A Very nice review on Amazon - Thank You Ptmeem!

" 5.0 out of 5 stars Making Every Day Special, November 20, 2009 By ptmeem - See all my reviews This review is from: Life In A Week, About Being Really Happy (Hardcover) Michael Keller is obviously the perfect combination of practicality and positivity. I found myself smiling and nodding in agreement with his approach to life throughout the book. If you've ever had a bad day, become frustrated or angry, you need this book. He'll show you how to deal with negatives and turn them around. Like band aids in the bathroom cabinet, this book should be on your nightstand for emergency use." I LOVE THE "LIKE BAND AIDS IN THE BATHROOM CABINET" - wow, thanks and if any of you bought the book from Amazon please post a review - it really helps with the ratings! Have a fun day, Mike

Lead based paint (a strange but important posting)

As of this month there is finally strictor renovation rules (entire country) that are in effect for contractors dealing with homes, schools, and child care facilites! As of April 2010, contractors performing renovation, repair and painting projects that disturb lead-based paint must be certified and follow specific work practices to prevent lead contamination! Long-term lead exposure to children under the age of six can cause developmental brain problems, it doesn't take a lot of lead to be hazardous to one's health. So if you live in an old home built before 1978 and have some renovations done please MAKE SURE that your contractor is certified and registered by the EPA. Why make the house look nice and your lungs and brain feel sluggish. Have a great day and don't forget to smile and wave to some strangers today!

HAVE FUN & ENJOY TODAY

We are only on this earth for a little while so we really need to make the best of our limited time. I often wonder how ready I am to enter into the next life? If today is my last day and tomorrow never comes who will remember me, who will miss me, but more importantly who have I helped to have a happier life? Is it true that when he is out of sight, he is quickly out of mind? What helps me to enjoy life every day may seem cold or even gloomy, but it helps to remind me that our time is limited so we really should make the most of it; In the morning I consider for a moment the fact that I may not live till the evening. By living this way death will never take me by surprise and I will never have to move onto the next stage with unfinished business here on earth. These thoughts remind me never to go to bed arguing with a loved one, not to be rude to anyone, to say thank you more often, to help others and to never get greedy. Death is a fact of life that is a certainty and when we face that fact we will live a much happier life. Each night as you lay your head on your pillow and think about the day that had just past and you can you can smile and know that you did the best that you could and can be satisfied by the events of the day, then you should be happy to be where you are. When you have problems don’t try to tackle them in one day, just chip away a little piece at a time so that you won’t waste the entire day in that homemade stress, trust me when I say “It doesn’t even matter, just be happy.” Sometimes we are in places in life where we think “the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.” I often wonder what people are thinking, I can sit on a bench at the casino or at the beach and watch people walk by and wonder by the expressions on their faces what they are thinking and where they are.I wonder if they know how lucky they are to be in such a great setting, maybe with their friends and family or even just a little getaway for the moment. By sitting back and people watching for a few minutes I realize that I too have it good and that I am in a good place. If we know where we are in life we will make our own destinies by our thoughts and habits; then we will be able to decide which paths in life to take and in turn better our lives while we are here. While sitting back on that bench at the beach yesterday I noticed that a dog kept returning to its own vomit and I wondered why and realized that we do the same thing when we stress out on issues that don’t even matter.

A few words from Life In A Week; A book about being really happy!

Everyone is here for a reason, and that reason is to express ourselves and bring happiness and joy to this world. When we have happy thoughts filled with love and goodness, it will radiate through us naturally in our voices, expressions, and our vibes. When I feel like I’m going to have a stressful day or a difficult time, I will. When I feel like it’s going to be a great day filled with laughter, it will be. Our thoughts are what make us up; therefore, our thoughts are who we are. You can be the most handsome guy or the prettiest girl at the dance, but if you don’t know it, it won’t matter because you’re not going to dance much. However, if you thought positively with love, then you would know what a hot ticket you really are, and you would have the confidence to ask anyone to dance. You would have a great time because love attracts love. Love yourself for who you are, and you will be surrounded by love. Treat people with love, and most will respond likewise. If someone is mean-spirited to you when you were only good to them, don’t let it bother you. If you let their negativity enter into your thoughts, you are only giving that negativity power. What I do is simply walk away and wish that person goodwill and peace. If I can’t just walk away due to the circumstances, I will never react in the same negative way, no matter what. Always try to treat others how you would want to be treated. Do not treat others how they treat you. Maybe your smile or your brushing off of the rude words spoken to you will eventually plant the seed of goodness and love into the negative person’s heart and, therefore, their thoughts. When we walk around knowing we are good and helping everyone we can, we will radiate that love through our vibes, expressions, and body language; we will pass it along to everyone we meet. That happiness and love really is contagious, so hold that door open for the next person, say hello to the old guy on the park bench, ask the cashier how her dayis going, and you will make a difference in someone else’s day. That difference will not only be contagious to them, but also to you; your thoughts will stay more positive, therefore making your day better and healthier.

