Category Archives: happiness
Simple Changes for a Happier and Healthier 2026!
New Year’s resolutions – not a huge fan of them. They are often big promises that are meaningless and you are unable to keep. It only sets you up for disappointment. There are no quick fixes or magic formulas for success. Instead of making these over-the-top resolutions, I prefer to be more realistic and come up with things that are achievable and keep you optimistic rather than feeling like a failure. Here are a few ideas you might employ for 2026 that I believe are achievable.
Exercise – here’s a big one. Most people make their expectations much too high and expect too much in too short a time. Put yourself on a program that takes a month at a time. This makes it easier to prioritize what you do rather than procrastinate. Enjoy dancing, hiking, going to the gym, playing sports, etc. Commit to walking 3 to 5 times a week. Short distances at first until your body gets used to this new experience and then increase the distance accordingly. Once you start moving, you’ll feel better, breathe easier and your overall health will thank you. Walking also increases creativity. The conditions around you are changing and your mind can wander to new ideas. We have all become much too sedentary in our lifestyles. We need to move! (And drink more water!)
Eat healthier food – we are all in a hurry these days and eating is one of the things that suffers as a result. Make a few changes in your diet – add more fruit or vegetables each day, cut back on the ultra-processed foods, make simple healthy food choices whenever you can. If you make an effort to do even one or two things differently, you can create change.
Read a book – It’s a fast-paced world we live in, and we need to find a way to slow down. Everyone is interested in something so find a good book that catches your attention and pick a time to read a chapter per day – right before bedtime or during your lunch hour. Find a time that works for your schedule. A good book can take you to world’s unknown or enlighten you about a faraway place in this world. Whatever the subject, learning is always a wonderful thing. Our bodies and our minds will value the effort.
Kindness and gratitude – Develop an attitude of gratitude. Be thankful each day for your family, friends, and life itself. Treat others with respect and kindness. Go out of your way to say “thank you” to those who do so much for you every day. Be kind to those you don’t even know. Smile at people – it might make their day. Send a card to a friend or family member you haven’t heard from in a while. Volunteer at a shelter or food pantry. People need to know that someone cares. If there’s one thing this world needs more of it’s kindness!
Slow down the digital – It’s easy to lose track of how long you spend on digital devices. Try making a conscious effort to put down your phone completely during activities like walking the dog, drinking coffee with friends, socializing with friends and family, or playing with your kids and pets.
Explore new hobbies – Make different kinds of food, take a painting class, try building something, take dancing lessons, take up gardening, learn to play the guitar or piano, or make hiking your new hobby. Do something that feels fun and maybe totally different from what you would normally do!
The healthy resolutions listed above are sustainable ways that can improve your emotional and physical health that can be followed for a lifetime. This New Year 2026 try some of them out to make it the happiest and healthiest New Year possible!
Solitaire
New Year Wishes for Peace and Prosperity!
Wishing you all a wonderful year of peace, prosperity, happiness, good health and endless joy!
As you step into this new year may you be bold and daring enough to believe in your dreams and your ability to accomplish them. Let each day bring positive changes to make your life better and put a smile on your face and the faces of those with whom you come into contact. I hope you realize your potential, set your goals, and take action to complete them. Appreciate the beauty surrounding you, especially the people who love you, and always be thankful for the life with which you have been blessed.
“So may the new year be a happy one to you, and happy to many more whose happiness depends on you!” – Charles Dickens
Solitaire
10 Ways to Promote Happiness
Happiness – the often elusive thing that nearly everyone is searching for. We all have different ideas, preferences, and desires for our lives. But after years of scientific research, it has been suggested that certain things make the good majority of us happy. To be more specific, happiness does not result from reaching “bigger and better” signs of success, but rather from looking for contentment from new and fresh experiences in our quest for a life that is considered well lived. So, what kinds of experiences provide the best happiness benefits? Well, scientific study has discovered that these 10 ways will increase your everyday overall happiness:
- Make little changes in your daily routine, such as getting more sleep, exercising, getting out into nature, and meditating.
- Read more books. Read books to learn—research suggests that lifelong learners remain healthy and engaged, and live long lives. Read books as an escape from your everyday life, Read books—it will make you happy. (One of my personal favorites. I have always loved to read, and write as well. Check out my books at www.solitaireparke.com)
- Find your right fit or match, both personally and professionally. If you love what you do and who you are with, you’ll position yourself for personal happiness and professional success.
- Be grateful. Two specific activities help foster a greater sense of gratitude. First, keep a daily gratitude journal. Second, pay a “gratitude visit” to someone from your past that has had a significant impact on your life, and let them know how you feel.
- Smile more—even if you don’t feel like it. Research shows that the simple act of smiling can trick your brain into a happier state.
- Take pleasure in simple, everyday moments. Appreciating life’s small moments, such as a beautiful sunny day, plants sprouting from the ground, and skipping rocks at the beach, teaches you to be more grateful for what you have, especially during moments of stress and anxiety.
- Perform random acts of kindness. Do good deeds. Volunteer. Be charitable. Shop for someone else! Studies have shown that you can help yourself by doing good things for others.
- Spend money on experiences versus things. Studies have shown that buying an object—a car, handbag, or kitchen gadget—can quickly lead to buyer’s remorse. On the other hand, investing in experiences—a concert, a camping trip, music lessons—leads to greater happiness. Experiences create “happiness residue,” and our perceptions of them often get better over time.
- Avoid comparisons. Whatever you may think of someone else’s life, particularly as viewed through the phony, filtered lens of social media, it’s almost certainly messier than you imagine. It’s easier to embrace and learn to love your own imperfections, if you don’t conjure up myths about how perfect everyone else’s lives seem.
- Build and maintain close relationships. Having a small number of tight, meaningful relationships is one of the highest predictors of happiness. (Pets are wonderful companions too!)
We all lose sight of some of the happiness priorities, so don’t feel bad if you do. In this world we battle on a daily basis the relentless marketing and expectations of society that attempt to lead us down paths to happiness that lie somewhere else. We don’t need to over-complicate things. It’s the simple things in life that matter most. Live each moment with purpose and intent – live each moment as if it were your last and enjoy the people around you. You have one life – so live each minute to the fullest!
“Attaining lasting happiness requires that we enjoy the journey on our way toward a destination we deem valuable. Happiness is not about making it to the peak of the mountain nor is it about climbing aimlessly around the mountain; happiness is the experience of climbing toward the peak.”
Solitaire
Solitaire Parke - Sci-Fi/Fantasy Books 