Daily Inspiration - Daily Quote

Comparisons are odious

2009-11-10T00:09:00.001-05:00

One of the greatest cause of unhappiness - perhaps even the only cause of unhappiness - is comparison. I remember as a young child hearing my mother say, "Comparisons are odious." That is one of the oldest sayings in the English language, and one of the most important.

Essentially all suffering is the result of...

* Comparing what we have (or don't have) today with what we had yesterday.
* Comparing what we fear we might have (or not have) tomorrow) with what we have today.
* Comparing what we have (or don't have) with what others have.

If I own two bicycles while my neighbor owns one, I feel rich, but if I own two bicycles while my neighbor owns a car, I feel that the world has treated me unfairly and I suffer. If I could only crawl yesterday, and can walk today, I am grateful, but if I could run yesterday, and can only walk today, I become angry and resentful.

The way to happiness is what I call Zero-Based Gratitude. Each day be happy and grateful for what you have, independent of yesterday and of other people. Think of Zero-Based Gratitude like zero-based budgeting, the process in which governments and businesses attempt to disregard the spending patterns they have become addicted to, and establish a realistic budget from a base-line of zero spending.

*** November 12 is the last day to get Wayne Dyer's movie The Shift for FREE (plus S&H) You also receive a free trial for a subscription to monthly inspirational DVDs.

Further reading: Zero-Based Gratitude

7 Secrets of Happy Couples

GRATITUDE - the third Point of Simply An Inspired Life

Today is your day to paint life in bold colors - jlh

2009-11-09T00:09:00.003-05:00

Today is your day to paint life in bold colors,
set today's rhythm with your heart-drum,
walk today's march with courage,
create today as your celebration of life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Out with the gray! In with color; in with the juice of life.

Vision - Creation - Art? Each of us is an artist, but many are repressed artists. There is something of ourselves that cannot be expressed in words. Perhaps that something can be expressed in form or color, dance or music. If only with crayons or a tin drum, let that something that cannot be said move your hands or your body today.

*** Are you ready to take the next step beyond Daily Inspiration - Daily Quote?
Read the praise from those who have experienced my
Regaining Your Happiness in Seven Weeks 2.0 e-Training Program

New article: Feel Your Connection With the Infinite - a Meditation

Further reading: Be an Original

The Silver Lining of Losing Your Job

May your spirit soar

Today is your day to dance lightly with life. It really is. - jlh

Victor Hugo quote: An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come.

2009-11-08T00:09:00.000-05:00

An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come.
- Victor Hugo

What new ideas are you resisting? What traditions are you clinging to? What would be possible if you opened yourself to inspiration without reservation?

Affirmation: I am unlimited. I am unstoppable.

*** Are you ready to take the next step beyond Daily Inspiration - Daily Quote?
Read the praise from those who have experienced my
Regaining Your Happiness in Seven Weeks 2.0 e-Training Program

Further reading: Encouragement

Resilience is about believing in yourself, and trusting your own wisdom rather than being swayed by the opinions of others. - jlh

Feel Your Connection With the Infinite - a Meditation

2009-11-07T15:26:00.002-05:00

I Am One With Spirit and All Creation - I give thanks for the unity of all creation and for everything that has brought me to this moment. I release my entire being to the gentle nurture of Spirit.

Whenever it appears that life's troubles are conspiring against me, I find great comfort in this simple meditation...

Choose a quiet place and sit comfortably but erect in a chair with no arms. Remove your glasses, watch, jewelry and metal objects.

Place your feet flat on the floor. Lift your arms off your lap and extend them slightly to the side.

Close your eyes and begin to breathe deeply and rhythmically. Keeping your eyes shut, raise your chin slightly and focus your inner gaze upward.

With each in-breath, visualize clean white energy streaming in through the top of your head. Feel the renewal, the strength, the connection with Spirit and all creation. Feel the wellbeing, the relaxation, the sense of peace. Let the corners of your mouth form just the slightest smile of contentment in the knowing that all is right with your world.

On each out-breath, visualize dark clouds of stale energy leaving from the soles of your feet. Feel the tensions, the angers, the frustrations draining from your body. Feel all your fears and stress falling away as the dark cloud drifts toward the center of the earth.

As you continue breathing slowly, in and out, visualizing the new energy entering and the old energy leaving, the energy leaving through the soles of your feet will grow lighter, changing from black to dark gray to a lighter gray.

When the color of the energy you are exhaling has become almost as bright as the clean new energy that you are breathing in through the crown of your head, the process is complete.

