I'm sure that at some point, you've heard someone say the phrase, "Variety is the Spice of Life". It's interesting though that many people who hear this most likely never realize the value behind it, nor the positive effect that variety can have on one's happiness in life.
You may be a creature of habit who always does the same thing over and over again, whatever it is. You may go to the same vacation spot every year, but might not actually be having much fun there anymore.
Read MoreI've heard some people say that respect is something that has to be earned and not given. I do have to admit that when I hear that, it makes me wonder why why and how they came to believe in that concept.
I come from a different point of view, where I believe that respect should be given to all people right from the beginning- meaning that we should respect everyone and show respect to them right from the beginning. By saying "everyone", I mean all people including our family members, friends and even strangers.
Read MoreWe all know that life is not always smooth sailing 100% of the time. Some days seem to go perfectly as we've planned or just seem to just sail by without a hitch. Those are the days that we tend to love the most.
Other days aren't as smooth sailing. Sometimes a day can have many mishaps happen throughout the day that can either throw us off kilter or have the potential to derail our entire day.
Read MoreHello Everyone! First of all, I'd like to thank every one of you for your support and for being interested in what I share with you and write about.
Secondly, we all know that the Holiday season brings us happiness as we enjoy the festivity of the season. However, the season can in also bring sadness to many of us, as we remember our loved ones that have passed on or the romantic loves that people could be in search of. This can bring people feelings of loneliness, despair and helplessness- even when physically surrounded by other people.
Read MoreGreetings from Australia!
The other day, I had the TV on for some background noise as I was working from home. I heard the report on The Today Show, "Yes, You Can Buy Happiness — If You Spend Money to Save Time". It validated something I've always believed in and live by. Just because a person may be rich financially, it doesn't mean that he or she is happy. However, money can make life easier, more rewarding and can lead to more happy feelings.
Read MoreWhen I was a young boy, all I wanted to do is fit in with the rest of the kids in town and at school. I basically just wanted to be like everyone else and not stand out as different.
I was a Hispanic person living in a white neighborhood and going to a white school. There weren't any other people like me around. I also felt different than the other kids in other ways, but I'd discover why later on in my teens when I realized I was gay. [Read More...]
Read MoreHow many times have you heard people making excuses for their bad behavior or their lack of action about something? Surely, you've also witnessed individuals making excuses for others, whether its other friends, relatives or children of whatever age?
Sometimes, it seems like the world is full of excuses for things. Excuses do nothing but damage ones integrity by causing distrust by others. That's because excuses can either stretch the truth or are just be outright lies. Excuses also make people and others less accountable for their bad behavior or inaction about something, because it makes them become the "victim".
Of course, there are times when there are legitimate "reasons" for things, however an excuse is what results from a person fabricating an untruth. An excuse attempts to let a person "off the hook" from having to be accountable for their actions. After a while, excuses become transparent to others. They become tiring. [Read more...]
Read MoreMending Fences is when someone repairs their relationship with another person after being estranged or hurt in some way. This repair may not bring the relationship quite back to the way it was before but it eliminates, or at least, eases the negative emotions that existed between the two parties.
There are some cases where a new understanding comes about between the parties and the two individuals (or families) come together with a stronger bond than before. It not only depends on what caused the rift between the two parties and the severity of what happened but it also depends on the willingness of both parties to make amends and move forward. [Read more...]
Read MoreThere are many reasons why its good to know yourself and your body.
First, being in tune with how and why you feel a certain way emotionally puts you in charge of your personal growth and happiness.
Secondly, being aware of how you feel physically, puts you more in charge of your health.
Your Emotional and Physical sides of your being, are both important and work together. It's key for them to work together in order for you to achieve the most happiness and joy in life. [Read more...]
Read MoreMany of us place so much unnecessary pressure and stress on ourselves in a lot of ways. One way a lot people do that is by feeling that they always have to do everything "by the book" or in other words, strictly according to the rules. These rules can be set forth upon us by society or self imposed from being creatures of habit.
Living your life according to so many rules can make you feel stifled, uncreative and at a loss when you need to think quickly in a pinch.
When you learn how to improvise or think outside of the box, you release your creativity. To improvise can mean doing, making or producing something with what you have. It could also in a way mean taking a situation and making the best of it. [Read more...]
Read MoreI'm sure we've all experienced this at one point or another. You finally get into a great routine of some sort- moving ahead on goals or a project full steam and something interrupts your momentum. This could be only for a short time or maybe longer, but this interruption causes a setback for you.
After a setback, it can be hard to get back to the point you were at before. For some people, their momentum is lost forever and then they can become frustrated to even try again. This can happen in so many facets of our lives, but this post is focused on ones goals to not only look better but to also feel better and lead a more healthy lifestyle.
When we've finally gotten ourselves into a nice momentum towards achieving our fitness goals, we feel excited and motivated to keep it up. We're eating properly and we have a regular fitness routine in place. Things are going smoothly and then BOOM, everything gets disrupted- sometimes even to a screeching halt. [Read more...]
