Life Insurance Lowdown

Greetings! Welcome to the 6th edition of the Carnival of Life, Happiness & Meaning. We had to delay this edition due to some inevitable reasons. In total, we received 60 posts out of which 56 have been selected to be featured on this carnival. Without further ado, here are the posts in the order they were received.

Dr. Deb presents The Contagiousness of Moods posted at Dr. Deb. This post looks at the contagiousness of moods.

Eduardo Zambrano presents Marriage gone to heaven posted at The Way of It. There were two ways we could have gotten the divorce: one was at war, hating each other, the other one was peaceful. We chose peace, and our children, relatives and friends are grateful in more ways than one for that.

John Hill presents Self Sabotage posted at Universe Of Success. You may be hindering your own progress and not even aware you are doing it.

Anna Farmery presents Top 5 Reasons I want to Live posted at Widows Quest. Life is short, life is precious and it’s important that you live each moment like your last.

David presents Top 5 Tips for Achieving Success posted at Worldwide Success. Much has been written about success. You will find many differing opinions on not only how to achieve success, but even on what success is. For some people success is financial bliss. For others, it is freedom. Yet, others find success in health, family and friends.

Christine Kane presents How to Get Nothing Done posted at Christine Kane’s Blog. Christine has compiled a list of tried-and-true methods that millions and millions of people use every day to stall out, get stuck, and keep proving to themselves that taking action just doesn’t work for them.

Gustav S presents Learn how to Meditate (Easy) posted at success-is-in-you.com. Meditation help you find yourself and thus meaning of life.

Karen Lynch presents High Heels and Struggles posted at LivethePower. Even though Karen is probably more practical than she wants to believe, she doesn’t particularly like to think of herself as someone who only does things because it is the practical thing to do.

John Crenshaw presents The One Idea That Took 23 Years To Understand And Changed My Life Forever posted at Dominate Your Life. There’s one path on the way to meet your goals, and it’s disappearing behind you; there’s nowhere to go but forward, there’s no other option but to succeed.

Scott Lee presents Thankful Grateful Gratitude posted at Scott Free Thinking. While we could all sit back and say the world could always be a little more thankful, I think it is important to realize that the true thanks in which we are seeking comes directly from ourselves. If the world is not reacting to you the way you would like, that probably means that you are not reacting to yourself the way that you would like…

Midnight Raider presents Tricks That Beat On-The-Job Stress posted at Refrigerator Raid. Feeling stressed at work? You’re not alone. According to a survey reported by a recent MSNBC.com article, almost 60% of us cited “work” as the leading cause of stress in our lives.

Stephanie West Allen presents Friday frivolity (and a little wisdom): Why not become a jester? posted at idealawg. Why in the world would a person want to become a jester? The word “jester” conjures up the image of motley clothes and a floppy hat that originally represented the ears of a donkey.

Jack Yoest presents An Anniversary posted at Reasoned Audacity. The first week in every month of May Your Business Blogger has two anniversaries to celebrate. Two constants every man needs. His car. His woman.

Mama Duck presents A Mother’s Day card for Grandma? posted at Lil Duck Duck. On our third Mother’s Day with the little one, we are celebrating with one of his three beloved grandmas. He adores all of his grandmas & takes over the cell phone daily to call them and tell them all about his newest adventures.

Albert Foong presents Aristotle vs. Urban Monk Round 1: Finding Bliss. Success. Love. posted at Urban Monk. The Highest Human Good - Aristotle’s work on success and happiness, given the usual Urban Monk emphasis on readability and practicality - how you can apply his works to your life right now.

Erek Ostrowski presents Ease Up and Don?t Swing So Hard! posted at Verve Coaching. Here’s to a life of ease, where producing extraordinary results is no more difficult than letting the correct path unfold naturally.

Lori Radun, CEC presents Finding Peace in Letting Go posted at The Mom Coach. Sometimes, life hands us situations that are difficult, painful, or at best, different than what we expected. It can be as simple as someone disagreeing with us, or our children making bad choices.

