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Walk the dog (borrow one if you don’t have one of your own) |
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Hug someone (be careful, in general it should be someone who you know) |
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Start a gratitude journal – every morning/evening, write down 5 things for which you are grateful |
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Read all those books you’ve been collecting, meanwhile drinking all that tea that has accumulated in your cupboard |
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Get Skype and call friends all over the world |
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Write a poem, or at least read one |
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Continue to make your Charitable Contributions |
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Watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” or “Love Actually” or some other super feel good movie |
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Make a game out of cooking dinner for a week using only ingredients already found in your pantry or freezer (adding fresh vegetables) |
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Have a book swap party with everyone bringing a few books they’d like to swap and a refreshment |
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Write a letter to a soldier |
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Exercise |
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Join Netflix (30-days free and then $8.99/month) and watch 100 -200 – 300 movies! (They’re available instantly on your PC) |
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Teach a teenager to balance a checkbook |
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Write an old fashioned letter to someone |
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Take an elderly neighbor lunch |
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Breathe, pray, meditate |
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Play cards or a board game with someone fun |
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Journal |
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Volunteer |
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Watch a comedy routine and laugh the day/night away |
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Burn an aromatherapy candle |
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Listen to music |
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Dance |
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Do a craft (find something on sale at Michael’s or another craft shop) |
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Make a hobby out of finding free weekend activities and planning outings with family friends |
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Look at old pictures and marvel at how great you still look |
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Make somebody laugh |
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Get fresh vegetables from a farmers’ market |
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Watch a thunderstorm – on a porch if possible |
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Donate blood |
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Catch a snowflake on your tongue |
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Volunteer at an animal shelter |
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If you get a premium cable channel, invite your friends over to watch shows they might otherwise not get to see |
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Give a stranger a compliment |
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Feed someone’s parking meter |
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Go to the library and check out books and DVDs (for free!) |
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Pay a true compliment to someone who annoys you |
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Throw a Board Game Night at your house for friends, family, neighbors |
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Match all your mismatched socks |
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If you find a tails up penny, turn it over for someone else to find a heads up penny |
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Be a Big Sister or Big Brother |
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Create something (stained glass, a photo album, a collage) |
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Print the photos you’ve been meaning to get off of the computer and put them in a photo album or scrap book |
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Make a quilt |
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Color – with a child, by yourself, outside the lines |
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Have a special story time with your children/grandchildren |
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Organize a silly 2K or 5K walk/run in your neighborhood |
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Visit monuments and museums in your area |
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Put a puzzle together |
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Take silly/pretty pictures just for fun |
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Bake some bread or cookies ~ share them with a neighbor or friend |
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Plant some flowers or vegetables. Fun to watch them come up from seed |
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Discover a new park. Go for a hike |
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Take a leisurely walk around a new neighborhood in your city – be a “tourist” |
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Give yourself a beaming ear-to-ear smile for five minutes, just because you’re alive. A big grin triggers a flood of serotonin and endorphins, creating a virtuous cycle; literally creating happiness where none may have existed before |
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Stare at the spring flowers |
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Smell the spring flowers |
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Give special attention to your spouse who may be worried |
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Kiss your spouse who may be worried |
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Hug spouse who may be worried |
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Hug your pet |
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Write a letter to someone you love |
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Call a friend and tell them you value their friendship |
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Visit a Virginia winery to taste the new releases |
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Another happy movie to watch: About a Boy. If you don’t feel good after watching it there’s no hope |
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Pay it forward, volunteer, it comes back tenfold |
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Get an almost free vacation through a home exchange |
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Listen to your feel-good iPod list during your commute to work |
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Taking a yoga class at Mala Yoga |
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Reading my son a book, especially one by Mo Willems, who is hilarious |
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A square or two of Lindt 70% Cocoa Dark Chocolat |
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Petting dogs (We don’t have one — yet!) |
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Clean out the closets and donate good useable clothing and shoes to the Homeless Shower program in town |
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Volunteer at the Homeless Shower program in town. Get gratitude that you aren’t homeless and can help others |
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Volunteer at the Food Pantry/Meals for homeless programs |
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Walk the dog with your partner (or just go for a walk together), enjoy discussing the day |
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Teach a class of 3-5 year-olds |
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Instead of going to a photo studio for family pictures, set up a “studio” at home and have a friend take the pictures |
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Don’t live in the wreckage of your future–enjoy today |
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Remember, if you pray, why worry? If you worry, why pray? |
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living simply (less stuff – more room for life) |
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being grateful to have a good job (or just a job) |
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being really grateful when matching funds remain a part of your financial plan |
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feeling empowered when using a debit card (instead of a CC) |
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trusting your financial planner to help optimize your financial goals |
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going out to dinner and a ballgame with good friends and business associates |
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listen to songs from different periods in your life. collect them on iTunes |