Read MoreSome people get in the way of themselves in life. They get in the way of their own happiness, joy and satisfaction in life. They also get in the way of true enjoyment and even finding love. They do this, many times, by taking themselves too seriously.
Taking oneself too seriously can range in severity from mild to extreme. On the mild end of the range it can be getting frustrated or angry at yourself when you make a mistake or something just doesn't go the way you wanted it to.
In the middle range, it goes further where you dwell on it longer and it can effect your mood or general disposition. You might also put unreasonable expectations upon yourself and as a result of not fulfilling them, you become unhappy and your health can suffer. [Read more...]
Read MoreIn my last post, I gave you a list of things you can do to help a person to grieve. Those were things that are very beneficial to people in their time of grief to process their loss and to be able to move forward with their life as effectively as possible.
Today, I am listing 9 things to avoid doing to or saying to a person who has just lost someone very dear to them and is in the process of grieving. Again, I speak from personal experience and I have received the same sentiments back from people who have shared similar experiences to mine. [Read more...]
Read MoreA while ago, a very close friend of mine asked me how she could help her boyfriend to grieve the recent and very sudden loss of his family member. Having been through the grieving process several times myself, I was able to guide her with some techniques that helped me during my times of grief.
So I've compiled a list of ways that you can help someone to grieve. In a couple weeks for my next post, I'll list some things to NOT say to or do with a person who is grieving.[Read more...]
Matthew Alan is truly such an inspirational person. I am blessed because we have a mutually inspiring and supporting relationship. Over the last several years, he has really been able to sing more in public and has blossomed with his singing talent.
Check out my short interview with him to announce his first ever solo cabaret performance. Knowing how talented he is, I'm sure he will be national in no time and I'm betting global. ;-) [Read more...]
Read MoreWe all know just how hectic and stressful one's morning can be. We have to deal with things like waking up before we really want to, too little sleep, getting things ready for the day and handling our personal hygiene routine. In addition, we may have other family members and pets to care for.
Lucky for you though, here are some easy things you can do to make your mornings less hectic and running more smoothly: [Read more...]
Read MoreHappy New Year, everyone!!! Hope your Holiday season was amazing! Mine certainly was for sure.
I've been asked a lot why I seem like I'm never in a bad mood. The answer to that is easy. It's basically because I don't let myself get into a bad mood. I just don't want to waste any amount of time being in a bad mood instead of a good one. However, when I was much younger it was hard for me to do that.
Over the years after surviving some powerful life altering experiences, I realize how important life is and thus, I don't take any second for granted. I brush off whatever I possibly can when it happens and try to not let things affect me in a negative way. [Read More...]
Read MoreWe all want to be feel happy inside and lead a happy life. Sometimes though, we can unknowingly get sidetracked and before we know it, we're not feeling the happiness we want to be feeling. There are many ways to help yourself to feel happier inside, but for the moment, here are three quick ways you can help yourself feel happier today.
1- Filter Out The Negative
There's plenty of negativity in the world that could affect us if we let it. The trick is to not let it bring us down and jeopardize our happiness. To start, if you filter out some of the negativity you subject yourself to, in both the Media and Social Media arenas, you'll see a big affect on your state of mind. Seeing scary headlines on television and in news headlines along with negative posts from people on Social Media not only can jeopardize a person's self esteem, but it can create feelings of fear and submission. [Read More...]
Read MoreHave you ever asked yourself, "When is my life ever going to calm down?", "Why can't I just get along with people? Or "Why don't people like being around me?"? If so, you need to take a good look at yourself and see if you are the reason for your chaotic and conflicted life.
Some chaos or conflict comes naturally in life. In small amounts, it can be a good thing that shakes up the routine or gets important issues out into the open, but in greater amounts, it is destructive. It's a strange phenomenon, but some people just seem to subconsciously crave and create a lot of chaos and conflict in their lives.
These same individuals complain endlessly about how chaotic, hectic, crazy and conflicted their lives are, but as soon as it seems to calm down or become more peaceful- they create more. They do this because subconsciously, they crave chaos and conflict because they don't know how to handle life without it. [Read More...]
Read MoreSome people seem to feel the uncontrollable urge to be "brutally honest" nowadays in voicing their opinions about things and other people. They do it without any regards to how badly it can make others feel. They sometimes even go so far as to brag about how brutally honest they are.
Basically, this whole Brutal Honesty thing is just an excuse to be tactless in how one says something to or about others without respecting their dignity. It's an excuse to be downright mean and hostile.
Perhaps it came about with the birth of social media. People feel that they can say whatever they want to, because there is a sense of anonymity. People can be brazen and be tough on-line in ways that they would be afraid to be in person. People who have self esteem issues feel it makes them feel better about themselves to belittle others. [Read more...]
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