Happiness Resources – June 26, 2012

Posted on June 27, 2012 by Michael Kane

Happiness Resources – June 26, 2012

In searching the web tonight I came up with a few links and I’m reposting a really interesting full piece from lifehack.org.

In case you didn’t like the choices below here’s another list of happiness tips

And if you were looking for a longer more exhaustive list, here are 30 tips

I really like this list, it’s not the standard list you see and has some great advice on being happier

9 Tips in Life that Lead to Happiness 

Are you truly happy? Do you even know what it means to be happy and what it takes to achieve happiness? These are important questions for anyone who is seeking happiness to ask themselves. I live my life to maintain my own happiness while trying my best to not cause unhappiness to anyone else. If you want to be happy you need to understand that you can be happy and that you should be happy. Many people make the mistake of believing that they don’t deserve happiness and accept their unhappy state as their destiny. The truth of the matter is that happiness, like anything else in life, needs to be nurtured. The following are a few tips that I follow to create happiness in my life.

 

Happy
  1. Understand what it is that will make you happy. Everyone has unique requirements for attaining happiness and what makes one person happy may be very different from what makes someone else happy. Revel in your individuality and do not worry about whether or not your desires are comparable to those of your peers.
  2. Make a plan for attaining goals that you believe will make you happy. Your mood will very likely increase as your pursue your goal because you will feel better about yourself for going after something you value.
  3. Surround yourself with happy people. It is easy to begin to think negatively when you are surrounded by people who think that way. Conversely, if you are around people who are happy their emotional state will be infectious.
  4. When something goes wrong try to figure out a solution instead of wallowing in self pity. Truly happy people don’t allow set backs to affect their mood because they know that with a little thought they can turn the circumstances back to their favor.
  5. Spend a few minutes each day thinking about the things that make you happy. These few minutes will give you the opportunity to focus on the positive things in your life and will lead you to continued happiness.
  6. It’s also important to take some time each day to do something nice for yourself. Whether you treat yourself to lunch, take a long, relaxing bath or simply spend a few extra minutes on your appearance you will be subconsciously putting yourself in a better mood.
  7. Finding the humor in situations can also lead to happiness. While there are times that require you to be serious, when it is appropriate, find a way to make light of a situation that would otherwise make you unhappy.
  8. Maintaining your health is another way to achieve happiness. Being overweight or not eating nutritious foods can have a negative effect on your mood. Additionally, exercise has been known to release endorphins that give you a feeling of happiness.
  9. Finally, it is important to understand that you deserve happiness. Those who believe that they are not worthy of happiness may subconsciously sabotage their efforts to achieve happiness. If necessary, tell yourself each day that you deserve to be happy and remind yourself what steps you will take to achieve the happiness you desire.

Happiness is hard to define but most people are aware of whether they are happy or not. Many people believe that happiness is a form of luck and that some people are destined to be happy while others are destined to be unhappy. I try to incorporate the tips above into my life and have had great success in achieving happiness. The tips in this article are small but meaningful steps that you can take each day to lead you to true happiness.

 

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Happiness and Vacation

Posted on June 23, 2012 by Michael Kane

Happiness and Vacation

happiness, vacation, be happy

Leap into happiness with the right kind of vacation

A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you’ve been taking. ~ Earl Wilson

We all need a break sometime, a chance to relax and recharge, leave the daily routines and job stresses behind.  One thing I try to remind people is to make sure you don’t come back from a vacation more stressed than when you left.  Remember, the idea is to build happiness, not have your vacation destroy it.   Too many times people over schedule themselves on vacation or take on physical challenges that leave them more worn out than before they left.  How many times have all of us heard people joke that I need a vacation from my vacation.

Don’t get me wrong, I actually encourage folks to challenge themselves and do physical things on their vacations, to try new foods and experience new things.  Just be sensible about the goals for your vacation.  For instance, maybe you want to try a bike tour, fantastic, you’ll spend a week cycling through the Irish countryside and soaking in all that is the Emerald Isle.  I highly recommend Cycle Holidays Ireland, they are the best tour company I’ve ever traveled with on holiday.

Ireland, vacation, travel, cliffs of moher

Cliffs of Moher in Ireland

First, have you been riding your bike regularly?  Do you understand the physical commitment your making by planning on riding a bike everyday for a week?  Be prepared first-off for what you are about to embark upon and push yourself, do a few more miles beyond your comfort level, climb a couple of mountains or hills on the bike that make you nervous.  But at the end of the week don’t just jump on a plan, fly home and go to work a day later.  If you do you end up jet-lagged, physically worn down and cranky.  This can happen just as easily from a vacation where you make the mistake of simply over scheduling yourself and creating the stress of making connections and getting to lots of places by a certain time.

Happiness and Vacation Advice

My advice for a happier vacation is two-fold.  First, give yourself enough time, be prepared, have a loose agenda but don’t put yourself in a position to be rushed.  Plan on seeing or doing fewer things but for a longer time, it will be more enjoyable and more relaxing.  Give yourself a day or two at the back-end to simply rest and relax.

Secondly, do your best to isolate yourself from your normal life.  Sure, there are some responsibilities we can’t ignore.  But let the rest of them go!

