32 Keys About Life - Day 29 Cheerfulness

Cheerfulness

Cheerfulness is a state of mind in which we feel content and confident and are free of stress, anxieties and fear. A prolonged state of being cheerful is happiness.

Cheerfulness is wearing a smile and therefore easy to distinguish. It is usually contagious and will often be returned, so that the positive feelings flow both ways.

“What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity.
They are but trifles, to be sure, but, scattered along life’s pathway,
The good they do is inconceivable.” - Joseph Addison (1672-1719)

It is said that laughter is the best medicine. It is an excellent medicine. When you are low and perhaps feeling sorry for yourself, find something funny to laugh at. You can’t feel really bad and laugh at the same time. Laughter just feels good. When things are a bit sour between friends, what better way to set things right, than to have a good laugh together.

“The most completely lost of all days is that on which one has not laughed.” - Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794)

We may not feel like smiling or laughing because we have too much upsetting us. This is a condition that we can usually do something about. Since we are happy when we have pleasant thoughts, we can change our thoughts to something that is enjoyable. Sometimes it is difficult when we are in a deep rut but it can be done with practice.

“Thus the sovereign voluntary path to cheerfulness, if your cheerfulness be lost, is to sit up cheerfully and to act and speak as if cheerfulness were already there.” - William James (1842-1910)

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32 Keys About Life - Day 28 Faith

Author: Ken N McIsaac

Faith

Faith is defined as having complete confidence, trust and belief. For a strong and rewarding journey through life we should have a generous amount of faith. Faith in ourselves, our families and friends, our God.

“Have faith, hope, and charity. That’s the way to live successfully.” - 1950’s song.

Believe in yourself, a unique individual having personal preferences and talents. Have a deep belief that your days will be completed as you wish and imagine they will. This has a very strong and positive influence on your actions. It is just the opposite of feeling anxious and worried that you will fail. This is not a guarantee, but an excellent advantage working in your favor, available for every occasion and for life itself.

“It’s faith in something and enthusiasm for something that makes life worth living.” - Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894)

Believe in your fellow human beings. They are special people with special problems, different lives and backgrounds, different beliefs. Live by the golden rule, expressed in many different ways in other cultures and religions. That is basically - treat others the way you would like to be treated. A time proven way to feel better about our lives and the road ahead.

Religion has long been recognized as a comforting haven in a stormy environment. It can provide comfort for the harshness and hardships encountered in our modern hectic lives. Faith is of special importance to us when we are down. It picks us up and gives us confidence.

“Religion gives me a new zest for life, it gives me faith, hope, and courage. It banishes tensions, anxieties, fears, and worries. It gives purpose to my life - and direction.” - William James (1842-1910)

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32 Keys About Life - Day 27 Sleep

Sleep

“Sleep that knits up the raveled sleeve of care.”  Easy for you, Shakespeare!

It’s distressing to be completely exhausted and unable to relax and have a good night’s sleep. The more you toss around the more stressed you become and the more you toss around. There are various ways that can help in preventing sleepless nights and it is worth learning more about the problem.

Quietly relaxing in the latter part of the evening is most helpful in preparing for a restful sleep. Exercise is stimulating and if done approaching bedtime might put you in a wide awake state.

Trying to put yourself to sleep seems to have the opposite effect. Instead of clamping your eyes tight, try leaving them open to roam the room. Fixing them on an insignificant object can take even more pressure off. In many cases people don’t need as much sleep as they think they do. If you consider that you could manage well with less, there will be less effort on trying to get to sleep. Removing the necessity will often relax you, make you feel better, and allow you to drift off.

When wide-eyed and thrashing about during the night, sometimes a change of scene and thoughts works. This can be helpful in salvaging a night’s sleep: Get out of bed, have a wash, make a hot non-alcohol drink, and watch TV or read for awhile. Try to enjoy it and don’t rush back. Often in a half to one hour drowsiness comes, with the mind cleared of whatever was buzzing in there. An hour lost from bed could very well be followed with a short but restful night’s sleep.

Alcohol may help you to relax and go to sleep, but it is usually only short term, and the net result is less sleep overall. Most people find that taking nightcaps results in waking up at two or three in the morning, and an alcohol induced sleep is not usually a relaxed sleep.

With a troublesome sleep disorder a very first step might be a visit to your family doctor. There are also a lot of good books that offer suggestions on the subject of relaxation and sleep.

Being free of constant stress and worry during the day and evening is pretty well a necessity for happy living, and for a good night’s sleep. So try to establish a program to reduce your anxieties in life.

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32 Keys About Life - Day 26 Cooperation

Cooperation

Cooperation is an essential ingredient in the plan for a successful and satisfying life.

At work a good balance of friendliness with superiors, peers, and subordinates is very important. It can provide new opportunities as well as an increase in self-confidence and enjoyment of the workday. Cooperation is equally rewarding after hours with casual encounters, friends and family.

