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.

Have you ever revisited your priorities because of some unexpected external shove? That recently happened to me. It all started when my router coughed its last breath and went off to router heaven. I was stranded, alone, disconnected, afloat in the sea of internet loneliness. Until, well, you’ll just have to click on in to read the rest …

I’ve been a high school teacher for about a decade now. I’ve been touched by the number of students who have shared their personal histories, both successes and heart aches, some of them gut-wrenching. But I’ve learned some valuable lessons about life along the way. Here, I present four of them.

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.

Memory is a powerful tool to provide us with direction, comfort, inspiration and even correction. Our memories can work against us or serve us. Check out my guest post at Life, for instance on that topic and click here to read how other childhood memories can serve us here on our journey through life.

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.