Friday Carousel – 11.27.09

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Happy (Day After) Thanksgiving to my U.S. readers and Happy Day to the rest of my readers! I had a positively amazing Thanksgiving with family & friends; I am so grateful. Speaking of gratitude,
I count my blessings every single day when I wake up in the morning & when I go to sleep at night. This practice humbles & strengthens me. I urge you to do the same. We have so much to be thankful for.

…And now on to this week’s Friday Carousel!

    “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”–JFK

  1. How We Can Help Alleviate World Poverty in Three Easy Steps: The lastest post from Zen Habits and a topic near and dear to my heart.

    there are two points to remember when we think about global problems:

    1. Every action counts;
    2. We are not alone.

  2. Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television: From Mother Earth News. Television can be a devil. While there is much good to be gained from it, I think that for most people it is a waste, a sucker of energy, life, and happiness. If I had to classify myself, I’d be *pro-books* and *anti-television*.

    3. “We are never so much disposed to quarrel with others as when we are dissatisfied with ourselves.” –William Hazlitt

  3. The Benefits of Pissing People Off: It is no secret that I practice kindness as my religion; but I am also a firm believer that- You can please some of the people some of the time; but you can’t please all of the people all of the time. I really enjoyed this post by Tim Ferriss.

    By facing the fire early and often, we ensure the confidence and breathing room later to do bigger and better things.

  4. From Chelsea Nico.
  5. The Warrior of Light Dances: My latest inspiration from Paulo Coelho’s blog.

    The warrior is careful with people who think they can control the world, determine their own steps, and are certain that they know the right path. They are always so confident in their own capacity of decision that they do not realize the irony with which fate writes everyone’s life.

  6. Live and Let Live: 9 Ways of Letting Go: I absolutely love this post from my friend Jard at Spiritual Zen. Two of my favorite points-

    Be Understanding Rather Than Understood and Stop Being a Victim.

Please share your own links in the comments section. Have a wonderful weekend! Remember to spread love & light wherever you go.

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  • Carousel — 04.09.10

    Hello Dear Readers & happy Friday! It’s been a bit quiet around here this week because I am preparing for vacation. Yahoo! I leave tomorrow morning and will be returning late next week. You will see a couple of guest posts during that time (if I can properly set that up in WordPress) and a guest post from me will be posted over at a friend’s blog. So keep your eyes open for those things, but my apologies in advance as I will not be replying to comments or emails because…

    I plan to be completely disconnected during my trip. That means no Blackberry, Twitter, Facebook, Web, Foursquare, and so on. I need a break from “virtual reality”, my friends. 😉 In fact, we all do from time to time!

    That said, let’s move on to this week’s Carousel. I’ve got some very sweet goodies to share with you this week.

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    Every Friday, I post my favourite links, posts, & resources from around the Web. Expect to learn, grow, & be inspired.

    1. Coming across hurting people: Every now & again, I come across a piece that touches me in a deep, profound way. Usually the piece is not too long, but it is always powerful and tugs at my heart strings in a soft, yet poignant way.

    This blog post is one of those pieces. If you read nothing else from this week’s Carousel, read this.

    2. Eco-Bootcamp: The sustainable, savvy heroines over at Your Daily Thread have kicked off a month long going green boot camp in honor of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22nd. Their goal is to turn Eco-zeros, to Eco-heroes even if you’ve never recycled before.

    3. Soda: A Sin We Sip Instead of Smoke? and Junk food ‘as addictive as heroin and smoking’: I am extremely passionate about healthy living & lifestyles. My passion has been really intense lately as I become increasingly aware of the disturbing truths about modern “food”.

    I view the recent elimination of sugary beverages (soda) from school systems as a huge triumph. I look forward to the continuation of this important trend. Education and awareness is crucial.

    4. create luck, embrace chance & tune in to your serendipity: What is it about lucky people? Have they all got horseshoes tucked into their backsides? 🙂 Amber doesn’t think so & neither do I.

