The Ministry of Happiness

Sometimes You Just Need a Weekend

Posted on March 13, 2017 by Michael Kane

Sometimes You Just Need a Weekend

There is virtue in work and there is virtue in rest. Use both and overlook neither. ~ Alan Cohen

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve detailed that I’ve been struggling a bit lately. That doesn’t mean I’ve been sitting idly by and focusing on it. I go to work of course and then the gym and then I come home and work on my other job. That job of course is as a combination writer, blogger, brand developer and marketer for my book, have I mentioned I have a book for sale, Appalachian Trail Happiness, it’s getting good reviews you should pick up a copy. These many hats I possess eat up most of my days and weekends, particularly as I’m ramping up for my Havasu Falls trip and hiking more on the weekends.

So the fact is I’ve been really busy, I’ve had little to no downtime at all. This weekend the plan was to do my first full weight hike in preparation for the trip. I planned on getting up early Saturday morning and doing an 8 mile round trip with about 30 pounds on my back. Then Sunday would be my standard Sunday gym workout weightlifting (legs) and 4o minutes of cardio. But on Friday no less than 3 people asked me if I was ok, or why I was so low energy. I wrapped up my Friday gym workout and started to think about my morning hike. The more I thought about it, the less I was excited about it, the idea of losing an hour of sleep to the time change didn’t help either.

So, I did what I usually do and I listened to my body. I was tired, I’ve been working hard at the gym for the last few weeks and it was time to take a break. It wasn’t just physically time for a break, but I needed a mental break as well. I’ve had too many things flying around in my brain, too many little things nagging at my brain. What I’ve been describing as death by papercuts. So Friday night I goofed off and watched a couple of movies. Saturday I went in and did some grocery shopping including picking up a corned beef to make some corned beef and cabbage.

What I really spent Saturday and Sunday doing was decluttering my brain. So I addressed all of the little things that were floating around in my head. I straightened up the house, put away the laundry, all the way down to lining up my shoes. I went through piles of papers and boxes yet to have been unpacked since I moved in. I separated some coins and organized them. I cleaned up my fireplaces and stacked the last of the wood I have inside the house on the off chance that there is one last cool night before the summer heat comes in full blast.

I took some time to get my gear ready for my Havasu Falls trip. I aired out my equipment and hung my hammock as a test hang and to remind myself how to do it, it’s been awhile. It all went up quite well and so I decided to take a little rest in the hammock in the sun. That’s when the set up slipped loose and I dropped to the ground. The only thing I bruised was my ego, I’m committed to the rule of never hanging higher than I’m willing to fall. It was a good learning experience, it reminded me of a step I’d not taken in assembling the rigging. I also spent some time reading about the hike and the site and figuring out exactly what gear I’d need. My new point and shoot was also delivered and I’m excited about trying it out and bringing it on the trip.

Havasu Falls

The happiness lesson for this weekend was that sometimes you just need to stop. You need to take a break from all of the things you’re trying to accomplish to just take care of all of the little stuff. Get the slate cleaned up so that you can better focus on the important things. Cooking is always a good exercise for getting things right. Clearing my head was good, I realize I’m itching to make some changes. I’ll be moving in a couple of months, there are some new opportunities on the horizons. Life is good, rest helped, cooking helped and a few plates of really good corned beef and cabbage surely didn’t hurt.
~ Rev Kane

Happiness, Gossip & Comments

Posted on February 21, 2017 by Michael Kane

Happiness, Comments & Gossip

What I’ve found – and the older I get, the more I understand this and stand behind it – is, my whole life has been an exploration of telling the truth. It’s scary to be truthful, and it’s scary to reveal yourself, and I’m very attracted to doing things that scare me. ~ Jane Wiedlin

So I encountered something online today that I thought was worth sharing and talking about. I see a lot of really mean comments on social media these days. As someone who is on social media quite a bit I also get my fair share of these type of comments. My favorite one to talk about because of the sheer and utter silliness of it was related to a photo I shared of a sunset.

