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Good or bad luck?
“Victory awaits him who has everything in order — luck, people call it. Defeat is certain for him who has neglected to take the necessary precautions in time; this is called bad luck.” ~Roald Amundsen Today’s quote is a handy piece of advice from the famed Norwegian polar explorer who led the first expedition to the South Pole in 1911. Amundsen understood that success isn’t a whim of fate or chance. It’s as foolish to rely on “good luck” as it is to blame all our missteps and failures on “bad luck.” If we anticipate the pros and cons, devise a plan, and map out our own course, we’re more…
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Are thank-you notes old-fashioned?
“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” – William Arthur Ward In one of her recent advice columns, Amy Dickinson (“Dear Amy”) said the largest percentage of her mail comes from baffled readers who are hurt or angry because they didn’t receive thank-you notes for their gifts. At the same time, many other readers who leave comments on her columns don’t believe it’s necessary to write thank-you notes now. One young bride said she didn’t have time to write thank-you notes for her wedding gifts because her life was “too busy.” (Never mind that she’d found the time to mail out invitations…
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Embrace your age
“Every year brings you closer to expressing your whole and healed self. I celebrate that. Honor it. Hold it in reverence. And I’m grateful for every age I’m blessed to become.” ~Oprah Winfrey The key phrase in today’s quote from Oprah is “your whole and healed self.” All of us suffer deep emotional wounds throughout our lives. Nobody leaves this world unscratched. One of the gifts of aging is the informed perspective we earn from years of experience. And how well we age depends on our attitude as well as the choices we make. We can dwell on the past and rehash our list of regrets; or we can move…
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Seize the day!
“Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast.” ~Oscar Wilde Oscar Wilde wouldn’t agree, but studies show that early risers have several advantages. For starters, they typically go to bed earlier — in step with healthy circadian rhythms — and are more likely to get eight or nine hours of sleep. Researchers at Northwestern University found that early risers are slimmer, probably due to the fact that body weight is influenced by exposure to natural light. According to this study, people who had most of their daily exposure to bright light in the morning had a significantly lower body mass index (BMI) than those who had most of their light exposure…
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Find your own shoe
“The shoe that fits one person pinches another. There is no recipe for living that suits all cases.” ~Carl Jung, psychiatrist and author There’s something called the theory of social comparison, which suggests that comparing and contrasting ourselves to our peers is key to our identity. Social comparison helps us form or solidify our values, preferences, and feelings of self-worth. If our friends or favorite celebrities are wearing a particular style, for instance, we’re likely to mimic or mirror it — whether we genuinely like it or not. This explains, in part, the dubious trend of spending top dollar for ripped jeans and painful footwear. Things get even more complicated…
