Four Keys to HappinessWritten by Jerry Lopper
Each human being strives to be happy. Only our needs for survival and safety are stronger. Since most of us able to receive this article have sufficient food, clothing, and shelter, it’s safe to say that we’re spending much of our time and energy seeking happiness.Consider these four keys to increased happiness. 1. Examine your fundamental belief about happiness. Do you expect to be happy? I once overheard two young people talking. One young man said to other, "I never expect anything good to happen, that way I’m never disappointed." This young person traded his hopes of happy life events for certainty of avoiding disappointment. Listen to lunch table talk of those around you-perhaps even your own talk-do you hear expectations of happiness? There is much social research-as well as spiritual teaching- supporting theory that we get what we expect. Expect to be happy and you will be. Expect to be unhappy and that, too, will come to you. So first key to your happiness is that you must believe that happiness is possible for you. If this is too difficult a belief based on where you are now, then accept that happiness is coming soon. You must begin your quest for happiness with a positive foundation. At very least, make a bargain with yourself. For thirty days, allow yourself to believe happiness is not only possible, but on way. You have nothing to lose, so give it a try. 2. Find three things to appreciate at start and end of each day. This second key to happiness is all about recognizing that which you already have. Even dreariest of days and most onerous life circumstances have some positive aspects. Start your day by finding three things to appreciate. This can be as basic as appreciating that you woke up to another day and you’re alive. Appreciate weather, not just a sunny day, but also a cloudy day. See beauty in a rain or snow storm. Appreciate your job if you have one, even if you dislike it. Appreciate your car, even if it’s a clunker. Find three things for which you can summon up an appreciative mood. At end of day, repeat this process. This time focus your appreciation on three events of day. Something good must have happened to you today-after all, you’re still alive. Appreciate something new you learned today, even if it was that you can survive a dressing down by an irate customer. Appreciate welcome you received from your spouse, child, or pet, safety of your home, or that you have food for dinner. 3. Accept, change, or separate from that which prevents your happiness. Don’t dwell on sources of unhappiness in your life, but do notice them. The third key is to make conscious decision to do one of only three things you can ever do to change a source of unhappiness-fully accept it, work to change it, or separate from it. These are your choices unless you really don’t want a change-the choice to remain unhappy so you can feel victim is also available. Many people choose this one.
| | The DotWritten by Dr. Freddy Davis
We have all grown up in an age where exploration into dramatic new territory has become routine. We have had people travel into space to live for short periods of time. We have sent people to explore moon. We have built machines to take people under ocean to live and work. And we have even built machines, as extensions of ourselves, to go to places where we could not go physically and send back pictures and other data. There is another arena that it is possible for us to explore - one that we can do personally. It requires a “risk taker” mentality and an adventurous spirit, and I want to give you instructions on how to get there. I am going to take you on a philosophical journey beyond yourself. This may seem a bit esoteric and mysterious, but humor me for a moment. Begin by getting for yourself a clean sheet of white paper. Now, take a pencil and draw a small dot in middle of it. For our purposes here, that dot represents something very important about you. It is sum total of your entire life. Now for most people, what dot represents, and territory inside dot, is most important thing there is. It represents their life, their understanding of reality, and all of their experience. But there is something else on page with dot. Look at all of white space. The white space represents your potential. This is where you could explore if you had a mind to. It represents all of knowledge you don’t have, all of experiences you have never had, all of people you don’t know, and all of activities you have never done. But most people don’t ever spend much time and effort probing outside of dot. Perhaps as many as 95% of entire population of planet are satisfied to live in their dot. Now, certainly, as life is lived, dot expands some. Everyone learns new things and experiences new experiences in course of their lives and this naturally expands dot. But it is a relatively insignificant expansion compared to what is possible. For most people there is no intentional activity that they create to expand dot. It just, sort of, happens. But, this need not be case. It is possible to blast out of dot in every direction and create a life that explodes with new knowledge, relationships, activities and experiences all time. But, it doesn’t just happen. This kind of life must be crafted and intentionally lived. It requires expending energy and effort, which few are willing to do.
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