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Dalai Lama, instructions for life
So today I saw this post on Facebook by a friend of mine, (thanks Tick) and thought I would pass it along. The link below is a story elucidating the Dalai Lama’s instructions for life, enjoy and have a happy day!
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-3776/20-Instructions-for-Life-by-The-Dalai-Lama.html
Posted in Dalai Lama, personal happiness
Tagged blog, dalai lama, happiness, life, personal, philosophy, taoism
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Deng Ming-Dao, the new morning of the new year
Deng Ming-Dao, the new morning of the new year
Morning.
New day.
Joy of birth.
All we need is the morning. As long as there is sunrise, then there is the possibility that we can face all our misfortunes, celebrate all our blessings, and live all our endeavors as human beings. Spirituality is something that has become necessary in these troubled times. Yet it is inherently superfluous. We need it to remind ourselves, to bolster ourselves, to integrate ourselves, to fulfill ourselves. If we could simply acknowledge the mystery of night and the glory of morning, we would need neither civilization nor spirituality.
As its simplest, life begins with dawn. That is blessing enough. That is happiness enough. All else becomes fullness immeasurable. At dawn, kneel down and give thanks to this wonderful event. We may think mornings are so common that they are unworthy of veneration, but do you realize most places in the cosmos do not have mornings? This daily event is our supreme goodness.
Greet the dawn. That is your miracle to witness. That is the ultimate beauty. That is sacredness. That is your gift from heaven. That is your omen of prophesy. That is knowledge that life is not futile. That is enlightenment. That is your meaning in life. That is your directive. That is your comfort. That is solemnity of duty. That is inspiration for compassion. That is the light of the ultimate.
Posted in Deng Ming-Dao, personal happiness
Tagged deng ming-dao, happiness, life, morning, personal, personal happiness, philosophy, tao
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Happiness and counting your successes
Happiness and counting your successes
Often people attempt to live their lives backwards; they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want, so they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want. ~Margaret Young
The end of the year is here and we all must suffer through the endless year-end lists of everything. You know the ones, the best of, the worst of, for every category from TV shows to movies to celebrity nightmares. But today I’m going to suggest that you do your own little end of the year list.
Every year has its ups and downs and I’m quite sure for all of you this year was no different. It’s often easier to focus on the things that went wrong over the year or the things you didn’t accomplish. This is not productive at all and will not make you a happier person. Now don’t get me wrong, you should take some time to reflect on the things that didn’t work and figure out what you could have done differently. However don’t obsess on it because this year is another opportunity to accomplish all that you want to do.
This year for me things went wrong, a good relationship ended for me, friends have drifted including someone who for over a decade has been incredibly important to me. Things at work that I would have liked to accomplish didn’t occur. I set a goal to lose 30 pounds by the end of the year, it looks like I will fall short by a couple of pounds. You could take all of that and really spin it into a downer of a year.
However it has been a very good year for me. You see the relationship ended but it was probably for the best in the long run, happily, we’re still friends. We still like each other and instead of looking at it as having lost a great relationship, I choose to count the fact that I’ve gained a good and new friend who I expect to have in my life for a very long time. Work is work, some things didn’t happen but we accomplished some amazing things and I’m about to do several talks at large conferences discussing our successes. Finally, I lost 24 pounds since July! Sure I wanted to lose 30, but the 24 pounds I lost have helped me look better and have been incredibly beneficial to my health.
The two paragraphs above talk about the same exact year just with a little different focus. Yet the second paragraph is longer and much more upbeat. And that’s what I want you to do, write that second paragraph for your last year and then use that paragraph as the starting point for the next year and as always, have a happy day my friends.
Posted in personal happiness
Tagged blog, happiness, happy, life, new year, philosophy, positivity, success, weight loss
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The Dalai Lama on exercising your mind
A quick note from his holiness the Dalai Lama on exercising your mind, remember, a fit mind is a happy mind.
Developing inner values is much like physical exercise. The more we train our abilities, the stronger they become. The difference is that, unlike the body, when it comes to training the mind, there is no limit to how far we can go. ~ Dalai Lama
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Happiness and not wasting a day
Happiness and not wasting a day
Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions ~ Dalai Lama
Hello friends, today I want to address being purposeful in everything we do. Life is short; a fundamental fact that drives us in many ways and that makes our short time here poignant, painful, and precious. For that reason we all know we shouldn’t waste a day and I’ve been feeling that acutely in the last few months. I’ve taken to posting a note in my bathroom that says just that, “don’t waste a day.” Through my own introspective processes I’ve come to realize that it is this personal philosophy that drives people to believe that I’m a Type-A personality type. You know, the kind of person that must always be working, striving and cannot slow down or relax. I have argued against this characterization for a long time, but because I am busy and work hard and achieve some results people never believe me.
The secret I’ll let out here, just between us, and anyone else who happens to be on the web, is that I’m a complete and total lazy human. Were I to make the mistake of ever actually buying an Xbox or other type video game system my productivity would likely plummet to zero and I would cease to be a productive member of society. Hell, a quick visit to the Adult Swim page to play Sasquatch – Yeti Annihilation can quickly make two hours disappear.
So how does a lazy man get confused with Type-A personalities? I’m purposeful; I don’t want to waste this precious life I have, for however long it may last. I work hard, I do as much as I can but I am purposeful in my recreation as well. I like television and I watch a lot of it, but I multi-task a lot while watching, I’m doing it right now. I also vacation purposefully and frequently, I make a point of using my vacation time and recharging my batteries.