John Wesley presents Balancing the Future and the Present posted at Pick the Brain. Finding balance is the art of living. It can’t be taught, but we can develop it within ourselves as we gain wisdom and experience. The first step is consciously examining everyday decisions.

Debra Moorhead presents 7 Ways to be Happier and More Fulfilled in Everything You Do posted at Debra Moorhead.com. Most people define success, ultimately, as the feeling of happiness and fulfillment in every moment. Sure, we want cars, houses, a luxurious lifestyle, as well as many, many other things, and we can have all of that, but we also want to be happy.

Heather Flanagan presents VIP Meme Project: Visualizing a World That Works posted at Visualize Possibilities. There is a phenomenon in the Blogosphere called “blog-tag.” For those of you who may not be blogging savvy, here is a brief explanation:

Bert presents Life Purpose posted at Ask-Bert. This article deals with discovering your own personal purpose in life. Excerpt “Let’s tackle a universal question in everyone’s life, what is our purpose for being here? This is a question that has been asked since recorded time and something we’ve all personally asked ourselves at least a couple of times.

SpiKe presents Forget The To-Do List, Start A Done List posted at Organize IT. To-do lists don’t have to be restricted to just your next actions. GTD encourages you to break down your next actions into context lists, which are essentially to-do lists but grouped under appropriate contexts, so for example, if you are sat at the computer you can immediately scan all the actions you need to do there.

Craig Harper presents Gill’s Story posted at Motivational Speaker. Every now and then you meet someone who is incredible, brave and inspirational. Today was such a day!

Wanda Grindstaff presents It’s All About Having FUN - Living with Intent posted at Creating Abundant Lifestyles. Have fun and boost your business.

Shamelle presents Are We There Yet? posted at Enhance Life. People who know where they are heading need to aware of path/route to get to the destination. (Breaking down one goal, into manageable tasks/milestones -> sub-goals).

Darbright presents Creating Purpose and Meaning in Your Life Through a Life Mission Statement posted at Darbright.com. Having a personal mission statement to create meaning in life.

Dianne M. Buxton presents Buddha’s Birthday at The Gentle Barn posted at manifestingsuccess. This is an unusual story about life and compassion, inspiring.

Riversider presents Save Penwortham Allotments - Stop Riverworks posted at Save The Ribble. Local allotment keepers are fuming that Preston City Council should even be thinking about building housing and businesses all over their precious patches of land.

Brandon Peele presents An Open Letter to My Parents posted at GT. Brandon says, “This universe, the one you helped me build with your fears and ideas, is governed by happiness. Or rather an incomplete definition of it”.

Angela Lindenmuth presents Let’s talk empowerment… ? Chiromom’s Soap Box posted at Chiromom’s Soap Box. Another approach to women’s empowerment to bring about positive changes in their lives.

Kara-Leah Masina presents Choose perfection, choose Heaven, choose joy, choose Love posted at K-L Masina. Join K-L as she takes you on a journey of words designed to help you step into a moment of peace and joy right now.

Kennubo presents Ken Nubo — Your daily source of knowledge and unconventional thinking: Designing your own life posted at Ken Nubo — Your daily source of knowledge and unconventional thinking. It’s like you wake up every morning and you spend all your time with your routines and habits, like working your job or watching 16 years old on the Internet.

Karl staib presents Perspectivism posted at Karl Staib. We all see our lives the way we want to see them. If we want to see our lives as terrible and tragic then so it will be.

Ellesse presents Inspirational Stories I : Wilma Rudolph, An Olympic Wonder posted at Goal Setting College. Wilma Rudolph is a great reminder to us that we can overcome life’s adversity with determination and sheer will power.

Jeremy Reeves presents Being Weird Is a Good Thing posted at The Road To A Perfect Life. Are you living by social norms? If so, maybe it’s time you step out of the box.

