Be Social is the third level of my version of the hierarchy of needs. I wrote about the first two levels in these previous posts: Just Be, and Be Safe. This level is all about our need for relationships with friends, intimate partners, and family. We all have a need to connect with others.

Here is where things start to get interesting, because our needs no longer revolve around stuff. Once we have all the stuff we need, we start dealing with people and emotions. This takes some careful consideration and can be infinitely more rewarding. Our human connections fall broadly into three categories:

Posted in family, love, needs 15 Comments »

Here’s the thing about money: it cannot buy you happiness, but you have to have it anyway.

During these times of economic crisis, there is a lot of anxiety, fear, and uncertainty. Many of us are worried sick about our family’s financial stability. Rising healthcare costs, excessive credit card debt, and fear of losing or not finding jobs are HUGE barriers to happiness and inner peace.

Posted in choices, family, inner peace, needs 7 Comments »

Yesterday I wrote about my version of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Today I would like to elaborate on the most basic level of needs: physiological needs. These should not require much time or energy, but are vital to the rest of the levels. There’s probably a long scientific checklist for these, but here are six basics:

1. Air – Breathe the cleanest air you can, and take deep breaths. Living somewhere that has fresh, clean, unpolluted air is best. If that is not possible, try to get out in nature to breathe air that has more oxygen than toxic chemicals. If you cannot even do this, and are completely trapped indoors, surround yourself with plants. They will suck the carbon dioxide out of the air and give you oxygen in exchange… nature’s air purifier. Inhale the good, exhale the bad.

Posted in balance, choices, needs, simplicity 13 Comments »