Satisfaction is elusive. Most days, I feel I could be better at work, more fit, or have more money. And, there is a benefit to that. I’m constantly trying to improve myself and the world around me. But there’s also a negative side to that mentality. It’s this: I’m rarely satisfied. The thirst is never…More
Tag Archives: happiness
To live your best life, be wrong more
Often we worry about being right. But I think we should be spending more time being wrong. Because sometimes, in life, being wrong is the most right you can be. This sounds strange, I know. But that doesn’t mean it’s false. You see, we live in a world that is obsessed with being right. The…More
One of the best ways to stay motivated
Many of us push ourselves to stay motivated. We force, cajole, pressure, sometimes even yell at ourselves to get going. But pushing yourself isn’t as effective as being pulled. I don’t mean being yanked or dragged like a prisoner, no. I mean something summoning you by an irresistible force, like being in love, where you’re…More
Permission to live
Give yourself permission to fail, to overreach, to try. Give yourself permission to be imperfect, wrong, weird. Give yourself permission to do that thing you love, pursue your dream, take a different path. I’m not saying to do anything wrong or immoral. I’m just saying that there are a lot of things that are good…More
Finding purpose
What do you live for? It’s a simple question. But it’s one of the most difficult to answer. From my experience, many of us find meaning but few have purpose. Purpose is the belief or reason we have for living. It’s different from meaning. Meaning is about the significance or feeling of significance for something…More
Overcoming one of our greatest obstacles: ourselves
Our lives are determined not just by what we think but how we think. Before I started writing I used to believe I couldn’t write. It probably had a lot to do with the fact that my high school papers, after being graded, had so much red ink on them that they looked like someone…More
The YouTube ad that made me cry
Last week, we were watching a video when the greatest YouTube ad I had ever seen appeared. We couldn’t stop watching it. The skip ad button turned on and I ignored it. The ad went on for seconds then minutes. Until it ended nineteen minutes later. (I know, it might feel weird reading about a…More
Savoring life
Life is short; enjoy today. This week an old friend’s wife died. It was sudden—tragic. She was young, around my age, too young to die. They likely had dreams of growing gray together, wrinkled, swinging on a creaky porch swing, talking about their grown kids and grandkids. Now that’s gone. See, life can sucker punch…More
One of the best ways to deal with uncertainty
Uncertainty is everywhere. And the best thing we can do isn’t fight it, try to force things to happen—control. No. Sometimes the best thing we can do is just do this—surrender. That’s not the same as giving up. You’re not quitting. Absolutely not! Surrendering is different. It’s not giving up; it’s giving in. And that’s…More
Cookie saga continues
Our cookies got to a couple of friends and they were good, not perfect, but still delicious. It was a huge relief. See, in my last post I mentioned that we tried a new way of packaging our cookies and weren’t sure how they would turn out. We didn’t want to fail, and more importantly,…More
John Pa 