Alex Blackwell presents 14 Ways to Learn the Secret to Happiness posted at The Next 45 Years. Some of us see the glass as being half-full, while others see the glass as half-empty. This expression goes straight to the heart of the power of positive thinking and taking the time to Notice What’s Right.

Karen Halls presents Recognizing a Pain Pill Addiction– Addiction Recovery Blog posted at Addiction Recovery Blog. It seems as though almost everyone is taking medication for something. Be it heart disease, high blood pressure or arthritis, there is a pill for everything. Unfortunately some pills are very addictive and can have detrimental results for the patient yet they are still regularly prescribed in certain circumstances.

Arun presents The Power of Being Social posted at Arun is bringing you…Your Daily Remedy. How to become your “most social self” and why doing so will make your everyday life happier!

Aithal presents Clear View posted at Success Step. If we wish to have a clear view of life, then we need to discard our old dark glasses. If our minds are constrained by obsolete attitudes and prejudices, our perceptions are bound to get affected.

Carol presents THE VIEW FROM OUTER SPACE posted at On The High Road. Carol says, “One more thing about that afternoon on the front steps . . . . I remember thinking what a great dad I had and how much I wished he could be my teacher. Now I know he was. He truly was”.

Kate presents #2. The Tuesday To Do List posted at Babylune. You live, you learn, you keep the promises you made to yourself.

Therapydoc presents Commencement posted at Everyone Needs Therapy. Therapy docs can get pretty busy, especially when someone’s giving a speech.

Alvaro Fernandez presents Lifelong Learning and New Neurons in Adults posted at Brain Fitness. The amazing powers of our brains.

JoLynn Braley presents Can Weight Loss Make You More Money? posted at The Fit Shack. Here’s something to think about today if you are struggling to get motivated to take action and get the weight off: you can actually end up making more money by losing weight!

Albert presents Stepping into greatness and out of unhappiness with dynamic goals - Aristotle and Ego Series. posted at Urban Monk. You probably suffer because of what you want and how you go about achieving your goals. The best secret to productivity, success, and happiness lies in switching how you approach your goals.

Ananga presents Word Association: How Your Mind Walks Your Talk posted at Ananga Sivyer’s Living by Design Blog. The cells of your body are subordinate to the commands sent to them by your mind. If you focus on your aches and pains, for sure, you’ll feel them in excruciating detail. If you focus on showing your body some appreciation with a stretch or two, or a regular walk, you’ll feel fit and fine in no time.

Barbra Sundquist presents Spend Time with People Who Appreciate You posted at WelcomeJoy.com. A powerful statement: A wise person once said to me, “We become like the 5 people we spend the most time with.”

Nathanael presents Egocentrism and the myth of happiness posted at Despair and Coffee. The basic goal of most individuals is to attain happiness in life; to find contentment and meaning. This being the case, it seems that the bane of human existence is, ultimately, the intrinsic selfishness which drives every person.

Anmol Mehta presents Today I Finally Passed the Test and Have Officially Become a Man posted at Mastery of Meditation, Enlightenment & Kundalini Yoga. Anmol says, “How I finally passed my big test and hints to help you pass yours”.

Craig Harper presents The Personal Development Zombie posted at Motivational Speaker. Personal Development Zombie - a person seemingly incapable of independent thought. Takes on the beliefs, philosophies, ideologies and identity of other higher profile and allegedly(?) more enlightened individuals.

Uni presents How to Combine Positive Thinking and The Law of Attraction posted at You Deserve More. You are what you think. You attract what you think; your life is a product of your thought and belief; nothing in the world can change this fact. To alter your life the only course open to you is to alter your thinking.”

Alex Blackwell presents Begin Right Now, Today posted at The Next 45 Years. When is the best time to start working on a new goal? The answer is simple: Begin right now, today! The biggest obstacle most of us face when starting to work towards a new goal is “the paralysis of analysis.”

William Dvorak presents The First Creation posted at The First Creation. Egoism is a state of mind where a person values all things in terms of their value to the self. Egoism and selfishness are virtues, in fact the greatest of all virtues, as they enable life.

