Last Christmas my wife gave me a wonderful collection of stones inscribed with sayings we use in our house and things that matter to us. Sometimes I place them on a table and let ideas come to mind and I call them my thinking stones, because looking at them always get me thinking about how blessed we are. Our kids love to play with them as well. Thanks Chay!

There is a picture of them below. I believe she purchased them online. Will find out where if anyone is interested.

I am not sure how much I love this, but it’s definitely a lot.

My good friend Debi is the source of much positive energy and light. She regularly sends emails with powerful messages including this one which I thought I would share.

12 Symptoms of Inner Peace

~ Saskia Davis

1. An increasing tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.

2. An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.

3. A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.

4. A loss of interest in judging other people.

5. A loss of interest in judging self.

6. A loss of interest in conflict.

7. A loss of the ability to worry.

8. Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation.

9. Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature.

10. Frequent bouts of smiling.

11. A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than on fears based on past experiences.

12. An increased susceptibility to the love extended by others as well as the uncontrollable urge to extend it

In the book Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude (which I just finished btw and highly recommend), the author Napoleon Hill refers to an article he once wrote, entitled “Contentment” which includes the following passage:

The richest man in the world lives in Happy Valley.
He is rich in values that endure, in things he cannot lose.
Here is an inventory of his riches and how he acquired them:
I found happiness by helping others find it.
I found sound health by living temperately and eating only the food my body requires to maintain itself.
I hate no man, envy no man, but love and respect all mankind.
I am engaged in a labor of love with which I mix play generously; therefore I seldom grow tired.
I pray daily, not for more riches, but for more wisdom with which to recognize, embrace and enjoy the great abundance of riches I already possess.
I speak no name save only to honor it, and I slander no man for any cause for whatsoever.
I ask no favors of anyone except the privilege of sharing my blessings with all who desire them.
I am on good terms with my conscience; therefore, it guides me accurately in everything I do.
I have more material wealth than I need because I am free from greed and covet only those things I can use constructively while I live.
My wealth comes from those whom I have benefited by sharing my blessings.
The estate of happy valley, which I own, is not taxable. It exists mainly in my own mind, in intangible riches that cannot be assessed for taxation and appropriated except by those who adopt my way of life.
I created this estate over a lifetime of effort by observing nature’s law and forming habits to conform with them.

Almost forgot to celebrate yesterday was my one year anniversary of quitting coffee. Actually I forgot because I don’t think about coffee anymore. The first year was pretty easy and I see no reason to start drinking it again. I don’t need the caffeine and although it tastes and smells great, it does more hard than good considering the impact of the caffeine and other acids that are tough on the body. Unfortunately, I also haven’t had chocolate in a year either. C’est la vie.

A friend of mine, Alfredo, posted this to his facebook and I couldn’t agree more.

Eleven years of parenting has taught me at least four things that every child does NOT need in their lives (in no particular order): 1. Networked TV; 2. Packaged food of any kind (except pasta of course); 3. Suburbia; and 4. A disbelief that dreams can come true.

image courtesy of www.dadstogether.com

Having young kids means you will hear endless stories about bullying and name calling when they arrive home from school and if you have more than one child, you will get to see this all first hand when they tease each other and compete for toys and attention. We teach our kids to not get upset when other kids say inconsiderate things to them. For instance my five year old daughter would regularly complain that a particular girl at her school was rude and would says things like”you are not my friend” which upsets my daughter (which is ironic since this is a teasing tactic that my daughters use between themselves at home). So we have explained to her to ignore people that aren’t nice and to not take it personally.

Right now they have been reciting this age old rhyme and it seems to have caught on:

“sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”

Teaching our kids confidence and self esteem is a critical life skill. In life lots of “mud” gets slung your by people who are unhappy, angry, controlling, jealous or in some other hurtful mood and it usually has more to do with the “slinger” than the one receiving. When this happens, as it always does, we want our kids to be able to let it go. They get this. It is fun to see the kids learn important life lessons at such a young age.

Yesterday morning I whipped up a vegan, berry spinach smoothie and thought I would video my creation and share it here.

Here is my “recipe” and list of the ingredients:

• a couple of handfuls of blueberries (frozen and fresh)
• handful of strawberries
• one whole apple
• a few handfuls of baby spinach (add to taste, it gets sweet when mixed in the blender)
• fresh mint
• almond milk
• protein powder
• crushed ice
• water

As I mentioned in the video I don’t measure the ingredients as I just like to throw stuff together. I forgot to add the raspberries I normally add. The less ingredients the more you will be able to taste the berries, but I tend to throw in anything I can get my hands on until the blender is full – mangoes and pears are great additions. My kids like banana’s but I find this pushes this into the high glycemic territory. You could probably use rice milk as well or dairy, of course, if you were so inclined (…but I can’t imagine why you would be).

With the protein powder in the drink, it ends up being a near meal and I put it in the fridge so I can have it as a snack all throughout the weekend whenever I make it.

If you have your creations, add them in the comments below, would love to hear them. Enjoy!

I read somewhere that by the age of 5 children will have heard discouragement in the form of words like “no”, “don’t” or “stop” something like 5,000 times more than positive words like “yes.”

We can speculate on how this might affect kids, but the movie Yes Man, starring Jim Carey, offers some insight. The movie tells the story of a sad and lonely man who decides to say yes in response to every question he is asked. His life immediately begins to attract abundance and happiness. This may be a fairytale, but have you ever noticed how often you say yes or no?

Try saying “yes” for a day. I dare you.

People often say things like “I wish I had that person’s commitment” or “I just don’t have that level of discipline.” The cool thing is you do have that level of commitment and discipline.

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