The comment on the photo when I posted it on Twitter was simply, “fake.” I ignored the comment, what was it meant to mean? Was it that the sky wasn’t real, lol? Ok, sure I know the person commenting was implying it was a Photoshop construction not a real photo. In the photo above, I’ve tweaked the contrast and saturation a little to get the image to reflect reality a bit more than the image that came out of the camera. But the comment really was only about one thing, this person wanted a reaction. He wanted to make me feel bad and get me to react. But why? What is missing in this person’s life that he needs to lash out negatively for attention? You can see this type of behavior in almost every comment section to any kind of article. Completely innocuous articles have comments that turn into horrid political dog fights. I find it incredibly sad.

Tonight I want to say, whatever it is they are missing, I hope they find it. I hope that they find peace and happiness in their life. I really hope that they will learn that being angry online will not solve their problems.

Trolls online remind me of people who gossip. People gossip because there is something missing in their lives. But we all get sucked into it, especially in office environments. I know it’s hard to step above it but we need to. Not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it will make us happier. When we gossip, we know we are doing something we shouldn’t, it’s usually something negative and unnecessary and so we feel guilty and this diminishes our happiness.

So how to we keep ourselves and our co-workers in check. What I bumped into online today were three simple questions that we should ask ourselves before we talk about something, and before we post something online.

Is it true?
Is it kind?
Is it necessary?

Is it true? Do you know for a fact that what you are about to say or post is accurate. Is the information from a reliable source, not sure, then don’t say or post it.

Is it kind? Is what you are about to say or post something that is mean spirited, will it make someone feel bad? If so, then why post or say it, what is the point?

Is it necessary? What is the point of what you are about to say or post. If you don’t need to say or post it, if it’s not true and/or kind, just stop. If more of us would employ these questions before we say or post something we’d all have happier days my friends.

~ Rev Kane

Trail Family Meeting on the Appalachian Trail

Posted on January 30, 2017 by Michael Kane

Trail Family Meeting on the Appalachian Trail

Only one who wanders finds a new path ~ Norwegian Proverb

So as I posted recently my friend Awesome is thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail. We hiked together on the AT back in 2015 and he instantly became trail family. Awesome’s week has been going well, he says his body is holding up well and he’s enjoying his hike. This week he made it up to the Top of Georgia Hostel and took a break.

Awesome

It had slipped my mind that another member of my trail family, my buddy Mau, was working at the hostel in Georgia. I got a great reminder when a text message came in from Awesome telling me they had just met. I was so excited to hear this and was glad that the two of them had met on the trail.

Mau and Rev Kane

I have stories about both of these fine gentlemen in my book that was just published, Appalachian Trail Happiness. I have an incredibly amount of respect for both of them, Mau who finished the trail in 2015 ad Awesome who’s on his way this year.

I miss my trail family, I miss being on the trail. I did a short hike on the PCT today, the only moments of true peace I seem to find are on the trail. Today was a particularly beautiful day, a combination of snow on the trail and sixty degree weather made for a great little hike.

I hope you are finding ways to get some peace, take care of yourself, it’s important, and have a happy day my friends. ~ Rev Kane

Appalachian Trail Happiness

Posted on January 24, 2017 by Michael Kane

Appalachian Trail Happiness

The clearest way into the universe is through a forest of wilderness ~ John Muir

So I’m happy to announce that my book is live and on sale on Amazon, the link is below:

Appalachian Trail Happiness

Rev Kane on his first day on the Appalachian Trail

Posted in Appalachian Trail (AT) Happiness | Tagged a walk in the woods, adventure, appalachian trail, Bill Bryson, happiness, hiking, personal growth, travel | 1 Comment

A Happy Transformation

Posted on January 22, 2017 by Michael Kane

A Happy Transformation

Transformation is a process, and as life happens there are tons of ups and downs. It’s a journey of discovery – there are moments on mountaintops and moments in deep valleys of despair. ~ Rick Warren

Every Sunday night I try to write a very personal note about happiness. Not a post about art, poetry, happy news or resources but a post that relates personally to my own journey in search of happiness. I’ve talked about my story before, I wasn’t always a very happy person. I struggled in my late teens with drugs and alcohol and eventually found my way to my own personal rock bottom. It was a long road from that moment to the beginning of the Ministry of Happiness seven years ago. I did a lot of work on myself over those years although I still suffered from periodic depression.

