Friday, August 23, 2013

Happiness posts I enjoyed- Thank you ms Rubin


Happiness Is…Taking a Vacation.



openroadFarewell for a week–I’m off on a family vacation. It’s time for an “island of leisure,” as William Edward Hartpole Lecky put it: “Pleasure is a jewel which will only retain its luster when it is in a setting of work, and a vacant life is one of the worst of pains, though the islands of leisure that stud a crowded, well-occupied life may be among the things to which we look back with the greatest delight.”
“But Gretchen,” you may be thinking, “how can I possibly get along without a daily post about happiness?” Ah, all you need to do is to pick up a copy of The Happiness Project or Happier at Home. I can’t resist adding that both books were instant New York Times bestsellers, and The Happiness Project has been on the bestseller list for two years now. Yes, two years. Zoikes.
To learn more about Happier at Home, you can…
To learn more about The Happiness Project, you can…
  • Read sample chapters
  • Watch the one-minute book video
  • Request the one-page discussion guide or spiritual discussion guide
  • Listen to a sample of the audiobook (that’s me, reading from the Introduction)
Off I go–I’ll be back in a week. How about you? Have you taken a vacation recently?
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How One Quick Click Could Inspire You to Change Your Life.

Memento_MoriI recently ran across a reference to the internet site DeathClock.com.
I clicked over to it, and entered a few simple facts about myself—birthday, gender, temperament, BMI, smoker/non-smoker—and the site spat out a projected death date that was quite startling in its specificity: Saturday, February 25, 2045. (It also provided a countdown clock that showed the seconds of my life slipping away. Yipes.)
This was a bit horrifying, but also fascinating and useful, and served as a memento mori. A “memento mori” (Latin for “Remember that you must die”) is an artistic or symbolic reminder of death or mortality. For instance, paintings depict skulls, soap bubbles, hour glasses, burnt candles, rotting fruits and decaying flowers, or smoke, which illustrate the passage of time and its inevitable end.
The questions asked by the DeathClock are also a reminder that although we don’t have complete control over our lives, and we’ll all die (obviously), nevertheless, there are factors within our control that statistically affect the length of people’s lives. In the United States, for instance, poor diet, inactivity, smoking, and drinking are among the leading causes of death—and these are preventable behaviors.
The days are long, but the years are short. It’s useful to be reminded that actions have consequences, that what we do every day may influence our quality and length of life. Even if that reminder is a bit grim.
What do you think? Do you find such reminders upsetting, or helpful? Did you check your own date?
If you’d like to read more along these lines, check out Happier at Home, chapter eight.
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Secret of Adulthood: Soap and Water Removes Most Stains.

Further Secrets of Adulthood:
SoapAndWaterRemoves_124779

I’m embarrassed to say how long it took me to realize this–almost as long as it took for me to realize the similar Secret of Adulthood, that over-the-counter medications are often very effective.
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