Article by Make The Days Count Contributor Jennifer Snelling

You probably do it all year and don’t even think about it.  If you don’t, you’re starting to think about it now.  The holidays are that time of year when a magnifying glass is held over our lives, our financial status, and our generosity.  Often, it isn’t just the fact that we’re expected to give at this time of year – that many of us are shopping for gifts, being asked to help with fundraisers, or hearing those Salvation Army bells tolling on the corner – but also that we, for some reason, feel compelled to do something to participate in the general warmth of the season.  In fact, it can be very depressing when we feel apart from it.

There are all kinds of ways to give, and they don’t necessarily have to be monetary.  Here are seven simple and inexpensive ways to make you feel like you’ve helped someone or improved the world, without traveling to exotic places or spending a lot of money. Read More »

Article by Make The Days Count Contributor Tamara Belinc

Bill Morgan believes you should walk through life with a smile on your face, a prayer in your heart and outstretched hands to help those in need.  When Bill believes in something, he acts on it.

Growing upon a cotton farm in Anniston, Ala., Bill, 64, suffered from rheumatic fever and was paralyzed for a time. “I know what it’s like to be left out,” he said, “so I made it my goal to be sure that no boy is left out that I can help.”  With that goal in mind, he has been the Past Master of the Masonic Orders and also the past president of his local Shriner’s chapter. He also served as an ambassador. “I’ve taken kids and their parents to Nashville to catch a bus to go the Shriner’s hospital,” he said. Read More »

Article by Make The Days Count Contributor Judy Mosley

It’s a simple signal - a little growl in the stomach or the sudden urge for “something.”  Human beings are superior for knowing when we are hungry.  Even if we aren’t exactly starving, we will snack as much as possible to keep hunger at bay.

There is another part of us that needs just as much attention.  It can’t be seen on an x-ray or an ultrasound, but it’s still an important part of who we are.  We’ve all felt its’ many signals … from unwarranted anger, the loneliness that creeps in while we’re in a crowded room, to the feeling inside when we have nothing left to give to those around us, just to name a few.

It’s our soul speaking to us in different ways, and it’s telling us it’s hungry. Read More »

Article by Make The Days Count Contributor Marie Monroe

Let’s begin with an acknowledgment of the human brain – that powerful bio-computer that does all those wonderful things so well.  It is in there that I want to say gratitude works its magic.

How?  I’ll have to leave that to those who understand neurochemistry, but I can make some guesses with my intuitive understanding and a few facts about how the brain works at other times.   

As I considered gratitude, I found myself thinking about other things, things we deem pathological even. Things that occur in the brain like seizures and bipolar disorder.  An odd and circuitous route to the subject of gratitude, but one that makes some sense to me. Let me explain.  In seizure disorders, a phenomenon called “kindling” can occur in which the brain ‘learns’ to have seizures more quickly and more efficiently.  A similar thing can happen to the brain in bipolar disorder.  The brain ‘learns’ to have manic episodes more quickly and more efficiently as well.  Not such a good thing if you suffer from these maladies, but an interesting schema for other events in the brain.  Perhaps we can kindle all sorts of other things. Perhaps this is one of the basic ways in which the brain learns anything?

Kindling is often likened to the ignition of fire – using small bits of wood to catch larger pieces on fire.  It is a sort of fine tuning.  Ignition of a process becomes more and more refined as the brain experiences the process more.  In pathological conditions we hope to delay kindling.  In positive experiences, why not cultivate it?  This is how my circumambulation brought me to gratitude. Read More »

Article by Christian Nanz and Make The Days Count Contributor Judy Mosley

One of the things I am still learning is how to make my days better by allowing myself to do things that bring pleasure to others and to me.  I am also learning how simple little things like making my bed can help me feel productive all day long!  They don’t need to be major undertakings.  It’s interesting that small things bring large doses of happiness or satisfaction.

For example, when I get up on the morning, I like to take my dog for a walk around the neighborhood. He loves going for a walk (and he expects it!), and yet I believe I appreciate the walk a much as he does!  It is my time to relax, be thankful for another day and enjoy.

Of course this is not an exhaustive list.  There are many things that are simple, inexpensive, and easy to do that can add to your day in an incredibly satisfying way.  Perhaps this will spark you to try some of the things on our list or to add to it with ideas of your own. Read More »