Obsession is a lot like holding a flame in your hand. It is powerful and can produce the heat of passion and power and drive. But it can also consume and destroy. The trick is to keep the flame burning without succumbing to the temptation to aim the heat too exclusively at a single target. But to be obsessed with life is to be obsessed with making use of every moment, of appreciating the ebb and flow of living. I recommend 6 obsessions here that can improve your life and make 2012 an amazing year.

Have you ever seen someone you couldn’t keep your eyes off? And then, after getting to know them a bit, you wonder why you ever found them sexy in the first place? Have you had the opposite experience where you didn’t find someone sexy UNTIL you got to know them? There is a sexiness more profound than shape and form. It’s a sexiness or person, of personality and character. In a word, it is the sexiness of happiness.

Do you struggle to make sense of life? Does happiness seem fleeting and distant? Is emotional pain eating you from the inside? Read my interview with Lori Deschene of Tiny Buddha and see why her site has such a huge following! Also, participate in a free hardcover giveaway of Lori’s new book, “Tiny Buddha: Simple Wisdom for Life’s Hard Questions! Two books will be given out. Come see what all the buzz is about!

Has Christmas and the holidays lost some of the depth and meaning you remember it having in the past? Make Christmas once again feel like it did when you were young. Add meaning and purpose to your Christmas celebrations as you try one or two of the best tips provided here. And then share what you do to add significance to a significant holiday.

Second in an ongoing feature here, excerpts from comments left by readers are used to introduce topics. My readers comments are about as eloquent and insightful and pithy as the most famously quoted. Come see what I mean and discover the passion to live higher and bolder, taking action in your life to build something out of the clay of your life that will be richly rewarding, deeply happy and profound.

Every choice, and thought and action, our habits, ideas, interpretations, assumptions and attitudes all combine to create an unmistakable trajectory for our lives. They point us down a particular path. Our beliefs create the context within which we think and interpret and assume and act. To change our lives, we must change our beliefs: what we believe is possible, what we believe is important, what we believe about ourselves and about life.