This phrase may seem counterintuitive. With many observing Lent, I thought discussing fasting and sacrifice would be prudent. Many people fail to see the point of doing without. Aside from the spiritual benefits, there are some great self-improvement benefits as well. We will look at a major one that may have you rethinking how you look at giving up things.
I use the analogy of being stranded in the desert. You have no food, very little water. It is hot during the day and cold at night. In a very short time, things can get dangerous. Let’s imagine you make it 3 days and are suddenly rescued. All your rescuer had with them is water and saltine crackers. I can tell you, that will be one of the best meals you have ever had.
If I were to offer you those same two items at an “all you can eat buffet” How much would you enjoy them? For most of us in the industrialized world life is pretty much an all–you-can-eatbuffet. We have a roof over our heads, clean running water, food and a place to sleep. We don’t think of these as luxurious, but take any of them away for even a day and our opinion would certainly change.
That is why fasting different things for a period helps increase our appreciation for them. This could include eating sugar,drinking coffee, or even your spouse. There is great truth to the saying, “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” I can personally attest to this. When I walk through the door after a hard days work, my lovely Margie is that much more beautiful than when I left her that morning.
How about you? Is there something you could try doing without to renew your feelings of appreciation for it?
Last post we talked about sending out messages of love and encouragement. Many people asked the same question, “Neil, I would love to send out a message, but what do I say?“It seems we are not used to sending out messages like this. It may even seem awkward at first. With practice, it will become easier and your words will become more impactful.
Back to the original question. What do we say in a message of love and encouragement? A good start is to ask yourself what would make you happy to hear from a friend. A safe bet is always gratitude and appreciation. Telling someone how much they mean to you and why is one of the best messages you can deliver.
Above are some examples of inspiring messages you could send. These are just to get you thinking. They can be tailored to your specific person. Another fun idea is to reflect on a fun memory the two of you share. It could be a vacation you took together, a nice dinner you shared or simply a cup of coffee and conversation you enjoyed. Positively reflectingon that could be enjoyablefor both of you.
How about you? Do you have any suggestions on good messages to send? By sharing our ideas with each other we inspire a revolution of love and encouragement!
Isn’t it great when you receive some good news first thing in the morning? Maybe it is a phone call from a friend? A text from a loved one, or a greeting card in the mail? With modern technology, coupled with old-fashioned ideas, there are so many ways to send love.
Why bother sending love? In a world that seems to get crazier by the minute, sending someone some loving thoughts becomes a gift greater than ever. When you are sending thoughts to encourage, uplift and inspire someone, you are strengthening that relationship. Can you imagine how your life would change if you would send out one loving thought a day? That would be 365loving messages in a year!
Sending love can take a few seconds if it is a text, to a few minutes for a phone call or a greeting card. I suggest picking up a pack of cards and a book of stamps so you are prepared when the mood strikes. You will spend less then a half hour doing this in a week, yet you will drastically improve both your life and that of the recipient.
In my upcoming fourth book, I go into greater detail about how to do this and the benefits you will receive. I would love to hear about ways you send out love. Who knows, they may even make it into my next book! This week, try sending out at least one loving message a day of one kind or another. See the change it makes.
Today is international women’s day! Time to celebrate all of those amazing ladies in your life. It can be family, spouse,friends, best friends, soul friends or any special woman in your life. I have been blessed to surround myself with so many smart, creative and wonderful women who have made my life better. In going to take a second to celebrate just a few, but know there are so many more and i appreciate you all!
First, in the picture above is my mother. Mothers are so important it only makes sense to celebrate them as often as we can. My mother and I do a great many things together. We go for walks, coffee and do the occasional 5k. She also gives me feedback on my writing! I’m very grateful to have her.
There is of course Margie, the love of my life. I could, and have done an entire post about all of the amazing things she brings to my life. On top of that, she is an amazing mother herself. Choosing the right partner can make all of the difference in life. That is why I am soexcited to have her become Mrs.Neil next year!
Above are some truly amazing women. My sister Michelle! Margie’s daughter Siraya with whom she has started a business. My good friends Lisa, Sara,Jenny and my soul friend Shannon! All of which have added a lot to my life.
Special shout out to the wonderful women who read this blog. I would love to hear from you and where you are from. Feel free to show your pride in the comments below. Don’t forget to give appreciation to the women in your life today. I would suggest continuing it every day!
Today, in the United States, we celebrate Valentine’s Day. Many people say that it is a ‘Hallmark Holiday’. Meaning it is something made up by the greeting companies to get you to spend money. Actually, it was originally a day to honor Saint Valentine who was killed in 269,but I digress. A holiday is only a corporate scam if you choose to celebrate it as such.
There are few couples who are more loving than the two people above. That would be my lady and I. When I hear people say, “Shouldn’t you celebrate love every day?”, my answer is of course you should. You should also celebrate being alive every day, but it is nice to have a birthday once a year as well.
