Tag: Happiness

5 SIMPLE RULES TO BE HAPPY 😃

We discussed a few posts ago how chasing happiness is a fool’s errand. The comparison was of chasing a butterfly. It will only fly away. If you create an environment where a butterfly would like to be you will attract one to you. Same with happiness. It isn’t about finding it somewhere outside of you. It is not in the new car, the new house or even the new relationship. How many people do we hear of who have all of these and are still not happy. Instead of chasing these things, we would be better off creating and cultivating an environment where happiness flourishes.

How do we create our own ‘happiness garden’ to stick with the metaphor? Above are 5 great ideas to start with. Freeing our hearts of hatred we are holding on to certainly helps. It is impossible to feel both hatred and happiness at the same time. Not to mention, hatred is extremely bad for our health. The same can be said for worry. There was a study showing that 98% of everything we worry about is beyond our control or completely unnecessary. Why not spend that moment focused on gratitude? Live simply is another great way to create happiness. The less we require to be happy, the more likely we are to be so. A pretty simple equation. Give more. Giving really can be a secret to happiness. Giving not only brightens the day of the person you are giving to, but yours as well. That is a win/win situation. Those kinds of situations certainly create happiness. Expecting less, much like living simply, increases our chances of being happy.

Stop chasing happiness and focus on creating an environment where happiness flourishes. Try these 5 items to start. If you have any other suggestions, please share them in the comments below. Any ‘gardening tips’ for happiness will be appreciated by all.

THE BEST CAREER FIELD 👨‍⚕️

I have written about this in the past. I may have even used this very picture. It remains as true now as it has ever been. With all of the divisive political rhetoric, people searching for the most direct path to fortune and fame, and the lack of significance many people feel, we need to embrace this little lesson above. It will not only address all of the issue mentioned previously, it will also make the world a better place as a whole.

Want to solve the great political divide? Be a decent human and accept other people might hold different opinions than you. Further more, those opinions could be right for them and their beliefs. Want to look for the quickest path to fame? Find a need and fill it. The more people you can serve, the more you will be in demand. Providing life hacks, inspiring and empowering people or just being encouraging are great ways to start. If you feel that you are not very important, or wish to be more valuable to those you care about and the world around you, be a wonderful human being. Be a good listener. Treat everyone with compassion and understanding. Uplift the spirits of everyone you come in contact with. Do all of these and your presence will be coveted by kings and peasants alike. Everyone loves someone who makes them feel like the special individual they are.

Lastly, filling the world with one more good human being benefits us all. It is a blessing for those you interact with and an example from those observing you. It is perhaps the most rewarding career field you can go into. As the photo above mentions, there is very little competition.

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FORGET EYE CANDY, BE SOUL FOOD.

It is Friday the 31st. That means it is both the end of the week, and the end of the month. It is time to reset for both a new week and a new month ahead. Even if you happen upon this post on a day other than the one on which it is released, it is still a great time to take a step back and reset. Here in the United States where I live, summer is about to begin. People are busy working to make their summer body ready for the beach. That is good. Focusing on health and taking care of our appearance can be very beneficial. When we look good, we tend to feel good about ourselves as well.

An even more important thing to focus on is our inner beauty. Yes, having friends or a partner that is eye candy can be fun, but what really makes you attractive is being soul food for someone. I can speak for this as I am lucky to have both. My lady is not only extremely beautiful, and makes me so proud when we are out together, but she is even more than that. When we are home alone we have some of the most fun and silly conversations. We read together. We laugh together. We learn together. Recently, we even began exploring the world together by going on vacations.

It is important to look and feel our best, but why not develop our inner beauty and character? That is where true attraction is. Having friends that nourish our soul and help us believe in ourselves, that is priceless. While you are working on your six pack, or just reducing the size of your keg, why not work on your listening skills? How about developing your compassion while developing your biceps? Working on lifting your backside? That is great, but what about the ability to lift others up?

Ask yourself, would you rather have someone around you who just looks good, or someone who makes you feel good? Someone who is good for your ego or someone who is good for your soul? When I think about people that I would like to spend time with, it is their soul that makes me want to include them in my life. Focus more on being soul food and less on being eye candy.

