I have always believed that age is a state of mind. I know 20-somethings that sit around and watch TV all day long, and I know an 82-year old who still comes out to the dropzone every weekend to make a skydive (His name is Jim, and he’s my hero). That is my proof. So, instead of thinking about how old I am in terms of my physical age, I try to look at my youth in terms of my experiences. How I choose to live my life determines my youth, but that doesn’t mean I want to go back to the days of all night keg parties and waking up to strangers passed out in my bathtub (Sadly, this was once my life).

My Mom and Dad split up sometime in 1983-1984. I don’t remember exactly when, but I do remember hanging out at my Dad’s apartment. We watched MTV and listened to Van Halen’s 1984 all the time. It was cool. My Dad was young. Somehow over the course of time, my Dad isn’t young like that any more. He listens to smooth jazz now; he takes bubble baths; and he falls asleep in his chair when we’re visiting… a lot. Don’t misunderstand me. My Dad is and will always be one of the coolest people I know and I love every thing about him. But watching him change as I have grown, makes me wonder: How does it happen? How do you go from jamming out to rockin’ music to living in a perpetual elevator? Can this be prevented, because if so, I want the answer!

Being young is a mindset. It’s thinking more about now, and less about tomorrow. It’s about believing that what is most important is happiness, and not the daily grind, taxes or laundry. It’s so difficult not to get caught up in all of that, I certainly catch myself there all the time. You know what saves me more often than not? My kids.

I look at my kids and I allow myself to be reminded how much fun it is to be young. When we go to our park, I watch them play and fight the urge to yell out, “Don’t get any of that mud on your clothes”. I stop myself because… is mud really so bad? Isn’t it just wet dirt? Shouldn’t enjoyment be more important than whether or not clothes get dirty? Why is it that when we grow up, we forget the little things like this? Maybe it’s because we only see the work involved in cleaning up the mud, or maybe it’s because we’ve forgotten that fun is what it’s all about. Losing sight of “fun” is the same as losing your youth. To me, they’re one in the same. It’s not as if we don’t have fun as grown ups, but instead of fun being priority… being the impetus for every choice we make, it becomes something we do when everything else is taken care of.

Here’s another way of looking at it. If tomorrow was going to be your last day on Earth, what would you do? I can tell you I wouldn’t go to work tomorrow, that’s the first thing. I realize we all have responsibilities to keep, and so you can’t just live everyday like it was your last no matter how great it sounds. But, to recognize the things that you love so much that you would spend your last moments on Earth doing them is like opening a door to your youth. So, what would you do? I would go hiking with my kids and then I would skydive (Yes, I know. Big surprise). Whatever your answer is, figure out a way to incorporate that into your life, and MAKE time for it. Don’t do it only when and if you have available time and money. MAKE it happen.

One other piece of advice that prevents us from staying young- Forget about the end point. Just forget about it. So many people stop doing things they love because they start thinking more about the “end” and less about the “now”. How many people do you know who have given up something they love because they have become overly cautious about protecting their life? I know many. Here’s where skydiving comes into play again. There’s is nothing more effective at reminding you of your impermanence here than jumping out of a plane. It brings the rest of life into perspective. We are all here temporarily; some of us will live to a ripe “young” age, and others may die tomorrow in a freak accident. You never know, so thinking about and trying to prolong the inevitable will do nothing except keep you from enjoying your time here on Earth. You’re going to die… get over it.

So, remember the power of youth. Remember what you’re here for (not taxes or laundry)! I will leave you with this quote. The first part is well known, but it’s been modified by skydivers alike:

I refuse to tiptoe through life only to arrive safely at death, but rather I will skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out loudly proclaiming… WOW What a Ride!!!

So, How Young Are You?

Here’s a great article I came upon today. It was in many ways the inspiration for this post. It’s a Hoot. 25 Signs that Sadly, You’ve Grown Up.

