Deng Ming-Dao Happiness & Resolve

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Michael Kane

Deng Ming-Dao Happiness & Resolve

buddhism philosophy

Banish uncertainty
Affirm strength
Hold resolve
Expect death

Make your stand today.  On this spot.  Make your actions count; do not falter in your determination to fulfill your destiny.  Don’t follow the destiny outlined in some mystical book: Create your own. Your resolve to tread the path of life is your best asset.  Without it, you die.  Death is unavoidable, but let it not be from loss of will but because your time is over. 

As long as you can keep going, use your imagination to cope with the travails of life.  Overcome your obstacles and realize what you envision. You will know unexpected happiness.  You will know the sorrow of seeing what is dearest to you cut down before your eyes.  Accept that.  That is the nature of human existence, and you have no time to buffer the fact with fairy tales and illogical explanations.

Each day, your life grows shorter by twenty-four hours.  The time to make achievements becomes more precious.  You must fulfill everything you want in life and then release your will upon the moment of death.  Your life is a creation that dies when you die.  Release it, give up your individuality, and in so doing, finally merge completely with Tao. Until the moment, create the poetry of your life with toughness and determination. ~Deng Ming-Dao

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Happiness & Children

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Michael Kane

Happiness & Children

So tonight a little tour around the web and a look at happiness and children, what we can learn from them and how children impact our happiness ~ Rev Kane

happiness star wars

18 things children can teach us about happiness.

An NPR clip, Does having children make you happier?

Acts of kindness: key to happiness for children and teens.

From the Oprah Network, 5 keys to your child’s happiness.

Everything I know about happiness I learned from my child.

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Happiness Resources

Posted on October 18, 2013 by Michael Kane

Happiness Resources

A tour around the web tonight to find some interesting resources that might help you have a happier day my friends ~ Rev Kane

happiness kid

The Happiness Game – really interesting post/graphic loaded with facts about life and happiness in the United States.

Why game playing makes you happy.

DIY Happiness using daily and weekly tips.

A pinterest page on happiness.

Be you live your life, a really great blog post on happiness.

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Happiness in a graduation speech

Posted on October 15, 2013 by Michael Kane

Here’s another great graduation speech, this one by Tim Minchin an Australian musical comedian and actor, a really odd and brilliant guy in my opinion.  Below is a list of the main points he makes, but take the time to listen to his points, there are some great insights in here to having a happy life my friends ~ Rev Kane

comedy graduation

1. You don’t have to have a dream.

2. Don’t seek happiness.

3. Remember, it’s all luck.

4. Exercise.

5. Be hard on your opinions.

6. Be a teacher.

7. Define yourself by what you love.

8. Respect people with less power than you.

9. Don’t rush.

 

 

 

 

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Happiness and old friends

Posted on October 9, 2013 by Michael Kane

Happiness and old friends

“I value the friend who for me finds time on his calendar, but I cherish the friend who for me does not consult his calendar ~ Robert Brault

tubb

So the Reverend is on the road, doing a little southeastern tour for work but also having the opportunity to connect with a lot of people I haven’t seen in some time, it varies, anywhere from two to nearly twenty years.  It has been and will continue to be a good trip.  Spoke with my a long-time friend for the first time in over a year, saw a couple of my former students, dinner tomorrow night with another who I haven’t seen in nearly twenty years.

I’ll get to see some good people I’ve worked with who have become good friends, I even share a birthday with one.  I’ll get to see a couple of ex girlfriends and that has its own special flavor.

Beyond just the good memories and reminiscing there is so much more to reconnecting with meaningful people from your past.  These people are windows into who you were and mirrors to who you are currently.  If they are truly good friends they are true mirrors that show you not just your beauty, but also your faults, and then do the most amazing thing and accept you anyway.  This to me is the truest and most beautiful thing about old friends, you can be the real you warts and all with no fear of rejection.  That makes for relaxing and very good times with the space for good conversation, throw in some good food and life doesn’t get much better.

So I continue my tour in the morning, on to more friends and wish for you that you will be having a similarly happy day my friends.  ~ Rev Kane

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The Wisdom of the Dalai Lama

Posted on October 4, 2013 by Michael Kane

The Wisdom of the Dalai Lama

Tonight some words of wisdom from the Dalai Lama, enjoy ~ Rev Kane

dalai lama taoism

Satisfaction

We have a largely materialistic lifestyle characterized by a materialistic culture. However, this only provides us with temporary, sensory satisfaction, whereas long-term satisfaction is based not on the senses but on the mind. That’s where real tranquility is to be found. And peace of mind turns out to be a significant factor in our physical health too.

Living a Happy Life

We all want to live a happy life and have a right to do so, whether through work or spiritual practice. I’m subject to destructive emotions like anger and jealousy the same as you, but we all have potential for good too. However, our existing education system is oriented towards material development; neglecting inner values. Consequently we lack a clear awareness of the inner values that are the basis of a happy life

Helping others

It’s in our interest to take care of others. Self-centerdness is opposed to basic human nature. In our own interest as human beings we need to pay attention to our inner values. Sometimes people think compassion is only of help to others, while we get no benefit. This is a mistake. When you concern yourself with others, you naturally develop a sense of self-confidence. To help others takes courage and inner strength.

