Life / Happiness - Steve Maraboli

G Is For Gratitude

I know sometimes it is difficult to be grateful. I know that sometimes it is difficult to be happy. If you’re reading a book that’s telling you that you should always be happy, put away the book. You’re a human being, you’re a dimensional creature, you’re multi-dimensional. You are not one-dimensional. It is impossible for you to always be happy. There is no such thing as a one-sided magnet. Being content, now that’s a different story. I want you all to realize that this universe is balanced. Whether you look at it as a scientific point of view and you say “well, to every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction and everything has to have peaks and valleys”, or you can look at it in the spiritual way where you say “God has balanced the universe, there is good and there is bad and there’s God and there’s the Devil”, whichever way you want to look at it. The truth is, the universe is balanced. Being content, now that’s a different story. You will always be given the choice to celebrate that thorns have roses or to complain that roses have thorns. You will always be given that choice. I’m

The Empowered Hypothesis

Today I will wake up with the hypothesis that I am very blessed and capable of breathing change into my life and over the course of the day, I will have fun continuously proving this hypothesis true. I will look for the blessings of the day. I will no longer remain blind to the opportunities that surround me. I will take action on change I envision for myself. On this day of empowered hypothesis, I will turn my “To-Do” list into an “Opportunities Available” list and as I check off each, I will transfer them to another list called “Blessings of this Day”. I will be generous with my love today. I will sprinkle compliments and uplifting words everywhere I go. I will do this knowing that my words are like seeds and when they fall on fertile soil, a reflection of those seeds will grow into something greater. I will mute the venomous self-talk in my mind. I will cancel its membership to the club of my spirit. I will evict it from the place it has held in my life. No more waking up with the poisonous theory of “same crap different day.” Influential negative self-talk has no

Keep Your Eyes On Your Own Plate

“Keep your eyes on your own plate and enjoy your meal!” This was my mom’s repetitive mantra at the dinner table in the late 70’s as she surely fought off the urge to dropkick my brother and I while we argued about who got more mashed potatoes, or too many vegetables, or not the same amount of rice, etc… At the time, I don’t think she was trying to convey wisdom as much as she was simply trying to get us to shut-up, but still, there is DEEP wisdom in this mantra. How would your life be different if you kept your eyes on your own plate and enjoyed your meal? We seem to go through life chasing the intangible. We even have an expression, “keeping up with the Jones’” that we use to describe this chase. At some point in our lives, usually when it’s too late, we realize the Jones’ are full of shit… they are in debt too, they have marital problems too, they have issues with their kids too, they stress about their career too… while you were trying to keep up with them, they were trying to keep up with you. Now you’re both in

Happiness in Simplicity

I’m not sure why some people choose to engulf themselves in a drama filled life, but they do. And for some reason, they feel they should allow me to partake in their drama buffet. No thanks! I learned a long time ago that there is stress in the complex and happiness in the simple. The “growing” we attribute to becoming more mature, in finding our happy place, could be more accurately described as “shrinking,” as we cut away the nonsense that emotionally weighs us down. How would your life be different if you cut away the people who try to pull you in to their drama filled lives? What drama could you cut away from your own life? There have been extensive studies on how the stress caused by drama has negative effects on our lives and our bodies. Love yourself enough to break this cycle… Love yourself enough to take the actions required for your happiness… Love yourself enough to cut yourself loose from the ties of the drama-filled past… Love yourself enough to move on! Happiness is found in the simplest of things. Happiness is found in gratitude, in a kept promise, in a good conversation, in love,

The Journey Awaits

The beautiful journey of today can only begin when we learn to let go of yesterday. Have you ever been on a cruise or looked at one of their brochures? I have been fortunate enough to experience the wonderful journey a cruise can offer. The ships are so magnificently crafted, sculpted for movement, comfort, efficiency, and maximizing the full experience of the trip. You begin your journey when the ship leaves the dock and moves forward towards its destination. Along the way there is so much happening. There are so many opportunities you can experience and participate in. A romantic stroll along the deck as you look outward to the seemingly endless sea, or maybe you want to go splash around the pool, or maybe enjoy some of the fine food available to you, or maybe you’ll join in some of the dancing and partying going on around you, or maybe it’s evening and you feel like sitting on the balcony and looking out to the splendid moon and clear starlit sky. There’s so much for you to experience and enjoy from the moment the trip starts that before you know it, you’ve connected to another dock along the way.

My Own Greatest Hero, My Own Worst Enemy

Your life is a story you’re telling yourself. I like to live each day of my life as if it’s a page, a chapter in my life’s story. I get to choose how my story plays out. Even if I don’t get to choose the events that happen, I do get to choose the labels I place on the events and what role I play in this story. When I’m the hero of my story: I see opportunities, I feel gratitude, I am inspired by choices, I am emotionally strong, I am psychically relentless, and I am aware and conscious to place empowering labels on the events that occur throughout my day. For me, this system of mindful choice-making as the author of my story has led to tremendous levels of success. Are you the hero of your own story? If you are not the hero of your own story, then you’re missing the whole point of your humanity. Maybe the hero that is missing from your story is you. When you become the hero of your own story, you activate a power within you to make changes to your entire life. Whether consciously or unconsciously, we are all the