Easter

Happy Easter to everyone! To me Easter is a time to spend time with our loved ones because it is a reminder that we are not here forever. Enjoy today and don't be nervouse about giving a few extra hugs along with those Easter eggs.

Move those bodies...

Have you ever noticed how great you feel after taking a walk, playing basketball, or even just shopping? It’s a great feeling to move around and get our bodies going. Exercise is the natural way to let our positive feelings loose and to transform the moods we are in. When I get in a grumpy mood, the first thing I do is take a deep breath in and hold it for a few seconds, then I let it out slowly. I do this four or five times to get my lungs moving and to let the fresh air into my body while picturing the negativity flowing out of me with every exhale. This causes the endorphins in our bodies to begin to wake up and stretch. Now is the key time to take a quick walk even if it’s just parking farther away from the building or store. Those few extra steps eventually add up and will give us an extra minute to just breathe and get more exercise. This is a great time of year to get our bodies moving and take in some fresh air to rid us of the 'winter blues' Spring is in the air and just as the flowers, plants, and nature is flourishing so should our happy thoughts and good vibes. Everyday is a fresh start to let our love shine along with the warm air and cool breezes...

Get a hearing aid or run into the traffic!

I meet a lot of people everyday and I try to remember that people always project to others what they feel about themselves. I was talking to a woman today who would not make eye contact and talked very low. When I asked her if she would speak up because I have a hard time hearing sometimes she literally screamed at me to get a hearing aid or run into the traffic! WOW. I didn't know what to do or say so I just asked her if she needed a hug (and that is hard for me because I am not a touchy feely kind of person usually...especially once I quit drinking). She grabbed her coffee and walked outside, I too was leaving and headed for my car. When I got into the car she walked over and said she was sorry and told me that the doctor just told her that she is deaf in her left ear and would loose all her hearing by the time she was 40! She felt guilty because she would not be able to hear her babies voice in a short time. I told her that I believe guilt is taught to us as children and it is not natural, it is hell. Guilt is a horrible feeling to carry with us needlessly. Many of us are filled with that guilt and accept it as right when it is actually wrong! Take a step back, look at every situation, and always be happy for what we have even if it is for a limited time. Leave the judging up to God, for we should not judge anyone, just care and love unconditionally! My point here is that I am glad I didn't just get snotty back or get defensive because that would have just hurt both of us. The old saying "keep your mouth shut unless you have something nice to say" comes to mind! Have a fun week, Mike

Be careful of the wolf in sheep skin!

We all want to be happy and live a peaceful life but every once in a while a wolf will come along disguised as a sheep! The sheep is gentle, kind, and loving but in time you find that your good nature has been taken advantage of. You find that the sheep has been clawing away at your good nature while all along trying to destroy you. The sheep was really a big, bad wolf trying to use your peaceful nature as a weakness, not knowing that Love is much more powerful than anger, hate, and deception. The wolf was really just a lonely, sad, and angry soul who is only happy when others are brought to its level. I believe all people are good by nature but we sometimes take rockier paths in life and become lost. We tend to panic when we are lost because we are not in control of where we are going and don't want to end up somewhere scary, foggy, and lonely! It is at that point that we must choose the path we want to walk down and know that we make our own decisions in life and must live with the results. We must realize that it is foolish to blame the outcome on others, as we chose the path. When we pretend to be something we are not we are only hurting ourselves, but when we are deceived by wolves in sheep skin we become stronger knowing that the wolf didn't have any power over you because you were filled with the natural light of Love that blinded the wolf's angry vision. Do not let the wolfs addiction slow you down on your happy trail in life, keep the peaceful spirit and loving thoughts in your heart and you will never have to fear that mean wolf. Life is about how we handle challenges, what we learn from those challenges, and how we treat others in our daily lives. Always try to help others and you will be surrounded by Love, but when you come across an angry wolf who tries to hurt you remember not to bend down to its level so it can bite you in the face. Just slowly back away from it, hope the best for it, and move on so you can surround yourself with the family and friends that love and care for you unconditionally.

Why I wrote Life In A Week!

