JUST CHECKING IN


I just returned from a wonderful long week-end. You'll be hearing about it once I get back down to earth.

posted by millie garfield @ 7:59 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 13 comments

 
SIX HAPPINESS TIPS
Can you imagine, I didn't have anything that I wanted to post today - no memories, no movie reviews, no recipes and no complaints!

This was the time to go to my "Idea Folder."


Girasoles para los amigos / Sunflowers for the friends by Claudio.Ar - Hermes - Back on line :), on Flickr CC BY-NC-SA

I found this article written by Tai Ben-Shahar who is an author and lecturer at Harvard University. He teaches a course at Harvard on "Positive Psychology" and a course on "The Psychology of Leadership."

After rereading it, I can see why I saved it.

Six Happiness Tips

Advice from Tal Ben-Shahar:

1. Give yourself permission to be human. When we accept emotions — such as fear, sadness, or anxiety — as natural, we are more likely to overcome them. Rejecting our emotions, positive or negative, leads to frustration and unhappiness.

2. Happiness lies at the intersection between pleasure and meaning. Whether at work or at home, the goal is to engage in activities that are both personally significant and enjoyable. When this is not feasible, make sure you have happiness boosters, moments throughout the week that provide you with both pleasure and meaning.

3. Keep in mind that happiness is mostly dependent on our state of mind, not on our status or the state of our bank account. Barring extreme circumstances, our level of well being is determined by what we choose to focus on (the full or the empty part of the glass) and by our interpretation of external events. For example, do we view failure as catastrophic, or do we see it as a learning opportunity?

4. Simplify! We are, generally, too busy, trying to squeeze in more and more activities into less and less time. Quantity influences quality, and we compromise on our happiness by trying to do too much.

5. Remember the mind-body connection. What we do — or don't do — with our bodies influences our mind. Regular exercise, adequate sleep, and healthy eating habits lead to both physical and mental health.

6. Express gratitude, whenever possible. We too often take our lives for granted. Learn to appreciate and savor the wonderful things in life, from people to food, from nature to a smile.

posted by millie garfield @ 4:38 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 10 comments

 
SIXTY SIX
You might think I'm going to write about age, but no, it's about a movie titled "Sixty Six."

It takes place in London, the year is 1966, that's the year England is scheduled to compete for the world cup soccer championship. It's also the year that 12 year old "Bernie" is going to celebrate his Bar Mitzvah.

He's the kind of a kid that is the last one chosen to be on any athletic team. He wears goggles and gets lost in a crowd.



His brother had an elaborate Bar Mitzvah a few years ago and Bernie keeps thinking about how he's finally going to have the opportunity to shine, get lots of presents and be the man of the hour.

Bernie has high hopes, starts making a large guest list, thinks about the lavish hotel the guest will be invited to, the big band, the fuss family and friends will make about him and THE PRESENTS he will receive



Even though he has all those grand ideas about his Bar Mitzvah he has his doubts about how he will perform on the most important day of his life. That's where the kindly rabbi comes in. He works with Bernie and eventually he feels confident.

All does not go well - the year is 1966 and times are bad. The family loses their business and they are not in a position to have a costly affair like they did for Bernie's older brother.

Bernie is still thinking big and the father and mother have to gently break the news to their son that the affair will have to be a lot smaller. Oh my!! Oh my!!

To make matters worse the finals for the soccer cup is going to be held on the same day as Bernie's Bar Mitzvah. All of London is in a frenzy - hoping that England will win - not Bernie, he even has a dart board in his room hoping that England will lose. England keeps winning and will participate in the finals!

The day of the finals (and the day of the Bar Mitzvah) comes and the phone starts ringing - guests call and make all kinds of excuses - they can not attend. Bernie is crushed.

If you want to know how all this ends, go see the movie. What I will tell you is when the movie ended, the audience applauded!

I was not familiar with any of the cast members but they all did a great job.



The movie had me laughing, at times I had tears in my eyes and at other times I was remembering when my husband and I were planning Steve's Bar Mitzvah.

Other sites:
Kicking it Kosher
Bernie's Soccer Blog

posted by millie garfield @ 3:31 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 6 comments

 
MEET THE GROUCH
When Ronni is unhappy about something she posts as "The Crabby Old Lady." Now it's my turn, just call me "The Grouchy Old Lady."

I usually can take things in my stride but this week was different. Maybe it was the humid weather, my allergy or not sleeping well but everything was rubbing me the wrong way!

For example:
I have a few special events coming up in the next few months and want to update my clothes. After all, how many times can you go shopping in your closet. I finally made up my mind to tackle the stores.

There are several stores in my immediate neighborhood so getting there is no problem. I stopped at two stores, nothing there so off I went to the third store. Fortunately I found a patent leather clutch bag that I have been looking for, for sometime.



Off I went to check out my purchase. The store has one area for purchases and one for returns. That day they only had one cashier for purchases and one for returns That was ok because there was only one person in front of me. (Oh, by the way the air conditioning was not working)

When the lady in front of me started to take her purchases out of the carriage there was no end to what she was buying. I saw LOADS of baby clothes, they were all on hangers and the cashier had to take them off the hangers and fold them. And if that wasn't bad enough she had to call for a price check!! (And you know how long that can take)



At this point the lady behind me gave up and left. Ordinarily I would have done the same but I really wanted that clutch.

All this time the return cashier wasn't doing anything until a customer approached her to make a return.

Meanwhile the line in back of me was growing by leaps and bounds. Finally it was my turn!! What happened next really got my dander up - the return cashier started to take care of customers who wanted to make purchases!

No wonder I was grouchy!

posted by millie garfield @ 4:58 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 15 comments