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What is it that makes us obsess over the personal lives of the rich and famous? I happened upon some “popular searches” today, and as usual most of them are about celebrities. People want to know about Britney’s custody, Paris’ anything, and of course… Brad and Angelina. Why? Visit a few celebrity blogs, and you’ll find that what people most want to read about is dirt. They want to read all the things that famous people do wrong. Anything that is either completely demoralizing or humiliating is devoured by common folk everywhere. I think it’s sad.

Is it that we feel so bored or so displeased with our own lives that watching someone else’s problems play out makes us feel better? Are we jealous of them, or angry at them for having a life we think we should have? We feed the media and in turn they give us more of what we want. They are providing a service that we’re asking for, and we keep asking for more. You can’t blame the paparazzi, you can’t blame the celebrities (we all do stupid things); the blame lies on us for buying what they sell.

It is to me, no different than a bunch of kids picking on another… only we’re adults so we do it through the media. What would you tell your son or daughter if they came home from school one day and told you how some kids had made fun of them and laughed at them? I personally would tell him/her that those kids had low self-esteem or weren’t happy with something in their life, and so they had to make someone else feel bad to feel good about themselves. I think our obsession with celebrities is no different. It’s not like we pay attention to the good things they do, or even care for that matter. We care about their prison time, their custody battle, their lack of underwear… all the stuff that in our eyes makes them “less”. Ask yourself how much media attention “Brangelina” get about their personal lives vs. how much media attention is devoted to their humanitarian efforts. I’ll admit that both get coverage, but it’s the personal stuff that sells.

Why don’t we feel that these people deserve the same compassion and respect that we would expect for ourselves? Sometimes I think people don’t even consider them as human beings, but rather, objects that can be followed and studied and judged. I know that many would say they bring it upon themselves by being famous, and maybe they do. That said, why should that be an excuse for everyone else to behave badly?

I’m not going to name names, but there are so many blogs out there that are 100% devoted to trashing celebrities, and finding anything and everything negative that’s out there. It sells, and bashing the rich and famous is a profitable venture. It causes no moral issues for anyone, and that’s what I don’t get. How would you feel as a human being if you followed your neighbor around taking pictures of every flaw, blemish and life mistake, and then posted it on the web so everyone could laugh at and dehumanize him? I personally, would feel like shit. But see, somehow with celebrities it’s ok.

This is a symptom of our society. It points to a lack of respect for others, unhappiness in our individual lives, and boredom. There’s no band-aid or fix for this symptom, and I actually think it will get worse before it gets better.

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I’ve been following the Personal Development Blog list over at Priscilla Palmer’s blog for quite some time, and today I was added to it. For that, I am grateful! It’s a stepping stone to what I hope will be great things for me. I enjoy so much being part of the blogosphere; it has rewarded me in many ways, most of them I had not imagined. For my part, I am to add five additional blogs that I read to the list. However, I find it so complete, that I cannot at this time add to it! Here are the primary personal development blogs that I read (already included in the list), and following that is Priscilla Palmer’s complete list. For all of us who care so much about improving the quality of our lives and the lives of others, we now have more reading material than we could ever hope for!

My top 5 personal development sites:

• Steve Pavlina and stevepavlina.com
• Peter at I will change your life
• Leon Ho’s Lifehack.org
• Millionaire Mommy and MillionaireMommyNextDoor
• Leo Babauta at ZenHabits

Don’t get me wrong, my reader is full of great personal development posts, but these are the five I read most consistently. Now, here’s the complete list from Priscilla Palmer:

Aaron Potts at Today is That Day

Adam Alexander at Adam’s Peace

Adam Kayce at Monk at Work

Adam Khoo at Adam Khoo’s Philosophies and Investing Insights

AgentSully at Life Learning Today

Al at 7pproductions.com

Alan Torres at Made to Be Great

Alex Shalman at AlexShalman.com

Alexander Kjerulf at The Chief Happiness Officer

Alexys Fairfield at Unraveling The Spiritual Mystique

Albert Foong at urbanmonk.net

Alvaro at Sharp Brains Blog

Amber at Amber Waves

Amber at Random Mangus

Amie Ragan at Psychology of Clutter

Amit Sodha at The Power of Choice

Amy Hedin at There is no Maximum to Human Potential

Andrea Learned at Learned on Women

Andrea J. Lee at Money, Meaning, and Beyond

Andrew Brunelle at Andrew Brunelle.com

Andy Wibbels at AndyWibbels.com

Anita Pathik Law at Power of Our Way

Anmol Mehta at AnmolMetha.com

Anna Farmery at The Engaging Brand

Antonio Thornton at AntonioThornton.com

April Groves at Making Life Work For You

Argancel at C’eclair (for those who speak french)

