by miami | Sep 22, 2006
Tell the truth, I am getting a bit sick of experts! They are people like me and you who get quoted and then everyone takes their words as gospel.
BS. I am getting too less young to be taken in.
I do read a lot about happiness, and finding happiness (after all I have to keep up so I can be an expert too!) and when I do I find there is nothing that has not been said in the last 2000 years or so.
But anyway here is an excerpt from an article in the penningtonpost.com (wherever that is!) by Nancy Pickering talking about one of my favorite people Charles Shultz. (author of Peanuts)
We cannot expect to live in a state of complete happiness, say the experts. We should expect our happiness to come in bursts, for, after all, happiness is an emotion that gives us direction. We can’t always have our compass pointing in one direction. There are other emotions that direct our lives.
However, several truly happy moments a day are within reach. The recognition of and impact of those moments can only be determined by the person experiencing them. While you may smile when you walk barefoot through dew-laden grass on a sunny morning, someone else might cringe and find the experience “yucky,” to quote a famous grouch. So, taking a page from the “Peanuts” gang and Maria’s “favorites” list, I compiled the following short and personal “Happiness” collection – the smell of coffee brewing (I don’t drink it, just love the smell) and knowing the one who brewed it has been there for me for more than 40 years; flowers blooming where you don’t expect them; children giggling; toddler hugs; a real letter (not an e-mail); someone who says thank you; someone who smiles; finding a penny; walking in the rain; planting something; sewing something; knitting something with real wool; baking something; writing something; phone calls from my children and grandchildren and line-dried, clean sheets at the end of a busy day.
No matter how short-lived our happiness moments, they all benefit our well-being. So, in the middle of a hectic, frustrating day, it pays to pause and find some happiness close at hand. According to the experts, it may just affect your emotional compass and send you off in the right direction.
The Pennington Post – Happiness is…
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For the last three years I have been steadily (well off and on anyway) working on a project soon to be released. It will be a limited release and might well offer the opportunity to change a life. I will offer it first to my readers before taking it out to the web.
All you have to do is sign up for the rss feed or the free Two Steps on the sidebar at the top.
Look forward to hearing from you!
Miami
technorati tags:happiness, find+happiness, Charles+Shultz
by miami | Sep 19, 2006
In this great article by Daegen Smith of market-day.net, he(she?) does an outstanding job of relating personal growth to success – however you define it.
For the last 7 or 8 years my passion has evolved to being very focused on helping people with personal growth/personal development through coaching, teleseminars, articles etc.
I realized pretty quickly personal growth builds the foundation for happiness. Some believe success comes before happiness, but I disagree. (And from personal experience no less!)
Happiness has to be first, or the success can leave a sour taste. What about lottery winners? Are they successful? Are they happy? Yea – but for how long?
I encourage you to read this article!
Personal growth is so important for it allows you to understand what is important to you, it allows you to recognize your weaknesses and face them, and it permits you to strive for balance while opening other door towards recognizing your personal strengths and weaknesses…
Why Personal Growth is SO Lucrative
What do you think?
Had a great time in San Diego at the internet marketing conference put on by Ed Dale and Frank Kern of Underachievers and the Thirty Day Challenge.
Back to work!
Miami
technorati tags:happiness, find+happiness, personal+growth, personal+development, success, Frank+Kern, Ed+Dale, Balance
by miami | Sep 16, 2006
In the Sunday Times Online out of London today is an article detailing a scientific debate about happiness. There is a particularly interesting paragraph I wanted to share with you.
Great writers from Freud — “the intention that man should be happy is not included in the plan of Creation” — to Philip Larkin — “man hands on misery to man” — have painted happiness as an elusive butterfly. But ordinary people believe they are happier than average (an obvious impossibility) and that they’ll be even happier in 10 years’ time. If true, it would be good news because research shows that happier people are healthier, more successful, harder-working, caring and more socially engaged. Misery makes people self-obsessed and inactive.
So what do you have to do to find happiness? – Sunday Times – Times Online
What this tells me is that I have been right all along. Experts are usually no closer to the truth than we are. Take it heart and use it to be happier!
In San Diego!
Miami
technorati tags:happiness, what+the+bleep, find+happiness, Freud, misery
by miami | Sep 15, 2006
I am in San Diego at an internet marketing seminar, and posting from the hotel room. I found this cool passage about happiness that makes a ton of sense to me. Tell me what you think!
By Sri Swami Chidananda
Everywhere in this universe, in one respect man’s condition is the same. No matter how vastly different he may be in the outer appearance of his life, different countries, different races, different cultures, different languages, different ways of living, eating, dressing, etc., he may be completely different in all of these aspects, but there is one thing that is the same to all human individuals. And it is this factor that binds them into a global unity. If analyzed, it will be discovered that all humanity is engaged ceaselessly, day after day, from the cradle to the grave, only in trying to avoid painful experiences and in trying to attain that which gives them happiness.
Where to Find Happiness? – Swami Chidananda Answers…
I think he knows what he is talking about!
Miami
technorati tags:happiness, Swami, Hindu
by miami | Sep 13, 2006
We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get
married, have a baby, then another.
Then we are frustrated that the kids aren’t old enough and we’ll
be more content when they are.
After that, we’re frustrated that we have teenagers to deal
with.
We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage.
We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets
his or her act together,
when we get a nicer car,
are able to go on a nice vacation,
when we retire.
The truth is, there’s no better time to
be happy than right now.
If not now, when?
Your life will always
be filled with challenges.
It’s best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy
anyway.
One of my favorite quotes comes from Alfred D Souza. He said,
“For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to
begin – real life.
But there was always some obstacle in the way,
Something to be gotten through first,
some unfinished business,
time still to be served,
or a debt to be paid.
Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these
obstacles were my “life”.
This perspective has helped me to see that
there is no way to happiness.
Happiness is the way.
So, treasure every moment that you have and treasure it more
because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your
time…and remember that time waits for no one.
So, stop waiting until
you finish school,
until you go back to school,
until you lose ten pounds,
until you gain ten pounds,
until you have kids,
until your kids leave the house,
until you start work,
until you retire,
until you get married,
until you get divorced,
until Friday night, until Sunday morning,
until you get a new car or home,
until your car or home is paid off,
until spring,
until summer,
until fall,
until winter,
until you are off welfare,
until the first or fifteenth,
until your song comes on,
until you’ve had a drink,
until you’ve sobered up,
until you die,
until you are born again to decide that there is no better time
than right now to be happy.
Happiness is a journey, not a
destination.
Author Unknown
technorati tags:happiness, find+happiness, happiness+tutorial, be+do+have