IF YOU ARE BRAVE ENOUGH ♥️

Here is an activity that is perfect for our Wednesday! Say something nice about yourself. To many of us, this feels awkward as we are told that this is not a good thing to do. We might not be told this directly, but we are warned about being self-centered or bragging. The sad part is that this often leads to a lack of self-confidence or a negative self-image. We can recognize our redeeming qualities without slipping into arrogance. There is something amazing about each of us. Acknowledging this will assist us in living an amazing life.

Think about the people in your life. When you think about all of the amazing things they bring into your life, you are motivated to treat them with the love and care they deserve. My lovely Margie, for example, always brings laughter and silliness into my life. This is such an important thing in a stressful world. For that, and a million other reasons, she is very valuable to me and I treat her as such. My mother keeps me company on walks in nature, which refresh the spirit and keep the body fit. Therefore, I value her and her company. How about you? Are there people in your life that you value for the wonderful things they bring into your life?

When you stop and appreciate the wonderful things that you bring to the world, you value and treat yourself better. When you treat yourself better, you are in a better state to treat others with kindness and compassion. This activity may feel strange at first as we are not used to complimenting ourselves. As we get used to it, we will realize what amazing souls we are. This helps us in so many ways. It helps us set boundaries with others. This can protect our physical, mental and emotional well-being. It develops self-respect. It may also help us realize our gifts and better share them with others.

I will share my answer with you, and I would love to hear yours as well. Something nice about me is that I love to share knowledge that I learn to improve life with as many others as I can. To me, the more people living an amazing life, the more amazing the world will be. Share your answer to this question in the comment below.

FREE YOUR MIND 🧠

One of my favorite song lyrics by Bob Marley. It is so true. Our minds are one of the only things we can execute total control over. Notice, I did say can. The mind can be an obeying servant, or it can be a master with no mercy. Many of us live life at the whim of our emotions and outside circumstances. If I were to ask you when you woke up if you were going to have a good day, what would you answer? Most of us would give the answer “We will have to wait and see.” Meaning our day, and so our lives, are determined by other people events and circumstances.

I will be the first to admit that it is easier to smile on a beach than in a snow storm. The truth is that we still have control over our minds in both. Finding the beauty in the world around us and living in a state of gratitude will allow us to determine to live a great life. It is possible to wake up determined to have a good day and not let the outside circumstances determine the quality of our life. With that in mind, I will leave you with this quote from Martha Washington that I think sums it up quite nicely.

WHO IS YOURS? 🤔

Truly, one of the greatest feelings is knowing someone is happy because of you. I certainly do my best to keep the beautiful love of my life happy. Margie deserves all the wonderful things I can come up with just for putting up with this crazy author.

Yet, everywhere I go I do my best to make people happy. My day job, the coffee shop, my mechanic. When I succeed, it always gives my heart a jolt of joy. The more people I give joy to, the more joy fills my heart as well.

How about you? Who have you made happy today? Who could you make happy? Feel free to share your story in the comments below.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

We would love to learn more about all of our fans here at Secret2anamazinglife.com. We are followed by so many amazing souls in over 200 countries. We, of course, have many followers in the United States, but in every corner of the globe as well. From our thousands of followers in India and South Africa, to new comers like Gambia and Maldives. We want to know how you enjoy our site. When do you read it? What do you enjoy about it?

We also would love getting to know a little bit more about you. Where do you live? Why do you enjoy reading Secret2anamazinglife.com? Any other fun bits of information you would enjoy sharing with us. We wish to not only be a source of information, but a community as well. By getting to know those in the community, we can only improve on the quality of the content we bring to you. If you do enjoy the site you are reading, we would be honored if you would consider sharing it with your community. Whether that is telling your family and friends, printing it out and putting it up at the office like our friend in Lebanon does, or sharing the link on your social media. You will be part of a community looking to inspire and leave the world a better place than when we found it.

Please do the honor of sharing a little bit about who you are, where you are from and what you enjoy about this site. We would love to know when you enjoy reading Secret2anamazinglife.com. We would love to hear from all of you!

DO NOT TRY TO WIN AWARDS THAT DO NOT EXIST.

How many of us pursue these goals? The quest for perfection in any category is a fool’s endeavor. We should always pursue becoming the best version of ourselves. That doesn’t mean we will be perfect. In fact, when we make mistakes, that gives us the greatest opportunity to learn about life and about ourselves. Being able to set boundaries and say the occasional ‘no’ will keep us mentally and physically healthy to be able to bring our best when we do say ‘yes’.

