Maximum Gratitude, Minimal Stuff

Life's greatest challenge isn't starting and maintaining a successful business or creating a podcast that gains a million viewers.  It's something we tend to ignore or even consider crazy and unnecessary, even though religious and ethical leaders through the ages have told us to do it. I'm talking about  loving our enemies  – the people we don't get along with, the ones we don't understand (and don't  want  to understand), and the ones who do us wrong.  And that wrong might be as common as lies, criticism, or snobbishness, or as harmful as betrayal, abuse, or cruelty. An impossible dream To love your enemy is to find it in your heart to set aside any wrongs and love them as a fellow human being.  You don't have to love them like you love your best friend.  Just have kind feelings toward them... and if possible, express those through words, a good deed, or even just a smile. Picture the person you dislike most, and see if it's easy to find any love...

Every day is full of challenges, and most of us try our best to meet them.  But what is life's greatest challenge?  Climbing Everest?  Winning Olympic gold?  What if I told you it's something with power to change the world? This proposal deserves more attention if you have any desire to be a better person.  Whether or not you're religious, you may have heard about a difficult teaching of Jesus, one that even most Christians tend to ignore. Jesus' challenge is to love your enemies .  It's not that hard to love people who love you, right?  It's not difficult to feel kindly toward people who are nice to you.  You can have friendly feelings for a stranger who seems friendly, although "love your neighbor" isn't always easy either. But love your enemy?  The person who treats you badly?  The one who does (and maybe keeps doing) something that makes your life more difficult, or at least less comfortable?  How is that even possible? Why both...

Many people say that Christmas is their favorite time of the year.  The lights, the music, the décor, the fun get-togethers, and yes, the presents – all add a special lift to each day during this season. You can love the holiday but still worry about what it does to the Earth.  And that's where the trending TikTok topic  #thriftmas  comes in. What a waste Togetherness, memories, and music can create plenty of Christmas magic.  But there's also all of the packaging, plastic, and waste to think about.  All the extra energy used for lights and inflatables.  All of the food waste, from special ingredients we buy for the one teaspoon our recipe calls for, to mail-order food gifts we don't want, to the leftovers we don't manage to eat.  And don't forget all of the transportation to get merchandise from wherever (mostly China), to the warehouse, to the Amazon truck, to its spot under the tree. That's why some people are giving Thriftmas a try.  It's...

It's been an expensive year in the U.S.  Inflation and interest rates are up, and the costs of food, gas, and electricity are all higher too (you know – those necessities we can't do without).  And the holidays always bring plenty of extra expenses. But an  October survey by financial services giant Deloitte found that shoppers are planning to spend a record-setting amount on gifts, decorations, food, and more this year – an average of $1,652 that we may not actually have. If your goal is to begin the New Year with a pile of credit card debt (and who doesn't want that?), be sure to follow these time-tested strategies.  Side benefits include cluttering your house with junk and courting burnout and exhaustion.  Ready to learn how? How to turn holiday cheer into New Year misery 1.  Ignore budgets. Budgets are boring and restrictive.  Debt counselor Dave Ramsey says they're a way to help you set priorities and account for where your money is going, but wh...

As you know if you've been reading the blog this year, I've been revising (and I hope improving ) older posts from the very beginning of my blogging career (five years ago) up through early 2023.  Some of those older posts were really quite good, and I've been sharing them with you on selected Thursdays since February. It's worth visiting what we've written, read, or thought before, as both a reminder and for new insights.  And as we begin the sixth season of holiday posts here on Maximum Gratitude Minimal Stuff , I want to share some thoughts from the past that I think will reward you today. Live Like Every Day Matters , from November 1, 2019 No fancy gift or special trip changes a cruddy everyday life, because what you do every day matters more than what you do occasionally.  If you really want to live your best life, cherish today! Be a Holiday Connoisseur: How to Savor Quality Over Quantity , from November 27, 2020 This post was written during the "COVID Ch...

Depending on when you're reading this, there are approximately six weeks until Christmas.  You probably have a lot of tasks and events planned for this time, so decluttering might not be high on your to-do list.  But as with any habit, decluttering consistency can yield more rewards (and longer-lasting results) that decluttering intensity.  If you only remove one of these items each day before the holiday, you'll celebrate with a lighter home and a brighter outlook, and prepare yourself for a New Year of being more satisfied with less! Find more energy and focus by spending just a few minutes each day decluttering.  Most of these categories and suggestions represent several items, so by Christmas you'll be able to remove dozens of things.  You'll feel buoyant and rejuvenated for your festivities. Start in your closet. You'll notice a big difference when you remove the following items: 1.   Clothes that are irreparably stained, torn, stretched, and/or faded...

Maybe this is the year to push against some outdated Christmas assumptions. It can be hard to give up the maximalist idea of Christmas, especially if you have children.  After all, isn't that huge pile of presents what it's all about? But 2022 research by Gumtree (reported by the Guardian) found that while 62% of children were looking forward to gifts at Christmas, 59% were anticipating time off from school, and 48% were excited about playing games and having fun with family and friends.  Both of which involve zero shopping or unrecyclable gift wrap decorated with pictures of reindeer and a bearded guy dressed in red.  Happy non-consumer holidays A happy holiday doesn't have to include piles of plastic toys or stockings full of junk.  It doesn't have to require hours in an over-heated shopping mall or slumped over your computer trying to fill a virtual cart.  It doesn't necessitate a trip to the charity shop to offload unwanted gifts or standing in line to retu...

Listen to any newscast, read any paper, tune into talk radio, or follow any of a number of bloggers and podcasters, and you're sure to hear what's wrong with the world.  Hatred, inflation, shortages, disease, disaster, crime, corruption, and climate change – it's all happening, and it impacts all of us. It's easy to start feeling hopeless about our planet and all of humanity, and to start looking at everyone and everything through a sad, dark lens.  I do it too. Hope springs eternal. Today, as I was leaving the post office, I tripped and fell hard on my right side.  My purse, keys, and receipt went flying.  I cried out in pain and fear that I might have injured myself.  In the past, I've broken my right elbow and wrist while tearing several ligaments.  I've also had an avulsion fracture in my right ankle and destroyed several bursae in my right knee.  I always seem to fall in that direction. Almost immediately, a young woman who had been heading into t...