Ariane Benefit at Neat & Simple Living

Ash aka Mr. Biggs at One Powerful Word

Ashley Cecil at The Painting Activist

Ask Lucid at Ask Lucid Spiritual Development

BK Diva at Bklyn’s Finest

Barb Melloh at The Law of Attraction Info

Barbara Curtis at Mommy Life

Barbara Sliter at Creatorship

Belle Wong at Abundance Journal

Ben Yoskovitz at Instigator Blog

Benjamin at WOWNDADI

Beth at Butterfly Thoughts

Bill Perry at Lucid Blog

Billy Smith at The Organic Leadership Blog

Blogfuse at LifeDev

Bluskygirl at LifeGoddess.com

Brad Isaac at Achieve It

Brian Clark at Copyblogger

Brian Kim at briankim.net

Brian Lee at geniustypes.com

Brightfeathers at this time-this space

Brooke at Plain Advice

Bob at everyeveryminute

Bolly at Motivational Corner

Boston Gal at Boston Gal’s Open Wallet

Byron Katie at Byron Katie.com

Cam Beck at ChaosScenario

Cara Lumen at The Success Magnets With Cara Luman and Your Second Wind Blog

Carlon Haas at Possess Less Exist More

Carol Skolnick at Soul Surgery

Catherine Carter at Continuum Wellness

Cheif Family Officer at Cheif Family Officer

Chris at One is All and All is One

Chris Brogan at Chris Brogan.com

Chris Cree at SuccessCREEations

Chris Marshall at Martial Development

Chris Melton at Soupornuts.com

Chris Owen at Pink Apple

Christine Kane at ChristineKane.com

Christine Valters Painter at Abbey of the Arts

Christy Z at Totally Fabulous

Clyde at Feeling Good

Colin Beavan at No Impact Man

Colleen Wainwright of Communicatrix

Conceive, Believe, Achieve at Conceive, Believe, Achieve

Confessing at 7Confessions

Cooper at Wonderland or Not

Crabby McSlacker at Cranky Fitness

Craig Harper at Motivational Speaker

Craze at Crazedreamer’s Thoughts

Curt Rosengren at Occupational Adventure

Cyres at Cyres Matters

Damian Carr at Soul Terminal

Daniel Roach at Daniel Roach.org

Daniel Sitter at Idea Sellers

Danny Kohn at Be Inspired Everyday

Daria Black at Figmeant Writing Studio and Community

Darlene Siddons at Spirited Boutique

Darren Rowse at Problogger.net

Dave Pollard at How to Save the World

Dave Schawbel at The Personal Branding Blog

Dave Schoof at Engaging the Disquiet

Davers at Language Trainers Blog

David Allen at The David Allen Company

David Bohl at Reflections on Balance

David Finch at David Finch.com

David Richeson at 360 Degree Success

David Rogers at How to Have Great Self Confidence

David Seah at David Seah.com

David Zinger at Slacker Manager

Dawn Vinson at Daydreaming on Paper

Dawud Miracle at dmiracle.com

Daylle Deanna Schwartz at Lessons from a Recovering Doormat

Dean Lacono at Law of Attraction for Beginners

Deb at Mind Body and Solar

Deb2012 at Fibromaylgia and Wellness

Debbie Call at Spirit In Gear

Debbie LaChusa at 10 Step Marketing Collection

Deborah aka Zephry1 at Climate of Our Future

Debra Moorhead at Debra Moorhead.com

Denise Mosawi at Destineering.com

Derrick Kwa at Sui Generis

Desika Nadadur at Desika Nadadur.com

Devlyn Steele at Tools To Life Guide

Diane Cese at Everything Yoga