Feel renewed and at peace with Spirit, with the world, with all people and beings, with yourself, with your past, your present and your future.

Give thanks for all that ever has been, all that is, and all that ever will be.

A Course In Miracles quote: Do you prefer that you be right or happy?

2009-11-07T00:09:00.000-05:00

Do you prefer that you be right or happy?
- A Course In Miracles

One of the surest ways to cause yourself great suffering is to insist upon being right - to demand that all others view life exactly as you view it.

Why should it impede your happiness for others to have differing views on politics or religion? for others to paint their houses purple or grow asparagus in place of a grassy lawn? for others to dress, mingle, celebrate, or dine in their own manner?

The path to happiness is to live your life joyfully in your own way and to support and encourage others to do likewise.

*** A new year is coming. Buy 2010 Inspirational Quote Wall Calendars for your friends at www.cafepress.com/DreamThisDay Scroll down past the inspirational quote clothing, mugs, and other items to reach the calendars. The hang-gliding picture in this message with my quote "Standing in the inspiring vision of my future, I boldly take every step - large and small - with courage and intent." is the cover and month May of the wall calendar.

Further reading: Live and let live

Acceptance Makes a Great Relationship Even Better

Know that Spirit transcends all cultural differences and embraces all creation.

Forgiveness and Aceptance, Another Look at the Challenges

Winston Churchill: Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.

2009-11-06T01:22:00.003-05:00

Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.
- Winston Churchill

What is failure? As the Churchill quote illuminates, a failure is neither permanent nor a blot on one's character. A failure is simply the state of not reaching a particular goal.

Choose to adopt the attitude that sports teams do toward failure. In each game, one team succeeds and one fails. Then the next week they both get out a play again. Life is also a game - with some successes and some failures.

Don't think of failing to meet a goal as something terrible, but merely as this week's box score, and then get ready to play next week's game.

*** If you need extra help to lose weight, end smoking, or break bad habits, you may want to consider Hypnotherapy and Neuro-Linguistic Programming. The bonus offer has been extended to November 8.

Further reading: The Eye-of-the-Storm

Life is as easy or as hard as you think it is - jlh

Lao Tzu: A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.

Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi: We may have our private opinions but why should they be a bar to the meeting of hearts?

2009-11-05T00:09:00.000-05:00

We may have our private opinions but why should they be a bar to the meeting of hearts?
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

A friend or co-worker shares a political, religious, economic, or social opinion that is opposite to yours - does that drive a wedge between your hearts?

Affirmation: All people are my heart-felt brothers and sisters.

*** Are you ready to take the next step beyond Daily Inspiration - Daily Quote?
Read the praise from those who have experienced my
Regaining Your Happiness in Seven Weeks 2.0 e-Training Program

Further reading: The Wisdom of Gandhi

Thomas Jefferson: I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.

The Nature of Beliefs

UNITY - the eighth Point of Simply An Inspired Life

Albert Einstein: Whoever is careless with the truth...

2009-11-04T02:15:00.004-05:00

Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.
- Albert Einstein

It really does matter when we tell even the slightest untruth. Even something as well intentioned as telling someone their ill-finished hair style looks wonderful will backfire - certainly karmically, and usually practically.

*** Book of the day: Shelley Kaehr, Ph.D. (author of Sales 101) has helped thousands live more meaningful lives through her groundbreaking work as a hypnotherapist and life coach, and now she can help you too with her new book The Life You Deserve: Step by Step Guide to Purpose, Passion and Profits. Check out the book and bonus gifts at
www.lifeyoudeserve.info

Further reading: What is Honor? Is there a place for Honor today?

Don Miguel Ruiz: "Agreement" #1 "Be impeccable with your word"

John Lennon: Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans

Albert Einstein quotes

Joseph Campbell: When we quit thinking primarily about ourselves...

