February 11, 2006

More Life Changers

“The spiritual perfection of man consists in his becoming an intelligent being—one who knows all that he is capable of learning.”
Maimonides

“Never, never rest contented with any circle of ideas, but always be certain that a wider one is still possible.”
Richard Jeffries

In the back of my book, Joyfully Single, I provide a list of over 300 books that have made a significant difference in my life over the last 40 years of reading and listening to hundreds of books on tape. I also include my top 25 which I recommend as essential reading for any truth seeker who would like to feel happier more often as well as attract more of love of God in their lives.

As I continue to read and listen to new books monthly, I continue to be amazed at all the good info on how to succeed physically, mentally, spiritually, financially, and especially in relationships that are available to us today. In fact, with all the books, books on tape, and cd’s that are available for free in our libraries and on the internet, we can learn about whatever strikes our fancy easier than any other time in this planet’s history!

In just 10 minutes a day, most of us can read a book every month and even more if we take advantage of listening to books while we commute, workout, or while doing our daily “no brainer” household chores. The more we learn, the brighter our inner lights will burn and the more we will be able to attract whomever or whatever circumstances we would like into our lives!

I want to share with you the latest “life changers” I come across in my continuous quest for new insights on how to live a joy-filled life, so I plan to post new tips for good reads monthly. This month’s recommended joyful read is Mort Fertel’s Marriage Fitness. It’s even recommend by self-help and relationship guru’s such as John Gray (the Mars and Venus author) and Stephen Covey (of 7 Habits fame). Of all the books I have ever come across on the subject of how to keep love alive in marriage—especially after the initial 6 month to 2 year honeymoon bubble bursts—this is a must read! I encourage both singles and marrieds alike to learn and try out Mort’s 4 step plan for marriage fitness. These principles will work for those who are already married or for those who will be married someday and want to have a blueprint for success prior saying their “I do’s”.

As always, for additional tips on how to attract, find, keep, and enjoy happier, healthier relationships, please check out my chapter on relationship joy in my book Joyfully Single! Read on and Enjoy!

Posted by Will Head at 07:25 PM | Comments (0)

February 04, 2006

Let’s Get Physical!

“Health and cheerfulness mutually beget each other.”
Joseph Addison

“A wise man should consider that health is the greatest of human blessings….”
Hippocrates

“Understand that the right to choose your own path is a sacred privilege. Use it. Dwell in possibility.”
Oprah Winfrey

Happy 2006! Did you happen to set any goals or New Year’s resolutions for this year? If you did, how goes it so far?

Setting realistic, believable goals on a regular basis, creating simple baby step action plans to bring them to pass, and acting on these plans can be a great source of joy as well as enable personal growth and greater service to others. As cited in the self help classic, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, the 3% of a Harvard graduating class that had actually taken the time write down their career goals were found to have accumulated more financial wealth 20 years later than the other 97% of the same graduating class combined. Setting goals and doing our action plans gets results!

So what’s the #1 New Year’s resolution year in year out? To lose weight and get fit. Unfortunately, as the MSN article, "6 more reasons to exercise in 2006" points out, most of us who start to “get physical” stop within 3 to 6 months and some even before the Super Bowl!

If getting more fit and living a healthier lifestyle is or was one of your 2006 goals, what can you do to make sure this is the year you enjoy a higher level of physical joy than you have in the past?

One simple step is to get your own copy of my book Joyfully Single. In my chapter, “Let’s Get Physical”, in addition to finding the why’s and how’s to start and stick with your fitness goals, you also will discover the #1 secret to keeping your commitment to get the Surgeon General’s recommended 30-60 minutes of daily physical activity.

So if this is the year you decide your health—that YOU—are worth making time to not only set the goal but also to do what it takes to experience first hand the joy of physical activity, order your copy of Joyfully Single and learn the #1 secret to making the joy of greater wellness a part of your life. See you at the gym!!

Posted by Will Head at 10:16 PM | Comments (0)

November 18, 2005

The Joy of Journaling

Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day. Henri Nouwen

"Know thyself" means: devote time each day to studying yourself. ferreting out your weaknesses, working at self-improvement, purifying your immortal soul. Rabbi Yisrael Lipkin, quoted in J. Meisl, "Haskalah"

How many of you have discovered the joy of journaling? I was fortunate (though I didn't think so at the time!) to have a high school English teacher who required each of his students to make a daily entry in a journal and turn it in at the end of each week. If we didn’t make an entry, we had an "F" averaged in with the rest of our grades for that semester.

To keep up my GPA, I initially made entries such as: Today the sun rose. Yesterday the sun set. I washed my hair and now it’s as springy as ever….and so on. I kept this up until one day in study hall, as I began to make my daily one line entry, I began thinking about a lively discussion my parents and I had had the night before and I began to unload in my journal about why I felt at age 17 that parents didn’t have a clue about what life was really all about and other typical complaints that most adolescents feel when they think they are ready to be out on their own.

After writing for the entire period, I realized this was a great way to dump my thoughts and feelings and sort things out. So I began to keep two journals--one that I turned into the teacher and one for my personal use and I have been writing in them ever since.

Investing 5 to 10 minutes a day can be a great way to baby step into this habit. It’s a lot less expensive than therapy and is guaranteed to promote increased self awareness and spiritual insight. Here’s a more recent entry that I thought might show you how what we think matters at 17 can change by the time we are 57. Enjoy!

12 Nov 2005
How do I entice and enable others to experience what I feel when I pray? How do I help you, the reader of these words, to believe that there really is no other earthly sensation that can compare with the state of rapture and true bliss that I believe is available to any of us who will honestly make knowing and experiencing the love of God the true and highest priority of our lives?

As I have written so many times before, becoming one with God’s love is better, yet similar to the joy and ecstasy of spiritually connected married sexual union. I do not believe the bliss of this union with God’s love is or can be self-generated, but is reserved for the faithful who truly make the pursuit of truth—obedience, self-mastery, service, learning what matters most and what doesn’t—the focus and prime directive of how they choose to invest their time.

Again, I say—I write—encourage—do the "Big 5." Set aside time at the beginning of each day to exercise your body, mind, and soul—to meditate—to become still—to truly know for yourself if God is real—what it really feels like to make genuine contact—and to know as well as be infused with the faith, desire, and power to do His will in your next 24 hours.

If I, Will Head, who has made so many mistakes and has had so many weaknesses to learn to overcome—can experience the bliss of the heavenly gift—and experience genuine contact with the Divine—so can you. Keep believing—keep doing the Big 5—keep learning—and He will show you all you need to know and do.

Posted by Will Head at 12:32 AM | Comments (0)