I've heard many different definitions for the word gratitude but my own interpretation is quite simple. I believe that gratitude means being thankful for all that you have and not taking anything for granted. So each morning when I arise I try to remind myself to be thankful for yet another opportunity to go out and live my life the way that I choose....to be thankful for all the necessities (food/clothing/shelter) which have been provided to me....to be thankful for my mental & physical health and well-being....and to be especially thankful for all the people and things in my life that make me smile each day.

Whenever I take the time to seriously consider the abundance of things that I have to be grateful for it quickly becomes a very humbling experience for me. In all honesty, there is absolutely nothing that I 'need' and so very little that I actually 'want'. By focusing upon the things that truly matter the most to me I am able to give much more of my time, energy and resources to those whom are much less fortunate than myself. Generosity, I have learned, has its own rewards.
There is a very simple formula that has worked well for me.... GRATITUDE + GENEROSITY = HAPPINESS.... A relevant study was actually conducted which proved that this formula works. The participants in the study were all given 'x' (x always being equal) amount of dollars. Half of the participants were told to spend the money they were given on themselves while the other half were told to spend the money on someone else. After all the money had been 'spent' each participant was asked a series of questions to determine how much their spending had affected their personal happiness. As a group, those participants whom spent the money on someone else were much happier after the fact.This shouldn't come as much of a surprise since I'm sure that you have your own personal experience(s) to recall that support those findings. Why then wouldn't you want to be a little bit more grateful and generous each day when you already know how good it's going to make you feel?

Count your blessings...Give Freely Of Yourself...I sincerely hope that you're discovering greater Health, Love & Happiness in Your Life Each Day....A

Learn more about Adam Bentley Clausen's story of mandatory minimum sentencing injustice.

It requires a conscious daily effort to maintain a positive attitude and outlook in the face of negativity and adversity. One of the most simple efforts I make is to review my list of (written) "daily intentions" at the beginning as well as the end of each day. These "intentions" are words and phrases that reflect the principals which are the foundation of my life. My intentions are notes to myself on how I want to live each day as well as a map on how to get to where I'd like to be in the future. These are the actual daily intentions that have guided me over the past 2 years:

• ALWAYS Optimistic
• Moksha (Sanskrit word that means "emotionally free")
• Faith In Self (No matter how many other people believe in you, you must FIRST believe in yourself)
• Fortitude (Keep your head up in the face of adversity)
• Longevity & Vitality (Seeing the long-term, big-picture Right Now)
• B.B.F.S. (Bigger, Better, Faster, Stronger)
• Mental & Physical Adaptation/Progress
• BELIEVE! (In Self, In Others, In Miracles)
• Seek & Express Truth (Every Word, Every Action, Every Day)
• Be PROACTIVE (Create Your Own Destiny)

In addition to my "Daily Intentions" I've collected myriad quotes that serve to inspire me each and every time I read them. These words and phrases, although not my own, are an articulation of my core beliefs. Whenever I read them to myself I am silently affirming those beliefs and reciting those words as if they were my own. One of my favorites is a quote from Thoreau in "Walden;" where he was living the ascetic life in a hut he built for himself on the edge of Walden Pond. He recites an ancient Chinese inscription that instructs each person to "Renew thyself completely each day; do it again, and again, and forever again." Whenever I read this one it reminds me that I get a "clean slate" each morning when I awake but further that I have a responsibility (to myself) to seek some sort of personal progress throughout that day.

The world that we live in is generally a reflection of our actions. Frequently we can find a great disparity between what we deeply believe and what we see happening around us. No matter how many "good intentions" we have or how "inspired" we may feel it's all meaningless without some sort of physical action to bring those emotions to life. It's not enough to simply tell yourself that you're a "good person" merely because you have "good intentions" at heart. As another quote I'm quite fond of reminds..."The smallest good deed is far greater than the grandest intention" -(unknown). A sincerely good person does good things without any expectation of reciprocation...but not surprisingly good things generally surround and happen to those we view as "good people." It's a positive chain reaction that ANYONE can choose to link themselves onto at any time...and who doesn't want a more meaningful and inspiring life for themselves?

I hope that you're finding more Health, Love & Happiness in your life each day!...A

To learn more about Adam Bentley Clausen's story of mandatory minimum sentencing injustice, please click the link: Adam's Story

Contrary to popular opinion I am NOT a Zen Master....I do NOT have total control over all of my emotions every single minute of every single day. I DO get frustrated....I DO get pissed-off...I DO get hurt feelings...And I DO get disappointed...But unlike most people I don't dwell on those feelings or permit them to dictate my actions.

So to answer the recurring question "Am I really like this ALL of the time?" the answer is...Well, ALMOST all the time. I still have my "moments" where I briefly lose my cool but they're infrequent, fleeting, and somewhat tempered. Nowadays my actions tend to be much more thoughtful and deliberate....I'm much more aware of and concerned about everyone else's feelings and take them into consideration BEFORE I act.

For the majority of my life I lived primarily with the intention of satisfying all my own whims and desires. Rarely, if ever, did I seriously take the time to consider how my actions were going to affect anyone else. However, all that changed the day that the FBI threatened my Dad and his wife in connection with this criminal case. It never should have required such a traumatic event to open my eyes to the far reaching repercussions of MY actions but unfortunately it did...I cannot change the past but I CAN ensure that it never happens again. I STILL frequently find myself apologizing to my Mom, my Dad, my family, my friends and so many other people whose lives I adversely affected over the years with my thoughtless and selfish ways.