Dick Richards at Come Gather Round

Dominic Tay at Personal Development for Winners

Don Simkovich at Hey Don

Donald Latumahina at Life Optimizer

Donna Karlin at Perspectives

Donna Steinhorn at Rethinking

Douglas Eby at Talent Development Resources

Dr. Charles Parker at The Core Psych Blog

Dr. Hal at Northstar Mental fitness blog

Dr. Michael Shea at From Pain to Personal Gain

Dr. Tim Sharp at The Happiness Institute

Drew Rozell at Drew Rozell.com

Dwayne Melancon at Genuine Curiosity

E Murphy at The Active Life

Edward Mills at Evolving Times

Edward Smith at Bright Moment

Edith Yeung at Dream Think Act

Elizabeth Badurina at Modern Gypsy

Elle Mgee at Ever Hopeful, Ever Thankful

Ellen Weber at Brain Based Business

Ellesse at Goal Setting College

Elly Jolly at Jolly Life Coaching

Emily G. W. Lilly at The Science of Waldorf Education

Emmanuel Lopez at The Adventures of Motivatorman

Enoch Tan at Mind Reality

Eric Napier at Quotation Collection

Erin Pavlina at Erin Pavlina.com

Ev Nucci at My Life is Murphy’s Law

Evelyn Lim at Attraction Mind Map

Evelyn Rodriguez at Crossroads Dispatches

Evolving Excellence at Evolving Excellence

Farouk Radwan at 2KnowMySelf

Frank at Re/Transformation

Frank Kanu at Frank Uncovers Excellence in Leadership

Frank Roche at KnowHR Blog

Galba Bright at Tune Up Your EQ

Garr Reynolds at Presentation Zen

Gary at Personal Strategic Plan

Gerri at Absolutely True

Gilad Buchman at Sigsug

Gleb Reys at Personal Development Ideas

Grayson at Modern Worker Blog

Greg Butler at holistic-personal-development.com

Greg Frost at ChargedAudio.com

Geoff R at Gearfire.net

George Vasu at 360

Golbguru at Money, Matter, and More Musings

Gretchen Rubin at Happiness Project

Gustav at Success-is-in-you.com

Guy Kawasaki at How to Change the World

Gyanish at Diethack

Halina Goldstein at The Inner Travel Journal

Hatter at Dreaming to Infinity

Hilda Carroll at Living Out Loud

Heather Goldsmith at A Creative Journal

Helgi Pall Einarsson at Everyday Wonderland

Henrik Edberg at The Positivity Blog

Holly Sumner at The Abundance Place

Honman at Open Your Mind to Prosperity

Hueina Su at Intensive Care for the Nurturer’s Soul

Ilyria at Finding Norway

Inkedmn at The Cranking Widgets Blog

Isabella Mori at MoriTherapy

Isha at Isha Yoga

Itzy Sabo at Email Overloaded

JC at Job Life Upgrade

Jacin Steele at Jacin Steele.com

Jack Vinson at Knowledge Jolt with Jack

Jackie at The Painted Veil

Jackie Ford at The Vegan Diet

Jacklyn Ker at Inspiring and Empowing Lives

Jarle Husefest at The Personal Development Blog

Jason and Michael at Black Belt Productivity

Jason Ivers at A Miracle a Day

Jason Womack at Fit and Effective

Jay White at dumb little man tips for life

Jean Browman at Transforming Stress Into Power and Cheerful Monk

Jeane Michelle Culp at Binding Ink

Jeanne May at Aspirations Plus

Jeannette Maw at Good Vibe Coaching

Jeanie Marshall at Empowerment and Meditation Blog and DailyAffirm: Positive Affirmations Day by Day

