Stop & Smell the Roses

• Leave your watch on the bedside table.
• Check your e-mail only two or three times a day.
• Take the scenic route.
• Light candles before you start cooking dinner.
• Make up rituals. Say a silent word of thanks and make eye contact with everyone at the table before you start eating.
• Let the phone ring once or twice before answering.
• Make a handmade present for a friend.
• Set aside one night a week all for yourself-- and a day once in a while.
• While driving, assume that everyone else on the road is answering the call of a friend in real need.
• Bake your own bread. Grow your own vegetables. Brew your own beer.
• Spend as much time outdoors in natural settings as you possibly can. Pay attention to cycles of the moon and the shifting seasons. Sit down beside a stream or river whenever you can.
• Appreciate the pleasures of slow music: tango, waltz, cool jazz, ballads, bossa nova, folk and more.
• Buy two hammocks: one for the garden, one for your living room.
• Sit for a moment with your eyes closed when you start your computer.
• Take a few moments before you climb out of bed in the morning to remember your dreams and think about what you want from the day.
• Learn the fine art of arriving late gracefully.
• Don’t be afraid to cancel plans.
• Factor in an additional 25 percent, every time you estimate how long something will take.
• Always jump on the chance to play with a child, and do it on their terms.
• Never pack your schedule so tightly that there’s no room for a short walk.
• Take a left where you generally take a right.

Thanks Stoner!