5 years ago I wrote a blog that dealt with that most hated term known as the “New Year’s Resolution.” (Note: Never ever write a blog about New Year’s Resolutions!) So this year I took a different approach. I also took a little and gave a little from each year from then until now and hopefully mixed in some of the wisdom that has rubbed off over the years. Call them suggestions, recommendations even urgent pleas, but what ever you do, don’t mention the “R”word! So to kick things off, let’s start here. Don’t make Resolutions instead, make promises or plans. If you want to make it even more real, write out a contract on paper and sign it! This makes your proposed changes a bit more real and easier for you to remember during those “weak” moments during the year. Don’t be so concerned about getting rid of things you’re upset about or frustrated inyour life(losing weight, being better at something, etc.)  Instead, focus on what you can add in 2022 that will make your life better. For instance, if you want to lose weight (don’t we all?) instead of promising to join a gym and get up at 4:30 am every day to exercise, (which in 3 weeks you’ll end up “snooze alarming away”) focus instead on adding some healthy things. Commit to eating more fruit or make a healthy fruit shake instead of a sugary soda. Find positive things you can add to your life and soon those negative things you were worried about will drop away one by one. Go Slow!!! Man, this is one’s important! Want to see some changes in your life? Baby Steps! Make a list and then edit it down. Let’s say you come up with 12 things you’d like to see happen in your life. Actually, schedule them each month. January – eat more fruits, nuts and berries than candy. February – turn the electronic devices off during dinner. You get the idea. The important thing is not to plan on sweeping changes. Plan on small changes that are simple to make. Trust me, you won’t lose 40 pounds overnight but through baby steps, you’re much more likely to make positive changes that will last! We all have “To-Do Lists.” I recommend writing a “To-Done List!” What is that? It’s a list where we sit down at some point during the week and write down our successes, big and small! What are the things we’ve done that went well, helped someone else, made us feel good, gave us some relaxation or peace? We are programmed to forget these moments. WELL DON’T!!! Write them down and celebrate them. Then, at the end of each month, take a look at those 4 pieces of paper with your successes and congratulate yourself for the things you’ve accomplished that month! Make yourself realize the truth about what and why you want to change or accomplish this coming year.  Are they things you really want to accomplish or are they things you think you should accomplish? Are they things others say you need to accomplish?  Why? Are […]

First things first, Merry Christmas Happy Holidays and Happy New Years!  At this point in the year gifts are the rage. So, I wanted to spend a second and take look at How You Give and How You Get Gifts is SO Important whether they’re Christmas or other Holiday and Life gifts.   An important note to remember… the things that you’ll remember for years might be the gift itself, but more than likely it’ll be the look in their eye, the preparation put into the gift or the perfect imperfection of the gift and/or the circumstances around it.  So here goes, some of my favorite Christmas Gifts…  Several years ago, I was a grown man making a decent living when my dad handed me an envelope as we opened Christmas gifts. I can still hear his voice as he looked at my mom and said “I want to see his face when he opens this one.” I slowly opened the envelope and pulled out a piece of folded paper. As I unfolded it I saw a crisp, new $50 bill! I saw the note which simply said “I’m proud of you. I love you. Dad”  I looked up and saw this Old School, gruff, wonderful man, shifting uneasily in his chair as he sniffed and wiped away his tears. I had seen and used $50 and $100 bills before. It wasn’t the amount. It was that this gift meant something to him, he didn’t have much and he was giving me much, much more that just $50! I’m just glad I understood it then and everyday since then too.     That Was A Great Gift! I was walking one day with my son who was a grown man at the time. It had rained much of the day and had just stopped. It was one of those perfect times, still a bit cloudy and cool from the rain and the smell was so clean and perfect. We had only walked for a short distance when I noticed him lagging behind. When I turn around, there he was bending down picking up a worm that had been washed up onto the sidewalk instead of the grass. He gently bent over and moved the worm into his hand, walked over to the grass and gently put it down. As his hands came together to get rid of any excess mud, he look up at me and just smiled. Didn’t say a word, just smiled. We continued our walk and talk that day but we stopped often. Both of us would bend over and gently moved a worm from the concrete to the safety of the grass. And then we would just smile.     That Was A Great Gift! I remember the eyes of a woman who, after a long, dangerous and painful few days, told me the words of the most beautiful, life altering ancient Lakota wisdom. The moment was born out of a genuine to will to make life better. It did. […]

What makes you happy? That seems like a pretty simple question to answer, huh? Well, not so fast… In today’s world it seems that we spend way more time thinking about what doesn’t make us happy than what does! Thinking about what (or who) we don’t like instead of who we do. Taking time to consider all the things we want instead of all of the things we have. So let’s force ourselves to get back to that original question.  What makes you happy?  -Is it the sound of a child’s laughter or the sound of screaming, yelling and arguing? -Is it the soft touch of someone you love or the hurt of a punch or slap?  -Is it the memories of happy times or those that still have the power of depression? We spend precious time and energy in our lives holding onto grudges, being angry over the smallest things (ie… road rage, slow service, misunderstood words here or there, etc…) and then having conversations about how bad we feel or how mad we are. But when we do these things, we lose track of one of life’s key question—What Makes Us Happy? Maybe the first step is to actually find out what makes us happy in the first place. Then, spend more time thinking about those things and telling others about them than the things that make you sad or angry. Doesn’t it just make sense that the more time we spend thinking of and being involved with the things that make us happy, the happier we’ll be? Well, the less time we spend being weighed down by all the negative things, the less negative we’ll become.  Take the time to find the things in the past and present that make you happy. Take the time to write them down on paper or in your phone or tablet. Take the time to add them into your life. Of course by adding more and more of them into your life that means you’ll need to get rid of some things too. (I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt here for realizing you’ll be getting rid of all of those negative things that have been holding you back.) So what makes you happy? Now ask those you,love and care about the same question I’ve been asking you. Once they rattle off the first few, press them for more and more and more. After all, there’s no limit to the happiness you might find in life. Keep searching. Keep enjoying. Keep appreciating. Keep sharing them with others and more than anything else, keep expanding the happiness within you.  Peace      …..Gregg