November is National Gratitude Month. Two years ago, when My Cup of Cocoa began, I created a Gratitude Challenge. It is still one of my most popular posts. But I thought an updated version was in order for 2018. What is a gratitude challenge? It’s simply a list of questions to help you think about what you have to be grateful for in your life. And what better time to do that than during November and National Gratitude Month. The idea behind the gratitude challenge is simple. For each day in November, answer the question listed. You can answer question Read More
Year: 2018
Three Proven Ways To Improve Happiness
If you knew three proven ways to improve your happiness, would you do them? What if they were simple to do, but took a committed effort on your part? In researching what makes people happy, I’ve come across a lot of different ideas. There are three things, however, that almost everyone that studies happiness can agree on. Zig Ziglar called them the Three Gs. Meik Wiking includes the same ideas in various ways in his Little Book of Lykke. You can read more about my experiences with his work here and here. The Three Gs are Grow, Give, and have Read More
Celebrating 2 Years of Postcrossing Fun
It’s my postcrossingversary! Yes, that’s a word. At least, it was in my congratulatory email from Postcrossing. I’ve been “making the world a better place one postcard at a time” for two years now. It’s probably time for an explanation and review for those of you who don’t know what Postcrossing is and what a postcrosser like me does. About the time I started writing My Cup of Cocoa, I also signed up at Postcrossing. The website enables users from all around the world to send postcards to other users (known as postcrossers). This is done in a random way. Read More
11 Ways to Celebrate Good Neighbor Day
In case you hadn’t heard, September 28 is National Good Neighbor Day. First designated as a national holiday in 1978, Good Neighbor Day has been around in various forms for over 30 years. Why celebrate good neighbors? Well, having good neighbors makes life better. If you’ve ever had a terrific neighbor, you know what I mean. And if you’ve ever had a terrible neighbor, you also understand the value of having good ones. 11 Ways to Celebrate Good Neighbor Day 1. Bake something to share Think of the classic image of stopping by the neighbors with a Read More