The Ministry of Happiness was born out of my own personal research and search for happiness. I created this blog to be able to share what I learned, it’s blossomed, thanks to all of you, into much more than that. I thought it would last a year, seven years later I’m still learning, still writing and still finding out some much about how to be happy.

About five years ago at a friend’s anniversary party I had a couple of interesting encounters. Two separate people who I had grown up with, but how hadn’t seen me in twenty years, both commented on how nice it was that I had become a happier person.

I was reminded of that night recently on a couple of occasions. Recently while talking with some colleagues at work about how I take off and runaway to travel every few years, a colleague remarked that’s why he’s always smiling. Another person related how she told someone we worked with that I was the happiest, most frequently smiling person that she has ever worked with.

Simple Joy

I have to admit these descriptions of me by folks I’ve worked with for about 8 months took me by surprise. I don’t see myself as a bubbly, yippy skippy kind of person. But multiple unsolicited observations deserve some consideration and introspection. So as they say on TV I went to the video ok, not so much the video as the photographs. What I noticed, particularly in the pictures of me over the last couple of years, is that I am smiling more in the photos that were taken of me. Looks like there might actually be something to this whole happiness business after all. I am reminded of a very early post on this blog, The Art of Smiling and Staying Positive. Happiness begins with a choice, you choose how you react to the conditions and situations in your life. Smiling helps as well, your smile makes other people react positively, which in return, makes you react positively. A positive feedback loop of positivity is a really good thing and makes everyone happier. So smile my friends and make the choice to be happy and you’ll find yourself having happy days, it’s worked for me, it can work for you. ~ Rev Kane

Awesome on the Appalachian Trail

Posted on January 21, 2017 by Michael Kane

Awesome on the Appalachian Trail

My friend Awesome

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. ~Winston Churchill

Today a really special post, it’s the earliest part of thru-hiking season on the Appalachian Trail (AT) and one of my former hiking partners is hitting the trail. His trail name is Awesome and a more aptly taken trail name there has never been. I met awesome in my 2015 thru-hike attempt on the AT. There are a couple of stories about him in my book that is soon to be published.

I first met awesome one night coming into camp with my friend Backtrack. Awesome came over and introduced himself. He’s a happy guy with a wonderful southern drawl and an easy manner. My friend mentioned some pain he was having and Awesome asked, “your cheese grater thighs?” Backtrack and I were dumbfounded, we’d had a conversation using that exact term prior to coming into camp. Sensing our confusion Awesome smiled and said, “Y’all ain’t the quietest people on the trail.” We laughed hysterically. It was a wonderful first meeting and few minutes later Awesome’s campmate Kingfisher would come over and say hi as well. It was the first meeting of a group that would get nicknamed the AARP group on the trail. Awesome has become more than a friend, more than trail family, he’s family to me.

Awesome, Backtrack, Rev Kan, and the Kingfisher

Awesome, Backtrack, Rev Kane, and Kingfisher

Awesome will be starting out on his thru-hike attempt this weekend and I wish him all of the luck in the world. Luck is the only thing he’ll need, he’s a helluva hiker and good man, so with some luck and a little trail magic he should be climbing Mount Katahdin in Maine in a few months.

Geared up and ready to go

Please my friends, if you encounter him on the trail show him some kindness, buy him a drink or give him a ride some place. I’ll keep you posted time to time on his progress, if you want to provide some trail magic for him feel free to contact me at HappinessKane@aol.com and I’ll let you know when he’s in your neck of the woods.