    5. 7 Sources of Deep Clutter: Some great advice about how to eliminate the “shoulds, have-tos, and people-pleasing” bad habits that are cluttering your life & soul.

    (And as a side note, the Good Life Zen blog is really fantastic. Each post is insightful, inspirational, and well-written.)

    6. Remaining Calm in Stressful Situations: I like this post because it teaches us something that we can all benefit from (remaining calm) but I love it because it reminds us of something even more important — that mental/emotional stress does cause physical illness.

    7. 40 Belief-Shaking Remarks From a Ruthless Nonconformist: Ah, yes! We can always count on Friedrich Nietzsche to obliterate the complacent, feel-good beliefs that we hold about ourselves. This collection of quotes will stir your pot and get your wheels spinning.

    8. The Top 10 Online Habits That Make My Life Simpler: If you’re like me—meaning you spend several hours a day online—then you know that the Web can be the biggest time-vacuum known to man (if you let it). This post lists lots of simple yet effective ways that will help you make the most of your precious time spent online.

    9. Why You Should Be More Decisive: Truth: I am an extremely indecisive woman by nature. Those closest to me will tell you this.

    I have trouble deciding upon the simplest of things—which restaurant to visit, which shirt to wear, which road to take, whether or not to put salt on my food, which movie to watch, and so on. Well, a couple of years ago I found an ingenious method for dealing with this problem: I started flipping a coin! Yes, that’s my secret.

    While the coin-flipping model has worked well for me, I still really enjoyed this post. It teaches us why some people have so much trouble being decisive in today’s world and why it is really important that we become more decisive overall. Perhaps I should stop relying so heavily on the coin and start aiming to be more decisive myself…

    10. How To Fund Your Travels With Creativity: I have several friends who are currently living outside of the United States, seeing the world, gaining incredible life experience, and living the lives of their dreams. If you want to know how 95% of them are doing it, read this post. It will tell you exactly what they’re doing and how you can do it too.

    ———————–

    That’s it for this week. I’ll see you all on the other side.

    In love & light,
    Dena

  • Carousel — 03.26.10

    Every Friday, I post my favourite links, posts, & resources from around the Web. Expect to learn, grow, & be inspired.

    ———————–

    1. burning questions with Patti Digh: poetic choices: If you read nothing else from this week’s Carousel, read this post. This is honestly one of the most moving & profound interviews that I’ve ever read.

    2. UPDATE ON THE JOURNEY TO EVERY COUNTRY: Incredible! Talk about an incredible journey…

    3. Why I Quit My Job to Travel Around the World: This seems to be “the dream” of so many in my generation. I love to read the stories of those who go out & make it happen.

    4. Be Your Own Guru: Because, in the end, no one else can stand in my shoes. No one else can live my fears, dreams, love, relationships, desires, intellect, challenges, life and lifestyle. No one else can enjoy or suffer the outcome of my decisions or actions. No one else is better equipped to know me. No one else can act but me.

    5. Staying out of Starvation Mode….: Crucial information if you are trying to maintain a healthy body weight & optimal fitness.

    6. Paying it WAY Forward: I discovered Colin and his blog a couple of weeks ago when he did an interview at Untemplater. I developed an e-crush on him & his lifestyle immediately thereafter. I really like this post that he wrote about paying it forward & the idea of “karma.” Great stuff.

    7. How To Find Balls: Hehe… I’ll let this post’s title speak for itself. 😉

    8. what i learned at couples counseling: I love this post—not just because I think counseling is always a good idea—but also because the advice contained within is so fantastic.

    9. The Mindfulist: The Concept—Each day, meditate or think on a new topic. Slow down and focus! How to participate—1. Meditate or create with each daily prompt 2. The prompts come in two flavors. Work/tech-related, found here at The Mindfulist. 3. If you’re public and want to be social, tag what you create #mindfulist

    I like it.

