Editor’s Note: Make the Days Count is republishing its top 10 articles for the benefit of new readers. This article was first run on November 20, 2008. Article by Make The Days Count Contributor Judy Mosley

Life is full of challenges.  All of us have, at one point or another, decided how we are going to live our lives.  It’s the journey that everyone makes.  But, it can be difficult to do when there aren’t many people around us to model our lives after.  

Still, we push forward.  We lose 50 lbs., learn to organize our home, develop healthy relationships, or we find our dream job.  Weʼve conquered the various mountains that have stood in our path.  Yet, after the fact, we might feel reaching our goal is anticlimactic or even feel at a loss.  

What now?  Whatʼs next, now that weʼve achieved what weʼve set out to do?  Wasnʼt mastering the challenge the point?  Or, is there life afterwards that we hadnʼt thought of?

We can miss a lot if we believe that overcoming the challenge is the actual goal.  If I lose 50 lbs., it will prove quite difficult to keep on track unless I start living a life that supports and springs from the weight loss.  And what if I do get the job of my dreams?  Is the goal simply to keep working and doing what I love?  Or, do I reach out and help others what I have learned, now that I have the opportunity to use my gifts and talents? Read More »

Editor’s Note: Make the Days Count is republishing its top 10 articles for the benefit of new readers. This article was first run on December 18, 2008. By Make The Days Count Contributor Philip Wood

Midway through my final year at DePaul University, a recruiting banquet was held at the Chicago Athletic Club for the survivors in the honors accounting program.  For those of us not headed immediately to graduate school, the fete was the culmination of our academic careers. 

Four years prior, dozens of students entered the program.  A brutal attrition rate, however, reduced our number ninety percent by the time the recruiting banquet was held.  The survivors were the guests of honor at the banquet, there to be wined and dined by recruiters from the then Big 8 public accounting firms and other major local corporations. 

Attending the University on an academic scholarship and achieving near perfect grades to date, I believed myself to be at the top of the program.  Blindly arrogant, I expected that I would be the center of attention. Read More »

Editor’s Note: Make the Days Count is republishing its top 10 articles for the benefit of new readers.  This article was first run on December 3, 2008.  Article by Make The Days Count Contributor Ann Wilkinson

What do you conjure up in your mind when you think of the word “creativity”?  Do you think of an artist wielding a paintbrush or a charcoal pencil?  Do you think of an actor on stage interpreting her lines?  Do you think of a master musician creating a complex piece of music?  Do you ever picture yourself in any of these scenes of creativity? 

You are a creative person by nature.  We all are.  Perhaps you have let this aspect of yourself go with your busy day-to-day life of work, bills, commuting, children and their priorities.  But have you considered that you can continue to explore your creative side, even in the midst of the day-to-day?  And, if you can add little bits of creativity to your daily routine, you may find that you become increasingly creative and gradually more satisfied with your life.

Here is a brief list of things to try to get your creative juices flowing.  And relax!  None of these suggestions include getting a huge canvas, a set of oil paints or taking up the cello … that is unless you want to. Read More »

Editor’s Note: Make the Days Count is republishing its top 10 articles for the benefit of new readers.  This article was first run on November 15, 2008.  Article by Make The Days Count Contributor Judy Mosley

The alarm goes off.  Quickly, you slam the snooze just praying for five more minutes.  And, you get them but feel even worse after the alarm rings again. You get up, already feeling the dread seeping in.  It’s not waking up that’s the problem, it’s facing whatever it is that makes you feel “just not right.”

So, what is it?  Your relationships?  The pain in your body?  The boss that dries up your heart the moment you walk in the door?  Is it the daycare that you just don’t feel right about or those five pounds you were going to lose?  Maybe, it’s your finances?  Whatever it is, you just wish the feeling would go away. You try everything to make it disappear. You explain away your fears, making excuses for things that just “aren’t right.”  Or, you just ignore them. Read More »

Editor’s Note: Make the Days Count is republishing its top 10 articles for the benefit of new readers.  This article was first run on November 22, 2008.

Article by Make The Days Count Contributor Judy Mosley

“I am worthy and deserving of a good life.”

“I am responsible for my life.”

“I am responsible for my own spiritual growth.”

Each of these are affirmative statements, or affirmations.  Affirmations can be about health, love, respect, God … anything that you want to affirm within yourself.  They send powerful messages deep into our minds.  Written purposefully and said regularly, these statements penetrate levels of our psyche that typically seem to be out of reach, operating beyond our conscious control. Read More »