In the busy world we live in, we can be so focused on chasing goals and putting out fires that love can get a little lost in the shuffle. Celebrating those we love can get a little routine as well. Above you will find different ways to say “I love you”. Not only that, but try following it up with a corresponding action. If you tell the person you love that you are proud of them, what action can you take to show them?
How about you? What is your favorite way to say “I love you”? What is your favorite way to show that you love someone? Let us know in the comments below!
Today’s post will feature a deep dive into an answer to a question I posed to several friends and associates. The question was, “What, in your opinion, makes for a truly fulfilling life?” We will take a deeper dive into the answer featured in today’s post. This includes looking at how we can implement their ideas for fulfillment into our own life. This will allow all of us to wake up with a greater sense of inner peace and joy. If these answers inspire you, and you would like to share your own feeling on what makes life fulfilling, feel free to do so in the comments below. You could be featured in a future post or in my next book! Now let us take a look at today’s answer!
Today’s answer comes courtesy of Mac. He is a gentleman I connected with because we both share a health challenge. After much conversation, it appears we share much more. Our general attitude towards life and our place in it is also rather similar. I look forward to getting to know this man better and continue to learn from him. Even our thoughts about a fulfilling life resonate with each other. His answer also reflects who he is as a man. Without further build up, let us look at what Mac thinks makes a fulfilling life.
“To wake up beside my wife each day and to work together throughout the day to accomplish our goals as a team”
Both Mac and I certainly find fulfillment in waking up next to the beautiful lady we love. What this highlights is the importance and benefit of, not only loving and seeing the beauty in your spouse, but finding fulfillment in that. All too often familiarity can breed contempt or at the very least, taking your partner for granted. Mac understands both parties benefit when the appreciation for each other never stops.
There is one more thing you might have missed in Mac’s answer. Although his answer highlights his deep love for the woman in his life, it reflects something even bigger. Throughout my conversations with Mac about my upcoming book, as well as our health, he focus has always been on one thing – gratitude.
Mac has expressed gratitude for many things in his life. This has ranged from a simple cup of great coffee, to walking in nature and feeding squirrels. Two more things we have in common. Mac reminds us that the more we are grateful for things that we do have in our lives, the more fulfillment we experience.
How about you? Are you grateful for waking up next to your spouse, or have you started to take them for granted? Even if you don’t have a spouse, are you grateful for the great many simple pleasures in your life? What are they? Feel free to let us know in the comments below.
Today’s post will feature a deep dive into an answer to a question I posed to several friends and associates. The question was, “What, in your opinion, makes for a truly fulfilling life?” We will take a deeper dive into the answer featured in today’s post. This includes looking at how we can implement their ideas for fulfillment into our own life. This will allow all of us to wake up with a greater sense of inner peace and joy. If these answers inspire you, and you would like to share your own feeling on what makes life fulfilling, feel free to do so in the comments below. You could be featured in a future post or in my next book! Now let us take a look at today’s answer!
Today’s answer comes from a follower of this very blog. Eduardo in the great country of Italy. Eduardo does me the great honor of providing feedback on several of my blogs. In addition, he has a passion for hiking and exploring. He shares videos, and amazing photos, of his adventures at different locations. He is married to a Filipina, the love of his life. He shares what makes their marriage, and love, so successful. He also shares some amazing culinary creations. Viewing Eduardo’s social media is like experiencing a cultural adventure!All this being said, let us take a look at what he thinks makes life fulfilling. I will tell you it is as simple as it is profound.
it’s contributing: there is no way around it.
We touched on this last post with Jason’s answer. Eduardo broadens the category for us a little more. It is about adding to the world. What are we contributing? It reminds me of people who say they just want to win the lottery and sit on the beach. I must confess, on certain days I am one of those people. The truth is, we could only be happy doing this for so long. If we were of no use to anyone, or anything, how long would we be happy? We must feel that our life has a purpose. To have a purpose, we must find ways to contribute. As Eduardo so correctly reminds us, “There is no way around it.”
This is not to say that you should live your life solely for others. Take time for yourself when you need to recharge. What we must understand, and what Eduardo’s answer so succinctly states, is that in order to live a life that is fulfilling, it must also contribute to the greater good. This can be done in so many ways. My beautiful lady and her daughter contribute to the joy of others with the delicious baked goods they create. Last post we looked at how Jason contributes with his music, raising his daughter and loving his wife. Above we looked at the multitude of ways that Eduardo himself follows his own philosophy of contribution. It is through these actions that all of them get a feeling of contribution.
How about you? How do you contribute to the world? Have you thought about how this contribution brings a sense of fulfillment? Whether you are a parent, a teacher, a great friend or an amazing spouse, the world is full of ways in which you can contribute. I would love to hear some of yours and how they make you feel like you are living a fulfilling life in the comments below.