    10. How to Master the Art of Mindful Eating: Fantastic advice about how to eat, the way that food is meant to be eaten. (Bonus = a delicious recipe!)

    ———————–

    Happy Spring, my loves! ♥♥

  • Carousel — 02.26.10

    Snow, snow, and more snow! Are you beginning to notice a theme here? I sure am. We’ve gotten ten inches over the past few days & the forecast calls for at least another 10-15 inches by tomorrow night. I am actually writing this on Thursday (pre-scheduling the post for Friday) because I probably won’t have an internet connection tomorrow. I will be up in the mountains & most likely snowbound.

    Well, I plan on keeping busy & keeping warm this weekend. I hope you do the same where ever you are. I recommend hot cocoa, snowman building, and warm blankets. If you are someplace warm, soak up the sun & be glad!

    Here are this week’s Carousel links. Enjoy!

    1. polaroids from marrakech, morocco: Beautiful photographs from the Our Labor of Love blog. Just looking at these make me warm inside, perfect for a cold Winter’s day.

    2. Be Indispensable: “It’s so sad because people don’t recognize that they have to go that low and wait that long.” I love Gary Vaynerchuk, this guy is probably the single-most passionate individual I’ve ever come across. Enjoy this quick video where he talks about what you need to do to become indispensable. Then go search him on YouTube when you’ve got more time—guaranteed inspiration.

    3. On the importance of “No”: “There are moments when we say ‘yes’ to others and in fact are saying ‘no’ to ourselves.”

    4. 5 ways to escape the escapist weekend: Perfect advice to make the best out of this coming weekend & then all the rest!

    5. How Do You Treat Your Food?: I love this post from the Epic Self blog. It is so important that we apply conscious living to every aspect of our lives—especially when it comes to what we put in our bodies! Being mindful about what we put in our bodies is just as important as being mindful of our thoughts, words, and actions.

    6. Stillness is a Powerful Action: “Let stillness become your most powerful action. It could change your life.” Another great post by Leo! I’ve actually been practicing stillness in my life much more frequently than ever before. The results are amazing—I feel calmer, more energized, and ready to take on the world. Stillness in the middle of a hectic day is priceless.

    7. In Defense Of The Death Penalty: Fascinating post by Tim Brownson about the power of our beliefs & values. Don’t be too put off by the title—there’s a twist.

    8. Creating a Happiness Plan: Attention, everyone! Do you have a happiness plan. If not, what are you waiting for? This post will set you on your way.

    9. the perils of justifying yourself: Leave it to Danielle to press your buttons & make you think. Do you justify yourself? You need to read this.

    Alright friends. That’s it for this week’s Carousel. I hope that you love each of these posts as much as I did. I’ll be braving the blizzard for the next few days. Wish me luck. Have a great weekend and, as always, spread love & light.

4 Comments

  1. Thanks for sharing Dena.

    I disagree strongly with Tim's post. The goal isn't to piss people off, it's to be beyond what other people will think, say, or do, in reponse to you being you.

    The *really* successful people could care less if they piss people off most of the time. They devote themselves to a purpose.

    Who cares what others think about what you do?

    Reply

  2. I'm loving your Friday Carousels! (And that opening picture is awesome, btw)

    Thanks for showing me some articles that I have missed this week… Those two first points from Leo's post are so moving… 1) Every action counts and 2) We are not alone.
    🙂
    Karen

    Reply

  3. I was at first taken back by Tim's post too (a great provoking headline, no?) but the message he's trying to convey was for us to not fear doing remarkable things.
    Have a great day Dena!

    Reply

  4. @Ryan – I appreciate your feedback. When I read Tim's article, it actually seemed to be mostly in complete agreement with your thoughts. 🙂

    @Karen – I am glad that you liked them. Yes, we can always count on Leo for some inspiration.

    @Ken – Yes, yes! That is exactly the point. I think he was trying to grab attention with that headline but at its core the article was about doing remarklable things.

    Reply

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