One of my favorite places on the web, the positivity blog, has a 4 short pieces of advice on this matter, here’s the link and the highlights are below:

1.  Breathe, slow down, relax and take it easy.

2.  Accept instead of resisting how you feel

3.  Plan to do nothing.

4.  Do what you love doing

And most importantly have a happy vacation!  ~ Rev Kane

Arctic, vacation, happiness, aurora borealis, northern lights

Rev Kane on vacation in the Arctic

If you like pieces about Happiness and Vacation, check out these!

Polar Bears and Northern Lights

Cycling in Ireland

Happiness is Photography: Ireland

The California Poppy Reserve

Two Days in Paradise: Havasu Falls

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Advice and Words from the Dalai Lama

Posted on June 23, 2012 by Michael Kane

Advice and Words from the Dalai Lama

Starting the day

Every morning when I wake up, I dedicate myself to helping others to find peace of mind. Then, when I meet people, I think of them as long-term friends; I don’t regard others as strangers.

Examining our actions

The quality of everything we do: our physical actions, our verbal actions, and even our mental actions, depends on our motivation. That’s why it’s important for us to examine our motivation in our day to day life. If we cultivate respect for others and our motivation is sincere, if we develop a genuine concern for others’ well-being, then all our actions will be positive.

On youth and violence

It is vital that young people, the guardians of our future, develop a strong awareness of the futility of violence and war. They can learn from the examples of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., that non-violence is the best way to ensure peace in the long term. Because the twentieth century was a century of violence, let us make the twenty-first a century of dialogue.

His holiness on aging

Every one of us is getting older, which is a natural process. Time is constantly moving on, second by second. Nothing can stop it, but what we can do is use our time properly; that is in our hands. Whether we believe in a spiritual tradition or not, we need to use our time meaningfully. If over days, weeks, months and years, we have used our time in a meaningful way – when our last day comes, we’ll be happy, we’ll have no regrets.

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The Church of Abnormal Acceptance

Posted on June 22, 2012 by Michael Kane

The Church of Abnormal Acceptance

Most ministries are housed within a larger institution, a church if you will.  So we’ve made a small change on the site to reflect the same type of alignment and structure around the The Ministry of Happiness.  So here is the first and formal public announcement for the Church of Abnormal Acceptance.  The church is so named for the very basic philosophy of its existence, anyone is accepted here, save those who purposefully do anything to harm another.

So if you are considered different, weird, abnormal, a freak or god forbid normal, as long as you don’t hurt others you are welcome here, welcome to join the church, participate in the Ministry of Happiness, ask for my ear or my counsel.

So we welcome you all with abnormally accepting arms to the Church of Abnormal Acceptance and the Ministry of happiness and as always have a happy day.  ~ Reverend Kane

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Happiness Resources

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Michael Kane

Happiness Resources

be happy, think positive, happiness resources

Be Happy and think positive

Real happiness is cheap enough, yet how dearly we pay for its counterfeit.    ~ Hosea Ballou

Our tour around the web to bring you happiness resources to help you be happy, enjoy and have a happy day my friends. ~ Rev Kane

 

An interesting site to explore, Action for Happiness

9A little more scientific look at happiness from the interestingly named less wrong

05And from a Buddhist perspective 

05

Other Posts You Might Enjoy!

Making Change Happen

Travel Makes You Happier

Our Best Happiness Resources Posts

 

 

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Happiness and Anger

Posted on June 18, 2012 by Michael Kane

Happiness and Anger

IMGP9845You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger ~ Buddha

Today I want to write about anger, there are few things more destructive to your own personal happiness than anger.  It’s easy to get angry and it’s an emotion that has, in limited instances, some usefulness.  However it can easily become something that is overly expressed and have a very negative impact on your life.  I’m reminded of a friend, a pretty mild-mannered guy, who terrified me the first time I ever got in his car with him.  As we were driving along he was driving aggressively, screaming at other motorists and pounding on his dashboard.  It seemed inevitable to me that his anger would someday lead to an altercation, an accident or even a stroke.  Additionally, anger breeds anger and when someone screams at you your natural reaction is to scream back and this, is not good for anyone.  This type of activity also creates isolation and leads to a lack of consideration and compassion for our fellow-man further adding to the complications and aggravations of our lives.

Turning to one of my favorite sources, here are a couple of quotes from the Dalai Lama, first on the personal anger and second on anger at a much larger level:

The first drawback of anger is that it destroys your inner peace; the second is that it distorts your view of reality. If you think about this and come to understand that anger is really unhelpful, that it is only destructive, you can begin to distance yourself from anger.

If each of us can learn to relate to each other more out of compassion, with a sense of connection to each other and a deep recognition of our common humanity, and more important, to teach this to our children, I believe that this can go a long way in reducing many of the conflicts and problems that we see today. ~ Dalai Lama

Hopefully friends your anger is not an issue, sure we all get angry occasionally, but hopefully it is not at a level where it impacts your life to any major degree.  I think it would do us all good however to reduce the level of anger in our lives.  I found a great piece from the Mayo Clinic that contains 10 tips to help you control your anger, it’s a great article, have a look and as always, have a happy day my friends ~ Rev Kane

Other Posts You Might Enjoy!