Edithyeung presents Buffet of Life - Strategy of Focusing posted at Edith Yeung.Com: Dream. Think. Act.. You need a strategy. You need to find a way so you can identify the best dish in the house. The issue is the look of the dish doesn’t usually guarantee the taste. Many dishes look great from the outside, but when you actually bite into it; it may not be so tasty.

Andrew presents The Centrality Of The Mind posted at Lifecrafting. This article is about how your own mind can sabotage your life, but just as much, your mind can help you achieve the peace, happiness, and quality of life that you deserve.

Rory Sullivan presents Everyone Believes In God - Some Children Are Just Angry At Their Parents posted at hamelife. Every single human being’s personality - his ability, his way of thinking and feeling - is carved and chiseled by circumstances and environment. The stamp of history changes day by day, matching the steps of man’s living.

That concludes the sixth edition of the Carnival of Life, Happiness & Meaning. We are glad to see such a huge response to this carnival. Keep submitting your posts to the future editions of this carnival. It would be great if you continue to promote this carnival on your blogs.

–By Sagar Satapathy

Greetings! Welcome to the 5th edition of the Carnival of Life, Meaning & Happiness. We have selected 16 posts for this edition. All these posts are related to life, happiness and meaning. I am sure that you will enjoy the carnival.

Albert Foong presents What your ego is and how to stop it from obscuring your inner peace and unconditional love posted at Urban Monk. The ego is the source of all unhappiness. All unhappiness. What is it, how does it creep in, and what you can do? This is by far Albert’s longest, favorite, and most heartfelt article ever.

Phil presents Reducing Stress ? Phil for Humanity posted at Phil for Humanity. People always look for short term solutions to stress, such as taking “must needed” vacations, and then they go right back to their hectic and stressful schedule immediately afterwards. Handling stress must be a lifestyle change that minimizes everyday stress.

William Tully presents What about FINITE capacity? posted at LOGICal eMOTIONs. Think of it this way: negative ’stuff’ (hate, thoughts, emotions, people, and so on) comes into our lives quite regularly, and at some point we need to actually deal with it, correct? Well, the moment you have to deal with it, guess what, it’s in your life so the whole ‘eliminate negative’ doesn’t quite fit all the time. Ok, so what if we had a predetermined finite limit for negative stuff?

Therapydoc presents And Another Thing: TV and Exercise posted at Everyone Needs Therapy. If you’re going to spend money, spend MONEY.

Cardin Lilly Routh presents What I Learned at the Taco Shack posted at OptmistLab.com. One afternoon Cardin went to a local eatery for lunch. The food was served hot and delicious as usual, but on this day she also got a life-lesson that she’ll never forget, courtesy of a charming and strangely silent little girl.

Gary van Warmerdam presents Not Ready to Heal Emotionally posted at Happiness. Thinking and feeling that we are not ready for emotional healing is a factual truth that hides a self sabotaging lie. It’s not the feeling of not being ready that stops us. It is the hidden lie that keeps us from taking action. The hidden lie is that we need to be ready to heal emotionally in order to start.

Conan Stevens presents Will You Die Before You Even Live? posted at Tall Muscle Actors Blog. Life is not long, you do not have to be trapped by your current circumstances, you have to make life the way you want it…. little by little.

Craig Harper presents Doctor Phil’s Got Issues Too… posted at Motivational Speaker. Everyone from Doctor Phil to Oprah and everyone in between has issues, doubts, fears and insecurities. We don’t see them (the issues) because we don’t really see them (the private person).

Scott Lee presents A Thin Line for the Dark and Bright posted at Scott Free Thinking. Manners and the general, common definition of politeness is most definitely not the problem at all. The problem lies at the heart of how these things are being passed onto our children.

RT presents 8 Ways to Enhance Your Boring Workout posted at Real Muscle Online. Getting people motivated to workout and get healthy!