Yes, this is a funny little meme. Yes, it is also the honest truth for me when it comes to winter. It is also a great suggestion for appreciating different aspects of what the cold weather brings. I mentioned a few posts ago that where I live the weather is dangerously cold. The news is recommending people do not leave their house unless they have to. Makes you wonder why I am not on vacation writing to you from the tropics. As you read this, there is a great chance that I am doing just what the photo above states. Sitting inside enjoying a good cup of coffee. Chances are that I am doing so with some wonderful company as well.
As much as I dislike the cold, there is something wonderful to be said about being inside looking out at it. Enjoying coffee with Margie, my mother or some other wonderful person becomes so much more of a blessing. The fact that we have the freedom and ability to do so is something we are all grateful for. While it is true that you can do this in the warm weather, it has a different feel when the temperature plummets below freezing.
Wherever you are, and no matter what the weather is like, may you enjoy the blessing of sharing a great cup of coffee with some wonderful company. Make sure you take time to be grateful for the ability to do so. In a world where things can change in an instant, it is fully enjoying the present that makes all of the difference.
In honor of Martin Luther King Jr, I wanted to reflect on one of my favorite quotes of his. The only way to combat those of a negative nature is with love and positivity. It may be a news flash to some, but you cannot ‘out hate’ a person. Everyone ends up losing. The negative physical effects of hate will end up costing you in the long run. The increase in stress hormones will raise blood pressure, cause headaches, upset stomach and a host of other not so wonderful maladies. What is the payoff of hate? There really is none. It will cost you sleep. It will weaken your immune system and drain your energy.
On the flip side, love has a host of wonderful benefits for you. If you can fill your life with love, you will experience faster healing from wounds, better sleep, lower blood pressure and better pain relief. Not to mention your view of the world will change. When we fill our hearts and minds with hate, the world reflects those emotions to us. The world takes on a dark and foreboding feeling. We feel that everyone is out to get us. That bad luck seems to follow us around. When we are filled with love, we notice opportunities that we may have missed. Those around us feel it too. They share a smile with us. We seem to attract other love-filled souls.
Next time you are faced with hate of any kind, or even just a negative personality, remember the words in the quote above. You cannot drive darkness out with more darkness, and you can’t drive hate out with more hate. Fill yourself with love. It will change your life and it just might save your life.
As an author, you may be tempted to think this is a ploy to get to you buy more books. Certainly, if you would like to go on Amazon and search ‘Neil Panosian’, feel free to order away. In truth, this post has nothing to do with books at all. It has to do with people. The people in your life. Friends, loved ones and even just the people you enjoy spending time with.
In my own life, I have recently lost two people. My grandmother, who was 96 years old, and my friend Billy Spaulding, who we wrote about last post. These two are not only two entirely different people, they will serve as a great example of what we wish to discuss here today. We often have two types of relationships with people. The book version, or the CliffsNotes version. With Billy I had the book, with my grandmother, the CliffsNotes.
Above you see some very smart people with great taste in books. I hope they had the pleasure of reading the entire thing from cover to cover. When it comes to relationships, do we read from cover to cover? Here is what I mean. When we lose someone, we lose more than just that person’s physical presence in our life. We lose stories we share. We lose jokes that maybe we are the only ones to understand, or find funny.Having these to appreciate takes reading the whole book cover to cover. What is the difference and how do we go about reading these books? Let’s take a look.
My grandmother, my dad’s mother, recently passed away at the age of 96. Sadly, I can’t really share much about her as we did not spend a great deal of time together. For several years she even thought my name was Nick. Margie thought the same thing, but that is a different story. I knew her name. Spent a few moments with her and even have a few comical memories of things she did. In other words, the CliffsNotes version. Did I know her favorite flower? No. Did I know what made her laugh? Not at all.
On the opposite side of the spectrum was my friend Billy. We had spent hours discussing life and our place in it. We shared jokes, laughter and quite a few cocktails. Last post goes into this in greater detail. There is even a video of the two of us on our YouTube channel. That is reading the book version of getting to know someone. As I was laying awake unable to sleep thinking of this blog and what I was going to write, another thing occurred to me – technology. It is vital that we share with each other on as many levels as we can.
Cellphones can be linked to the decline of personal communication. They can, however, help us establish the ‘whole book’ way of remembering someone. Above are pictures of my late uncle, my cousin who passed away at the age of 22, Margie’s mom (whose birthday we celebrate today) and I, my great uncle and my grandfather. All of these people are no longer here. Many passed before cell phones were really a thing. Therefore, there is little or no audio and video of them. As I thought about people I would like to still be able to speak with, my grandfather popped into my head. My mind even strained to remember the sound of his voice. It seems unreal that there was never a video made, but you just didn’t think of those things. That is why it is important to get to know each other on the deepest level. When my young cousin passed away in a tragic accident, we were scheduled to get together and shoot a video for my YouTube channel the very next week.
The point of all of this is to create the memories now. Do not settle for surface knowledge of someone. Really get to know them. You never know when it may be your last chance to do so. If it is, do you want to be left with CliffsNotes or do you want to say you have read the whole book?
SECRET 2 AN AMAZING LIFE 