This is the man that I have become...I say the things I mean and I do the things I say. My lifestyle finally accurately reflects my core values and beliefs...and no matter "where" I may reside, whether I am in here or out there, that will not ever change. I'm genuinely "happy" now that I am living this way and only wish that I could have come to this realization much earlier in life with much less hardship upon myself and those I care about. I sincerely hope that you too are living the life you want and deserve...Keep striving to find more Health, Love & Happiness each day....A


Read more about the events that lead Adam to his unjust lifelong incarceration: Help Free Adam. Also learn more about his day to day life by following Adam on Facebook.

My lifestyle has changed rather dramatically over the last 10 years. Most of those changes in reality occurred rather gradually from year to year and only now in retrospect seem so dramatic. My sincere committment to creating a better life for myself has allowed me to continually progress over the years. However, having each ideal/goal/destination firmly implanted in my mind was only the first step.

It is my unequivocal belief that mere "words" and "good intentions" are absolutely meaningless without supporting actions. It's the consistency of our actions that directly reflect the truth and sincerity of our committment. Each new day provides us another opportunity to shape our future and to gain another step toward achieving our goals. Unfortunately, consistency is the one key to success that so many of us fumble over while trying to unlock our full potential.

The actions that are required to achieve our goals are rarely "easy" but nevertheless necessary. Finding the time to exercise each day is not "easy" due to all the distractions and responsibilities that consume our limited hours. Balancing a healthy diet each day is not "easy" when all of our convenient snacks and fast foods are responsible for killing us slowly. Maintaining an emotional bond with another person and/or and spiritual bond with our "higher power" each day is not "easy" in a world full of cynicism and hypocrisy. We simply cannot allow our difficulties to become deterrents, or even worse to become excuses, that prevent us from living up to our full potential.

Sometimes we need to re-evaluate our priorities. During these times of financial instability and economic uncertainty it's "easy" to allow our job/employment to become our chief priority. Each day we find ourselves exerting a Maximum effort toward getting to work on time and then toward accomplishing our assigned tasks once there. Most of us are perfectly able (but hopefully not content) to do this consistently for years and years and years yet for some reason we are unable to apply that same Maximum effort toward the numerous other priorities in our lives. Is our job/employment really more important than even our own emotional and physical well-being? If we're not investing in ourselves each day then we'll inevitably have much less to give to the persons and priorities in our lives that truly matter the most.

One of the greatest quotes I've come across sums it up best by advising: "Instead of trying to prioritize your schedule why not schedule your priorities." Take a moment to think about what's really most important to you and seriously ask yourself if all your "priorities" are really all that important. Today is YOUR day...There will never be a better time than right now for you to begin living the life you deserve and desire. May you continue to find much more Health, Love & Happiness in your life each and every day....A

Read Adam's story and follow one of his daily priorities, training and instructing fitness classes on his fitness website, ww

According to Sir Isaac Newton for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This obviously applies to all of our "physical" actions but I'd like to strongly suggest that it equally applies to our thoughts and emotions as well.

External forces and influences are perpetually present in our lives but ultimately we make a conscious decision regarding how they will affect us. Each of us maintains the absolute authority over our own misery or happiness. The ONLY person that you can either blame or thank for the way that you're feeling RIGHT NOW is that same person that you see in the mirror each day.

You ALWAYS have a choice to make...You can either allow yourself to become a victim of circumstance OR You can get up off your butt and take control of your life. Be proactive...Start living the life that you want and deserve today by taking responsibility for BOTH you actions as well as your emotions. Inevitably it will lead you to much more Health, Love & Happiness...A


Read more about the story of unfair mandatory minimum sentencing and how you can Help Free Adam.

Veritas means "truth" in Latin. A few years ago I was inspired to make the "truth" a central aspect of my life. I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't lie to ANYONE about ANYTHING. Initially I found myself being evasive whenever I didn't want to answer someone truthfully but that didn't leave me feeling very good about myself either. In those situations when I was genuinely concerned about hurting some ones' feelings with my response I learned to accentuate the positive BEFORE expressing myself with absolute honesty. This personal policy has made my life so much less complicated and less stressful. Most importantly, I feel 100% better about myself.

One of my daily intentions is to "Seek and Express Truth" in all of my actions and interactions. This in turn has forced me to excise nearly all of the negative influences/aspects/persons from my life. I had hoped that all of the persons in my life would reciprocate by giving me the truth whenever it applied to me and not simply whenever it was "convenient" for them. Some people fail to realize that no matter what you do the truth will surface eventually. It's better to deal with things head on and out in the open...this of course is how you build trust in a relationship. The Truth is strong and immediate...Trust is fragile and slowly earned. If you predicate trust on evasions, lies, or half-truths it will eventually be lost. The greater the deception the longer or less likely it will be to repair/rebuild that relationship. Unfortunately some relationships will not survive but doing the right thing is rarely, if ever, easy. You'll feel better about yourself as a result.

I encourage you to be truthful in all your affairs and relationships. Much Health, Love & Happiness....A