Mission for Happy Home

Enjoy Inconvenient Happiness!

There are many inventions around us that make our life convenient and enriching. If we use a finger without going shopping, we can get the items we want. We can communicate online without seeing each other face-to-face. But the convenient life does not always bring happiness. The development of transportation causes lack of exercise as time for walking decreases, and a new type of digital dementia arises due to the use of convenient smartphones. We sometimes regard even a little inconvenience as big. These are side effects of getting accustomed to convenience. The mission of this month is to find happiness hidden by convenience. Enjoy the happy things we can get from inconvenience! Tip Ring the bell or knock before…

Please the Ears of Your Family!

Delicious food is pleasant to your mouth, beautiful scenery to your eyes, and fragrant scent to your nose. Also, soft touch is pleasant to your tactile sense, and beautiful sound to your ears. The mission of this month is to please the ears of your family. How can we please their ears? You can do it in any way—sweet music purifying the mind, the beautiful sound of nature, or the words of praise and gratitude that make them feel better. Let your family hear only good things all the month round! Tip Ask what your family wants to hear. Say frequently what your family wants to hear. Ask what your family does not like to hear. Don’t say what your…

Keep Your House Neat and Clean

A house is like the face of a person who lives there. If you do not wash your face even for a day, it gets dirty. Likewise, if you do not clean your house often, it will get dirty soon. In the chaotic and distracted situation, a home cannot fully function as a comfortable haven. The mission of this month is to keep your house and its surroundings clean and neat where your precious family dwells. When you wash your face, it feels good. If you keep your house clean which is like the face of your family, it will refresh your mind and your house will give off good energy that everything will come out right. Tip Clean the…

Keep My Family Healthy!

“To the well man, every day is a feast” (Turkey), “A good wife and health are a man’s best wealth” (U.K.), “We realize the importance of health and youth after losing them” (Arab), “Anybody who thinks money is everything has never been sick” (In the West) . . . Every country has at least one proverb about health because everyone knows the importance of health. If any part of our body such as eyes, teeth, spine, stomach, and skin is not healthy, our whole body will suffer. You can’t stress enough the importance of health. This month, let us take care of our family health, just as we take care of our own health. Care and consideration for our family…

Keep Your Happiness with Language Etiquette!

Just as there are driving manners on the road, table manners, and dress codes, which are adjusted to the occasion, there is also etiquette for speaking. You will not be punished for not observing etiquette for dining and dressing. However, in the case of driving, if you do not consider other drivers’ perspectives and drive carelessly, the risk of an accident will follow. Likewise, if you do not keep your language etiquette, you may have a warning sign on the peace of your family. If you regard your child speaking impolitely as an outgoing personality and if you speak ill-manneredly with your family members because of intimacy with them, it can cause discomfort and discord and lead to an irreversible…

Keep Your Face as Bright as Sunshine

The weather is not only in the sky, but also on the face. A cold look, a warm smile, a bright look like sunshine, and a gloomy look like dark clouds … . Facial expressions are compared to weather. Just as we are pleased and excited on a clear sunny day for no special reason, so are we when we meet a person with a bright look. When the other person gives a bright look, it not only pleases you and softens your heart, but also drives away your uncomfortable feeling just as sunshine pushes away dark clouds. How is the weather on your face now? Why don’t you keep your face as bright as sunshine, this month? You’ll feel…

Anger at Ebb Tide, Laughter at Flood Tide!

Sea levels repeat rise and fall by the invisible force between the Moon and the Earth. The phenomenon of seawater flowing away from the shore is called ebb, and the opposite is called flow. The sea gets purified in this process. Sometimes, our mind is likened to the sea, and we need psychological ebb and flow, because our mind is purified as emotional impurities like irritation and anger are pushed away at ebb tide and laughter surges into our hearts at flood tide. Laughter comes from positive thinking, right? For a month, let’s clean up our mind and make our home overflow with laughter! Tip When you are angry, take your time rather than reacting immediately. Think objectively about why…

Empty Your Mind and Give Ear to Your Family!

A survey of a Korean portal found that conversation time among family members is less than twenty minutes a day. The biggest reason for such little talk with their family even though they live in the same house is there seems to be no one who hears them. In order for a family to live in harmony, the family members should talk to each other enough. For the rich and honest conversation, you have to listen carefully to the other person and pay attention to their words even if they are about trivial things: what your child has experienced at school, what your spouse has been through at work or with your neighbors, and what your parents are worried about.…

Understanding and Care Instead of Advice or Pointing Out

Family conflicts are often caused by hard-hitting words. Speakers often think that honest advice and pointing out will help the other person, while the person who hears it often get wounded or stressed. A Jewish saying goes, “A hundred harsh words of a stranger are bearable, but a single unkind word of your friend deeply hurts you.” It means that the wound we receive from a close person lasts long. The advice that offends the other person’s feelings leaves only scars, not much effect. But if you understand and sympathize with the other person with interest in what he says, many things will change. It is a kind of love to give advice and point out the shortcomings with sincerity…

“You Are a Good Person”

Everyone has good points you can learn. But it is not easy to find out what your good points are on your own. Often, you may know them only by hearing from others. When someone says to you, “This is why I like you” or “You are a good person,” you feel good. These words can develop your good points all the more, and you will feel more confident that you can do anything. It is a great happiness to have someone who recognizes and acknowledges you. This month, find good points of your family members and handwrite them for keeping a long time. You, too, are a good person who knows how to find good points of your family.…

Keep Your Distance from Digital Devices!