By listening and making an effort to see others’ viewpoints, there will be less pressure to perform and tasks at hand will be made easier. Good results will come more naturally. We can hardly learn anything when we are speaking but when we are listening there is a good chance that we will hear something that will broaden our outlook and improve our knowledge. The other person will appreciate your attention and will be friendlier and also more receptive. Everyone should benefit.

“He will succeed if he remains firm in principle and goes beyond selfish considerations to mingle freely with those who do not share his feelings, as well as those who do.” - I Ching

Easy on the criticism! When we criticize others, we make ourselves look bad. When we gossip we imitate the snake and gain just that kind of reputation. Do you trust someone who makes a habit of gossiping? The next time you are ready to criticize, pause for a minute and begin to consider the positives of the person or situation. Perhaps you will change your mind.

“If we had no faults we should not take so much pleasure in noting those of others.” - Duc de Rochefoucauld (1613-1680)

Be friendly and be interested to get ahead and to feel good about life.

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You can buy the full 32 Days from Ken N McIsaac here.

32 Keys About Life - Day 25 Self-esteem

<img src=”http://cachens.corbis.com/CorbisImage/170/20/90/5181/20905181/42-20905181.jpg” hspace=”10″ align=”left”>Author: Ken N McIsaac

Self-esteem

Lack of self-esteem is a fairly common personal trait found in various segments of our society, with young and old. It can hold back our progress, put us under extreme stress, and make us feel generally bad about life.

It may have been building inside us for many years with the aid of bad thinking. Fortunately bad thinking can be replaced with good thinking. Whenever self-doubt creeps in, quickly replace your thoughts with a good image of yourself and your actions.

“A person who doubts himself is like a man who would enlist in the ranks of his enemies and bear arms against himself. He makes his failure certain by himself being the first person to be convinced of it.” - Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870)

Be happy being yourself! It is much better to be you than to pretend to be someone else. We should accept that we are just human beings and forget trying to be perfect in the eyes of others. If those who are not superstars are cast out it will be a very empty world.

“The finest lives, in my opinion, are those who rank in the common model, and with the human race, but without miracle, without extravagance.” - Michel de Montaigne (1553-1592)

Speaking out can be one of the most difficult things to do when bogged down with self-doubt. Some things to consider trying: Stop criticizing yourself. Don’t be too careful about what you are going to say - just say it. Don’t be too critical of others, and let people know that you feel friendly toward them. When you are stuck in a wordless situation don’t worry about it. Relax, smile. Many others are in this boat with you, at other times and places.

Improving our lives in other ways will make it that much easier to improve our self-esteem. Try to eliminate worry, anger and stress by learning more about them. Work on positive enhancements to your life like friendship, relaxation, meditation, and purpose.  As with any serious personal health problem consider consulting a health professional.

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32 Keys About Life - Day 24 Love

Author: Ken N McIsaac

Love

There are various kinds of love with even more definitions of each. One popular version might be described as the desire for two people to spend their lives together, with a continuing compassion for each other through good and bad times.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) puts it quite nicely this way: “Two persons who have chosen each other out of all the species with a design to be each other’s mutual comfort and entertainment have, in that action, bound themselves to be good-humored, affable, discreet, forgiving, patient, and joyful, with respect to each other’s frailties and perfections, to the end of their lives.”

Of course it isn’t always easy because conflicts about ideas, choices and habits arise. Some of these conflicting situations are easy to overlook while others can be very annoying, upsetting, and continual. Some personal mannerisms of one may never suit those of the other, and compromise cannot always be reached. Parting ways might seem inevitable, but often relaxing and rethinking the whole picture can result in a positive turn.

For example, many difficulties in a friendship, including marriage, can be put to the back by the simple act of resignation. By accepting certain personal conditions as permanent, they will somehow become more acceptable. Eventually the conflicting ideas may not be much of an issue, thanks to resignation. This leaves more room for mutual contentment and fondness.

Has the other’s point of view been considered earnestly? How about a commitment to doing things that are basically unfavorable if it will improve the relationship? What are the other’s favorable traits and conditions that are being overlooked? Nobody has to be perfect!

“If you wished to be loved, love.” - Lucius Seneca (3-65)

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32 Keys About Life - Day 23 Solving Problems

 

Author: Ken N McIsaac

Problems

We are all faced with problems throughout our lives, some are small, others huge. Depending on how we deal with them, they can be overwhelming and devastate our lives, or they can quickly fade into the past.

Attitude plays a big role. With a difficult personal or work undertaking, consider all viewpoints, even those you think you don’t like. It just might provide relief from your fearful analysis of the situation. Don’t oversize the problem which is often a panic reaction. Discuss the actions that you could take with a friend or co-worker which can sometimes provide a good suggestion and some instant stress relief.

Lay out a procedure and slowly complete the first task. The next steps should be easier. Often we will keep on worrying after the decisions are made, which of course is of no help at all. If everything that can be done has been done then it’s time to follow through.

“Our plans miscarry if they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.” Lucius Seneca (3-65)

Rejection can be an unpleasant experience, but it just lets us know that we aren’t perfect. Who is? Consider it a lesson learned, then forget it and move on with your life in a positive constructive manner.

