Eastern Wisdom

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The Little Guide to Contentedness
by Leo
18 May 2012 at 1:31pm
‘He who is contented is rich.’ ~Lao Tzu Post written by Leo Babauta. There has been little in my life that has made as much an impact as learning to be content — with my life, where I am, what I’m doing, what I have, who I’m with, who I am. This little trick changes [...]
The 9-5 Guide to Staying Active
by guest
15 May 2012 at 9:00am
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Matt Madeiro of Make Every Day Count. Let?s see if this rings any bells. When the clock hits 8, I sit. I plop back in my rolling chair, crack open the laptop on my desk, and spend the next nine hours with my butt glued firmly to [...]
Three Little Habits to Find Focus
by Leo
10 May 2012 at 11:42am
‘Distraction is the only thing that consoles us for miseries and yet it is itself the greatest of our miseries.’ ~Blaise Pascal Post written by Leo Babauta. I’ll be the first to admit that I fall victim to the trap of the Internet — a wonderful empowering tool that can fill your day with distractions, [...]
How to Live Well
by Leo
7 May 2012 at 1:59pm
‘Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life.’ ~Seneca Post written by Leo Babauta. I’m not a rich man, nor do I fly around the world and drink champagne with famous people in exotic locales, nor do I own a sports car or SUV or a yacht. And yet, [...]
What I?ve Learned About Learning
by Leo
3 May 2012 at 9:07am
‘We learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself.’ ~Lloyd Alexander Post written by Leo Babauta. I am a teacher and an avid learner, and I’m passionate about both. I’m a teacher because I help Eva homeschool our kids — OK, [...]
The 39th Lesson
by Leo
30 Apr 2012 at 9:05am
Post written by Leo Babauta. Today (April 30) is my 39th Un-un-birthday, and as usual, the day is a good day to pause and reflect. Last year I wrote 38 Life Lessons I?ve Learned in 38 Years, and people seemed to find some use in it. This year, I thought I’d share an additional lesson [...]
How to Fail at Habits
by Leo
24 Apr 2012 at 11:28am
Post written by Leo Babauta. Before I learned how to change habits, I was stuck. I kept trying to change various habits — running, eating healthier, waking earlier, getting out of debt, ending procrastination — and I kept failing. I got very good at failing, in fact. Looking back on those days, given the power [...]
Webinar: How I Used the Power of Bad Habits to Change My Life
by Leo
23 Apr 2012 at 8:00am
Post written by Leo Babauta. Yesterday I conducted a free webinar, “How I Used the Power of Bad Habits to Change My Life“, and the video is below. The webinar was held Mon. April 23), and in it I talked about my struggle with bad habits, why bad habits are so powerful, and how I [...]
Crazy Talk: The Do-What-You-Love Guide
by Leo
19 Apr 2012 at 11:36am
‘Everything you can imagine is real.’ ~Pablo Picasso Post written by Leo Babauta. When I wrote the first words of this blog, more than five years ago, I had no idea those few keystrokes would change my life. I thought I was doing nothing more than reflecting on the changes that had been happening in [...]
Why We Overplan
by Leo
17 Apr 2012 at 8:40am
‘A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.’ ~Lao Tzu Post written by Leo Babauta. There is something about my mind, and many people’s minds, that is overly optimistic. We think we can do so much each day, and so we overplan. We fill our plans with so much, confident [...]

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Bipolar Disease

Here is your Monday STORY on: LOVE: Whilst LOVE is a beautiful component of life it also can be a hindrance. When a close friend passes away that immediate love is lost and a subsequent depression can set in if we allow it. The whole subject of death is a vast area for discussion, but today we look at one way we can overcome this feeling of depression. The simple answer is to love. We need to both love the memory of the person who has passed away and we need to offer the intensity of love we had to other people. This of course is easy to say but not so easy to do. Having taken the subject to an extreme we must also realise that any form of sadness or depression can be overcome with love. If we can focus onto another, the intensity of which we know we can do, then the sense and mood will change. You cannot remain sad for long when you are offering love. It would be true to say, following those two paragraphs, that to encourage happiness you must also encourage love. Today's story illustrates a family's need to see when love will bring another family out from sadness. THE BIG RED BOX February came and as usual, depression set in. With holidays behind her, she could no longer look forward to the parade of friends and relatives that helped her chase away the loneliness. The gloomy, grey mornings only made it worse. She hated Februarys. She remembered how much she used to cherish Valentine's Day, the way he began a week ahead of time, with a different gift each day, building to a huge bouquet of flowers and some special, intimate present that seemed so well thought-out. He always surprised her somehow. She loved that about him. After Jim passed away, her life force seemed to seep out of her like a huge balloon with a slow leak, a little more each day. Deflated, she struggled to get up, pull herself together and function with any sense of normalcy. "Maybe today will be better, " she tried to convince herself. The box shocked her. She knew she hadn't ordered anything because she couldn't afford it. When she first saw the UPS man at her door half hidden by an enormous cardboard thing, she thought for sure that he had made a mistake. "Sign here, " the man said. "Where would you like me to put this?" Flustered, she pointed to the chair in the hallway, the one where Jim always dropped his coat. She stood in the foyer staring at the box, afraid to touch it. No return address, no indication of where it came from. "Should I open it?" she questioned, uncertain and timid. "Why am I acting so ridiculous?" she fussed at herself. She walked to the kitchen, picked up a knife and returned, cut the tape that held the package together and lifted the flaps. Underneath the white Styrofoam peanuts, she could see a vivid red. "What's that?" she wondered and began to dig. Despite herself, she could feel her adrenalin surge. She let the peanuts fall to the ground. There, inside the box, sat another one, a bright cherry colour, with a pink bow that held a single silk rose. Her heartbeat quickened and her face flushed. She reached in and removed the mystery, set it on the neighbouring table. "Who sent this? What is it?" Suddenly, she chuckled. She saw her own smile in the mirror above the counter and barely recognized it. It had been so long. Her excitement took over. She ripped off the ribbon, kept the rose in one hand and pulled off the top. A purple boa wrapped around matching slippers rested on top of a satiny camisole of the same colour. "My favourite!" she squealed. She nestled the boa around her neck and picked up the card with a huge heart on the front. With much trepidation, she opened it and felt her eyes mist. She cried her way through the words. "Mom, I love you so much. Will you be my Valentine? Jim, Jnr." Who might you reach out to next Valentine's Day who might otherwise be alone? Could you find it within yourself to do it? Thanks for your heart. (Ridgely Goldsborough) QUOTE: "Love is a union with somebody, or something, outside oneself, under the condition of retaining the separateness and integrity of one's self. (Erich Fromm) [[ct]]: Bipolar Disease