I’m so happy for him right now, and so damn jealous. I wish I was heading out with him and I hope to, later in his hike, catch up and spend a few days with him on the trail. He’s about to have many happy days. ~ Rev Kane

Some of my previous Appalachian Trail Posts

AT Happiness: Trail Community

My Favorite Trail Photos of 2015

AT FAQs

AT Happiness: Precious Moments

Posted in Appalachian Trail (AT) Happiness, Happiness is Adventure | Tagged adventure, appalachian trail, backpacking, happiness, hiking, photography, travel | 1 Comment

Hello 2017 – Here’s to Happiness in the New Year

Posted on January 17, 2017 by Michael Kane

Hello 2017 – Here’s to Happiness & Joy in the New Year

Simple Joy

Much as we may wish to make a new beginning, some part of us resists doing so as though we were making the first step toward disaster. ~ William Throsby Bridges

Welcome 2017! Let us look positively on the coming year. I used the picture above because it may be the best picture ever taken of me expressing joy. In the picture, I had been on the Appalachian Trail for about four days, I was tired, hungry and I really wanted a Coke. Coming out of the woods above Fontana Dam and I saw this Coke machine and well the picture says it all. The best part, it was a working machine and I had a dollar.

I use this picture tonight because today I submitted my full book to the Amazon publishing process and if all goes well could have my galley proof this week. I’m incredibly excited about this and when I get it in my hand I expect to feel quite a bit of joy. The beginning of the year hasn’t been all good, I’ve hurt my knee again. I tweaked it on a hike coming off of Jebel Khash in Jordan and when I stepped up my level of workout this weekend my knee reacted badly. So I’m back in a knee brace and out of the gym for at least a week. But our happiness is not a matter of what happens to us, but how we react. Basically our level of happiness is a choice determined by our conscious reactions. So I’ve chosen to accept my bad knee and look at this as an opportunity to get more work done this week and to work on strengthening my upper body and left leg. The important things are that we chose to stay positive and move forward.

So Hello 2017 with all of your inevitable ups and downs, my hope for myself and all of you my friends is that you learn acceptance, choose positivity and make the conscious choice to be happy. This year, like all of those that went before, will challenge all of us, but I know my friends that we can all rise to the occasion and have many happy days. ~ Rev Kane

I failed to achieve a single goal this year: It was a great year!

Posted on January 1, 2017 by Michael Kane

***I failed to achieve a single goal this year:* *It was a great year!***

You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it. You don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space. ~ Johnny Cash

So we start each year by setting goals for ourselves and I’m no different. I set some goals last year, I wanted to lose 20 pounds, I wanted to publish my book on the Appalachian Trail, there were some smaller ones but these were the biggies. So here we sit at the end of 2016 and in fact, I’ve lost 15 pounds and the book is a couple of weeks from publication. By any objective measure, failure. At least from one perspective and perspective is truly what we need as we set out on any endeavor. I failed to meet my goals, but the book will soon be published, I did lose 15 pounds and keep it off for six months. Those are hugely positive things. Improving my life can be called success. Like our happiness, things are often a matter of our deciding our reaction to the situation. I have a choice tonight, I can wallow in my failure or enjoy my improvement. I choose the later, I choose positivity, I choose happiness and I hope you do to.

On a friend’s Facebook page today he asked for advice for the new year. This is what I wrote, do something that scares you, find adventure no matter how small, and go someplace you have never been before this year. If you do it right, you can accomplish all three in one trip. One of the things I have endeavored to do since beginning this blog, 2017 starts the seventh year, is to follow my own advice and I recently did just that. They’ll be some posts soon but I just returned from a trip to Jordan in the Middle East. It’s a bit scary traveling in the Middle East these days as an American. I found adventure there in many ways, four wheeling in the desert, riding a donkey up insane stone stairs and even riding a camel across the desert, and of course Jordan and more particularly Petra, was someplace I’d never been before. One trip, all three, a magnificent experience. So Happy New Year my friends and my 2017 bring you many happy days. ~ Rev Kane

Rev Kane in front of the Treasury Building in the 2000 year-old stone city of Petra in Jordan.