When you are pursuing awards, think in terms of ones that speak of your character. How about the award for being a true friend? There should be an award for being a loving spouse. A helpful coworker is always appreciated as well. These are awards worth pursuing. At present, it is a shame that none of them exist either. Make sure whatever you are pursuing will lead to the best for you and for your life.

I LEARNED TO SPEAK IN A PARKING GARAGE 🗣

Here is an inspirational story that occurred to me when I was not expecting it. This is one of the perks of being an author and blog writer, you are subconsciously on the lookout for inspiration. Margie, my mother and I were on our way to the Milwaukee Public Museum for a special behind the scenes event. We were all pretty excited because the museum will be moving in a few years and you may not have an opportunity to see many of the things that were on display that night. The only downside to going there is driving and parking downtown. Luckily for us, at night there is an attached parking garage that is not to full in the evenings. This is where the inspiration happened.

It is ironic the inspiration of the evening came before we viewed any of the 4 million objects the museum has, including this cool whale over a staircase. When we were entering the parking garage, we were greeted by a friendly young man we will call Chad. This was kind of a small miracle in itself as the people at a parking garage barely recognize your existence, much less are friendly. After exchanging some banter, he even gave me a fist bump and raised the gate to let us in. I recall saying to Margie and my mom, “Hey, I just got a fist bump from the parking guy.” We all had an appreciative chuckle and enjoyed our night at the museum. I am sure this gents friendly greeting made it that much easier.

When we left, the parking garage was a lot busier as everyone was leaving the even at the same time. As we made our way up to the gate to leave the parking structure, guess who was there? My new friend Chad. We exchanged more pleasant banter and he even explained a little about the economics of the parking garage. He was so friendly, I gave him a card for this website as I felt he would really appreciate it. Although all of this was enjoyable, what he said next is what inspired me to write this post. “Thanks, I have an issue with my brain and they tell me I only have a year and a half to live.” I did my best not to be too shocked by this revelation, but I was thrown for a loop.

Here are the points I walked away from this experience with. One, I was extremely grateful that I was motivated to exchange some pleasant back and forth with this young man. Many times we just go about our business and fail to appreciate the human element involved in it. Second, it amazed me how upbeat and friendly this gentleman was. He only had a little over a year of life left and was working in the cold in a parking garage, yet he made our night so much better through his friendly demeanor. He could have been like every other parking attendant I have dealt with, and barely acknowledged me at all. Instead, this young man shared some friendly conversation, helpful information and a great smile. We are going back in a couple of weeks for another event. I hope to see my friend Chad again.

HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD WITH 1 SIMPLE ACTION. 😃

I know many well-meaning people with lofty goals. One of the most popular is that people want to change the world. This sounds like such a complicated and far-reaching goal. It is, but at the same time, it really isn’t. You do not have to end world hunger or cure a major disease to change the world. Being a great parent and raising children that are kind and respectful changes the world. Trying to uplift the spirits of those around you will change the world. These actions may seem trivial, but when you think of the outcomes long-term, and what the outcome would be if you took the opposite action, you realize how powerful they are.

My life’s mission is to leave the world a better place than I found it. This is not exactly a measurable goal. It is also one that never ends. The more actions I take to do so, the more likely it will be to come true. One think I have learned is the quote above. “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” You may think a compliment to a stranger wouldn’t make much of a difference, but you never know what that stranger is going through or what it means to them. I used the example of picking up one piece of trash. Does not seem like that would make much of a difference, but if every person in the world did that it would mean 8 billion pieces of trash were picked up! Even if 1 out of every 8 people did it, that would still mean 1 billion pieces of trash picked up. Again, if we consider the opposite action we can see the difference even more. Imagine if every person dropped one piece of trash on the ground. 8 billion pieces of trash littering our parks and sidewalks! Imagine the difference that makes.

Doing one small act of kindness a day may not seem like it would make a difference, but that adds up to 365 acts of kindness a year. None of those are wasted. It may not resonate with the person you do it for, but it could be seen by someone who then goes on to act kind towards someone else. Thus, creating a ripple effect. Maybe nobody sees your act of kindness. Maybe you pick up a piece of trash in the woods. It makes a difference to nature and increases the frequency of your vibration. In other words, helps you feel good. What small act of kindness could you do today? Remember, no act of kindness is ever wasted!