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Norman Thomas: “The secret of a good life is to have the right loyalties and hold them in the right scale of values.”

Although Misha is enjoying the lovely spring weather in NL at the moment, we had a lot of fun in the past weeks enjoying the woods in the ‘snow-is-melting-so-no-more-winter-wonderland’ at home in Norway.

Happy as always, my angel turned 2.5 years today, wow!! Time *is* flying…waaayyyy too fast!!!

Francis Ford Coppola: “You don’t have to specialize – do everything that you love and then, at some time, the future will come together for you in some form.”

After three fabulous years with a lot of driving fun it is time to sell the BMW X5. He he, having two cars is a bit overkill for a guy without a job, eh? 🙂 And I am actually using my (electric) LEAF a lot more than the X5, there are just too many benefits; no toll, allowed to use the bus/taxi lanes, free parking in Oslo, and oh yes, greennnnn driving. 🙂

The X5 is in 100% condition and cleaner than ever (outside and inside); actually a pity to sell it! Oh well 🙂

Check it out! (and share)

Sam Ewing: “It’s not the hours you put in your work that counts, it’s the work you put in the hours.”

We (or at least most of us 🙂 ) are gifted with the ability to *think*…to think things through is both a bliss as well as a necessity to survive and evolve.

Interestingly enough, while thinking is very important there is also a catch; thinking too much. Overthinking causes the good things to go wrong, has non-issues become priorities and makes people come to a stand still in life. Luckily there are 9 Simple Habits to Stop Overthinking Everything (from Henrik Edberg / positivityblog.com). When you go through them you will notice it ain’t so hard to avoid overthinking! 🙂

Oh, I added a 10th habit: Think with your Heart!

1. Put things into a wider perspective.
2. Set short time-limits for decisions.
3. Become a person of action.
4. Realize that you cannot control everything.
5. Say stop in situation where you know you cannot think straight.
6. Do not get lost in vague fears.
7. Work out.
8. Spend more of your time in the present moment.
9. Spend more of your time with people who do not overthink things.
10. Think with your Heart

(read the entire article for more details)

Herbert W. Boyer: “Wonder is what sets us apart from other life forms. No other species wonders about the meaning of existence or the complexity of the universe or themselves.”

Maya Angelou: “Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told, ‘I’m with you kid. Let’s go.'”

Spanish Proverb: “If you want to be respected, you must respect yourself.”

OK, here is one that will  have your eyes blown up from the inside or at least make you go crazy and run in circles; this one is not for the faint at heart! 🙂

Find the black dot in the image below……hey *there* it is, euhh or no it ain’t…optical illusions at work here! 🙂

Sophia Loren: “Getting ahead in a difficult profession requires avid faith in yourself. That is why some people with mediocre talent, but with great inner drive, go much further than people with vastly superior talent.”

Stephenie Meyer: “I like the night. Without the dark, we’d never see the stars.”

There was an obvious alternative for Bobby McFerrin’s song Don’t Worry, Be Happy in last Thursday’s International Day of Happiness post. Then again, I am not for obvious and, I like this alternative song so much that it ‘deserves’ its own blogpost…it just got promoted as Song of the Day! 🙂

From the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack this is Pharrell Williams with uhhh Happy!! I reckon this to be the most obvious Happy song of the year! 🙂

Every time I hear this song, I can’t sit still and feel the urge to sing along (which in turn makes the people around me unhappy 🙂 )…it has this instant ‘Happy-ON’ switch, I LOVE it!

‘Clap along if you feel like that’s what you wanna do’ 🙂

John Eliot, Ph.D.: “The idea of perfect closes your mind to new standards. When you drive hard toward one ideal, you miss opportunities and paths, not to mention hurting your confidence. Believe in your potential and then go out and explore it; don’t limit it.”

Today marks the first day of Spring, it is March 21 right? Well not quite; Spring actually started yesterday which has to do with the moment that the sun ‘reached’ the equator on its way North. This phenomenon is called Vernal equinox, you can read more on this in my blogpost from a couple of years ago.

Pretty confusing as we have been told from our youth that Spring starts on March 21…well, fasten your seat belts, there is more sun-related confusion…read on!

We are all born with a certain zodiac sign, right? This sign is determined by the constellation the sun was ‘in’ on the day you are born. The initial zodiac signs were based on the positions of constellations relative to the calendar, as observed by the Babylonians, but…they no longer correspond to the dates they appear today! (This is due to the moon’s gravitational pull in the past millenniums, the Earth ‘wobbling’ around its axis, creating about a one-month bump in the stars’ alignment).

This effectively means that the correct signs of the Zodiac are:

Capricorn: Jan. 20-Feb. 16.
Aquarius: Feb. 16-March 11.
Pisces: March 11-April 18.
Aries: April 18-May 13.
Taurus: May 13-June 21.
Gemini: June 21-July 20.
Cancer: July 20-Aug. 10.
Leo: Aug. 10-Sept. 16.
Virgo: Sept. 16-Oct. 30.
Libra: Oct. 30-Nov. 23.
Scorpio: Nov. 23-29.
Ophiuchus: Nov. 29-Dec. 17.  (Yeah, this one is new — read all about the Ophiuchus way of life here)
Sagittarius: Dec. 17-Jan. 20.

Uhhhh…WTF?!? Uhh, is *that* the reason that most of my horoscopes have been plain wrong?? 🙂

Well, no need to panic!!

First read the ‘no your zodiac sign hasn’t changed’ article which explains that while this zodiac sign-change *is* true, it only affects the sidereal zodiac (which is fixed to constellations and is followed more in the East). The western astrology uses the so-called tropical zodiac (based on seasons) and that means that your zodiac sign did not change…pfewwwww! 🙂

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus: “Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look there.”

Are you happy today?? If so; GOOD! If not, you *should* because today, March 20, is the United Nations‘ International Day of Happiness! 🙂

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: “Happiness may have different meanings for different people. But we can all agree that it means working to end conflict, poverty and other unfortunate conditions in which so many of our fellow human beings live.”

A nice thought, but I’d rather keep it simple and start with a smile…a smile to the people around me which will make the happy energy flowing around! If everyone would do that, and not just today, then *everyday* will become a happy day! 🙂

Here is a song to get you started, it is THE perfect happy song for a day like this: Bobby McFerrin with Don’t Worry, Be Happy…guaranteed to put a smile on your face! 🙂

Oprah Winfrey: “What I know for sure is that what you give comes back to you.”

Everyone is aware of the extreme profitability of Apple and other Tech Companies (slightly less, but still very profitable). To put things in perspective, WorldPay created a website with an animation that shows how quickly the top tech companies generate their revenue and profits…it puts things into perspective eh?

The screenshot below was taken after just 3 seconds and while Samsung has the biggest revenue, Apple puts all the other tech ‘giants’ to shame when it comes to actual profit; a stunning $4000 in 3 seconds, (accumulating to $1,000,000 in just 14 minutes and 11 seconds!!)…Apple’s profit is bigger than the combined revenue of Facebook, Twitter, eBay, Yahoo and LinkedIn, WoW!

Give it a try yourself (click the play button) and see how long you can stand watching all that money pile up. 🙂

Real Live Preacher: “There isn’t much better in this life than finding a way to spend a few hours in conversation with people you respect and love. You have to carve this time out of your life because you aren’t really living without it.”