Guide to Living Beautifully

For years, I have loved perusing Mrs. Dunwoody’s Excellent Instructions for Homekeeping. It’s charming, instructive, at times humorous, and delightfully nostalgic, reminding us of a time when life was less hurried and women made real, beautiful homes.

Mrs. Dunwoody’s Guide to Living Beautifully

• Realize that each new day is a gift from God.  Treat it as such.

• Focus on life’s blessings, as this is continuously uplifting, and affects who you are as a person.

• Develop a keen appreciation for the little luxuries in your daily life–the smell of coffee in the morning, the songbirds outside your window, a loved one’s crooked smile. Seek out these “blessings” and take time each day to notice and savor them. Pay attention to your life.

• Create a home you love to live in.

• Spend some time outdoors. Nature heals and replenishes the soul.

• Do something kind for someone at least every week; aim for every day. Do a good deed anonymously. You will find, in time, that the more you give, the more is given back to you.

• Everything in life is a choice. realize that as you live your life, each moment you are either adding to or taking from the quality of your life. You are either creating and enjoying, or dying and destroying. There is no “standing still,” for that is time wasted and therefore takes away from your life. The choice for your life is up to you.

• Strive to become the best version of yourself.

• To awaken mentally and become passionate about something, find the thing that moves your heart and stirs your soul. Persevere, for passion is a necessity for a beautiful life.

• Create something, whether it is a family, a meal, a painting, or a daydream.

• Never stop learning, through books, people, travel, and experiences.

• Listen to and enjoy another’s company often.

• Focus on your love of beauty. Treat yourself well. Use the fine china for your cup of tea.

• Cultivate gratitude in all things and circumstances. Search for the good in all.

• Speak only kind words.

• Laugh every day.

• Give continual thanks and praise to your Creator, and ask Him to guide your heart and soul.

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