I wrote this book for a few reasons, but the most important was to help people like me with the day-to-day drama that exists in their lives. At a young age, I realized that most of this drama is unnecessary and for the most part, they are just illusions in our own heads. I love to read good books and found that most self-help and spiritual books are written by doctors, misisters, and professors. Well, I am none of the above. I wrote this book with people like me in mind-people who want to read a good book that is helpful, funny, and easy to understand whether they are fifteen or ninety-five years old. I purposely left the clinical terms and fancy jargon out of this book. I wanted to create a book that made you feel like you were having a conversation with a friend rather than with a counselor. I am an average guy who believes in the American dream, his family, his friends, and the idea that all people are good. It seems that sometimes we just take the rockier paths in life. We all have choices and that's what makes life interesting. The answer to every question that we have is already inside of us. We just need to be reminded of that and I hope this book will be a helpful reminder. I truly believe that we are all connected on some level and that we should try to help each other out. Another reason I wrote this book was because I was looking for a hobby that would help me relax after working hard all day. I tried wood working, drawing, and stained glass. I didn't stick to any of them though because I didn't feel fulfilled by them. It doesn't matter what you do, but how you do it that really matters. I found writing to be both relaxing and rewarding. Anything you do with good intentions in your heart is always worthwhile, and that's why I stuck with writing. I figured if you take even one reminder from my book and get something good from it, I would feel fulfilled, blessed, and happy! I have been receiving some wonderful emails and letters from all over the world with people telling me about their own situations and how they coped with addictions, losses, and changes. I feel so blessed that in all of those conversations that I am being told my writing has helped in some way, even if it is by giving a few extra giggles or that I was able to remind them that we are never alone, we have each other! THANK YOU so much for also reminding me of that! Have fun, Mike

A compaint free world!

I was talking with my brother Bob and he gave me a bracelet that he got from church that says "A complaint free world.org". I haven't done my research on it yet but have have been wearing the bracelet for three days and am having a more challenging time than I thought I would with keeping with the challenge. How it works is, you put it on and wear it for 21 days and ANY time you start to complain, gossup, or talk negative you MUST switch the bracelet to your other arm and start over on your days! WOW, I am back on day one again and I thought I was pretty optomistic... I think it is a great idea for Lent or for everyday life, imagine a world without the gossup, the grouchiness, the rudeness and with more laughter and Love! It is possible and it is what we make of it, so have a FUN day filled with that joy and goodwill! Day #1 still, can you even beleive that??!!

Forgiveness (from my book)

The key to true friendship and love is being sincere and being honest enough to say you are sorry or that you were wrong. When you say you are sorry, you must really mean it. I screw up a lot, but I try my best to be a good person and admit when I am wrong. That's why it is so easy for me to accept an apology from others when they do or say something unkind to me. I look at like this: we all wipe our butts the same way. All that means is we are all equal; no one is better than anyone else. It hurts the most when someone close to you does something bad to you, and it will be the hardest to forgive that person because you have so much love for him or her. But you will feel so much more joy when you forgive that person because the burden was the heaviest when you were carrying it around with you, like a thirty-pound weight around your heart. Whenever we do something that will hurt someone we love, there is always a reason for doing it. Whether it was because we were only thinking about ourselves, we didn't think before we did it, or we just didn't care, there is always a reason. When we screw up, we really should figure out what the reason for the screw up was so that we don't do it again. If we excuse it again, then there is a problem because it's becoming a nasty habit.

LIZZIE WALKS ON THE WILD SIDE

http://www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/LizardTalesLizzieWalksOnTheWildSide.html HELLO TO ALL MY BLOGGING FRIENDS AND FAMILY, PLEASE CHECK OUT MY FRIEND ROSEMARYS FUN KIDS BOOK - IT IS A WONDERFUL BOOK THAT WILL ENTERTAIN AND TEACH ANY CHILD. The book is available on the above link, on Amazon, and on your favorite book sites! I loved this book so much that I just ordered five as gifts...

Trish Silver spotlights new authors (Yessss...I'm one of them!)

Please follow the link BY CLICKING ON THE ABOVE TITLE ("Yessss...I'm one of them") to read about the five new authors featured this month by Trish Silver who is a great author who helps us newcomers along the way!

Help The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team!

http://pages.teamintraining.org/ct/fair10/agulbenk Please click on the above link and check out my friend Ani's page where she is training to run in a marathon for a great cause which is personal to both her and to many who have been affected by this illness.

Where do all the answers come from?

I have been trying a new form of meditating (relaxing) to help me to write my next book and have been trying to sit still and just do nothing for 30 minutes at a time. When I say nothing I mean no moving, no thinking, no reading, nothing! Let me tell you, the first time I tried this was really tough but within the first 20 minutes or so you will get the best answers from within. I didn't even ask myself any questions but still got answers! If you have any situations in your life that you are dealing with I would recommend that you give this a try. I have always believed that all the answers we will ever need are already inside of us, we just need to listen...