Tag Archives: mind body spirit

What Makes Happy?

There is a song out there that epitomizes a life philosophy, which if we all embraced it, would make the world a phenomenally better place. Somewhere along the way, society’s mandate for winning at life became about beating the other guy to “the goods”. Success started to mean a bigger house and more TVs.

But this song, when it wafted from the radio when I was a kid, spoke to me even then of how life should be. Make Someone Happy was written by Jule Styne, Adolph Green and Betty Comden, and first performed December 26, 1960. This song has never gone out of style – read the list of 100+ performers who sang it over 31 years – because although admittedly romantic in nature, it also expresses a fundamental truth about life.

When we are of service to others, when we are busy making someone else happy, we become happy too. Service to others is a core philosophy that humanity is working on understanding and adopting as a collective, in order that we may shift to a higher level of vibration.

Look around you. What something can you do today for someone you know (or a stranger) that would contribute to that person’s happiness, your own happiness in the doing of it, and the bigger picture of the growth of humanity?

Let’s bring some old-fashioned values back into style.

“Make someone happy.
Make just one someone happy
And you will be happy too…”

A quote by Norman Vincent Peale, from his book The Power of Positive Thinking:

The way to happiness:
Keep your heart free from hate,
your mind from worry.
Live simply, expect little, give much.
Scatter sunshine, forget self, think of others.
Try this for a week, and you will be surprised.

A quote from Becoming Bigger: In a world that wants to keep you small

Give yourself the gift of your heart’s desire as young as you are able. Live the life that will make you happy, not the one your peers or parents or society deems to be acceptable. It’s YOUR life. Make it a happy one!

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Life is a Gift

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It’s a blue-sky day,
one of those
beauteous blue-full,
joyously jocular,
splendidly splashy,
exceptional days –
I long to shout
LIFE IS A GIFT
in unmistakable
letters across the
blue shiny yonder,
to imprint them
indelibly on your
mind, so you’ll –

Remember when
the dark clouds roll
in, on a day when
life feels pissy and
oh so problematic,
to take a deep breath,
and close your eyes,
and gently pull the
gray gloom aside,
to see those big
oh so true words
I etched on blue
for you, so that
you’d never forget –

Life is a gift.

From Soul Journey: The Poetry of Life. Download it free.

Make Some of Them Dirt

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Wishing you a wonderful weekend! Go for a drive, and find a dirt road somewhere. Park the car, and get out and walk some of it. Feel the sun on your face and the soft breeze. Hear the birds and smell the green grass.

Or if you cannot in this moment, simply let your mind wander down the road in this beautiful photo, courtesy of Olavi-a (from Sweden), Pixabay. Perhaps it will inspire you to find a dirt road in real life, some day.

Gift yourself with a little adventure! Exploring is expansive and rejuvenating to the mind, body, and spirit. That little dirt road could very well set your soul free.

More inspiring quotes by John Muir:

“The mountains are calling and I must go.”

“The world’s big and I want to have a good look at it before it gets dark.”

“In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks.”

“Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world.”

“Another glorious Sierra day in which one seems to be dissolved and absorbed and sent pulsing onward we know not where. Life seems neither long nor short, and we take no more heed to save time or make haste than do the trees and stars. This is true freedom, a good practical sort of immortality.”

“There is a love of wild nature in everybody, an ancient mother-love showing itself whether recognized or no, and however covered by cares and duties”

“One learns that the world, though made, is yet being made; that this is still the morning of creation; that mountains long conceived are now being born, channels traced for coming rivers, basins hollowed for lakes…”

“Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer.”

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Wishing or Intending?

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“Wishing”: To feel or express a strong desire or hope.
“Intending”: To have a plan or course of action as one’s purpose.

Do you see the difference? A wish is an idea or vision you have in your mind, attached to a hope that a fairy godmother or some other external power is somehow magically going to deliver it.

An intention, on the other hand, combines that same desire with a plan. YOU make it happen! You have the power, with your creative mind, a focused vision, self-discipline, and oh yes, some good old-fashioned elbow grease!

So next time you are looking to manifest something, ask yourself first, “Am I wishing or am I intending?”

“Good luck is another name for tenacity of purpose.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!”
~ Hunter S. Thompson

This post is an excerpt from my inspirations quick-read ebook 25 Big Ways to Grow Your Life. It’s free when you subscribe to receive occasional author newsletters. 🙂 Subscribe here.

You, the Lotus

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Spiritual enlightenment, rebirth, the divine. For centuries the lotus flower has symbolized all of these in various cultures. It also represents good old grit and determination, the will to endure. A lotus seed can survive without water for thousands of years and it is still able to germinate to grace our world with exquisite beauty.

Whether you choose to embrace the pragmatic earthbound or the ethereal symbolism, they actually go hand-in-hand. During our lifetimes, our souls accumulate wisdom through our earthly experiences, our willingness to learn, and our strength to endure.

Envision your soul as a beautiful lotus flower ~ growing your wisdom, unfolding and blossoming, petal by petal.

Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” (Aristotle)

Susan L Hart 2023 | HartInspirations.com