40 Ways to Live a Happy and a Meaningful Life!

Health:

1. Drink plenty of water.

2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.

3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants, and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

4. Live with the 3 E's — Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.

5. Make time for prayer and reflection

6. Play more games.

7. Read more books than you did the last time.

8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.

9. Sleep for 7 hours.

 

Personality:

10. Take a 10-30 minutes’ walk every day —- and while you walk, smile.

11. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

13. Don't overdo; keep your limits.

14. Don't take yourself so seriously; no one else does.

15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.

16. Dream more while you are awake.

17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.

19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.

20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

23. Smile and laugh more.

24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Community:

25. Call your family often.

26. Each day give something good to others.

27. Forgive everyone for everything.

28. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.

29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

30. What other people think of you is none of your business.

31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch.

 

Life:

32. Do the right things.

33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

34. Forgiveness heals everything.

35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

37. The best is yet to come.

38. When you awake alive in the morning, don’t take it for granted – embrace life.

39. Your inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

 

 And the last but not least:

40. Enjoy L i f e !

ENJOYING LIFE LONGER

Living a longer life could be attained than one can think especially if one gets more sleep, keep a balanced and have more variety of food and have a regular exercise. Well, these are the mantra of the people who lived longer.

Reaching the age at 100 begins with a lifestyle that is simple and disciplined as centenarians point out.

First is they eat a variety of foods. just like the old people especially those aged 100 and over as of this writing. These old people say that their diets when they were young were mostly fibers, fruits and vegetables. Their food stuffs were organic since their farms were not treated with commercial fertilizers or pesticides. They cook their own food. They did not drink sodas, soft drinks or eat junk foods since foods were not yet packaged from the factories to the markets. Unlike this time, the foods are all around the fast food chains.     

Second is that they love to work or exercise. They love to work and prefer to walk rather than riding on vehicles.

Exercise is one of the most important ways to keep our body healthy. Exercise strengthens the bones, muscles and the heart. It also burn off excess fat, improve balance, regulate the body’s metabolism, a process that turns the nutrients in food into energy and heat, and improve mood. It is one important means that makes our body healthy and conditioned.

Exercising for at least 30 minutes each day makes us fit. We could choose something that we enjoy doing and it will be easier to stick with its program for a long term. Walking, swimming, biking, any favorite sport and chore or other forms of aerobic exercise will give us the most benefit.

There are many exercises one could perform. But one exercise that is very convenient is walking. This sport or hobby does not require any equipment to be used except our feet.

Studies show that every minute of walking extends life. In addition, it is noted that people who walk regularly live longer, weigh less, have lower blood pressure, and enjoy better overall health than non-walkers.

Exercise does not only stimulate development of blood vessels in the skeletal muscle tissue, but it also does the same with the heart. Thus a fit person is better prepared to survive the occlusion of a vessel. It has also been shown that exercise even helps in the formation of new vessels even after an occlusion occurs.

Walking or striding has beneficial effect on the mind too. It is said to clear the mind and improve thought process. A brisk long walk in the evening has some tranquillizing effects. They say regular brisk walking benefits anxiety and depression. 

Benefits of walking:

• Walking Increases Your Lifespan
• Walking Wards Off Diabetes
• Walking Keeps Your Mind Sharp
• Walking Helps Lower Blood Pressure
• Walking is Great for Bone Health
• Walking Cuts the Risk of Stroke
• Walking Improves Your Mood
• Walking Burns down Calories
• Walking Improves Insomnia
• Walking is Good for the Heart

And third is that they do things in moderation. Just like working, eating or playing, they do self control over their endeavor. Even in their lifestyles, many of them could be powerful but they chose to have simple existence and are happy with it.   

It is up for us to chart our own lifestyles where we think we should be.

