Blog Blues? Lighten Up!

Saw this pic and wanted to share it. Lighthouses are wonderful. They serve as a beacon, sending out a beam of light of warning, so that others will not come to harm by crashing onto the rocks. They stand strong and stable and give us a sense of safety, as they are after all, there to provide a safe harbor.

With an imagination, you can turn this beam of light into a strobe light; searching the depths of the ocean and uncovering the greatest of mysteries. And isn't that what we are all doing? Searching for answers to the mysteries of the world outside of ourselves, but really wanting to know the answers to the mysteries of the world within. It really is a symbol of what this blog is trying to do. This blog is trying to reveal what is hidden, as well as, provide a safe harbor. I am hoping that it might bring a sense of ah-ha to all who might read this blog. Which I'm beginning to think looks like no one ever will, hence the title of today's blog entry. :-{ Just to put it out there, I think I may need some inspiration to keep this blog going. It's my first try at doing this, and, well, it looks like I'm doing it for me (which I guess is somewhat true as my ego is involved, but I feel that I mostly wanted to do it for others). It feels a little disappointing, however, I will keep on keeping on and am hoping some will randomly see it and remain interested.

In the meantime, I will post updates on my books:

I have started my book, The What Do I Do After High School? Guidebook, and it should be done by June 2006. Next blog entry, I will include an excerpt from the book.

I will also place inspirational quotes and such as I happen to find them. Here's one now...

"The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are."~Joseph Campbell~

Joseph Campbell. Now there was a man full of inspiration. Click on the links below for more information on Joseph Campbell. You'll be glad you did! Take care.

http://www.jcf.org/about_jc.php
http://www.jcf.org/works.php

Americans Have Keys To Happiness, Don't Use Them (an article I read on Yahoo March 1, 2006)

Psychologists have recently handed the keys to happiness to the public, but many people are not using them, experts say.Polls show Americans are no happier today than they were 50 years ago, despite significant increases in prosperity, decreases in crime, cleaner air, larger living quarters and a better overall quality of life.So what gives?"It requires some effort to achieve a happy outlook on life, and most people don't make it," says researcher Gregg Easterbrook.Happiness is 50 percent genetic, says University of Minnesota researcher David Lykken. What you do with the other half of the challenge depends largely on determination, psychologists agree.As Abraham Lincoln once said, "Most people are as happy as they make up their minds to be."Happiness does not come via prescription drugs, although 10 percent of women 18 and older and 4 percent of men take antidepressants, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.Anti-depressants benefit those with mental illness but are no happiness guarantee, researchers say.Money probably won’t buy you happiness either. Research shows that it may lift people from poverty, but after that the cash stops paying off sense-of-well-being dividends.One route to more happiness is called "flow," an engrossing state that comes during creative or playful activity, psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has found. Athletes, musicians, writers, gamers, and religious adherents know the feeling. It comes less from what you're doing than from how you do it.Sonja Lyubomirsky of the University of California at Riverside has discovered that the road toward a more satisfying and meaningful life involves a recipe repeated in schools, churches and synagogues. Make lists of things for which you're grateful in your life, practice random acts of kindness, forgive your enemies, notice life's small pleasures, take care of your health. Also, make friends.The happiest people have strong friendships, says psychologist Ed Diener. Interestingly, his research finds that most people are slightly to moderately happy, not unhappy.Some Americans are reluctant to make these changes and remain unmotivated even though our freedom to pursue happiness is written into the preamble of the Declaration of Independence."Research shows that people who are grateful, optimistic and forgiving have better experiences with their lives, more happiness, fewer strokes, and higher incomes," according to Easterbrook. "If it makes world a better place at same time, this is a real bonus."

WHAT THIS BLOG IS ALL ABOUT

Inspiration is what this blog is all about. I will be writing, placing articles, quotes, etc., of what I feel might be an inspiration to others. Feedback is welcomed.

Also, I have three books inside of me. All very different. I will be posting them here, one by one, soon enough.

• The first book is fiction and tells the story of our world in a different spin, and how it could be if we put just a little effort into it.
• The second book is a true life experience of having to survive as a family coping with an ex-husband, and father of three children, who decides to have a sex change. This book will present the flip side to what we are currently seeing in the media. There really is no where for these families to turn to. There is no manual on how to cope with something this traumatic. And it is traumatic, in every sense of the word, however, that does not mean that it is devastating. We humans are resilient.
• The Third book is a procedure manual for teen-agers who have just graduated high school, and who need some tips and guidance on what comes next.

At this point, I am not sure which book will show up first on this blog. If I receive comments, expressing interest in any of the above, this may trigger which book will be posted first. So, please, feel free to leave comments. I am listening (or I should say reading!).