John Lampard presents The “can do” skill posted at The InterChange Desk. In fact there would be some people who couldn’t discern the slightest difference between the two roles, including possibly, even the former assistant accountant, until of course they saw their first payslip as a full blown accountant!

JoLynn Braley presents How to Surrender to a Lack of Motivation posted at The Fit Shack. This article pertains to the act of surrendering to a lack of motivation to lose weight, however the powerful act of surrender can be used in any area of life that you have been struggling with.

Moses E. Miles III presents How to Start Your Day off Right posted at Three Sticks. A Simple Plan to help you start your day on the right foot.

Wanda Grindstaff presents Prosperity and Abundance is Your Birthright - Living with Intent posted at Creating Abundant Lifestyles. Do not buy into the myth that you must settle for less in life.

Jeremy Reeves presents The Top 5 Ways To Appreciate Life More posted at The Road To A Perfect Life. The majority of people really don’t think about exactly how lucky they are to be alive. We wonder through life with a thick cloud of fog covering our eyes, going through the motions of life day in and day out.

Brandon Peele presents A Week with Sai Maa posted at GT. Maa’s knuckleheads are primarily found withing the Humanity In Unity organization, which handles the administration and organization of these events, various humanitarian projects, building ashrams, etc. The organization appeared, at this event at least, as a spiritual front for a commercial enterprise.

That concludes the 5th edition of the Carnival of Life, Happiness & Meaning. Keep submitting your posts to the future editions of this carnival. Thank you for your continued support to this carnival.

The life of man is an indication of what is beyond him and what determines the course of his thoughts, feelings and actions. Man’s life is meant for reaching the peak of perfection. Life is a great pilgrimage. Do not stray away. Awake, Arise and Purify! Live to learn and learn to live.

Will you not be lights in this darkness that is partially occupying over the world? Will you not make use of the supreme power Lord has blessed you with a shining light. Awaken the lamp within and let it radiate through your every thoughts, word and action. Thus, making this life a purposeful and a glorious ascent into the fullness of light where one becomes an enlightened being, an illumined being, shining with the light of spiritual consciousness.

Authors Note: Over the past few weeks we’ve been getting reports about a drug used to treat arthritis and Crohn’s disease called Remicade. We think it important to inform our readers that most recently there have been a number of reports that there may be side effects to remicade that were previously unknown. Read more about it here.

Some selected teachings from philosophers and saints are given below:

