Pain is Life’s great master-teacher. It is the refiner’s fire, the heat that destroys the bacteria of life. It can burn off impurities, or it can consume and destroy. Our attitude, however, determines the outcome. But what do the trials and adversities of life teach us? What lessons are we to learn? What impurities does the heat of trial and tribulation burn off?

To forgive is to no longer feel hate or resentment for the person who has hurt you. It is to release them from the emotional bondage you keep them in. It is also to free yourself of that same bondage. It is to feel compassion for their troubled minds and hearts and replace hatred with love. It is to sincerely want the best for them. But forgiveness can be a very difficult thing to do. Check out my guest post at Steve Aitchison’s awesome blog, Change your Thoughts!

Have you ever felt sucker-punched by life? Have you felt like you were at your rope’s end? When we find ourselves buried under the weight of trial and despair, we are confronted with two mutually exclusive choices: 1) Lie down, and accept your fate, or 2) Scramble to your feet the best you can, stand as tall as you’re able, look your trial in the eyes and persevere. Come discover 5 ways you too can persevere in the face of your challenges and even become better for having endured.

When nothing stands between you and the mirror of life, you will recognize the importance of four basic components of life: 1) Your thoughts, 2) Your beliefs, 3) Your relationships and experiences, and 4) Your character. Each is crucial to your happiness. Corrupt any one of the four components and your happiness will be compromised. Period. End of story. This post explores the importance of character to a happy life.

Are you fully living life? Are you truly alive? If you’re not, you know what I’m talking about. There is a part of you that does not feel fully awake, that is shrinking little by little or is hiding or perhaps dying inside you. But be assured, there is more happiness, greater joy, the possibility of deep and rewarding growth and a more abundant life waiting for you. Come see how to climb instead of sit, laugh instead of cry, rise instead of shrink and live instead of die.

Thanks all for the emails alerting me of the problem with the comments. Problem fixed! This is the 2nd Edition of Quotable Notables on Happiness. I invite you to read, ponder and apply what you find here. It will make a difference to your happiness. And follow the links to some amazing sites whose authors and creators are engaged in producing some amazing work!

Stuart Mills of Unlock The Door: “providing the keys to unlocking your life,” has posted an article I wrote as a guest post at his amazing site. Come check it out!

Welcome to my first post in a 3-post series that will now be a regular feature here at M2bH. We bloggers like to quote people like Abraham Lincoln and Gandhi for their wisdom and eloquence. But I’ve found many “ordinary” bloggers to be incredibly wise and eloquent too. I use their quotes as springboards into the topic, in this series, on happiness.

Inaction is one of the universal anti-principles to living – it produces apathy and boredom, laziness, anxiety, ill health and depression. Happiness, on the other hand, requires action. We must do certain things. And as we do them consistently, over time, we reap the benefits of a happier life. Action takes effort. Doing requires determination and desire. But doing can also lead to being.

Every action we take creates a ripple that undulates out into the larger currents of life. Each of the hundreds of daily decisions we sometimes only half-consciously make is the equivalent to the act of tossing pebbles in a pond. They splash and start ripples that quiver across the pools of life in ever-enlarging circles of influence. What kind of ripples are you making in life’s pond?

Belief is a powerful thing. We act out of our beliefs. Our convictions and values are based on what we believe to be right or good or true. And what we believe also impacts how we feel as well. One way to change how we experience the world is to change what we believe about it.

I was recently interviewed by the site All Swagga, a blog about men becoming better fathers and better men. Come read the interview and let me know what you think!

We are what we think. And what we think and how we think it plays a significant role in the happiness we enjoy or in its elusiveness. Do you want more happiness? Come see what ways of thinking will automatically add more joy to your life. Learn to be possibility, long-term, and solution oriented. Think positively and learn to choose the thoughts that fill your mind.

Have you set new resolutions, made new goals, committed to a new life, promising yourself and God and the universe that finally, this time, you would successfully conquer your demons once and for all? And then failed … again? Well, fail no more.

Are you burdened by an acute sense of happiness-clobbering guilt? Does the pain of shame rear its ugly head just about every time you start feeling okay about yourself? A conscience should keep us living well and treating others kindly.

Do you spend much time doing things that make you feel good and laugh or feel inspired and happy inside? The more we can fill our lives with joyous moments, the happier our lives will be. It’s the little things that really often count the most. See if any of mine resonate with you.

Quote #16 in the series 16 Principles of Happiness by the 16th President: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Just as nations can be wounded and divided, so can marriages. But just as the nation was healed, marriages can too.

Quote #15 of Series, 16 Principles of Happiness from the 16th President. “We should be too big to take offense and too noble to give it.” Are you thin-skinned and easily offended? You can be happier by applying any of the 10 principles in this post.

Thank you for the emails allerting me to the problem so many of you had trying to leave comments on my posts. Problem is fixed! Please return!! 🙂

Part II of How to Stay Happy on a Rainy Day. Is life raining down cold, bitter darkness? How can you find purpose in your trials? Change what you do, your thinking and your beliefs for greater peace.