A new home for Kristen's Guide content about health, wellness, and life skills

Excuses Excuses

I cannot believe it has been over a year since I updated Kristen's Guide.  In Internet years, that's like dropping out for a decade.  I've been working hard in graduate school, studying mental health counseling and clinical psychophysiology, and have learned a lot that I want to share with my readers, but because I've been so busy, I haven't had time to design anything new or post any of the great information I've learned.

But Really, I Can Explain

Now, Kristen's Guide needs some serious updating.  I know you've noticed it too.  Many of my fans have been contacting me and wondering when I'll post new printables, calendars, checklists, articles, how-to guides, calculators, etc.  I've had several messages from people worried that Kristen's Guide was going offline.  I've even had multiple offers to sell it.  But, don't worry, it's sticking around.  However, rather than just updating things the same ol' way, I'm going to try something new.  Kristen's Guide will still have lots of great information about a wide variety of topics and free printables, and I will update it, but I'm also starting a new site: All Together Wellness at http://www.alltogetherwellness.com

Introducing All Together Wellness: A Health and Wellness Focused Site from the Creator of Kristen's Guide

The goal of All Together Wellness is to have a website/blog that has more specific wellness and health focused information along with life skills that everyone can use.  All other topics that don't fit into a wellness category (e.g. coding web pages and shopping guides) will still be on Kristen's Guide.  All Together Wellness will also be less focused on me personally, which will allow for guest posts from other experts and professionals instead of just having every post be,well, "Kristen's Guide to ...."  Plus, it will be database driven using flexible platforms, so we can expand it as needed.  For all you non-geeks out there, that means it can do more than the old Kristen's Guide website.  At All Together Wellness, in addition to having articles and printables, we could have life skills and wellness courses that you can enroll in online, forums for getting questions answered, and social networking so you can keep in touch with like-minded people through popular social sites like Facebook and Google+.  It will take some time, of course, to get everything up and running, but we're already posting new content, and it will continue to grow.

Local Resources Too

For those of you who live in or near Gresham, Oregon (East Portland Metro), on All Together Wellness you'll also find information about local health and wellness resources since we have quite a shortage of online resources for this area.

For those of you who live in other parts of the world, we'll do our best to put up national and international health and wellness resources that can help you get pointed in the right direction.

Grand Opening Tour Time!

So head over to All Together Wellness, take a look around, and let me know what you would like to see there.  Then subscribe to the feed or follow us on Facebook or Twitter to easily get updates.

See you there!

How to Allow Yourself to Have True Happiness

I am a happy person. When everything in life is going along as I've planned, I'm happy. When things fall apart, and I know that my life will never be the same, I'm still happy.

I wasn't always a happy person. I didn't always understand what happiness was, so instead of being happy, I tried to chase happiness. It wasn't until I learned about true happiness that I finally became happy.

Happiness isn't about the things that happen to you or the things that you do. Being a happy person is a state of mind, and you can become happy right now.

To learn more about true happiness, visit
http://www.kristensguide.com/Happiness/true_happiness.asp

What Is the Meaning of Life? Here's my answer...

As we go through life, we often forget why we're doing what we're doing. I've been getting lots of emails lately from people asking questions like:

What is it that we've been working toward?
Why are we putting up with things we hate?
Why try harder?
Why bother to go on?
Why isn't my religion giving me a sense of fulfillment?
What am I supposed to be doing with my life?

So I decided it was time to revise some of my articles and write some new ones to help give them (and anyone else who's interested) some answers to ponder.

Here is my first response, the meaning of life, as decided by lil' ol' me.
http://www.kristensguide.com/Happiness/meaning_of_life.asp

I hope it helps you through your day, and stay tuned for future articles on this topic. There will definitely be more.

The Meaning of Life: Happiness

It's been awhile since I last posted because I've been taking a much needed break. Whenever I start to feel as if my life isn't exactly as I'd like it to be, I spend time remembering why I'm here, the meaning of life: HAPPINESS. And suddenly things fall back into perspective.

Read more about the meaning of life at
http://www.kristensguide.com/Happiness/meaning_of_life.asp

How Interpreting Dreams Can Change Your Life

Start 2008 by getting in touch with your deeper desires. You can even discover them while you sleep... in your dreams. Dream interpretation isn't about looking up symbolic meanings from a novelty dream symbolism dictionary. It's about becoming aware of the hopes and fears you may be ignoring while you're awake. Increase your awareness of your subconscious desires and you'll be one step closer to being your authentic self (which we all know leads to authentic happiness).

Learn about dream interpretation at
http://kristensguide.com/Happiness/dreams.asp

The Purposes of Your Life / Your Life Missions

The meaning of life asks the question, "Why are you here?"

The purpose of your life asks the question, "What are you going to do now that you are already here?"

We have many life purposes. Some we don't even need to try to fulfill. Some require a lifetime of work. And if the meaning of life is to experience happiness, then the ultimate purpose of your life is to actively find deep, lasting happiness.

Learn about life purposes at
http://www.kristensguide.com/Happiness/purpose.asp

I've discovered the meaning of life :-)

I'm updating the "Happiness" section of my website. (It's been quite a long time since I've played with that section, and it is in serious need of updating.)

The first article I tackled was my favorite subject, the reason I created the "Happiness" section in the first place: THE MEANING OF LIFE!

To see the article, go to:
http://www.kristensguide.com/Happiness/meaning_of_life.asp