Where is the life in living?

The day we live today is as long as the first day we were born, same as the last day we draw our breath on this world. My day is as long as the King of England's day and same goes for the God of the Universe - for all of us, this day is this day.

What can we conclude from this? Certainly Seize the day, for we are alive today. Certainly, a day wasted is the worst kind of sin. The time we have on this earth is our only true precious resource, which we would defend to the death.

Yet we lose site of this important realization, and live each day as if it were a resource on a project management schedule somewhere, where we're completing some percent of some important task somewhere, then we do the grocery shopping, pecked a kiss goodbye to our spouse on the way out the door. Where is the life in living?

Balance

Too much and too little wine. Give him none, he cannot find truth; give him too much, the same.

--Blaise Pascal, 1623-1662

Do not abstain from nature's pleasures altogether for fear that you will corrupt yourself.

"Seek balance in all things, including balance itself. Once in a while you need to fall off balance to truely know where the center is."

--David Levine, 1962 - 2071

Live

Living consists not so much in getting the big things right, but in getting right with the little things.

--David Levine 1962 - 2071

Living consists of being present continuously in an immense number of moments, each of which we live in fully, not a moment too soon nor a moment too late, strung together piece by piece, to form the tapestry of your life. Take a moment to look back at the tapestry of your life. Be present in that moment too.

Love

Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls. A joyful heart is the inevitable result of a heart burning with love.

--Mother Teresa

Recent research shows that we spread joy like a happy contagious virus. The joy you share with those around you actually causes them to be happy, which in turns causes those around you to spread joy, and so on.

Therefore, resolve to find love in your life so that you may spread joy. There can be no higher aim or goal of living.

Laugh

"The most wasted of all days is one without laughter."
E.E. Cummings, 1894 - 1962

Take a deep breath, and laugh. It doesn't matter that you have nothing to laugh about, just laugh. Let it rip for 10 seconds or more. You feel better now, don't you?

I googled the following:
laugh "add eight years"
and just got 531 hits. A typical page on this topic talks about how laughter adds eight years to you life. I don't know how this meme got started and the extent to which it is statistically true, but intuitively I feel there is some truth here.

Find something to laugh about, and then let it go. And if you can't find anything to laugh about, laugh at how your life is so sad or serious that you have nothing to laugh about!

Breath

Normally, we do not so much look at things as overlook them. — Alan Watts.

I'll never forget the time I was driving along, minding my own business, somewhere slightly North of Marin, California, when I passed a road sign that ready simply:

Breath

A road side sign reminding me that I needed to breath. This really blew me away. "Only in California" you might be saying. Yeah, maybe. But I took this as a point well taken. At the time I was driving, I was caught up in whatever petty life issue I was facing and was letting the tension of whatever situation that was define who I was.

Focusing on your own breathing is The classic door to meditation and "being in the moment". But there are lots of other techniques for being in the moment. Find one that works for you and make sure you "breath" every day, however you do that.

Why am I creating "How To Live Well"?

I think the first posting to any new blog should explain why you've created a new blog. So that's what I intend to do here.

I've discovered a lot of things that anyone can do to improve the quality of their life. This blog documents those things. It is my hope that by documenting my discoveries, others can improve the quality of their life too.

I also have a lot of ideas that could improve the qualify of your community, and the world in general. I can't implement most if not all of these ideas, so I give them away here for free. If anyone is inspired to implement any of these, please let me know how they turn out.

This is the third blog I've decided to maintain. For those looking to learn more about me, you can read my personal blog and my professional blog.