2009-11-03T00:09:00.004-05:00

When we quit thinking primarily about ourselves and our own self-preservation, we undergo a truly heroic transformation of consciousness.
- Joseph Campbell

The best cure for our own self-inflicted suffering is often service to others.
- jlh

*** Book of the day: Are you finally ready to love your body and love your life? Don’t let yourself be controlled any longer by Negative Body Obsession. Discover how to create a body and a life that you love! http://www.sarahmaria.com/

Further reading: Gifts freely given are never obligations - jlh

Offering Comforting Words and Support ... Lord, grant that I might not so much seek to be loved as to love. - St. Francis of Assisi

Bono Quotes - the Wisdom of Bono

A hero is someone who has given his life to something bigger than himself or something other than himself. - Joseph Campbell

Do or do not, there is no try. - Yoda (Star Wars movie)

2009-11-02T03:27:00.002-05:00

Do or do not, there is no try.
- Yoda (Star Wars movie)

What's wrong with the common advice to Try, and Try Harder? Saying, "I'll try," tends to feel half-hearted and unconvincing. We wouldn't say, "I'm going to try to go to the store for a loaf of bread," we would just say, "I'm going," and so we would. We would feel extremely unsafe in the pilot of our aircraft announced, "I'm going to try to land at the New York airport in five minutes." When we say something like, "I'm going to try to get a better job," we exhibit a lack of confidence that inhibits our ability to accomplish what we intend. Just take a deep breath, tell the world what you are going to do, and then do it.

My revised, upgraded Regaining Your Happiness in Seven Weeks 2.0 e-Training Program is now available.

Are you ready to take the next step beyond Daily Inspiration - Daily Quote?

Read how this program has helped others, and consider making an investment in your own happiness and well-being with the
Regaining Your Happiness in Seven Weeks 2.0 e-Training Program

I Dreamed a Dream

2009-11-01T00:09:00.004-04:00

Alas for those that never sing,
But die with all their music in them!
~Oliver Wendell Holmes

I have a Dream... Martin Luther King Jr.

Nothing happens unless first a dream.
- Carl Sandburg

What is your dream - your life-dream? Have you begun to live it yet?

*** Book of the day: Dreams are Whispers From the Soul with FREE DVD (watch the DVD movie, then buy the book)

Further reading: Mary Anne Radmacher: Dare to dream of your great success

Ralph Waldo Emerson quote: Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail

Take Charge of Your Life - 9 Secrets for Getting Un-Stuck

Vince Lombardi quote: Winning isn't everything, but wanting to win is

Intention versus Expectation (Demand)

Mother Teresa quotes: Love begins at home

2009-10-31T00:09:00.001-04:00

Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do... but how much love we put in that action.
- Mother Teresa

Peace begins with a smile.
- Mother Teresa

If you judge people, you have no time to love them.
- Mother Teresa

*** Book of the day: The Simple Truths of Service with DVD (you can watch the DVD movie before you buy)

Further reading: Offering Comforting Words and Support

A hero is someone who has given his life to something bigger than himself or something other than himself. - Joseph Campbell

Gifts freely given are never obligations - jlh

Mary Anne Radmacher: As we work to create light for others, we naturally light our own way.

Nelson Mandela quotes: There is no passion to be found playing small

2009-10-30T00:09:00.002-04:00

There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.
- Nelson Mandela

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
- Nelson Mandela

After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.
- Nelson Mandela

After being imprisoned for 27 years for opposing apartheid, Nelson Mandela served from 1994 to 1999 as President of South Africa following the abolition of apartheid.

*** Book of the day: The Richest Man in Town with DVD and Audio CDs (preview the DVD movie)

Further reading: I choose to adapt to the circumstances in which I find myself.

Love even those who hate you

Let me bring peace into moments of chaos - jlh

Nelson Mandela: If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.

Never trust spiritual leader who doesn't dance. - Miyagi

2009-10-29T00:09:00.002-04:00

Never trust spiritual leader who doesn't dance.
- Miyagi: character in movie The Next Karate Kid

Anything worth doing is worth enjoying, and that includes religion and spiritual celebration.

Book of the day: Laughter is an Instant Vacation with Free DVD (you can preview the DVD movie)

Further reading: Karate Kid Movie Quotes - Miyagi Quotes

Happiness is not the absence of problems, but the willingness to deal with them joyfully. - jlh

A common denominator of all religions is that they have the power to bring out the best and the worst in people. - jlh

CELEBRATION - the seventh Point of Simply An Inspired Life

Charles Schulz quotes: I've developed a new philosophy... I only dread one day at a time.

2009-10-28T00:09:00.003-04:00

I've developed a new philosophy... I only dread one day at a time.
- the character Charlie Brown in Charles Schultz' Peanuts comic

The way I see it, it doesn't matter what you believe just so you're sincere.
- Linus in Charles M. Schulz’ cartoon Peanuts

Maybe life isn't really as complicated as we make it out to be. Perhaps a simple child-like attitude would create a less stressful and happier life.