Fear is Killing Your Happiness

Our Best Happiness Posts for 2015

Revisiting Some of Our Best Posts & Pictures

There are Angels Among Us: A True Story of Giving & Kindness

Remember the Sweet Things

Happiness is Not Safety

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Happiness and Father’s Day

Posted on June 16, 2012 by Michael Kane

There is a reason every year that my mother get’s a Father’s Day card from me, quite simply, she’s the person who did the job.  She was not the prototypical father, she didn’t take me hunting or fishing, or play catch with me in the yard.  But she was the only parent I had day in and day out, so for me it’s a simple equation, do both jobs, get credit for both.

Although I really object to the whole greeting card industry holiday paradigm, do we really only need or want one day to tell our parents, grand parents or lovers that they are special to us?  Shouldn’t we be doing that every single day?  These holidays are at least a good reminder of one thing, we need to remember to let the important people in our lives know that they are important to us.  We need to do that now, because quite simply tomorrow, no matter the circumstances can easily be too late.  So have a Happy Father’s Day my friends whether you’re a mother, a father, an uncle or a friend.  ~ Rev Kane

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Deng Ming-Dao on Purpose in Life

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Michael Kane

Deng Ming-Dao on Purpose in Life

Suddenly, things snap into focus.
I’ve been pursuing unity all of my life,
But could only glimpse the monstrous vision in fragments;
It has haunted me for years.
 
Each time I sighted it, I struggled to make it concrete.
At first, it seemed I only had a sculptor’s yare of unfinished figures –
Then it slowly began to make sense,
Gathered from glimpses and inferences.

More and more, the mysterious life comes together.
It may take years to reveal the whole.
That’s all right.
I’m prepared to do the distance.

One’s life’s destiny is not easily revealed.  It’s too big.  You may certainly set your sights early, but you will still have to make changes and adjustments as your true purpose is clarified.  When it does begin to come together, there is a tremendous feeling of assurance.

Then with each step upon the path of Tao, your certainty rings from peak to peak.

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Deng Ming-Dao on Outlook

Posted on June 1, 2012 by Michael Kane

Deng Ming-Dao on Outlook

I haven’t posted anything from Deng Ming-Dao in a while so here’s one of my favorite bits of his wisdom ~ Rev Kane

Spawned from a mountain cataract.
The long river surges to the sea.
Its torrents savage its igneous bed.
Yet one blade of rock twists it tightly.
Angry waves plow stone furrows into a maze.
And boats find it difficult to maneuver.
From this point, one man held off an entire army.
And poets found inspiration among the nests of eagles.
 

Along the Yangtze River is a high cliff.  The space for the river narrows dramatically at this point, and the water must backed up into a large bay before plunging through the difficult passage.  Rocks underneath are treacherous, and even today boats find it difficult to negotiate this stretch.

At the crown of the cliff is the Temple to the White King, in honor of a man from ancient times.  Numerous historical events took place her.  In medieval times, a famous strategist was able to defeat an entire army with a much smaller force.  Later, famous poets found inspiration from the high view of the river and the mountains.  In more recent times, the high cliff served as the headquarters for a warlord.

There are places in nature that can give people great power, but the character of the individuals determines whether the power is used for war or peace.  It is not enough to struggle for vantage points.  Position must be used with wisdom.

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Happiness and Coming Home

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Michael Kane

I’m writing this as I sit in Dublin Airport, a wonderful couple of weeks spent in Ireland.  I spent time in Galway, cycling the western coast and Connemara and a couple of days at a world heritage site, the Giants Causeway.  But I sit here on a five-hour delay for my flight to Chicago writing this post.  I know some of you are having a sudden sense of deja vu, didn’t I just write about a 5 hour delay and a flight to Dublin, yes I did.  This time on the other side of the pond on another 5 hour delay.

When last delayed I took to the time to reflect and write about patience and attitude and how the impact of the delay really related to your own personal attitude and what you make of it.  This time however my thoughts are understandably focused on home.  Those who know me well know that I’m a bit of gypsy.  No single place seems like “home” to me, home is where I am, where my head and heart have taken me, as such, I’m always home.  However even as a gypsy I have to admit there is comfort and happiness in the familiar.  In returning home there is familiarity, comfort and most of all your own bed.  I know I’m supposed to talk about coming home to the people in my life but my family genetic and selected are spread all over the world and so my focus today, what will bring me the greatest happiness once the odessy of flights I’m on today are completed will be sleeping in my own bed and of course, a pizza.

The bigger issue around coming home though is the concept of returning.  It is important in our lives, no matter what we do or where we go, to always return to the calm center of our lives.  For some this is home and family, for others it is a place in our head and our hearts, perhaps time alone to meditate and reflect.  It will be another 20 hours before I find myself on my meditation pillow, returning and not much longer than that back to my own bed.

So I hope today you will consciously take the time to return, physically or mentally to that calm center and embrace the peace of that place.  This will take you just a bit further toward having a happy day.  ~ Rev Kane

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