Tag: happiness

Momento Mori- Remember That You Must Die

A young man was awakened during the night by the feel of covers slipping off his body and the faint draft of cold air. As he opened his eyes he saw a figure standing over him.

“Let’s go,” the figure whispered.

Frightened the young man scrambled to the corner of the bed. “Who are you?! How did you get in here?”

“I am death. And we are now known to each other.”

Perplexed the young man looked around. He must be dreaming. “A lucid dream,” he thought as he willed his body to wake up.

A cold realization came over the young man as he looked down and saw his body lying peacefully, still wrapped under the covers. This was no dream. He was dead. His time was up.

“Please, one more day,” the young man pleaded. “I have been so worried about what might be that and I just need one day to live freely knowing what is to come.”

Death looked down at the young man with pity. “One more day. I will return. Momento Mori. You can die tomorrow.”

With that, the figure was gone. The young man felt his eyes grow heavy as he felt himself slip back beneath the covers.

How will the young man react when he wakes up?

How would you react if you knew your time was up and at the last second you were given just one more day. Would you wake up sad or glad? A mixture of both?

Imagine being the young man and death not giving you that one extra day. How badly would you want to wake up just one more time? If death said you couldn’t have the whole day but you’d be allowed breakfast how much care would you take in tasting your breakfast? How much joy would you get from the most mundane activity if you knew this was your curtain call?

We are all the young man and we have all been given a pardon until tomorrow.

One of the keys to happiness is remembering you will die. I will die. But we are not dead. Not yet. But, there’s always tomorrow. And that is why we should be happy.

View life from the perspective that it must come to an end and we’re all living on borrowed time. Momento Mori, one day you must die. And that’s what makes life so beautiful.

Each night when you go to bed, think to yourself “That was life. But now it’s over.” And when you wake up the next day be happy that you’ve been given a one-day reprieve. Momento Mori.

If you enjoyed this article please share it with your friends and enemies. We’ll both be dead relatively soon. The least you could do is share my article.

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Manually Overriding Your Emotional Toggle

Manually Overriding Your Emotional Toggle

What if you could step back from your emotions and do a manual override? You’d essentially be able to choose to have a better attitude, to experience life through a calmer lens. How would that enhance your life?

I try my best to be mindful. Despite my desires to have more presence and patience I’m often ashamed at how easily I find myself thrown into a negative spiral.

The issue isn’t experiencing momentary feelings of negativity, the issue is remaining there.

Recently I’ve started a new visualization when I notice I’m upset. I imagine stepping back from myself and manually flipping my emotion toggle from negative to positive.

It looks like this…

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Cute, huh?

This quick visualization does a couple of things for me. First, it reminds me that I have some control over the way I’m feeling. Our emotions happen on autopilot. But, much like a self-driving car, we can override the computer and take control. I can choose to be happy even if some outside stimulus is threatening to ransack my pleasant emotional state.

The second thing this visualization does for me is it gives me permission to let go and reset. When I try to convince myself to not let something bother me there’s always a voice somewhere in my head saying “But you were WRONGED!” and it’s almost like I’m letting myself down if I don’t remain angry.

When I continue down the path of being upset it negatively colors whatever period of time that feeling is there. If I have a bad interaction with someone on Twitter I can find myself being irritated at completely unrelated things. It’s not until that feeling dissipates that I can go back and analyze what went wrong.

Stepping back from myself and manually flipping the toggle back to positive has been a surprisingly effective shortcut.

When you start to feel yourself experiencing negative emotions try this exercise. Imagine stepping outside of yourself and manually flipping your emotional toggle from negative to positive.

This isn’t meant to convince you to be fake or not acknowledge that bad things are happening. Rather it’s the acknowledgment that bad and good things are continually happening all around us. Where we choose to keep our focus largely determines how we’ll experience the day. Give yourself permission to let go and reset your emotional toggle whenever the need arises.

If you enjoyed this article please share it with your friends and enemies

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How to Recharge Your Life Battery Through Stoicism

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The Daily Struggle for Happiness

“Happiness comes with a struggle.”-famous thinker

I’m sure that’s a quote from someone important. I think a lot of us are feeling a general sense of melancholy lately. Picking a few areas to purposefully struggle in has really helped me to avoid that feeling of I’m worthless, I didn’t do anything today. Maybe viewing productivity through this structure will help you. Continue reading “The Daily Struggle for Happiness”

How to Recharge Your Life Battery Through Stoicism

A lot of us live our lives in a never-ending battle to keep it together. It feels like we’re being pulled in multiple directions and, frankly, it’s exhausting. We’re in a constant state of low-battery mode and we’re not sure how to charge the thing.

One problem is we totally misunderstand how our brains work. Continue reading “How to Recharge Your Life Battery Through Stoicism”

How to Live Life One Old Kodak Slide at a Time

Some of my fondest childhood memories were watching old photographs come to life in my grandpa’s 35mm Kodak 650h projector. Each slide started with a satisfying click of the reel then finished with a story from decades ago.

We’d make popcorn and drink sweet tea or Coke while we all sat around and listened in rapt attention. Each slide was a new world. A different life. One locked away in a grainy 35mm slide forgotten by time, waiting to be reborn on a bumpy wall in Kalispell, Montana. Continue reading “How to Live Life One Old Kodak Slide at a Time”

February Recap and March Goals

Fire. That title is straight fire. February recap and March goals. If that doesn’t get your blood flowing I don’t know what will. What’s this article going to be about? I like to keep my readers guessing. Okay, fine. This post is going to be about what happened in February AND what my goals are for March. Continue reading “February Recap and March Goals”

How to Become Successful- Stop Blaming and Start Swimming

We all want to be successful. Life is inherently unfair and hard work isn’t always the determining factor in where we end up. Sometimes you work harder than the person next to you and they’re the ones who get the job. The world can be a cold mistress.

So what do we do, assuming we weren’t born with a silver spoon? This will border on being a controversial statement, but hear me out: Stop blaming society for your problems.

It’s not your fault, but you may as well take responsibility. Continue reading “How to Become Successful- Stop Blaming and Start Swimming”

Being There- How to Enjoy the Now

It’s Monday morning. We didn’t sleep great last night and I’m especially foggy today. As I made my second cup of coffee I stared out the window at the traffic lights whizzing by in the dark. The moon was bright and I could still see stars. This was not the sort of time of day people are supposed to be up.

I felt the coming stress of the day creep in. It’s my day to watch June while Mrs. Burrito Bowl works. Whether I have the energy or not, I’m daddy today. Being there for her is a must. I have to take care of her needs regardless of my mood, energy, or stress levels. Continue reading “Being There- How to Enjoy the Now”

The Day After You Die

Today I want to talk about mindfulness and the fact that one day we’re all going to die. The point of the post isn’t to make people depressed, but rather to get you to stop and take a minute to appreciate the now.

Life is one long road trip. We get so focused on the road ahead that we never take a minute to look at the scenery. We’ll be at our destination before we know it. I’m afraid a lot of us will get there only to realize we never took the time to look out the window.

Continue reading “The Day After You Die”

The Cost of Kindness

I was recently struck with how little effort it takes to drastically affect someone’s day for the positive. My sister texted me out of the blue and asked how I was doing. Not in the “How’s it going?” “Good, you?” type of way, but a real “No really, how are you doing?” It gave me a chance to unload a little bit. Overall, I’m doing really well. This is easily the happiest I’ve ever been. But, I’m also tired and find myself more than a little discouraged from time to time.

Here’s the truth: I want to quit blogging after every post I publish. Continue reading “The Cost of Kindness”