Tips for a Better Life

Tips for a better life
25 photos
By Nithya Shanti
Tips for Better Life

1. Take a 10-30 minutes walk every day. And while you walk, smile.
2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
3. Sleep for 7 hours.
4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
5. Play more games.
6. Read more books than you did the previous year.
7. Make time to practice meditation, yoga, and prayer. They provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives.
8. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
9. Dream more while you are awake.
10. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
11. Drink plenty of water.
12. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
13. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
14. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
15. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
16. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
17. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
18. Smile and laugh more.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
21. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
22. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
23. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about. Don't compare your partner with others.
24. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
25. Forgive everyone for everything.
26. What other people think of you is none of your business.
27. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
28. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
29. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
30. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
31. The best is yet to come.
32. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
33. Do the right thing!
34. Call your family often.
35. Your inner most is always happy. So be happy.
36. Each day give something good to others.
37. Don't over do. Keep your limits.
38. Share this with someone you care about (Click the "Share" link below)

For more on wonderful happiness ideas, please join the group "The Happiest Day of Your Life"
http://groups.to/happiness

A Happier You

A Happier You
By Eckhart Tolle

The greatest goal you can set this year is to make peace with your life, no matter your circumstances. These 10 powerful insights from Eckhart Tolle will get you started.

1. Don't seek happiness. If you seek it, you won't find it, because seeking is the antithesis of happiness. Happiness is ever elusive, but freedom from unhappiness is attainable now, by facing what is rather than making up stories about it.

2. The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it. Be aware of the thoughts you are thinking. Separate them from the situation, which is always neutral, which always is as it is. There is the situation or the fact, and here are my thoughts about it. Instead of making up stories, stay with the facts. For example, "I am ruined" is a story. It limits you and prevents you from taking effective action. "I have 50 cents left in my bank account" is a fact. Facing facts is always empowering.

3. See if you can catch the voice in your head, perhaps in the very moment it complains about something, and recognize it for what it is: the voice of the ego, no more than a thought. Whenever you notice that voice, you will also realize that you are not the voice, but the one who is aware of it. In fact, you are the awareness that is aware of the voice. In the background, there is the awareness. In the foreground, there is the voice, the thinker. In this way you are becoming free of the ego, free of the unobserved mind.

4. Wherever you look, there is plenty of circumstantial evidence for the reality of time—a rotting apple, your face in the bathroom mirror compared with your face in a photo taken 30 years ago—yet you never find any direct evidence, you never experience time itself. You only ever experience the present moment.

5. Why do anxiety, stress, or negativity arise? Because you turned away from the present moment. And why did you do that? You thought something else was more important. One small error, one misperception, creates a world of suffering.

6. People believe themselves to be dependent on what happens for their happiness. They don't realize that what happens is the most unstable thing in the universe. It changes constantly. They look upon the present moment as either marred by something that has happened and shouldn't have or as deficient because of something that has not happened but should have. And so they miss the deeper perfection that is inherent in life itself, a perfection that lies beyond what is happening or not happening. Accept the present moment and find the perfection that is untouched by time.

7. The more shared past there is in a relationship, the more present you need to be; otherwise, you will be forced to relive the past again and again.

8. Equating the physical body with "I," the body that is destined to grow old, wither, and die, always leads to suffering. To refrain from identifying with the body doesn't mean that you no longer care for it. If it is strong, beautiful, or vigorous, you can appreciate those attributes—while they last. You can also improve the body's condition through nutrition and exercise. If you don't equate the body with who you are, when beauty fades, vigor diminishes, or the body becomes incapacitated, this will not affect your sense of worth or identity in any way. In fact, as the body begins to weaken, the light of consciousness can shine more easily.

9. You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you and allowing that goodness to emerge.

10. If peace is really what you want, then you will choose peace.

Exerpted from Oneness with All Life by Eckhart Tolle. Published by arrangement with Dutton, a member of Penguin Group (USA), Inc. Copywright © 2008 by Eckhart Tolle

Don't Worry, Be Happy

Go to www.happier.com to learn how to have more happiness in your life.

