Posts in Happiness & Self-esteem
December 2022—Merry Christmas—Home Sweet Home!
December 2022—Merry Christmas—Home Sweet Home!

Christmas is always a wonderful combination of joy, a bit of stress, putting up old, well-loved decorations, trying to plan meals and festivities ahead of time, rushing at the last minute over something forgotten, love and laughter with family and friends, and truly appreciating the real reason for Christmas—Jesus Christ. How I love our dear Savior!

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

 — Isaiah 9:6

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Living a Christian Life, My Beliefs, Happiness & Self-esteemAngela FalesComment
November 2022—Enjoy your traditions! Would you like a piece of pie?
November 2022—Enjoy your traditions! Would you like a piece of pie?

I love our family tradition of baking pies for Thanksgiving. I took this picture of my husband David with our grandson and granddaughter (twins) proudly showing off the pumpkin pie they baked together here at our ranch this year! Traditions are what pulls at our heart strings and bonds us as one, kind of like being stuck together with “Crazy Glue,” with our family and friends. Yes, some of our traditions are kind of crazy! Some make us smile, some make us laugh, some make us a little teary-eyed.

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Parent Guide, Family, Happiness & Self-esteemAngela FalesComment
October 2022—Happy Halloween—Have a little fun!
October 2022—Happy Halloween—Have a little fun!

 I like to dress up for Halloween! This year I was visiting at my daughter and son-in-law’s house, so I looked around to see what I could find to make myself a costume. I found a black satin sheet lying on a bed, which I knew would work for my main costume. After searching through my granddaughters’ dress up boxes, I found a fluffy little skirt and put it around my head. I thought I looked great! My grandchildren all laughed at me and asked, “What are you?” 

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Family, Happiness & Self-esteem, LeadershipAngela FalesComment
Gratitude
Gratitude

As we sat around the table for our family’s Thanksgiving feast, we all took turns saying what we were most grateful for on this special Thanksgiving Day. I shed a few tears as I spoke of the miracles of God the last few years, both big and small, which had allowed our family to be together this day. Without His divine intervention, we wouldn’t have had this day of rejoicing with our family and friends.

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Family, Miracles, Happiness & Self-esteemAngela Fales Comment
Living Life: Suggestions for Sleeping Better
Living Life: Suggestions for Sleeping Better

I sometimes have problems sleeping. I can usually fall asleep okay, but I often wake up in the middle of the night and have difficulty falling back asleep. I’m not sure what the reason is (it doesn’t seem to be stress) as I usually go to bed feeling quite content and happy! I recently found some interesting, new information in a lengthy article, which I hadn’t read before. I decided that what I needed to do was to incorporate, slowly but surely, all 20 of its suggested “tips” into my daily routine!

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Self-help, Resilience & Hope, Happiness & Self-esteemAngela Fales Comment
Women of Conviction: Courage
Women of Conviction: Courage

However, having a few successful experiences of breaking through my fears did not bring me great courage. It was still not one of my emotional strengths. It was only through the pain of many disappointing experiences, where I totally lacked the courage I needed, when I resolved to change. I believe we can all learn to be courageous people who know how to, “DO what needs to be done WHEN it needs to be done WITHOUT hesitation.”

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Happiness & Self-esteem, Living a Christian Life, Resilience & HopeAngela FalesComment
Women of Conviction: Goldilocks
Women of Conviction: Goldilocks

A few weeks ago, I watched a weekly podcast entitled “Unleash Your Inner Goldilocks: How To Get It Just Right” that was put on by Dr. Kasthuri (Kas) Henry. She invited my sister, Robin Litster Johnson, to join her as they discussed the subjects of Gratitude and Resilience. I was so inspired by what I learned from these two amazing women that I wanted to share about Dr. Kas Henry on my blog.

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Resilience & Hope, Happiness & Self-esteem, Self-helpAngela FalesComment
Women of Conviction: Rock-Star Aunts
Women of Conviction: Rock-Star Aunts

The role of “aunt” in our family has always included nurturing newborns, playing with young children, overnight babysitting, cutting, styling, and/or braiding hair, painting fingernails, playing all kinds of games including baseball, basketball and football, helping with homework, assisting with cooking, cleaning, and house organization, being available to help family members with moves from coast to coast, and sneaking their nieces and nephews some candy and treats when their parents weren’t looking!

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Family, Happiness & Self-esteem, Resilience & HopeAngela Fales Comment
Men of Faith: Love Your Enemies
Men of Faith: Love Your Enemies

When Dallin H. Oaks was called to have a leadership role in our church in 1984, I was delighted to begin hearing him speak again at every General Conference. In doing a little research about his life, I came across a cute anecdote by his sister Evelyn O. Moody:

“Whenever we got together for family parties, it was funny to watch because Dallin . . . was always the leader. He would tell who were the cops and who were the robbers . . . Before anyone else could turn two wheels in his brain, Dallin had the whole thing organized.”

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Leadership, Living a Christian Life, Happiness & Self-esteemAngela FalesComment
Living Life: To set Goals…Or to not set goals?
Living Life: To set Goals…Or to not set goals?

A few years ago, while pondering about setting a specific goal, this encouraging thought came to me, “A goal is not a cane to beat yourself with—it is a walking stick to help you climb the mountains in your life.”

Yes! Let’s not beat ourselves up for what we haven’t done. Let’s set a small goal and achieve it! Enjoy that sweet feeling of accomplishment for a few minutes and then set another small goal. Step by step we can climb all the mountains in our lives.

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Happiness & Self-esteem, Family, Self-helpAngela Fales Comment
Women of Conviction: A Place of Belonging
Women of Conviction: A Place of Belonging

We all can be inclusive with other people as we reach out with kindness, caring, and real love to our friends, neighbors, co-workers, community organizations, church groups, and even strangers on the street. We all need to ask ourselves this question: How can I help others feel that they are important, needed, and appreciated—that they truly have a safe place of belonging with me?

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Happiness & Self-esteem, Resilience & Hope, My BeliefsAngela FalesComment
Reflections on Marriage:  K is for Kissing  
Reflections on Marriage:  K is for Kissing  

For the past few years, I’ve been writing posts about each letter of the alphabet, A-Z, from my book, ABC’s for a Happy Marriage. I didn’t write these posts in alphabetical order—I just randomly wrote whatever I felt like writing at the time. I wanted to have all twenty-six posts written by the end of 2020, but I realized this month that I was only up to twenty-four letters of the alphabet. So, I decided to combine the last two letters, “K” and “S” together.

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Dating & Marriage, Happiness & Self-esteem, Living a Christian LifeKristine Litster FalesComment
Women of Conviction: A Season of Strength
Women of Conviction: A Season of Strength

In 1983, Barbara B. Smith gave a talk entitled, “A Season of Strength” that inspired me when I first heard her speak when I was a young mother. Now, as a grandmother, I still find her words inspiring today. Whether we are single or married, young or old, the nurturing work we do as women can provide true friendship to the lonely, bring joy and love to a child, and instill hope into the hearts of discouraged souls.

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Family, Happiness & Self-esteem, Woman Wife MotherKristine Litster Fales Comment
Reflections on Marriage: U is for Unity
Reflections on Marriage: U is for Unity

Unity doesn’t come all at once, but it will come. Sometimes, you will need to “agree to disagree” on a certain subject, and that’s okay, too! Let time go by. Not all issues need to be resolved right now. Be loving. Be kind. Be patient. Keep your eye on the goal of unity as you each progress in your individual lives. Marriage should always be a “win-win” relationship.

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Dating & Marriage, Happiness & Self-esteem, Living a Christian LifeKristine Litster Fales Comment