Jeff Davidson at Breathing Space Blog

Jeff Lilly at Druid Journal

Jeffrey Phillips at Think Faster

Jennifer at Goodness Graciousness

Jennifer Mannion at Heal Pain Naturally

Jenny Ryan at Using My Powers For Good

Jenny and Erin at Jenny and Erin

Jeremiah Owyang at Web Strategy by Jeremiah

Jerry Hart at Blue Print to emarketing

Jerry Lopper at Personal Growth

Jessa at clairvoyantGuidance.net

Jessica Hagy at Indexed

Jim stroup at Managing Leadership

Jim Walton at Black In Business

JoLynn Braley at The Fit Shack

Joan Schramm at Accelerating Momentum

Joanna Young at Coaching Wizardry

Joanne at I’m Happy Fish

JodeeB at You Already Know This Stuff

Joe Vitale at Dr. Joe Vitale at Zero

John Chow at John Chow Dot Com

John Pratt at John Pratt International

John Place at John Place Online

John W. McKenna at The Leadership Epidemic

John Wesley at Pick The Brain

Jon at Join The Secret

Jon King at The Effective Life

Jon Willis at Self Happiness

Jonathan at Smart Wealthy Rich and Freelance Folder

Jordan at The Abe Blog

Jory Des Jardin at Pause: Meaningful Work

Josh Bickford at Reach For Magnificence and Reach for Magnificence

Josh Kaufman at The Personal MBA

Joshua Denny at Catalyst for Change

Judy Martin at The Work/Life Monitor

Julia Rogers Hamrick at Julia’s Blog: Journal of the Journey Home to Eden

Julie Bonner at Declutter It

Kailani at An Island Review

Kammie Kobyleski at Passion Meets Purpose

Kara-Leah Masina at Be Conscious Now

Karen at Journey with Water Learner

Karen Lynch at Live The Power

Karen Wallace at The Clearing Space

Karl Moore at Karl Blog.com

Karl Staib at Karl Staib.com

Kathy Mallary at Coaching Biz Tips

Keith Ferrazzi at Never Eat Alone

Kelly at Kellymentology

Ken Dow and Martin Cooper at Creativity Happens

Kenton Whitman at kentonwhitman.com

Kevin Kinchen at Creative Power of Thought

Killeris at Attitude, The Ultimate Power

Kim and Jason at Escape Adulthood

Kim George at Doing What You Can Do

Kimber Chin at Client K

Kirk Nugent at Kirk Nugent.com

Kirsten Harrell at Ipopin

Krishna De at Biz Growth News and Todays Women in Business

Kristen King at Lively Women

K.L. Masina at Be Conscious Now

LJW at Heavenly Inclinations

Lauchlan Mackinnon at Think Differently

Laura at Heaven is Inside

Laura at Orgjunkie

Lawrence Cheok at A Long, Long Road

Laura Young at The Dragon Slayer’s Guide to Life

Leah Maclean at Working Solo

Leigh at The Lab

Lee Nutter at bmindful

Leo Babauta at Zen Habits

Liara Covert at Dream Builders

Life Reflection at Universe in a Single Atom

Lilifixt at Feel Happy

Lillie Ammann at A Writers Words, An Editor’s Eye

Linda Hernestal da Silva at Daily Power Walk

Linda Salazar at Awaken The Genie Within

Lisa Braithwaite at Speak Schmeak

Lisa Gates at Design Your Writing Life

Lisa Haneberg at Management Craft

Lisa McGlaun at LifePrints - Good News for a More Compassionate World

Lisa Mills at Work at Home Mom Revolution

Lisa Q at 40s Singleness-Dating in Your 40s

Lisa Van Allen at Finish Strong

Liz at Internet Marketing Strategies

Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

Lodewijkvdb at How to be an Original

Lola Fayemi at Real World Spiritual and Personal Development

Lori Grant and Debbie at Smart Lemming

Lorie Marrero at The Clutter Diet Blog

Lorraine Cohen at Powerfull Living

Luciano Passuello at Litemind.com

Lucid at Spiritual Suggestions

Lumosity at Brain Health Blog

Lyman Reed at Creating a Better Life

Lyndon Antcliff at LyndonAntcliff.com and Cornwallseo.com

Lynn McTaggert at Living The Field