A Post Thanksgiving Hug

Posted on November 28, 2016 by Michael Kane

A Post Thanksgiving Hug

When autumn darkness falls, what we will remember are the small acts of kindness: a cake, a hug, an invitation to talk, and every single rose. These are all expressions of a nation coming together and caring about its people. ~ Jens Stoltenberg

So my favorite holiday has just passed, Thanksgiving and although it is a wonderful holiday and many people’s favorite holiday, it also often comes with a bit of baggage. You see Thanksgiving also usually comes with a gathering of family and family gatherings can often be stressful. It is also a time when we also let people into our circle and into our heads and hearts, people we ordinarily keep at a distance because of the pain they inflict. We do this because they are blood, because we are expected to by people we care about.

I also today have a couple of friends who are really struggling, the trials in their life at the moment have gotten a bit hairy. I’m glad they’ve come to me, to talk, that I can help even just a little bit. I also realize friends that many of you, like I often do, keep quiet when you’re hurting. So there are more of you out there hurting than any of us know. So tonight, nothing so deep or philosophical to say, just a simple hello, a hug and to let you know that someone out there cares, reach out. If you really don’t have anyone, you can reach out to me at happinesskane@aol.com. Someone always cares my friends, you just have to keep your eyes open and be willing to reach out. Have a happy day ~ Rev Kane

My Annual Thanksgiving Hike

Posted on November 25, 2016 by Michael Kane

My Annual Thanksgiving Hike

If you are seeking creative ideas go out walking, angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk ~ Raymond Inmon

So when I was younger Thanksgiving meant getting up at 3:30 in the morning, gearing up and heading into the woods to go deer hunting. Thanksgiving was always a special hunting day because it was the one time of year that I got to hunt with my grandfather. The best thing was coming in after being cold, eating a big breakfast, showering and then eating a big family dinner, taking a quick nap while watching football then back out to hunt the afternoon.

I have hunted in a very long time and decades ago, no longer hunting I adopted a new tradition, my annual Thanksgiving hike. Unless I’m out-of-town I head out Thanksgiving morning, hike and cook in the afternoon.

This year was extra good, a hike, a great meal and my favorite team the Pittsburgh Steelers beating the Indianapolis Colts. Today I did about 10 miles out of Walker Pass north to Morris Peak and back, great day. Business like REI and other folks have been trying to foster a new tradition on Black Friday, making it an outdoors day, so go take a hike instead of spending all of your money and fighting crowds and have a happy day my friends ~ Rev Kane

Frost on the trail, it was a chilly morning

The Ministry of Happiness

Sometimes You Just Need a Weekend

Sometimes You Just Need a Weekend

Other Posts You Might Enjoy!

Happiness, Gossip & Comments

Happiness, Comments & Gossip

Other Posts You Might Enjoy!

Trail Family Meeting on the Appalachian Trail

Trail Family Meeting on the Appalachian Trail

Other Posts You Might Enjoy

Appalachian Trail Happiness

Appalachian Trail Happiness

A Happy Transformation

A Happy Transformation

Other Posts to Help with Your Happiness!

Awesome on the Appalachian Trail

Awesome on the Appalachian Trail

Some of my previous Appalachian Trail Posts

Hello 2017 – Here’s to Happiness in the New Year

Hello 2017 – Here’s to Happiness & Joy in the New Year

Other Posts You Might Enjoy!

I failed to achieve a single goal this year: It was a great year!

***I failed to achieve a single goal this year:* *It was a great year!***

Other Posts You Might Enjoy!

A Post Thanksgiving Hug

A Post Thanksgiving Hug

Other Posts You Might Enjoy!

My Annual Thanksgiving Hike

My Annual Thanksgiving Hike

Other Posts You Might Enjoy!

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