Compassion

If someone behaves negatively towards you, it helps to remember that he or she is a human being like you and to distinguish between an action and the person who does it. If counter measures are needed to prevent someone doing harm, it’s always better to do it with a calm rather than an agitated mind. If you act out of anger, the best part of your brain fails to function. Remember, compassion is not a sign of weakness

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Happiness and Silence

Posted on September 7, 2013 by Michael Kane

Happiness & Silence

“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.”~ Ansel Adams

buddha

Sometimes the universe taps you on the shoulder and say hey, pay attention to this or that concept and it’s important to listen.  That seems to be happening with me right now in relation to the how happiness relates to silence.  So today I did a little surfing and came up with some interesting resources on happiness and silence to share with all of you.

A few months ago I did a 3 day silent retreat, it was really wonderful and as verbal as I am it really was quite easy to accomplish and helped me with working on being more mindful.  Silence, meditation and mindfulness can go a long way to helping all of us have happier days my friends ~ Rev Kane

Silence is the birthplace of happiness ~ Deepak Chopra

Sir Ramana Maharshi’s teachings on silence

Silence is golden for healing ~ Gertrude Lawler

The Art of Silence ~ Psychology Today

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Happiness in a moment of serenity and beauty

Posted on August 23, 2013 by Michael Kane

Happiness in a moment of serenity and beauty

burning man love

Boredom is the feeling that everything is a waste of time; serenity, that nothing is. ~ Thomas Szasz

Our world is hectic, noisy, chaotic and filled with stress, so it is important every day to take a little time and grab a little serenity.  Although I have to admit I can never say the word serenity without thinking about Seinfeld’s episode, Serenity Now!  Today Google did something really amazing for its doodle to commemorate Claude Debussy’s 151st birthday.  Debussy is the composer of Clair de Lune, and if you’re not a big classical music fan the name may sound familiar, but as soon as you hear the tune you’ll know it.  My recommendation is take a few minutes, shut off the lights and bring up Google’s Debussy Doodle and just experience a couple of minutes of beauty and serenity.

I was inspired to do this today after encountering this particular doodle and realized this is something we all need to do each day.  Just find a couple of minutes and let the world slip away and look at or listen to something really beautiful and calming.  The trick here as described in this piece from Help Guide, is to engage your senses, sight, hearing, touch or smell.  Some suggestions from the article that I really like in order to create a little serenity are:

1.  Take some time to look at a favorite photo or painting

2.  Listen to some calming and pleasant music

3.  Buy a desktop fountain and close your eyes and listen to the water

4.  Engage in some aromatherapy from a scent infuser or just a scented candle

5.  Use your touch to hold a cherished item, or wrap yourself in a soft, warm blanket

6.  Take a few minutes to slowly and completely enjoy a cup of tea or a piece of chocolate

7.  Even just take a few minutes and let yourself day-dream

The really important piece to all of this is that you close your office door or find a quite place where you won’t be disturbed.  Take these minutes in relative silence and without interruption and most of all be mindful of the moment and what you are doing.  Most of all while doing this, focus on having a happy day my friends ~ Rev Kane

Other Posts You Might Enjoy!

Happiness and the Benefits of Gratitude

Fear is Killing Your Happiness

Happiness is a Choice

Writing Away the Darkness

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Happiness, focus, planning and goals

Posted on August 11, 2013 by Michael Kane

Happiness, focus, planning and goals

Maybe your goal is going to Mount Everest

Maybe your goal is going to Mount Everest

Man must search for what is right, and let happiness come on its own.  ~Johann Pestalozzi

So I think we can award tonight’s title as the least exciting title I have ever posted, which of course goes against everything the “blogging gurus” will tell you to do.  Of course the only focus for them is number of hits, they always say, make sure you have quality content, but 90% of those articles are all about getting people to click the title link, regardless of its relevancy to the piece.  But that is not what I’ve ever wanted the Ministry of Happiness Blog to be, this is about helping us all find a little more happiness, not about the number of hits on the blog, so I’ll live with a bit of a boring title.

Tonight I want to talk about one particular aspect of being happier and that is having goals.  These do not have to be Miss America Pageant goals, you know, world peace, ending hunger, or looking really good in a bathing suit.  The goals can be as simple as fewer cups of coffee, making the gym a set number of days each week, or as large as checking off 3 bucket list items this year!  What happens when we don’t have set goals to achieve is that we languish; we start to fall dangerous close to existing instead of living. 

As humans we all need a little fire in our bellies, a little passion in order to truly feel alive, to feel like we have a purpose, this feeling leads to living a happier life.  We all need periodically to sit down and re-examine our lives and see if the goals we have still make sense and make sure we have goals we can be passionate about.  This is personally pretty relevant to me right now, I’d hit a bit of lull in my life as I come upon a milestone.  Very soon I’ll turn 49 and that turns the mind to becoming 50 and identifying if what I’m doing, and if the goals in my life are as relevant as they could be.  So, I’ll be turning to my favorite tool for thinking things through, being fortunate enough to live within a couple of hours of the ocean, I’ll be heading to the coast, to sit and listen to the waves and let my mind work through what it has to.  We all have our own ways and techniques to do this, and there are many more ways to get there,  here’s a piece from the site feelgooder to help out, so take some time, pick you method and have a happy day my friends ~ Rev Kane 

 

 

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Happiness Resources

Posted on August 4, 2013 by Michael Kane

Happiness Resources, August 4, 2013

massage

Hello my friends, tonight some links from around the web to help you have a happier life ~ Rev Kane

A really great piece on how to do a truly relaxing vacation

How to be happier at work

A little more academic take on who is happiness at work

Increasing happiness day to day, find three good things each day

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