The pay was really good and so was the work condition. For those reasons, the woodcutter was determined to do his best. His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he […]
A philosophy professor stood before his class with some items on the table in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, about 2 inches in diameter. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They […]
I happen to have two of the most adorable dogs in the universe. They are super tiny and so so cute and our family loves those two dogs tremendously. Not only are they adorable, but if you observe dogs in general them they will teach you so many great life lessons. I found this list […]
“Laugh. Laugh as much as you can. Laugh until you cry. Cry until you laugh. Keep doing it even if people are passing you on the street saying, “I can’t tell if that person is laughing or crying, but either way they seem crazy, let’s walk faster.” Emote. It’s okay. It shows you are thinking […]
Last week my family and I went down to Lake Powell for the week to host our kids and their college friends for a welcome home celebration trip for our daughter Ashley. We knew she had missed Lake Powell vacations tremendously while she had been serving her mission for 18 months so we made it […]
“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see” – Henry David Thoreau You could take a group of people and have them all look at the very same situation and yet later if you asked each person what they saw they will likely describe having seen different things. That’s because everyone’s […]
Yesterday I wrote about something called Gratitude Deficit Disorder and I shared a few ideas on how to overcome the disorder and increase your feelings of Gratitude each day in order to become happier. The next step toward being EVEN HAPPIER is to express our gratitude to others! “Thank You” – that is one of […]
Gratitude Deficit Disorder is an ailment that far too many people suffer from. I don’t personally think that people intentionally catch this ailment…I think people catch it as a result of getting too busy and letting life drive them instead of them driving their life. It’s an easy trap to fall into, but the good […]
“If you want to appreciate what you have, imagine your life without it.” It’s an unfortunate thing, but it is all too often the case – In life it is so easy to fall into the trap of not appreciating all that we have. Whether it’s a person, or an experience, or a material possession, […]
I LOVE McDonald’s. Yep it’s true…so there…I’ve said it…and I will not feel any shame for having admitted it because as far as I am concerned a McDonald’s Happy Meal is truly the happiest meal in the world. Perhaps its because it not only comes with the perfect size meal to fill you up wihtout […]