Lynne Morrell at Lynn Morrell.com and Musings From The Edge

MT at MindTWEAKS

Madame X at My Open Wallet

Maddy at Illuminated Minds Want to Know

Malathy Badri at Laws of Universe

Malcolm Campbell at The Round Table

Manny at Success Books

Maria Gajewski at Never The Same River Twice

Maria Garcia at Get Organized Now

Maria Palma at The Good Life

Marianne Williamson at Journal

Marion at Herbal Connection

Marilyn Jenett at Feel Free to Prosper and Feel Free to Prosper Ryze Network

Mark at The Naked Soul

Mark Forster at Get Everything Done

Mark LaPierre at The Winding Path

Mark McManus at Build Your Life To Order

Mark W Shead at Productivity 501

Martin Avis at Kickstart Daily

Mary K at Becoming Your StellarSelf

Matthew Cornell at Matt’s Idea Blog

Meg Haworth at Life Lessons From Your Soul

Melanie Benson Strick at The Success Blog

Merlin Mann at 43 Folders

Michelle at aMusing My Genius

Michelle Moore at Happiness Blog

Michael Port at The Think Big Revolution

Michael Vanderdonk at TOACH Performance

Mike Janssen at Opgestroopte Mouwen

Mike Kemski at BANABU

Mike St. Pierre at The Daily Saint

Millionaire Mommy Next Door at Millionaire Mommy Next Door

Mimi Lennox at Mimi Writes

Mizzy Bohemia at Miz BoheMia’s Rhapsody

Mona Grayson at Question The Mind

Monte Ladner at Fitness Rocks

Moneymonk at Moneymonk

Mr.Wang at Mr Wang Says So

MsJayy at Jackie Young Writes

My Everyday Planner at My Everyday Planner

My Mind on Books at My Mind on Books

Mystical Monkey at One Mystical Monkey

NCN at No Credit Needed

Nancy Mills at The Spirited Woman

Nancy Tierney at Unconditional Confidence

Neal Donald Walsh at Conversations With God

Neil Patel at Quick Sprout

Nic Askew at Monday 9AM Blog

Nick Smith at Life 2.0

Nneka at Balanced Life Center

Organize-It at Organize-It

Pamala Slim at Escape From Cubicle Nation

Pamm Larry at My Secret Spiritual Dance

Patricia Klingler at Remarkable Women Speak

Patricia Singleton at Spiritual Journey of a Lightworker

Patti Digh at 37 Days

Paul at Paul’s Tips

Paul Piotrowski at Self Help Wisdom

Paula Kawal at Paula Kawal.com

Peggy Payne at Peggy Payne’s Boldness Blog

Peter at I Will Change Your Life

Peter Aldin at Great Circle

Peter Haslem at Necessary Skills

Phil Gerbyshak at Make It Great

Philip J Eby at Dirt Simple.org

Philippe Matthews at Shockwealth

Pia at Courting Destiny

Priscilla Palmer at Personal Development Demands Success

Priya Florence Shah at Soul Kadee

Quint Jensen at Win Your Mind

Raymond Salas at Zenchill Powertools

Real Modern Man at Real Modern Man

Reg Adkins at ElementalTruths

Rhonalala at The Harder I Work, The Luckier I Am

Ricardo at Wake Up Tiger

Rich Schefren at Strategic Profits

Rick Cockrum at Shards of Consciousness

Rick Cooper at The PDA Pro

Ririan at Ririanproject

Rob at 7Breaths

Rob Cooke at Leave the Office

Robert at Compassionate Council

Robert at Myselfdev

Robert Ashcroft at PDSS Online

Robin Skeen at Robin’s Reflections

Robin Yapp at Yapp 3.0

Robyn McMaster at Brain Based Biz

Roger Von Oech at Creative Think

Rolf F. Katzenberger at Evomend

Rosemary at Parkinson’s Disease and Peripheral Neuropathy

Rosa Say at Managing With Aloha Coaching

Ryan Marle at The Alpha Project

S.J. Yee at Personal Development for the Book Smart

Sam at Aquire Wisdom and Live with Passion

Scott Adams at The Dilbert Blog

Scott Andrew Bird at Scott Andrew Bird.com

Scott Berkun at Berkun Blog

Scott Bernadot at Keeping The Secret

Scott Ginsberg at Hello, My Name Is Blog

Scott H Young at Scott H Young

Scott McArthur at McArthur’s Rant