Smartphones that men and women of all ages carry in their hands, computers that have become necessities for work and education, and TVs that occupy the center of the living room. It is hard to imagine our life without these, since digital devices take up a big part of it. Thus, modern people tend to be too dependent on digital devices. Even while having a meal or talking with your family, your eyes might often be on TV or smartphone. In order not to lose your precious family time to digital devices, you need distancing. Keep your distance from digital devices this month and do small activities with your family. If you practice distancing from digital devices, you will get…

Enjoy a Family Staycation!

Since the pandemic, more people prefer Staycation to going somewhere for vacation. Staycation is a compound word of stay and vacation, which means spending time off in or near your own home. It is good to travel far to relax your tired mind and body. However, staying with your family in your comfortable home can also be a great vacation; you don’t need to worry about making travel plans and preparations, and you’re much less tired. So, isn’t your home the best vacation spot for real relaxation? Enjoy a staycation with your family this month. The place where your love for family resides and you spend your daily life with your family, will look different. Tip Set up a tent…

Adjust the Volume of Your Voice

Sounds affect your emotions. Sounds pleasing to the ears like nature sounds let you relax, while car horns and mechanical noise make you frown and increase your stress. The same goes for human voices. Laughter, singing, and compliment make the other person feel good, while angry voice, irritating words, and complaints make the listener feel unpleasant. So why don’t you volume up when you speak ear-pleasing words that have a positive effect on each other, and volume down when you come to high words carried away by negative feelings? A saying goes, “Happiness looks into the house full of laughter, and misfortune looks into the house with angry shouts.” This month, adjust your voice volume properly to invite happiness to…

Wake Up Your Family in a Good Mood

How do you usually get up? Some people get up at once when the alarm sounds, while others barely open their eyes after the alarm sounds several times as a heavy sleeper. Also there are some people who dally in bed and spring to their feet, surprised to know that it’s past the wake-up time. It’s not easy to wake up from sleep as a saying goes, “Even a champion wrestler cannot lift up his sleepy eyes.” Also, while sleeping quietly, if you are forced to open your eyes due to noise or physical shock, you may become irritable or feel heavy. However, if you open your eyes in a good mood, hearing someone’s soft voice or a light massage,…

Let’s Play ‘The Glad Game’

Pollyanna, the major character in the American novel Pollyanna published in 1913, is a very positive character who finds joy anytime, anywhere, and in any matter. For example, when she came to live in the attic with no window curtains, she said she was so glad to have nothing that screened the view outside the window. When she was late for supper and had to only eat bread and milk, she said, “I like bread and milk!” Her positive way of thinking called “The Glad Game” spread throughout the town, making even gloomy face relax into a broad smile. It is not always when something excellent happens that we are glad and happy. Happiness and unhappiness depend on how we…

My Sweet Home

What would it taste like if you describe love with taste? Koreans often liken affectionate glance to honey dripping eyes. And just like honeymoon and sweet home, when comparing love and happiness with taste, it is often expressed in sweetness. Actually, sweet means pleasant in many languages. Adequate sugar calms your mind and makes you feel better. This is because sugar triggers the release of serotonin, the hormone that is released when you feel happy. Give your family sweetness this month in a variety of ways. Your home will be sweet home. Tip Speak in a sweet and soft voice. Look at each other with eyes full of love. Say what makes the other person feel better just by hearing…

I Am the Supporter of My Family!

When we watch sports, we can see the people who are as enthusiastic as the players. They are supporters. Supporters refer to the people who support or sponsor a specific group or person, or the people who cheer for players in the stadium. The supporters’ backing and cheering give players strength and confidence, which leads the game to victory. It is true that the players who have finished the game say, “I was energized by the cheers of the spectators.” Not only sport players but everyone needs encouragement and support. This is because everyday life towards a dream or for a task given to us is sometimes like a fierce game. This month, become a reliable supporter for your family.…

Lively Family Is Good at Greeting

As a proverb says, “The way you greet someone determines how he will welcome you,” greetings are the key to success in your social life. Greetings are not only the way to be polite but make the other person feel good because they are an expression of your good feeling and concern for him or her. So if you are good at greeting people, things will go well. Greetings also play a big role in building a happy family. The family who exchanges greetings in time has a cheerful mood. Good greetings between family members lead them to respect and be considerate of each other, and they naturally come to converse often. It is also a great home education for…

Make a Family Time Capsule

What plans did you make with your family around this time last year? In the New Year, we make many plans to spend the year more fruitfully. As time passes, however, it tends to end in smoke unlike the first resolution. How about writing down those goals and commitments this year and putting them in a time capsule? You may add letters, meaningful objects, and photos. Then keep it sealed for a year and open it with your family at the end of the year. When you open the time capsule that contains what you wrote, imagining how better you would change a year later and love for your family, won’t it be a fun and meaningful time? Tip Write…

Family Awards Ceremony

At the end of every year, various awards ceremonies are held. It is to recognize and reward for the labor of those who have shown remarkable performance in each field and those who have made efforts steadily in their own places though they were not acknowledged. No matter what it is, good results cannot be achieved by one person. It is thanks to all members who help each other and do their best in their own places. The same goes for home. It would not be the result of one person’s efforts to have a happy home for a year while the family is all right. It may be the result of practicing sacrifice, love, and consideration for the family…