1. Wisdom and Knowledge: Life purpose is to master and know everything, thus expanding your perception. Don’t forget to learn from your own and others’ mistakes. Always seek truth to lead your life to a meaningful future and goal.
2. Philosophical Path:  The meaning of life is to express compassion, to give and respect love. You should also work for justice to live in peace and in harmony with your natural environment. Always do good deeds to serve other soul. The circumstances of life are not set in stone. We are not all meant to live life through to old age. We have grown to perceive life as a full cycle with a certain number of years in between. If all of those years aren’t lived out it’s a tragedy.
3. Spiritual Life: You have to find perfect love to achieve enlightenment and inner peace. Always glorify God to discover who you are. Life on the spiritual path will always resolve all problems that you faces, or to ignore them and attempt to fully continue life without them, or to detach yourself from all problems faced by you.
4. Guru Mantra: A new-age guru preaches us that following God’s will is the true meaning for life. If you clearly understand where you want to be, you can make sure your actions each day bring you closer. Always examine your identity. Self-awareness is the cornerstone of emotional intelligence leading you to success in life. If you know yourself well, you can choose a path that is filled with happiness and contentment. Our purpose is not to magnify the gloom going on in the world. It’s to put life into perspective. We grow accustomed to the life in front of our eyes and forget the unseen worlds going on in the billions of people who exist with us in these very moments of time. We are bound to the people of this generation by the thread of time. We are all a team existing in this time period, meant for some greater life purpose that shall continue after we died.
5. Erich Fromm View: Man makes his life meaningful by living productively, and by using his powers of love and reason to their fullest capacity. He said that there is only one possible, productive solution for the relationship of individualized man with the world. That is his active solidarity with all men and his spontaneous activity, love and work, which unite him again with the world, not by primary ties but as a free and independent. Powerful tendencies arise to escape from this kind of freedom into submission or some kind of relationship to man and the world which promises relief from uncertainty, even if it deprives the individual of his freedom.
6. Abraham Maslow Philosophy: Life meaning is experienced by the self-actualized, growth-motivated person who delights in using his creative powers for their own sake, and who can affirm himself and simultaneously transcend himself through peak experiences. He also proposed that people who have reached self-actualization will sometimes experience a state he referred to as "transcendence”, in which they become aware of not only their own fullest potential, but the fullest potential of human beings at large.
7. Rollo May Idea: Life meaning is experienced by a person centered in himself, who is able to live by his highest values, who knows his own intentionality, feels the power of his will to choose, and is able to love. Joy, rather than happiness, is the goal of life, for joy is the emotion which accompanies our fulfilling our natures as human beings. It is based on the experience of one’s identity as a being of worth and dignity. He also said that life comes from physical survival; but the good life comes from what we care about.
8. Krishnamurti View: The world is experienced as most meaningful when through the knowledge of self gained through self-observation, man frees himself of the self and attains the state of passive awareness and self-forgetfulness which is love.
9. Paul Tillich Philosophy: A man can choose to make his life meaningful by surrendering in faith and love to Jesus. By opening to Jesus and experiencing His acceptance and forgiveness, one experiences the joy and freedom of "new being" and the courage to be oneself.
10. Abraham Heschel Teaching: A man experiences his life as a meaningful when he lives in God’s presence - not simply by encountering God in the world, but primarily by serving God in everyday life, infusing every moment with the spirit of God, and by dedicating himself to ends outside himself.
11. Viktor Frankl Philosophy: Life meaning is experiencing by responding to the demands of the situation at hand, discovering and committing oneself to one’s own unique task in life, and by allowing oneself to experience or trust in an ultimate meaning - which one may or may not call God.
12. Vivekananda Teaching: The goal of mankind is knowledge. This knowledge is inherent in man. No knowledge comes from outside, it is all inside. What we say a man “knows”, should be what he “discovers” or “unveils”. What man learns is really what he discovers by taking the cover off his own soul, which is a mine of infinite knowledge. You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul.
13. Sivananda Commandments: Righteousness is the rule of life. Lead a virtuous life. Strictly adhere to Dharma. Human life is not human without virtues. Study the lives of saints and draw inspiration from them. Cultivate a melting heart, the giving hand, the kindly speech, the life of service, equal vision, and impartial attitude. Lead a regulated life. Take hold of each day as if it were the last day, and utilize every second in prayer, meditation and service. Let your life become a continuous sacrifice to God. Live in the present. Forget the past. Give up hopes of the future.

14. Ravi Shankar Teaching:   His aim is to foster a secularized, humanized, non-exclusive spirituality that will help people recognize the good in every human being and accept each other for who they are, allowing people to be nourished by human values. He also emphasized that religion is the banana skin and spirituality is the banana. The misery in the world is because we throw away the banana and are holding on to the skin.” Sri Ravi believes that all religions and traditions have a common value system, and these shared values have to reach every corner of the world in order to make it a better place for all.

15. Osho Philosophy:  In his teachings there is no place for any repentance. Whatever has happened is gone, now there is no need to waste time on it. Catch hold again of the thread of awareness. Slowly, slowly you will be able to be alert the whole day — an undercurrent of awareness in every act, in every movement, in everything that you are doing, or not doing. Something underneath will be continuously flowing. He preached that the greatest values in life are awareness, love, meditation and laughter. Osho also said that enlightenment is everyone’s natural state, but that one is distracted from realizing it — particularly by the human activity of thought, as well as by emotional ties to societal expectations, and consequent fears and inhibitions.