Alcohol removes inhibitions – like that scared little mouse who got drunk and shook his whiskers and shouted: ‘Now bring on that damn cat!’” – Eleanor Early For whatever reason, the phrases “let’s have a drink” and “let’s have a conversation” hit the brain a little differently. Even if the intention is exactly the same,Continue reading “Week Forty-One: Invite an Old Friend for a Drink”
Tag Archives: happiness
Week Forty: Talk to the Stranger Next to You
It’s good to remember that in crises, natural crises, human beings forget for a while their ignorances, their biases, their prejudices. For a little while, neighbors help neighbors and strangers help strangers. – Maya Angelou Every stranger is an opportunity to learn something about the world. A stranger is a clean slate, a new adventure,Continue reading “Week Forty: Talk to the Stranger Next to You”
Week Thirty-Nine: Buy Someone Lunch
Since you get more joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a good deal of thought into the happiness that you are able to give. – Eleanor Roosevelt It’s easy to say in retrospect, but when I’m telling you that I had a plan for this week, I actually had a plan.Continue reading “Week Thirty-Nine: Buy Someone Lunch”
Week Thirty-Eight: Take a Power Nap
Think what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about three o’clock every afternoon and then lay down on our blankets for a nap. – Barbara Jordan If you asked me before this week, I would have told you that there are exactly two kinds ofContinue reading “Week Thirty-Eight: Take a Power Nap”
Week Thirty-Six: Drink Some Water
In time and with water, everything changes. – Leonardo da Vinci I woke up on Monday morning with a soul destroying hangover. You know, the kind that ages you by ten years and makes you question every life decision that brought you to this moment? Needless to say, I couldn’t have picked a better timeContinue reading “Week Thirty-Six: Drink Some Water”
Week Thirty-Five: Stop Reading the News for a Week
To be a member of a vulnerable community is to get no mental vacation from injustice, have no physical shield from the tumult, find no easy emotional escapism from the terrors of the day—and to intentionally avoid their non-optional nightmares is an abdication of our responsibility as people living in larger community with them –Continue reading “Week Thirty-Five: Stop Reading the News for a Week”
Week Thirty-Four: Sign Up for a Fitness Class
You’re only one workout away from a good mood. – Unknown Do an internet search for the words “how to be happy” and I guarantee that one of the top suggestions, without fail, will be something to do with exercise. This is now Week Thirty-Four of this adventure and so far, four of those weeksContinue reading “Week Thirty-Four: Sign Up for a Fitness Class”
Week Thirty-Three: Join a Book Club
Whenever one of us introduced an old favorite, we savored the other’s first delight like a shared meal eaten with a newly acquired gusto, as if we’d never truly tasted it before. – Pamela Paul, in My Life with Bob: Flawed Heroine Keeps Books of Books, Plot Ensues For my entire adult life I haveContinue reading “Week Thirty-Three: Join a Book Club”
Week Thirty-Two: Take an Afternoon to Do Something “Unimportant”
Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it. – Mahatma Gandhi When I sat down to write this story I immediately drew a blank. This, the first full week of my vacation, was the time I had set for myself to “spend an afternoon doing something unimportant”. InsteadContinue reading “Week Thirty-Two: Take an Afternoon to Do Something “Unimportant””
Week Thirty-One: Read a Whole Chapter of a Book Uninterrupted
The reading of a fine book is an uninterrupted dialogue in which the book speaks and our soul replies. – Andre Maurois Picture this: a full cup of warm coffee, a clear sky with the sun shining, a cool breeze, and the gentle sound waves splashing up on the rocks. I cannot imagine a betterContinue reading “Week Thirty-One: Read a Whole Chapter of a Book Uninterrupted”
How to Be Happy 