So my friends my advice to you today is to be purposeful, you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment, you’ll get the most out of life, this will make you happier. And maybe some of my greatest achievements in a purpose filled life has been to purposefully find two good trees, hang one of my Brazilian hammocks between them and purposefully do absolutely nothing, have a happy day my friends. ~ Rev Kane
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Posted in Dalai Lama, personal happiness
Tagged blog, happiness, happy, joy, life, philosophy, purposeful life, relaxation
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How to be happy
How to be happy
Until you are happy with who you are, you will never be happy with what you have.~Zig Ziglar
There is always a lot of media attention around the idea of happiness. Recently I’ve seen pieces on the habits of happy people and about how much money you to earn each year to be happy. Both of these pieces provide some good information and advice, the simple fact is there is a certain point in which you’re earning enough money to remove the financial stresses in life. That is the reason that households making over $75,000 seem happier than those households making less. It just makes sense, at that level of earning you can meet a reasonable mortgage, feed and clothe yourself well, take care of your family and even afford a nice vacation each year. These are all things that are bound to make you a bit happier.
The second piece I came across this week is an older piece making its way around the web again. However it is a piece that contains some very solid advice, a lot of which we have talked about before in this blog. The piece discusses 21 habits of happy people, a few samples include:
1. Appreciate Life
2. Learn Continuously
3. Laugh
4. Forgive
I pick these four because of the size of the impact each have on you; we must all remember to appreciate what we have, no matter how much, no matter how meager. It is important to forgive because carrying around resentment is the equivalent of holding a bag of poison inside of you, eventually it will lead to bad things for you and your health. Laugh every day, there is more than enough sadness to go around in this world so take the moments when it is good and revel in them. Finally, learn continuously, it is important that we stretch ourselves both mentally and physically. A characteristic of the old is that they are unyielding and brittle, the more we stretch our minds and our bodies, the more we stay pliable and young. Have a happy day my friends. ~ Rev Kane
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Posted in personal happiness
Tagged blog, habits, happiness, happy, holidays, life, money, news, salary, zig ziglar
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Holidays and lending a hand
So the holidays are here and as festive as it is for most people a lot of people get down in the dumps. So it is contingent upon all of us this time of year, as busy as we are, to keep our eyes open for those who aren’t doing as well. A quick note, call or hello to that person who seems extra quiet in the office would I’m sure be much appreciated.
Also with the holidays coming a lot of people take this time of year to volunteer at local homeless shelters, food lines or other charities, donations to the same type of organizations also go up impressively this time of year and that is great. There is plenty of evidence that giving to others makes us happier. My suggestion is that this year perhaps you could delay your help a few weeks. It seems to me that the most depressing time of year for the homeless and others who are struggling is the month of February.
February is cold, the sun goes down early and the giving spirit of the holidays has subsided. Food pantries and homeless shelters see significantly fewer volunteers that time of year. So maybe this year try gearing up for Valentine’s Day by giving of yourself to those who are in need. Think of it as extending the good feelings of the holidays all the way til Spring. Have a happy day my friends.
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Tagged blog, charity, giving, happiness, holidays, homeless, life, valentine's day
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The Wisdom of the Dalai Lama
Wisdom of the Dalai Lama
I greatly admire his holiness the Dalai Lama, and below I give you a few of his recent statements on a variety of topics, have a happy day my friends.
War
In today’s deeply interdependent world, war is outdated and illogical. All regions, and all peoples, are interconnected environmentally, economically, and politically. War, oppression or civil strife in one area inevitably affects people in other parts of the world.
Happiness
The basic foundation of humanity is compassion and love. This is why, if even a few individuals simply try to create mental peace and happiness within themselves and act responsibly and kind-heartedly towards others, they will have a positive influence in their community.
Genuine happiness requires peace of mind or a degree of mental composure. When this is present, hardship counts for nothing. With inner strength or mental stability, we can endure all kinds of adversity.
Spirituality
More fundamental than religion is our basic human spirituality. We have a basic human disposition towards love, kindness and affection, irrespective of whether we have a religious framework or not. When we nurture this most basic human resource – when we set about cultivating those basic inner values which we all appreciate in others, then we start to live spiritually.
Compassion
Great compassion is the root of altruistic action. It really is a source of wonder. There is no greater source of help and happiness. The capacity to devote yourself to the welfare of others yields otherwise unobtainable power and potential for good. Generate great compassion and you become a friend of the world and a companion of the warm-hearted.
The Effort of Happiness, Visualization, Altruism & Gratitude
The Effort of Happiness, Visualization, Altruism & Gratitude
I slept and I dreamed that life is all joy. I woke and I saw that life is all service. I served and I saw that service is joy ~ Kahlil Gibran
So is there any actual benefit to all of these things we have been talking about? I mean really aren’t people’s personality types predetermined? You know, some people are just naturally happier than others, the so-called sunny disposition aren’t some of us are just set to be glum? The field of positive psychology studies just this type of question and surprisingly the answer is wholly unsatisfying, the answer is sort of. It seems that we do all have a predisposition in one direction or another; I personally call it the yippy-skippy scale. Some of us are very yippy-skippy, in the midst of the worst disaster imaginable they would be singing and whistling a tune. Others have a harder time being happy even at the most auspicious moment.
However, this is only a predisposition and in the article below the indication is that the research suggests that the predisposition is only about 50% of the picture. In fact, according to researchers in the field of positive psychology about 40% of what determines how happy we are is in fact completely under our control. So there is reason for us to keep working at it, a reason to continue to try to be happier.
In addition to the previous piece, here is a piece concerning steps to how to be happier including the fact that three activities can truly help, visualizing a more positive self, helping others and expressing gratitude. This is why lately you have suddenly seen a lot of people expressing gratitude through various wellness programs.
So we keep working at it, because it’s not only possible but worth it, extend that effort and have a happy day my friends. ~ Rev Kane
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Posted in personal happiness
Tagged altruism, blog, gratitude, happiness, kahlil gibran, life, philosophy, positive psychology, positivity, visualization
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