To help solve a difficult problem or to cut down on worrying about making a decision, analyze the situation, determine what must be done and carry it out. In writing or on your PC:

Get all the facts.
Describe the problem in detail.
List all the possible solutions.
List the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Detail what you will do.
Follow through.

You have detailed the planning and know that you will proceed in a certain way, but will review it as required. Later. Now it’s time to think other thoughts.

“What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing.” - Aristotle (BC)

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32 Keys About Life - Day 22 Revenge

Author: Ken N McIsaac

Revenge

Each time that someone inflicts physical or emotional pain upon us there is usually a natural reaction to attack back. While this can give some much needed satisfaction, it is not an open and shut case.

There are different kinds of hurt - harsh or mild, intentional or accidental, apparently justified or not. Sometimes the perpetrator is emotionally ill or extremely stressed and unaware of the seriousness of the incident, perhaps feeling very much worse than you do. Imagine that the positions are switched for a different perspective on the situation.

“It’s hard to have one’s watch stolen, but one reflects that the thief of the watch became a thief from causes of heredity and environment which are as interesting as they are scientifically comprehensible; and one buys another watch, if not with joy, at any rate with a philosophy that makes bitterness impossible.” - Arnold Bennett (1867-1931)

It is worth considering the aftermath of revenge. How do you feel now, better or worse? How does the other person feel? Was your reaction too strong or harmful? Perhaps you feel bad and regret it altogether? Could a little discussion have avoided the incident?

“To be wronged or robbed is nothing unless you continue to remember it.” - Confucius (BC)

It may seem very stupid to turn the other cheek when we have been hurt, and often it is. However, we should review the situation and consider the facts and effects. Who is being harmed by our anger and retaliation? If we cause ourselves more grief when we try to get even, isn’t this another reason to at least review our actions?

“He who seeks revenge should remember to dig two graves.” - Chinese proverb

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32 Keys About Life - Day 21 Future

Author: Ken N McIsaac

Future 

Our vision for the future might hold one of these two possibilities. We could be dreaming about some enjoyment that hopefully lies ahead, or worried about some looming hardship.

Often the enjoyment in our lives is put on hold, we just need more time and money. We just have to work a little harder. Too many things can go wrong with this and we may not be able to do it later for various reasons. If we put off our enjoyment of life until later, it may take longer than we think, or it may never happen the way that we envisioned it.

We should not throw away our precious todays in anticipation of good times, not when we can have days of enjoyment and satisfaction now. Perhaps it’s time for an examination of our style of life and our wants and needs, now and for the future. It is good to imagine a happy future and make plans for it but we should not put off the happiness we can have today. So why not live each day as if the future plans may not materialize.

“We are never living, but only hoping to live; and, looking forward always to being happy, it is inevitable that we never are so.” - Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)

Worrying over something that is going to happen will make our lives stressful and less happy.

After examining an upcoming difficult or seemingly disastrous situation, if there is something that can be done to improve on it, do it. If not, and the event cannot or should not be avoided, then accept the fact and start thinking about something else. Worrying about it will not only be a total waste of time but it will increase anxiety, and things will seem even worse than they really are.

“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, not to anticipate troubles, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.” Buddha (BC)

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You can buy the full 32 Days from Ken N McIsaac here.

32 Keys About Life - Day 20 Stress

Author: Ken N McIsaac

Stress

Stress is predominant in our society. Most of us are running here, running there, doing something at high speed, seldom relaxing. And they thought they were living busy lives a hundred years ago!

“This strange disease of modern life with its brisk hurry and divided aims.” - Matthew Arnold (1822-1888)

To improve upon this stressful way of life we can reassess our values and routines. If possible, we can eliminate some of those things which are not necessary to a contented life, and we can slow down. Achieving a stress free way of life will help keep us healthier and living longer and make our time here a lot more fun.

You can often visualize your way out of tension by picturing yourself in a very calm, peaceful, serene setting, in complete easy control. Picture it clearly and hold on to it. You can use your imagination in many different ways to help siphon off tensions - when at the bathroom sink or in the shower, let all your worries, stresses, anxieties, run down the drain with the dirty soapy water.

When you start to feel stress coming on, immediately try relaxing the muscles and fill your mind with thoughts of peace, tranquility, confidence, strength, happiness. Repeat these and other calming words to yourself now and again. Take notice of, and enjoy your surroundings all through the day. Look at, listen to, smell the limitless variety of things natural everywhere.

Make a determined effort to please someone. Offer help, agree, smile. This is much easier than trying to impress others, or trying to be perfect. Thinking of, and interacting with others, can be very soothing on the nerves, particularly if you expect no credits.

“The American over-tension and jerkiness and breathlessness and intensity and agony of expression are primarily social, and only secondarily physiological, phenomena. They are bad habits, nothing more or less, bred of custom or example, born of imitation of bad models and the cultivation of false personal ideals.” - William James (1842-1910) .

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