– Making Money Can Be Fun! – Adventures and side hustles have always been intertwined with me. My adventures cost money and I don’t have sponsors or people willing to pony up for my expeditions. I always had to earn the extra money I needed to finance my adventures. And everyone needs adventure in their lives. The excitement and variety add to the quality of … Continue reading Side Hustle Adventure
– Life Loves Happy People – “What are you so damn happy about?” asked the production chief. He was generally grouchy and it seemed to annoy him when I came in with a Howdy-Doody smile on my face. “It’s better than being sad,” I replied. “Do I need a reason to be happy?” “There’s not much to be happy about,” he groused. “Don’t you watch … Continue reading A Good Reason to Be Happy
– These Are the Best Days of My Life – “There’s no such thing as push-button happiness, Taylor. It’s not as easy as you make it sound.” Part of being a happiness evangelist is dealing with naysayers, and I’ve heard that rebuttal more times than I can count. I don’t laugh out loud because I don’t want to hurt their feelings, but I giggle a … Continue reading Inevitable Benefits of Positive Thinking
– Urban Hermits Miss the Fun – I think everyone knows what a hermit is… we might imagine the details differently, but almost all of us see him as an unkempt loner. Not dirty, but unattended. We imagine his loneliness. I experimented with being a hermit, even an ascetic, and I thought those experiences were great topics for articles. So I have been talking with … Continue reading How to Deal with Loneliness
– Weather is a Wicked Wildcard – There was ice in the whitewater. Like halos around the rocks, moving water was freezing around stationary objects in the river. At first fascinated, I felt suddenly anxious. Looking further out, I could see the whole body of water slushing up. As my brain tried to wrap around the strange and troublesome observation, my gut tightened and things … Continue reading Winter Whitewater: Part II
– Fixed Distractions Keep You Focused – I purposely cultivate a happy state of mind. Moment to moment, happy or sad; my choice. I choose happy because sad is heavier; it’s a burden. And it’s hard to shake a bad mood. It takes practice and mental conditioning to stay happy. Even when I have happy conditions for life (good health, relationships, and cash flow), some … Continue reading Cultivate a Happy State of Mind
– How to Stay on the Path of Happiness – I love this time of year. Finally, the days are getting longer. January marks the beginning of a new calendar year which symbolizes fresh starts. I don’t make resolutions per se, but it is natural for me to review, assess, and rethink what I’ve done and plan to do. And the new year is the … Continue reading New Adventure
– A Puppy Showed Me How to Live in the Moment – I didn’t have a dog of my own until I was 63 years old. In 2019, after a long summer on the road selling books and being social, I went back to Panther Creek to prepare for a winter excursion. I stopped to check in with a friend of mine and he surprised … Continue reading Why Don’t You Want to Play?
– Retired From Work, Not From Life – I enjoyed a few minutes visiting with Doc today. I don’t know his real name because he doesn’t speak English. My brain searches for the few Polish words it can string together, but he speaks faster than it can process. I assign nicknames to the ‘chlopaki’; Doc is neatly dressed like a retired doctor or teacher, which … Continue reading Living in Poland
– Happiness Follows Me Wherever I Go – Maybe I told you this story… about living at the B-C Ranch deep in the Idaho backcountry. For three years, I served as the full-time caretaker there. It was a hunting property for a Washington farmer & empty most of the time, but it was too nice a place to leave unguarded. You could drive to it … Continue reading Fist Bumps from a Butterfly
