We chase happiness through success and stuff, yet lasting joy grows elsewhere. Discover why gratitude—not entitlement—nourishes the soul and transforms marriages, families, and everyday life.

Each week, or more often if you like, make a record of one positive in your marriage or family life. It might be a lovely family celebration, a romantic evening, a spiritual encounter or a memorable nature moment together. It’s a bit like creating a gratitude time capsule.

Positive thinking works. It really does. One of the most effective ways to deepen our bonding is to verbalise our gratitude to each other.

Appreciating and celebrating mothers isn’t just a kind gesture – it’s essential to the health and strength of families and society. Here are six reasons why this appreciation is so vital.

A Mother's Day poem for my late mother.

Parenting two under two is a rollercoaster, and some days, we’re just holding on for dear life.

Dr Arthur Brooks, a professor at Harvard University, spoke at the recent ARC Conference in London on "The Science of Happiness". Start your own study on the Science of Happiness, put it into practice, teach your kids the same and create a very happy family in the process.

Married men, here are six ways to show your wife and children that you appreciate her.

By being mindful of the example we set — both in the habits we encourage and the behaviours we avoid — we’re not only guiding our children’s actions today, but also building the foundation for the kind of person they will grow up to be.

Finding the secret to respectful, civil and constructive co-parenting is important for your kids. As part of a united parental front, my kids’ mum and I made it work without too many issues.

After two decades of caring for other people’s children, Emma believes she can sum up the problem with modern parents with one simple test: Pour your child’s milk into a pink sippy cup. If they declare, ‘But I wanted the blue one!’, what do you do?

One of the most important resolutions we can make is to give our marriages and relationships higher priority. The most vital and satisfying marriages are intentional. They don’t leave their relationship to chance, but actively foster habits which deepen their intimacy.

I’d argue that not only are you able to raise incredible kids as a single dad, you’re also uniquely positioned to do it. You have opportunities that two-parent families don’t.

I find myself huffing in annoyance when sorting out his attempt to pack the dishwasher. He has seemingly not calculated the maximised available space-to-ickiness-of-surface ratio.

A recent study has found that couples without kids are much happier in their marriage than those with kids. Should I be worried? Thankfully, the same study showed that mums were happiest of all, but dads were amongst the unhappiest — perhaps because of the strain parenting has put on their marriage. Nothing can really prepare you for how much life changes after your baby arrives: sleepless nights, the relentless advice ...

A thousand words are said to be sparked by a single image. While smartphones, Insta-perfect apps, and polished pics have superseded canvas, brush strokes, oil, and acrylic, there’s still a lot of love for the latter. Millions are paid out every year just for a chance to own a framed part of history. It doesn’t take a smug, over-educated curator “specialising in the sublime” to point out the value this window ...

New research validates age-old wisdom: the simple habit of gratitude can transform a jaded marriage into a joyous encounter. By Marilyn Rodrigues A University of North Carolina study highlighted the association of gratitude with a happy marriage. Cameron Gordon, the study’s lead author, said that the goodwill generated by grateful spouses creates a “reciprocal feedback loop” of marital harmony, helping spouses to view their interactions even on bad days in a ...

The big question is: “How do you create a happy home?” I think a lot of people wished they had come from one. Working with young people and families with both older and younger children, I’ve noticed that a happy home can come from any race, occupation, economic status, political persuasion and any other variation you wish to throw into the mix. When you have a strong culture in a home, ...

When I was a few years younger, I would ride my push bike to work regardless of the weather. I did a full season of bitterly cold Hobart’s darkest winter mornings that gave me the full spread — thumping rain, a dusting of snow and dodging tree parts from a storm the night before. My biggest discovery of that season was that whinging did not ever make it easier. The situation ...

In marriage, the little things are really the big things. In business, it is well recognised that getting the ‘big things right’ is important, but it is often the so-called ‘little things’ that make the difference between good and great companies. We were reminded of this the other day when reading about a US company that specialises in disaster restoration. It jumps into action following a flood, tornado, or after fire ...