Secret Simon at The Secret of Life

Self Pursuit at Self Pursuit

Senia at Senia.com Positive Psychology Coaching

Seth Godin at Seth’s Blog

2 Know My Self at 2KnowMySelf

Shane Navratil at Zoomstart

Shaun Boyd at LifeReboot.com

Shauna Arthurs at Breathing Prosperity and Follow Your Path

Shaheen Lakhan at GNIF Brain Blogger

Simone at Dynamic Living

Simone and Mandy at Outfit Inspirations

Single Ma at Single Ma’s Fabulous Financials

Slade Roberson at Shift Your Spirits and Spiritual Blogging

Sleeping Dude at How to Wake Up Early

Sonora Jayne Case at Positive Realities Coaching

Sophiagurl at Life is Just Around the Corner

Spike at Organize It

Stacy Brice at Virtualosophy

Start Up Coach at Take Charge of Your Life

Stephanie and Jeffrey at Brains on Purpose

Steve Beisheim at Jumping Ship Happens

Steve Grossman at Why I failed

Steve Harper at The Ripple Effect

Steve King at The Green Geek

Steve Moore at Personal Development Blog

Steve Olson at Steve-Olson.com

Steve Pavlina at stevepavlina.com

Steve Roesler at All Things Workplace

Stephen at HD bizblog

Stephen Hopson at Adversity University

Steven Aitchison at Change Your Thoughts

Success Current at SuccessCurrent.com

Sue Ann Edwards at Always Embraces All Ways

Surjit at Gurushabad

Susan at Got2BeGreen

Susan R. Meyer at Life Work Cafe

Susan Sabo at Productivity Cafe

Susie at The Accidental Environmentalist

Susanna Kompogiorgas at Flowing Chi

Suzanne Bird-Harris at Learning Curve Coaching

Takeshi at Nakayima

Takuin Minamoto at Takuin.com

Taylor at Mom’s Out There

Ted Demopoulos at Blogging For Business

Teesha Moore at TeeshaMorre.com

Terry Starbucker at Ramblings From a Glass Half Full

Therapy Doc at Everyone Needs Therapy

Thom Quinn at Qlog

Tiffany at Little Red Suit

Tim Ferris at 4-Hour Workweek and Lifestyle Design Blog

Tim Taylor at My Agapic Life

Tim Warren at Personal Development4U

Todd Goldfarb at We The Change

Tom LeDree at Tom LeDree.com

Tom Peters at Tom Peters.com

Tom Spanton at TRCoach

Tom Van Brunscot of Transformation Economy

Tony Chimento at Living Forward

Tony D Clark at Success From The Nest

Torlink at You Create Reality

Travis A. Sinquefield at Disorganizational Behavior

Travis Wright at Cultivate Greatness

Tricia at Blogging Away Debt

Tricia at Loving Farewells

Trizoko at Trizoko.com

Trent Hamm at The Simple Dollar

Trevor Gay at Simplicity is the Key

Troy Worman at Orbit Now!

Tuck Self at Rebel Belle Blog

Tupelo Kenyon at Tupelokenyon.com

Ubertech at Geeks Guide To GTD

Vanessa Vinos at Musings from a Life Coach

Vera Nadine at Vera Nadine.com

Vickie at Contemplate This

Wade Millican at The Middle Way

Wally Bock at Three Star Leadership

Wan Qi at Meditation Forum Mantras

Wild Bill at Passionate Blogger

Winsome at Winsome Gunning Art Walk

Zale Tabakman at Success Through Balance

Zorka at Essential Life Skills

and these collaborated sites:

Blogher’s Religion and Spirituality “department”

Burst Blog

Change This

Change Your Thinking

Daily PlanIt

Did I Get Things Done

GTD Wannabe

Jobman2

Joyful Jubilant Learning

Life Coaches Blog Stratagies for a Greater Life

Lifehack.org

Lifehacker.com

Phattitudes.com

TED Blog

Transformational Girlfriends

Transfoundation

Unclutterer

And these for those of you who speak Russian:

Anatoly Tikhomirov at Personal Efficacy

Armen Petrosyan at Thought Storage #428

Irina Chelnokova at Women Path

Michael Subach at LifeIdea.org

Sergey Biryukov at Personal Development in Russian

Vitaly Kolesnik at Kolesnik.ru

Vladimir Rundan at Living is Great!

