I feel grateful for–and in awe of–the ocean.
I try to photograph something nearly everyday that I feel grateful for–it amplifies my feelings of appreciation, and sometimes awe.
Author: Christine Carter
Thursday Thought
Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it’s not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won’t. It’s whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.”
— Barack Obama
Is Marital Bliss Sexist?
All the February “talk of love” on my Greater Good blog generated a lot of controversy and confusion. Relationship advice is tricky; one shoe certainly doesn’t fit all.
Read this post to find out how setting realistic expectations, practicing forgiveness, compassionate love, and self-compassion actually give us the foundation for our own bliss.
Early Bird Special: take $50 OFF Spring Class
Spring is all about rejuvenating the soul for growth. Join us for the 10-week Spring Cleaning for the Soul Raising Happiness online class and clear out those habits, beliefs, and behaviors that are dragging you down. At the same time, learn new habits that will bring more happiness into your life, and the lives of your children.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
THIS WEEK ONLY: Take $50 off the cost of Spring Cleaning for the Soul by using the discount code EARLYBIRD.
Offer Expires: Sunday 3/11/12 at midnight
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Spring Cleaning for The Soul
What You Will Get From This Class:
- Tools for combating materialism
- TV guidelines: How much is too much?
- Mental health stats of college-bound kids (the picture is not rosy) and the solution to these daunting statistics
- Tips for how to raise siblings who are friends
- Why holding a grudge is not a happiness habit–and how to raise forgiving kids
- Tips for feeling happier when you (or your kids) are feeling bad
- A go-to list of techniques to feel happier instantly
- Four skills you can teach your children to make them luckier
- Three easy ways to promote confidence and optimism in your children
- Ways to raise kind children
Learn more here.
Happiness Tip: Call a Friend
Our friendships and close relationships–both how many we have, and how positive they are–are one of the best predictors of our happiness. But in the hustle and bustle of everyday life, our friends often get short-shrift.
Take Action: Make time to call a friend just to catch up. Better yet, schedule time to do this regularly, preferably at the same time on the same day each week. Odds are that you’ll feel happier when you get off the phone, and you’ll be shoring up your friendships for the long-haul.
Friday Inspiration: Happiness is Contagious
Happiness is Contagious
by William Martin
(from The Parents’ Tao Te Ching)
If you always compare your children’s abilities
to those of great athletes, entertainers, and celebrities,
they will lose their own power.
If you urge them to acquire and achieve,
they will learn to cheat and steal
to meet your expectations.
Encourage your children’s deepest joys,
not their superficial desires.
Praise their patience,
not their ambition.
Do not value the distractions and diversions
that masquerade as success.
They will learn to hear their own voice
instead of the noise of the crowd.
If you teach them to achieve
they will never be content.
If you teach them contentment,
they will naturally achieve everything.
We all want our children to be happy.
Somehow, some way today
show them something that makes you happy,
something you truly enjoy.
Your own happiness is contagious.
They learn the art from you.
Thursday Thought
Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is more people who have come alive.”
— Dr. Howard Thurman
Podcast: Feeling Unhappy in Your Marriage?
Check out my podcast Happiness Matters with Rona Renner either here on the Greater Good website, or here on iTunes. Happy listening!
This Week: Our expectations color our perceptions of everything, as well as how we feel. Is your spouse crumbling under the pressure of your high expectations?
Are You a Nag?
Nagging is a particular form of unhappiness — for everyone involved.
Around the house, we’re often annoyed or disappointed when someone fails to meet our expectations — when, once again, our spouse is late, or the kids didn’t take out the garbage, or someone failed to help clean up, or wasn’t really listening while we were baring our soul, or doesn’t really “get” us.
Living with others is, in many ways, living in a constant state of unmet expectations.
I think we expect too much from our spouses these days. But that doesn’t mean it would always be better to lower our expectations so that we can feel happy or grateful when our spouse surprises us. If we lower the bar too much, especially for our spouses, how will any of our needs ever be met?
What else can we do?
We can develop constructive ways of responding when our needs aren’t being met by our spouses and our children — techniques that increase the odds that they will be met in the future. Read this post on my Greater Good blog for three alternatives to nagging — or harboring resentment — when your expectations aren’t met.
Early Bird Special: Foundations I
Put your happiness first this springtime! Learn how to raise successful kids and be a happier parent with this 10-week Raising Happiness course.
THIS WEEK ONLY: Take $50 off the cost of Foundations I Raising Happiness Class by using the discount code EARLYBIRD.
Offer Expires: Sunday, 3/04/12 at midnight
Foundations I
What You Will Get From This Class:
- Greater happiness yourself-both as a parent and an individual
- The best ways to create a new routine (and break bad habits).
- Ways to raise children’s emotional intelligence and school performance
- Why perfectionism is a particular form of unhappiness-and how to combat it
- How to foster grit and resilience in kids
Learn more here.