Tag Archives: happiness

Articles, Quotes - 2009

The purpose of life…

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The purpose of life is a life of purpose. – Robert Byrne

A Life of Purpose

Simple isn’t it? Why do we still feel so unfulfilled and even scared about life? How should we define or find a purpose for our lives? Is that enough?

The Trick

Purpose, like life can be addressed at many levels. Here’s an example:

  • Highest Level: To follow God’s will while serving others in love.
  • In-between level: Be a Chiropractor helping people in pain
  • Lowest Level: I will stay happy, daily.

So go find your Life Purpose/s and forget about everything else. Live it as best you can. Taking positive action; daily, bit by bit is the sure way. This blog will continue to explore ways and means to help you discover your Life Purpose!

Martin Seligman comes to mind when talking about happiness and meaning in life. He wrote the book on it! Here’s what he says:

The pleasant life: a life that successfully pursues the positive emotions about the present, past, and future.
The good life: using your signature strengths to obtain abundant gratification in the main realms of your life.
The meaningful life: using your signature strengths and virtues in the service of something much larger than you are.

Recommendation: Authentic Happiness 

Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment

Quotes - 2009

Open thy self…

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Open all your pores and bathe in all the tides of nature. – Henry David Thoreau

Open up to the Universe!

To enjoy daily life we must get out of our mind that’s constantly chattering away. We must move away from the constant attention we put on our own selves. And the way to do that is to look without and to open ourselves to the wonders and beauty out there!

How will you do it?

Most of the time we’re in our mind/brain, thinking. See with your heart instead, actually put your attention on the heart and experience the world that way. Notice the bright yellow of a daffodil or the deep blue of the sky; open your heart while you do that, feel the feeling of that. Enjoy the sweet aroma of the crisp Autumn air. Employ all your senses as fully as possible. That’s the trick!

Recommendation: The Wisdom Way of Knowing

The Wisdom Way of Knowing: Reclaiming An Ancient Tradition to Awaken the Heart

Articles, Quotes - 2009

Peace comes when…

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Peace comes from feelings of satisfaction when working with joy, living with hope, loving with abandonment. – Arnold Hutschnecker

What do we seek?

Ultimately we all want to feel peace and joy! That can only happen when we:

  • Have great satisfying relationships.
  • Meaningful work that quenches the thirst of our inner-most self.
  • Have an ongoing longer term approach to be useful and of service to others.

These 3 components are essential.

Next Steps:

  1. How can we be more complete in our relationships? How can we expect less, give and love more?
  2. What’s our Life Purpose? What’s our calling?
  3. How can we be of value to others?

Lot’s to ponder; life is good, life is meaningful!

Recommendation: The Secret of Letting Go by Guy Finley

The Secret of Letting Go

Articles, Quotes - 2009, Stillness

We create our own unhappiness…

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Hell has three gates: lust, anger, and greed. – The Bhagavad Gita

We create it:

All these three negativities skew our thoughts. All 3 are a result of our thoughts. We create the train of thoughts that leads us in any negative direction. The opposite is also true.

Anything that rattles our minds, throws us off kilter is counter-productive. There’s actually a 4th gate to hell and it’s called Fear!

Seek equanimity:

Equanimity is what we should seek. With a steady, still and reflective mind we’re better equipped to live fully. I suggest 2 techniques in that pursuit:

  1. Free Journaling: Spend 10 minutes daily journaling your thoughts. You just type or write away without judging what comes out. You just throw out any thoughts, emotions, feelings, plans or ideas, put it down on paper or online. Do this daily. It will help you clarify your mind and help it calm down. You’ll garner many creative ideas as well.
  2. Stillness Practice: Practice what will work for you. Just sit and be. Learn to be still, peaceful and calm, look here.

Recommendation: The Essential Laws of Fearless Living by Guy Finley

The Essential Laws of Fearless Living: Find the Power to Never Feel Powerless Again

Articles, Quotes - 2009

Creativity through flexibility…

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Be clear about your goal but be flexible about the process of achieving it. – Brian Tracy

We must know where we want to go. With our selves, family, our work and even our being. Why with our being? Because doing goals are different from being goals. A doing goal is like: I want to be able to do 50 pushups daily within 3 months. A being goal example is: I want to not get irritated every time my kids want my attention.

With our goals defined; we ought to stay flexible about the process, the how! Why you ask? For 2 reasons:

  1. By staying flexible, you stay open minded to other interesting ways to get to your goal. You are more likely to notice signals that Life sends your way!
  2. You allow the Universe to play its role in helping you achieve your goals. If you define the specific steps for your success the Universal Mind may not be able help because your plans don’t match with the grander plans afoot.

Your job is to create. Create in your mind first, stay flexible, notice the signs, take action, presto!

Recommendation: The Secret

The Secret

Articles, Quotes - 2009

Thinking straight…

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One cannot think crooked and walk straight. – Anonymous

How do we set our inside right? That has to be the first order of business, in the business of life.

I believe it must happen on 3 levels. I call it the MBS System, the Mind, Body and Soul System.

Soul: We ought to discover our Life Purpose. The path to which is led by self-knowledge. This can be a great basis for our whole being.

Mind: Our thoughts must be congruent with our highest desires i.e. our Life Purpose. We can’t expect to think thoughts that don’t support our mental, spiritual or physical well-being and expect to be happy campers.

Body: To live a Soul purpose and be of a sound mind, our body must be in good shape.

So you see our whole being must move in tandem for us to be fulfilled. All this can be quite over-whelming because hardly anyone is living in this wholesome fashion. The secret is to take small tri-pronged steps, daily and watch your life unfold!

Recommendation: Beyond the Summit

Beyond the Summit: Setting and Surpassing Extraordinary Business Goals

Also see: www.effectiveyou.com

Quotes - 2009

Seize the moment

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When you do nothing you’re doing something. – Linda Kaplan Thaler & Robin Koval

When you sit on your tush and do nothing, you’re sitting and doing nothing. That’s the choice you’re making at that moment. It might be good for you, because let’s say you’re such a doer that you need to just sit! Or it may not be so good for you because in this case you might be a perennial procrastinator! And because you sat on your butt; you missed out on a golden opportunity!

Be awake, seize the moment, take that small action, dot that last i.

I recommend Linda’s book (below) because it highlights the power of undertaking small actions which can lead to some big results! In particular it’s Truth #4 in her book!

Recommendation: The Power of Small

The Power of Small: Why Little Things Make All the Difference