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Here’s a list of blog carnivals that I’ve chosen to participate in this week. If you’re not already a regular carnival reader or participator, here’s your chance to see what it’s all about. Not only is it a great way for blogger’s to get their work circulated, but it provides readers with an abundance of interesting articles from different sources, and similarly, different view points. Enjoy!

• Anja Merret hosts the Blog Carnival of Observations on Life, a well-rounded mix of personal development, experiences and lifestyle posts.
• Free Dog Tips hosts the Gone to the Dogs Carnival, covering anything and everything related to our canine buddies.
• The Carnival of Creative Growth, hosted at Energies of Creation promises some creative ways to increase and improve growth in your life.
• Go to Widow’s Quest to view the Carnival of Positive Thinking. This carnival is geared towards grief management and learning new ways to find happiness again.

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When the original Matrix movie came out, I was all over it. I loved that movie. The plot was so well put together and they had a way to answer everything, like the reason for deja vu, for instance. I actually left the movie after seeing it for the first time wondering if we really were living in the Matrix.

Obviously, I came to my senses soon after but the movie did give me a lot of things to think about. One of them came to mind this morning. At one point in the movie, Agent Smith is explaining the Matrix and how it works to keep us from waking up. He explains that there had been previous versions of the Matrix that had not worked. Why? Because they (the machine’s) made it perfect.

Did you know that the first Matrix was designed to be a perfect human world? Where none suffered, where everyone would be happy. It was a disaster. No one would accept the program. Entire crops were lost. Some believed we lacked the programming language to describe your perfect world. But I believe that, as a species, human beings define their reality through suffering and misery. The perfect world was a dream that your primitive cerebrum kept trying to wake up from. Which is why the Matrix was redesigned to this: the peak of your civilization. ~Agent Smith

Hmmmm. There’s something to that, don’t you think? I mean, even if we’re not actually being used as batteries right now by the very machine’s we created, the idea that we define our lives through imperfections and problems has some truth to it.

It’s a common theme; it seems to be human nature to gravitate towards the negative, towards the things that are wrong in our lives. It’s completely reasonable at first glance- I mean, things that are “wrong” need our attention so they can be repaired, while the things that are going well in life don’t require any attention. In the end giving all your attention to your problems only promotes suffering and misery, because all you see is the bad stuff. No one has a perfect life. The trick to making it an abundant life is finding balance between being grateful for the things that are right and identifying the things that are wrong without dwelling on them.

But let’s get back to Smith. What happens when everything is going right in life? What does your mind do? There is this tendency I think to look for something that’s potentially wrong in your life if something’s not staring you straight in the face. For example, your job and family life and all the important stuff are great; there seems to be nothing to be unhappy about. Suddenly, you find yourself pissed off or upset and why? Because the vending machine stole your money, because some guy on the highway cut you off on the way to work, or because you spilled a spot of coffee on your new dress.

We will seek out things that discontent us if we don’t have any major life complications. All these examples… they’re just things. Things that happen to us everyday, no matter what we do. The choice we have is whether to acknowledge them, and if we do, whether we allow them to cause us suffering. While Smith is right, we tend to define our lives by the negative, that doesn’t have to be the case. We can choose, that’s the beauty of being human and not a machine.

So, the next time you’re about to let something or someone spoil your day, ask yourself how much it really matters? My favorite question to ask myself is whether I will care about this tomorrow, or a month from now. If it’s something like a broken vending machine, I’m not going to care about that tomorrow so there’s no sense giving all my energy towards being upset about it.

My last piece of advice: when everything seems right with the world, don’t say to yourself that something has to be wrong, just say thank you.

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