The Olympic Games are thrilling and compelling because they embody human excellence. They remind us of tha value of determination, dedication, will and stamina, refusing to allow life to get in the way of living it at its highest, pushing for what seems impossible, reaching amazing levels of human capacity. The passion and drive, hard work, sacrifice and blood sweat and tears in every step, every jump and even in every stumble, inspires us.

The reasons for change are endless: A new career. An old habit. A new one. Acquiring a skill. Overcoming a fear. Ending procrastination. Becoming happier. But no matter the reason or the kind, all change has a starting point. This post is a tribute to the late Dr. Stephen R. Covey. Change is made possible by understanding the principles undergirding change. Covey taught those principles.

Life is an incomplete design. And we are the designers. We choose the colors, the pattern, the shape and size of the final product, a glorious finished work of amazingness. Granted, God gave us the materials and even some basic instructions to guide us, but we weave the pieces together to make of our lives what we will.

The inside of your life will always be more important than the outside in determining how happy your life will be. How you think and interpret life — how you view the world, seeing it as a cold and lonely place or one of adventure and opportunity — that will change how you feel about life. The secret to living a passionate life of happiness, then, is to start looking at life with new eyes.

Not everyone’s depression is exactly the same. The causes of it, the way it’s felt and experienced and those steps and ideas that will ultimately help to lift the cloud of depression will be in some combination different for each person struggling with that challenge. So what I’ve done is to write a sort of suicide note … in reverse. There are reasons to choose to live that may be enough to spark that same desire in someone else. My hope is that it does.

A life of emotional independence is one wherein my mood and self-esteem and self-worth and happiness are products of my own design. I am not the product of others’ opinions. My feelings are independent of theirs. Others don’t “make” me mad. I choose my emotional responses to life’s circumstances.

Friendships are organic things. They live and grow and sometimes wilt and decay. They take something of us to maintain and nourish. Neglect can kill a relationship just as fast as it can a houseplant. At some level, we like to think there is nothing that could end a true friendship. But in the real world, there are many poisons that quickly sink deep into the bloodstream of even our most cherished relationships, infecting them with deadly toxins. Come in and see what those deadly toxins are!

Depression is a reaction to real problems. It signals the need to change something. While the need to change may be real and the call for action urgent, the overriding challenge is that depression often inspires inertia. But how you feel about your life, in most cases, can be changed, no matter how chronic the root of your depression is or seems. Come see how to begin that change today.

Depression is a thousand knives continually cutting at the fabric of the heart. It is the empty space of nothingness stretching mile after forsaken mile. It is darkness and despair and the endless echo of loneliness. It is oppressive and violent and vile. And yet there are ways of shining a light into that seemingly eternal darkness. There are ways to stop the deafening scream of emotional pain that shrieks in the inner ear of the depressed. Hope is available. Here’s the first step.

What do your kids most need from you? Here are 10 gifts you can give your children that will change their lives … and yours … forever. Come see why parenthood is such serious business. There’s no other business, in fact, more important you can spend your time and energy building. Average parenting requires average effort. Great parenting requires more of us. It requires us to work on the inside, on the person who is the parent. Offering these gifts will require that deep commitment to what’s best to raise happy, loving and decent men and women.

A Guest post by Anne Lyken-Garner: Most neighborhoods have that one house that is run down and unkempt with rusty cars on the lawn and garbage strewn around the yard. Sometimes the greatest blessings can be discovered in such unexpected places. Anne poignantly shares her experience and the treasured lessons she learned from it, lessons we would all do well to learn ourselves.

Have you ever had a conversation with your food? Me either. Until one day … (Excerpt): “My slice of cheese pizza had no jealousy for the meat-lovers slices or envy for the supreme slices. It didn’t judge the Canadian Bacon … or itself, for that matter. It was simply what it was. Nothing more. Nothing less.” There’s a lesson even a slice of pizza can teach the best of us. Come check it out.

A guest post by Steliana van de Rijt-Economu: I’m convinced there’s a place in our heart and soul where we can withdraw and be happy for just the simple fact of being. In my case, I find that place when I hold my little one and sooth her when she is crying. I also feel it when I open the window early in the morning and feel the fresh caress of spring air cooling my cheek, reminding me that there’s a new day … a day full of possibilities. Some people call it happiness, but I would like to leave it undefined.

There is so much emotional dust and negativity and other bits of self-defeating debris floating around in the atmosphere of our daily lives. Too many people are ill-equipped to recognize the dust and debris for what it is. They are therefore unable to remove it, block it or filter it from intake. While we have filters for just about everything: fish tanks, washing machines, cars, TVs, and cameras, do we have filters that effectively block our lower impulses and external influences that undermine potential, dignity and happiness?

Guest post by David J. Singer: If you stop to think about the number of times a day you interact with other people you’ll probably find it’s more often than you think (at home, the store, the bank, post office, gym, neighborhood, classroom, in line, at the office and even passersby). What are yours like? Are they deep and rewarding or superficial and thoughtless? Mindful interaction may be the answer you’re looking for.

Guest post by Farouk Radwan: What is the most precious asset you own? Is it your house? Your investments? Your current skill set? Even combined, they pale in comparison to what is an even more valuable asset. Your most precious asset is your time! Just think about it. If you were to use your time wisely, you would be much more likely to acquire whatever other asset you’re after.

There are things that matter and things that don’t. Some of those beliefs and ideas that don’t matter can actually poison the soul and kick us where it counts. Here are 4 things that don’t matter. But they can also lead to destroyed lives of waisted potential and deep sadness. Avoid these pitfalls for a much more rewarding life of happiness and decency.

When we live lives disconnected from those things that truly matter, sidetracked by the unimportant, lost in the frivolous, distracted by the superficial, our lives start to ring hollow, empty and vacant. But when we fill our lives with weightier things, our lives feel bigger, more meaningful and happier.

Anyone can influence change in one person. So why not two? Or ten? Or more? Even if I only help 10 people make life-altering changes, that’s 10 of 7 billion people who change. You see, by changing any part of the world, I’ve changed the world itself just as changing an ingredient in a cake, changes the cake. And even 1/7,000,000,000th of a change is still a change. So let’s go change the world! We only need one thing. Come see what it is!

“Often, the moment when personal change begins is like thunder. We are startled by what Read More.