How Will You Celebrate Color Your Life Happy Day on August 9th?

ColorYourLifeHappy.com

My mom was really surprised when I picked her up in a limo for a Mother’s Day Brunch one year.

 

Did you begin the year making resolutions?

If you stuck to them, it’s probably because you

        • kept your goals small and achievable
        • asked friends to help you stay on track by holding you accountable
        • changed your environment to support your new behavior.

Regardless of how you fared in this annual practice, here’s an opportunity to start anew, but with just one resolution.

What is Color Your Life Happy Day?

On August 9th join me in celebrating “Color Your Life Happy Day”, a day to participate in something you enjoy, some activity that will make
you happy and others too. Then make a decision to make it a habit to continue finding joy, pleasure, a way to help others for the rest of the year.

Happiness is not a destination, but the things we do along the way as we live our lives. At the end of their lives, many wish they had slowed down, worked less and spent more time enjoying family, friends and fun activities. Don’t let this be you.

Regrets are a waste. Do the things that bring you joy and happiness everyday.

The Origin of Color Your Life Happy Day

This special celebration was inspired by the memory of my mother, Mildred S. Morris, who would have turned 105 years old this year on August 9, 2015 (she passed at age 92 in 2002.) She was a hairstylist by trade, but spent her life making people happy with her music. She played piano and organ from childhood through her mid 80’s for many churches, organizations and events. Everyone who ever heard her play was touched by her lively and fervent style.

How to Participate?

Please join me in celebrating Color Your Life Happy Day on August 9th.

You may choose to enjoy a simple pleasure such as taking time off to read a neglected book. You may join the courageous who use this day to get control of the clutter that has been making them very unhappy. Or maybe you’ll rent a Harley or Segway to go for a fun ride. How about becoming a tourist in your own town and visit a museum or other local treasure you’ve never seen? A local convalescent home would likely welcome you to spend some time with a resident who never gets visitors.

Get busy thinking of how you will celebrate Color Your Life Happy Day. Then on August 9th take a picture showing how you celebrated. Remember, it doesn’t have to be grand or spectacular by anyone else’s standards. It just has to be something that makes you happy. Email it to me at [email protected] with your name, activity, and city/state/country.  Or use the  hashtag #coloryourlifehappy to post it on Instagram or Twitter. I will post entries on my blog, Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/coloryourlifehappy and my Pinterest page.

I’m looking forward to the wonderful array of celebrations.

By the way, if you got the awesome custom t-shirt  in June,  Color Your Life Happy Day would be a good day to wear it.  If you missed it, no worries.You can still order the beautiful t-shirt at http://teespring.com/color-your-life-happy-t-shirt  that complements my upcoming book, Color Your Life Happy: Create Your Unique Path and Claim the Joy You Deserve (August 2015)


It’s available in sizes small through 5XL and three
other colors: gold, lime and white.

What a great way to support the right to happiness
we all deserve.

This is a Limited Edition custom shirt. The original campaign ended in June, but you can still get one. Just go to http://teespring.com/color-your-life-happy-t-shirt and click I still want one!

The suggested retail price is $29.99, but I’ve discounted it when you buy it now at
http://teespring.com/color-your-life-happy-t-shirt

Consider buying an extra one for a gift and be sure to tell your friends, family and colleagues on social media to join us. Again, the link is http://teespring.com/color-your-life-happy-t-shirt

Tell me in the comments how you plan to spend Color Your Life Happy Day on August 9th.

The Time of Our Lives or How We Spend Our Marbles

Photo from canstockphoto.com

Photo from canstockphoto.com

[When a friend shared this anonymous story “1000 Marbles” on a message board, everyone enjoyed it.  I thought you would too.]

The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it’s the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it’s the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable. A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the basement shack with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning, turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time.

Let me tell you about it.

I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind, he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whoever he was talking with something about “a thousand marbles”.

I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say. “Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you’re busy with your job. I’m sure they pay you well but it’s a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your daughter’s dance recital.”

He continued, “let me tell you something Tom, something that has helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities.”

And that’s when he began to explain his theory of a “thousand marbles.”

“You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.”

“Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900 which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now stick with me Tom, I’m getting to the important part.”

“It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail”, he went on, “and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy.”

“So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round-up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside of a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear.”

“Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away.”

“I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.”

“Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time.”

“It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. 73 Old Man, this is K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!”

You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about.

I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter.

Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. “C’mon honey, I’m taking you and the kids to breakfast.”

“What brought this on?” she asked with a smile.

“Oh, nothing special, it’s just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. Hey, can we stop at a toy store while we’re out? I need to buy some marbles.”

Are you inspired to pick up some marbles? If not, tell us in the comments how you ensure that you live each day fully?

Celebrating Color Your Life Happy Day

This makes me happy--BillieH. . .there was a time in my life that I said “me on a motorcycle….forget about it! Now I hop on every change I get and love to buy those cute Harley clothing!!!

The only requirement is you have to ride one too…..(smile)

This is what my friend and subscriber, Billie, shared about how she celebrated Color Your Life Happy Day.

Since I firmly believe that every day is a “new year” for each of us, and that we shouldn’t end one day without bringing joy to our lives, I decided to create Color Your Life Happy Day.

I selected my mother’s birthday, August 9th, as the appropriate date.

Thus this special celebration was created to encourage you to do something that makes you happy and also to honor the memory of my mother, Mildred S. Morris, who would have turned 100 years old this year. (She passed at age 92 in 2002.) She spent her life making people happy with her music. She played piano and organ from childhood through her mid 80’s for many churches, organizations and events. Everyone who ever heard her play was touched by her lively and fervent style.

Here is how my friend and subscriber, Nakia, celebrated.

Nakia's favorite book+In the midst of this crazy and hectic thing I call life, I’m getting back to the basics of a little self-indulgence- reading. And not only reading, but reading my all time favorite genre of fiction- Murder Mysteries!!!  After one year of being in OC, I finally made it down to the library and got my library card a cpl of weeks ago. Navigating through the library and learning of all of its amenities and services offered was just as exhilirating as the reading itself! Some days, I feel like curling up with a good book and drowning out all the noise in life. And I plan on having days like this from now on. You can say I’ve found a new lease on life and that I’ll be “Coloring My Life Happy” 🙂 Thanks for allowing me to share!

How about you?

You don’t have to wait for Color Your Life Happy Day to roll around again. You can begin right now by adding something that brings you joy each day. It doesn’t have to be something big by anyone else’s standards. Just be sure you choose what brings you joy, a smile, a laugh and a warm feeling of contentment.

One Thing Happy People Do

From flickr

From flickr

I recently asked my customers to answer a few questions about their experiences with my book, Color Your Life Happy. Here are responses that customer Billie Horowitz, was kind enough to share:

What motivated you to purchase Color Your Life Happy?

I have been on a journey to a more fulfilling life for a very long time and the title of your book has been inspirational. Each book I read brings me closer to understanding myself.


What life lesson have you learned or change have you made as a result of reading my book?

Your book has reinforced my belief that I am on the right path to the experiences I want to experience.


Who seems to the ideal kind of person to benefit from my book?

Those who are looking for “Who Am I” and have not quite figured out it’s an inside job!


What is your favorite feature of my book?

My favorite feature is Chapter Five “Simplifying Life” Page 110 -111. This story is a perfect example of allowing other people [to] dictate what life is best for you when you already have what you want or need.

=========

Here is the story Billie refers to from Chapter 5 of Color Your Life Happy. It is similar in spirit to the philosophy of the Chinese philosopher, Chuang Tzu.

An American tourist stood at the pier of a small coastal Mexican
village and watched as a small boat with just one fisherman docked.

Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The tourist
complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his catch
and asked how long it had taken to catch them.

The fisherman replied, “Only a little while.”

The tourist asked, “Then why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more fish?”

The Mexican said, “With this, I have more than enough to support my family’s needs.”

The tourist asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”

The fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, Maria, and stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life.”

The tourist scoffed.

“ I can help you. You should spend more time fishing and use the proceeds to buy a bigger boat.

With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats.

Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman, you could sell directly to the processor and open your own cannery. Then you would control the product, processing and distribution.

You could leave this small village and move to Mexico City, then to Los Angeles and eventually to New York, where you
could run your ever-expanding enterprise.”

The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, how long will this take?”

The tourist replied, “Fifteen to twenty years.”

“But what then?” asked the Mexican.

The tourist laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would sell your company stock to the public and become very rich – you would make millions.”

“Millions? Then what?”

The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with your wife and stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”

Happy people appreciate and embrace the simple things of life.

Like the American tourist in the story, do you long for a simpler life, but believe you can only have it in some distant future?

The truth is, of course, that you can have it now.

Maybe you already do.