*** If you are an author, or have considered becoming one, you know that it's one thing to write a book, and another entirely to have it sell well. My fellow author Sally Shields is sharing what she learned about getting book publicity WITHOUT hiring an expensive PR firm.
Free Publicity 101 Homestudy Program

Further reading: Shed the scales from your eyes

Choose to be as a young child - fully awake, eager for the next experience. - jlh

Where There is Love, Nothing is Missing - a Parable - jlh

Rabindranath Tagore: Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man.

Wayne Dyer quotes: Failure does not exist

2009-10-27T00:09:00.001-04:00

Failure does not exist. Failure is simply someone else's opinion of how a certain act should have been completed. Once you believe that no act must be performed in any specific other-directed way, then failing becomes impossible. - Wayne Dyer

Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.
- Winston Churchill

Fall seven times, stand up eight.
- Japanese Proverb

*** Inspirational film of the month: The Shift: At the age of 68, Wayne Dyer has made his first film, an engaging exploration of our mid-life longing for more purpose and meaning. Get Wayne Dyer's film The Shift FREE (plus S&H) when you sign up for a free trial membership you can cancel at any time.

Further reading: Failure? Never

I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is to try to please everyone - Bill Cosby

Robert F. Kennedy quote: Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder - anonymous quote

2009-10-26T00:10:00.006-04:00

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
- Anonymous

The bird in the photo is a Brown Pelican. Few people would describe the Brown Pelican as either a beautiful bird or a graceful flier. And it is not a delicate eater. When it spies a fish, it partially folds its wings and plunges almost straight down, impacting the water with a giant splash as it nets the fish in its neck pouch. Yet we, especially children, find pelicans lovable and endearing.

How many of us look in the mirror and dislike what we see? Suppose we could be as accepting of ourselves as we are of nature's other creations.

*** Inspirational film of the month: The Shift: At the age of 68, Wayne Dyer has made his first film, an engaging exploration of our mid-life longing for more purpose and meaning. Get Wayne Dyer's film The Shift FREE (plus S&H) when you sign up for a free trial membership you can cancel at any time.

Further reading: Life is magnificent - just as it comes.

The beauty does not live out there; the beauty's in my eyes. - jlh

Love is saying "I feel differently" instead of "You're wrong."

Aging With Grace by Dr. David Mokotoff

Helen Keller quotes: Life is either a daring adventure or nothing

2009-10-25T00:09:00.002-04:00

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.
– Helen Keller

Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything wise in this world.
- Helen Keller

Helen Keller (1880-1968) overcame being both deaf and blind to become a famous author, lecturer, and activist.

On October 23rd, I shared the anonymous quote, "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." As a follow-up, let me direct your attention to the following website, which celebrates an amazing life and a remarkable caregiver.

www.dotsamazingadventures.com

For those who might want a little more insight into how I came to write the Daily Inspiration - Daily Quote email and blog and Simply An Inspired Life book, you can listen to a recording of my 60-minute interview with ReGina Norlinde on BlogTalkRadio.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/earthangelradio/2009/10/23/embrace-your-uniqueness

*** Book of the day: The Story of My Life - Helen Keller

Further reading: Honor your being

Discovery and adventure, rather than fear

Life's burdens are lighter when I laugh at myself. - jlh

May your spirit soar

Mark Twain quotes: Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness

2009-10-24T00:09:00.000-04:00

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.
- Mark Twain

I have been very blessed in having been able to get a tiny peek into the nature of life in a few places around the world. Nothing else has ever brought me so face-to-face with the rigidity of my own thinking as an hour on a street in Cairo or Beijing or a walk through the countryside of Mexico or Peru. Travel opens my mind and my heart more than years of study and contemplation ever could.

We are all one whether we dine on corned beef in New York City, black-eyed peas and cornbread in rural Louisiana, or roast guinea pig in Peru.

Please consider joining me on my next adventure. March 3-15, 2010 I am traveling to Israel and Jordan with my good friend and excellent trip leader Sheri Rosenthal. You can read about our Israel trip and the other wonderful trips Sheri leads at www.JourneysOfTheSpirit.com

Further reading: The Paradox Of Living In The Moment

Friedrich Nietzsche: There are no facts, only interpretations

Never Let Anyone Get Your Goat, Push Your Buttons, Get You Riled Up, or Annoy You - 6 Ways to Cope - jlh

Monastery Housekeeping (one of my Aha moments in traveling to other cultures)

Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.

2009-10-22T23:56:00.003-04:00

Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.
- Anonymous

Have no regrets. How much better to have enjoyed the experience, or the person, for a time than to have never experienced that joy. Release both the good times and the bad times. The nature of life is constant change. Celebrate change.

