Fruitful Life

Fruitful Work

Welcome to the Blaising View blog, where I share treasures I find to enrich your life now.

Boost Your Wake-up Call to a Happier Life

My wake-up call reversed my happiness in one split-second.

On a routine afternoon in February 2019, my nervous system shorted out like Daffy Duck.

Neuropathy lit me up like a fireworks show.

Never felt nerve pain like that before.

And it kept going with no end in sight.

I told myself the same thing Daffy did.

“I should have known . . .”

I should have known that when you overload the body, it breaks down.

Two years of wandering through a jungle of nerve pain led to three discoveries about health and happiness.

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Boost Your Wake-up Call to a Happier Life

How to Simplify Your Life in Three Minutes

Simplify and free up your life in three minutes.

That’s how long it takes to catch three treasures from this parable.

Simplify and catch happiness
Life by the river in Mexico/picture alliance/Getty Images

Standing on a pier in Akumal last week, I thought about Heinrich Boll’s 1963 tale of a Mexican fisherman.

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How to Simplify Your Life in Three Minutes

Hemingway’s Depression Lights Up a Detour to Hope

Ernest Hemingway’s depression illuminates hope.

Not from the path he took. But the path he ignored.

Hemingway's path to depression
Chasing a path at the Sanfermin Festival Bull Run Spain/AFP/GettyImages

On October 6, 1958, Ernest drove toward the site of his eventual suicide.

What he really wanted was a stiff drink.

So, he finds a bar in Sheridan, Wyoming.

Another patron says, “Look who thinks he’s Hemingway.”

Ernest wondered the same thing, tormented by . . .

  • alcoholism
  • chronic pain
  • bipolar disease

His mantra, “Above all, endure,” wasn’t working.

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Hemingway’s Depression Lights Up a Detour to Hope

3 Powerful Rituals That Kill Anxiety in Busy Lives

Daily rituals rid our lives of anxiety.

The cardinal by my window knows it.

Rituals that kill anxiety
Cardinals remind us of the value of daily rituals/Steve Blaising

Every summer morning, cardinals sing a melody before starting the day.

What a great ritual for success!

  • Sing
  • Plan
  • Build

See how three rituals reward every day with peace.

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3 Powerful Rituals That Kill Anxiety in Busy Lives

How to Overcome a Lifetime of Worries

Worries overloaded the young doctor.

So, he sought a gypsy for advice.

Gypsy makes worries worse
Gypsy and crystal ball/Creatista/FeaturePics

“What do you see?” fretted the doctor.

“You will be poor and unhappy till age 50.”

“Well,” said the doctor, “what happens after that?”

“After that, you get used to it.”

Worries are bad habits, aren’t they?

They stick around if we let them.

But three steps banish worries quicker than a windstorm clears leaves.

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How to Overcome a Lifetime of Worries