Happy For No Reason, by Carol Allen

Does your happiness always feel just out of reach, especially in these uncertain financial and political times? Are you sure that once you have that thing - the right job, the perfect partner, a great set of abs - you'll be happy at last? But have you noticed that once you get to whatever (fill-in-the-blank) goal, you feel about the same as you did before? So you take off after some new elusive dream that you're sure will really be the key to the happiness kingdom at last...
Well, guess what? According to a recent book, Happy For No Reason - Seven Steps To Being Happy From The Inside Out by Marci Shimoff (with Carol Kline), this is exactly how most people operate - they think that happiness comes from outside of themselves, and that the right "mix" of circumstances will magically usher those good feelings forward.

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The Pursuit of Happiness 3 simple steps to be content

Science says...But a whole host of recent scientific research has proven it's not what happens to you that makes you happy or even unhappy long-term. In fact, a famous study tracking both lottery winners and paraplegics found that a year after becoming rich or paralyzed, a person's happiness level was restored to where it had been before their life-changing event.
So what can you do to be happier without waiting on some external factor (that won't have a lasting impact anyway) coming to your aid? According to Shimoff, a New York Times #1 best-selling author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series and a featured teacher in The Secret (film) it's easy - all you have to do is raise your "happiness set-point."

Genetics vs. experienceYour "happiness set-point" is a fixed range of happiness that's been created by a combination of roughly 50% of your genetics and 50% of your life experiences. Obviously you can't change your DNA. But the good news? There are many simple mental and physical habits you can form to raise this internal ability to be happy...

Shimoff recommends:
1. Believe the universe is out to support you. When you have the fundamental assumption that forces are working for your highest good, you tend to take things more in stride and enjoy your process.
2. Stop "happiness robbing behaviors" such as complaining, blaming, and feeling shame. Shimoff suggests putting $2 in a basket every time you do, to help you become more aware of this misery inducing habit.
3. Don't believe everything you think. Here's why - the average person has 60,000 thoughts a day. And a whopping 80% are negative and many aren't true! Thoughts like, "I'm not good enough," "I'm not pretty," "No one likes me," "I'm not ready," are nothing more than the chatter of an anxious mind, but they act as brain poison - literally activating the parts of the brain associated with depression and anxiety, while positive thoughts do just the opposite. So pay attention to your inner voices and counter the grumpy ones with more supportive, cheerful ones.

These simple yet effective suggestions are just a sampling of the myriad ways that anyone - rich or poor, single or married, with flabby abs or sporting a killer six pack - can incorporate into their daily lives to raise their emotional mojo, and make the world a happier place, no matter what world markets or politicians do.

I don't know about you, but I feel better already.

Carol Allen is the host of Enlightening Relationships on Karma Sol Radio and the author of Love Is in the Stars, an eBook about the intersection of astrology and relationships which can be found at a website of the same name.
Listen to Carol interview Marci Shimoff on this week's show...

Achieving Your Goals

from "Awakening Joy"

There are 2 ingredients to Success & Happiness
-confidence thru self-love
-clarity thru inner guidance

GOAL- a dream with clear steps to move toward it's achievements

Sketch or write out your ideal life
Things to consider: health, happiness, prosperity, adventure, relationships, learning & fun

DREAM BIG
Decide what's first (from above^)
Be clear and concrete
REALITY CHECK- Are you sure this is what you want?
O.K. My ideal life was not specific enough.
I want to get my novel published. I think I want fame and fortune.
Ssssooo, do I really want fame? Well, I don't want the paparazzi hanging around
outside my door so I guess I just want a little fame.
I do want money as I would like to help the poor in El Salvador and other countries (including this one).

Think about your Personal Process
-Do you prefer to work on one thing at a time? OR
-Do you like to have lots of things going at once?
I, personally, have to be careful. I like to work on more than one thing so I don't get bored, but I have a tendency to try to do too many things. I get overwhelmed and tend to quit. So I will try to only work on two very different goals at once. Right now, those are 1) my novel (and MFA) and 2) my health and weight loss.

BE HONEST*
Run your ideas past someone you trust, for honest feedback.
-listen to what they say
-give it careful consideration
Both my husband and my best friend are much more practical than me so I get good, practical feedback from them.

Break you goal into time lines (daily, weekly, monthly)
*THIS IS IMPORTANT!
-give yourself little rewards for each accomplishment*

TRUST YOURSELF
-Speak the truth & witness your power

FOCUS ON WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE HAPPY!