Further reading: Rabindranath Tagore quote: If you cry because the sun has gone out of your life, your tears will prevent you from seeing the stars.

Helen Keller: Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything wise in this world.

Sympathy Quotes about Death

How to get over regrets and resentments

Rabindranath Tagore quotes: Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark.

2009-10-22T00:52:00.005-04:00

Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark.
- Rabindranath Tagore

The darkest night is often the bridge to the brightest tomorrow.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Today is your day to Spread Wing and Soar.
Fly Life on Free Wings, and Sing to its Glory.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

*** Book of the day: The Art of Happiness in a Troubled World - Dalai Lama

Further reading: The path of the adventurer is a path of joy - jlh

A life lived in fear is a life half lived

Rabindranath Tagore quote: If you cry because the sun has gone out of your life, your tears will prevent you from seeing the stars.

John Lennon: Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans

Anais Nin quotes: Each friend represents a world in us.

2009-10-21T00:09:00.003-04:00

Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.
~ Anaïs Nin

A friend is someone who understands my past, believes in my future, and accepts me just the way I am.
- Anonymous

Friends are those rare people who ask how we are and then wait to hear the answer.
- Anonymous

*** Hay House's I Can Do It! Conference in Tampa FL is only a month away - November 19-22, 2009. The speakers include Louise Hay, Byron Katie, Bernie Siegel, Wayne Dyer, Silvia Browne, and Marianne Williamson. I am going to attend the I Can Do It! Conference, are you?

Further reading: Quotes on Friendship and Friends

Show Your Honest Appreciation - Today.

Our loved ones

12 Life Lessons I Learned From My Cat

Oprah Winfrey quotes: The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.

2009-10-20T00:48:00.003-04:00

The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.
- Oprah Winfrey

Gratitude is the prayer, while Celebration is the song and the dance of praise.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Affirmation: I Celebrate all of life.

*** Book of the day: May You Be Blessed with FREE DVD

Further reading: Celebrating Rainbows and Butterflies - the Small Miracles of Our Life

Celebrate endings - for they precede new beginnings. - jlh

Happiness is not the absence of problems, but the willingness to deal with them joyfully. - jlh

CELEBRATION - the seventh Point of Simply An Inspired Life

What you resist persists - Carl Jung

2009-10-18T22:19:00.000-04:00

What you resist persists
- Carl Jung

To explain Jung's point by way of example... I say, "I'm not going to have a cigarette today, I'm never going to smoke ever again." Far from moving my thoughts away from smoking, I am focusing all my attention on the subject of smoking, even though in a negative way. A far better way to avoid smoking would be to think about a completely different subject - one that grabs your whole attention, and diverts your thinking. Go to the gym or turn Gabrielle Roth up loud and put your whole body, mind, and spirit into your dance. Now, what was I trying to remember NOT to do?

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If you need extra help to lose weight, end smoking, or break bad habits, you may want to consider Hypnotherapy and Neuro-Linguistic Programming.

Check out Alan B. Densky's Neuro-VISION Hypnotherapy web site. This month, Alan is offering a FREE copy of his 7 Session "Relax In A Flash! - Advanced!" program on 2 CDs worth $39.77 with your order for at least $39.77 - plus additional bonuses.

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Read my new article: 12 Ways to De-Stress Your Life - Lose Weight and Stop Smoking by Reducing Stress

Further reading: Carl Jung quotes

Choose Your Habits, Choose Your Life - 5 Secrets For Breaking Your Bad Habits

How To Talk Yourself Into Making Personal Changes - Alan B. Densky

What To Do When Your Whole World Is Falling Apart?

How To Stop Worrying By Using the Qigong Release Exercise

De-Stress Your Life - Lose Weight and Stop Smoking by Reducing Stress

2009-10-18T16:43:00.003-04:00

12 Ways to De-Stress Your Life
- Lose Weight and Stop Smoking by Reducing Stress
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Being concerned with weight or with a smoking habit can easily occupy much of one's attention. It appears that these, and similar issues, are serious problems that must be attacked head-on to be conquered. It feels like a war with a sinister and cunning opponent. But weight, smoking and such are usually not the real enemy. They are the visible symptoms of a common underlying cause and the real enemy - Stress. Stress is your true sinister and cunning opponent.

Here are 12 ways to de-stress your life, and in the process to jump-start your battle with weight, smoking, and other behaviors you wish to change...