"And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Genesis 2:16-17

Self-control a Gift from God

It must be remembered that genuine self-control is a gift from God that we can receive only in Christ. Jesus said, "I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." John 15:5. We often in this life find ourselves at the end of our rope. But in God we have an infinite store of resources. So much so that the apostle Paul could say, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Philippians 4:13

The Effects of Deforestation in the Environment

Deforestation poses a number of adverse effects that include environmental and economical. Some of these effects are presented below:

Deforestation is a problem that is caused largely by greed and want for property, money and possibly status. In many parts of the world the forest is taken for granted as a replenishable resource, which it is. The problem is that the trees cannot be regrown and replanted at the rate at which they are being cut down. For this reason the forests are declining at an incredible rate and there is no foreseeable future for places like the Amazon which remained untouched for 20,000 years and now could be destroyed in less than a human's life time.

Deforestation is a contributing factor to the green house effect. The trees are large Carbon dioxide stores, and when the trees are burnt they release this gas. This also leads to an increase in the Carbon dioxide levels in the air. Carbon dioxide is the major contributor in the green house effect. Trees draw water up through their roots and release it into the atmosphere (transpiration). In the Amazon, half of the water is contained in the trees. If the trees are removed, the region cannot hold as much water and will become drier.

• Erosion of Soil

When forest areas are cleared, it results in exposing the soil to the sun, making it very dry and eventually, infertile, due to volatile nutrients such as nitrogen being lost. In addition, when there is rainfall, it washes away the rest of the nutrients, which flow with the rainwater into waterways. Because of this, merely replanting trees may not help in solving the problems caused by deforestation, for by the time the trees mature, the soil will be totally devoid of essential nutrients. Ultimately, cultivation in this land will also become impossible, resulting in the land becoming useless. Large tracts of land will be rendered permanently impoverished due to soil erosion.

• Disruption of the Water Cycle

Trees contributes in a large way in maintaining the water cycle. They draw up water via their roots, which are then released into the atmosphere. A large part of the water that circulates in the ecosystem of rainforests, for instance, remains inside the plants. When these trees are cut down it results in the climate getting drier in that area. The groundwater tables are affected and soon get depleted. The trees help in prevention of running off of water and help the soil absorb the flowing water. When there are no trees, water just runs off, leaving no chance for the groundwater tables to absorb more water. Thus, leading to reduction in water resources.
 

• Loss of Biodiversity

The unique biodiversity of various geographical areas is being lost on a scale that is quite unprecedented. Even though tropical rainforest make up just 6 percent of the surface area of the Earth, about 80-90 percent of the entire species of the world exist here. Due to massive felling of trees, about 50 to 100 species of animals are being lost each day. The outcome of which is the extinction of animals and plants on a massive scale. The effects on animals are very heartbreaking. They not only lose their habitat and protective cover, they are pushed to extinction. Many beautiful creatures, both plants and animals have vanished from the face of the earth.
 


 

• Flooding and Drought

 
One of the vital functions of forests is to absorb and store great amounts of water quickly when there are heavy rains. When forests are cut down, this regulation of the flow of water is disrupted, which leads to alternating periods of flood and then drought in the affected area. Thus, ultimately leading to disruption of human settlements and the loss of life in thousands.

• Climate Change

 
It is well-known that global warming is being caused largely due to emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. However, what is not known quite as well is that deforestation has a direction association with carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. Trees act as a major storage depot for carbon, since they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which is then used to produce carbohydrates, fats, and proteins that make up trees. When deforestation occurs, many of the trees are burnt or they are allowed to rot, which results in releasing the carbon that is stored in them as carbon dioxide. This, in turn, leads to greater concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

These are just a few of the causes and effects of deforestation. The consequences are very unpleasant as every form of life on earth is interlinked with one another. Not only do animals lose their homes, but humans dependent on the local ecology are also affected. The water cycle gets disturbed leading to floods and droughts. People dependent on the forests for their survival lose their livelihood. Global warming is another problem looming over our heads. The causes and its effects of this destructive practice can be stopped to some extent, if we all do our bit towards the environment. Reduce emissions by avoiding use of cars and bikes indiscriminately. Make our factories cleaner and monitor their emissions. Develop better ways of farming that help increase the yield without having an impact on the neighboring forest areas. Forest management and strict monitoring of tree cutting should be carried out by various government and other nonprofit agencies. Reforestation of lost areas and following sustainable practices will help us balance our green cover. Remember, trees give us life, without them it will be impossible to sustain life.