1. Get more physically active. If your doctor okay's strenuous activity, get out and work up a sweat. Digging in your garden for a few hours is a real stress-buster. Go for a hike in the woods, pick a steep hill. Remember what you used to love doing, or always wanted to do, and begin today. Dust off your old bike. Buy an inexpensive kayak and learn to paddle. Choose outdoor activities whenever you can. When you are limited by weather or time, choose aerobic dancing to compelling music that captures your whole being. Or just workout until you are tired. But whatever you choose, focus on your activity. Don't talk, watch TV, or think about anything except what you are doing at the instant.

2. Spend time alone in nature. Who can stress while walking barefoot on a lonely expanse of sand, watching the seabirds soar and dive, and listening to the waves break and the wind rustle through the beach grass. Combine physical activity with time spent alone in nature by hiking, paddling, or biking.

3. Release your attachments. Stress is caused by the fear that we will lose what we value. We stress because we fear that we will lose our health, our job, our home, our spouse or friends. We stress that we will have less tomorrow than we had yesterday.

By releasing your attachment to your possessions and your attachment to your relationships, you can eliminate most of the stress in your life. Make a daily practice of visualizing your life without those things you most value. Visualize yourself without a car, a computer, a cell phone, and recognize that those things do not define the true value of your life. If you are in a highly troubled relationship and fear that the other person may leave you, visualize your life without that person, and accept that your happiness in life comes from within, and not from any other person.

4. Simplify your life. Once you have released your attachments to your possessions, consider releasing those things physically as well. Search through your home for things you have not used in a year. Consider which of those items could be given away without loss to your happiness. Perhaps you want to ask yourself about the true value to your life of other possessions as well. What do you own that creates happiness and what creates stress? Would downsizing de-stress your life?

5. Reduce your obligations. Some people keep to themselves. Others thoroughly enjoy being president of their kid's school PTA and volunteering to drive seven girls to scout camp. But many others suffer with too many self-imposed obligations. If you don't enjoy a responsibility, and it isn't truly crucial, just say NO. Focus your volunteering on those activities that give you great joy and satisfaction.

6. Learn to love your job, or get a job you love. This idea for de-stressing your life is the most difficult one for many people. If your reaction is that you simply must continue with a job you hate for the sake of your family, think again. Your family loves and cherishes you for far more than the paycheck you bring home. If taking a different, more personally rewarding, job would make you a happier and more pleasant person, don't you think your family would appreciate the change? Turn the tables and ask yourself if you would want your spouse to work at a job they hated in order to bring home a few more dollars each week? Trust that they would make the same choice for you. Love and honor yourself enough to choose a career that brings satisfaction as well as a paycheck.

7. Begin a project you love. Give yourself a little time each day to work on something creative that you love doing and that makes you feel good about yourself. Knit a scarf. Play the piano. Take up woodcarving.

8. Know that you are not responsible for the whole world. If you are going to make a difference, take up a cause. Campaign for the candidate of your choice, volunteer in your local soup kitchen, write a big check to Doctors Without Borders. But then turn off the eleven o'clock news. Worrying about the state of the world, or the economy, or crime in your community, or the health of your Aunt Judy in Des Moines, or whether your adult child's marriage is going to fail, is a waste of your time and causes much unnecessary stress.

9. Give your time to others. It's hard to worry so much about yourself when you give your time to help those less fortunate. Consider becoming a community volunteer.

10. Forgive everyone, especially yourself, for everything that has ever been done or been left undone. Your anger and hatred hurt you. Forgiveness is the salve that removes the sting of past injuries. Resentments and regrets do not cure the past, but unconditional forgiveness does.

11. Have gratitude for everything that has ever happened or not happened. All of your life is part of a grand plan. You wouldn't be who you are today if you had missed out on any of your experiences.

12. View life as an adventure. Everything changes. The inherent nature of life is constant change. To fear change is to fear life itself. Once you accept that whatever you hate about your life will change soon, and that whatever you love about your life will also change, you can view all of life as the adventure that it is, and end your stress.

Once you are serene and happy, you are far less likely to feel driven to overeat, smoke, or bite your nails. Begin by de-stressing your life, and changing your behaviors will follow naturally.

Further reading: Choose Your Habits, Choose Your Life - 5 Secrets For Breaking Your Bad Habits

How To Talk Yourself Into Making Personal Changes - Alan B. Densky

What To Do When Your Whole World Is Falling Apart?

How To Stop Worrying By Using the Qigong Release Exercise