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happiness carnival – May 27, 2007

May 29th, 2007

Welcome to the May 27, 2007 edition of happiness carnival.

Kara-Leah Masina presents Why Sunday is my favourite day of the week posted at K-L Masina, saying, “Happiness comes when we enjoy what we are doing right here and now… but some days it comes easier than others. Sunday is my day…”

Karl Staib presents Perspectivism posted at Karl Staib.

Debra Moorhead presents What Gardening Has Taught Me About Life posted at Debra Moorhead.com.

Jeremy Reeves presents Being Weird Is a Good Thing posted at The Road To A Perfect Life.

Alex Blackwell presents 14 Ways to Learn the Secret to Happiness posted at The Next 45 Years.

Mike Estep PhD presents Right-Brain Training – Practical Applications Part 4 posted at Mike Estep.com, saying, “This article describes right-brain development using imagination and cartoon-like mnemonic imagery. Benefits include heightened creativity and memory skills.”

Arun presents The Power of Being Social posted at Arun is bringing you…Your Daily Remedy, saying, “How to become your “most social self” and why doing so will make your daily life both more interesting, and happier!”

Raymond David Salas presents How to Make Your Life Easier posted at ZenChill.com Power Tools Blog, saying, “Happiness can be experienced whenever we consciously choose to take the easy way of life. Here’s how.”

Anco presents Wake Up On Time posted at Tipskey – Unlock Practicality, saying, “I think waking up on time is the first thing in self improvement because if you start the day correctly, you will be happier and be more into personal growth for the rest of the day.”

Ruby presents How to be happier: experience gratitude posted at Frugal Aussie.

Christine Kane presents Doubt is a Drag Queen posted at Christine Kane’s Blog.

Craig Harper presents My Body is Not Who I am… It’s Just Where I Iive. posted at Renovate your life with Craig, saying, “As long as our identity is rooted in something which can be taken from us (looks, jobs, money, toys), we’ll always be insecure.”

David Richeson presents How to Overcome Negative Emotions posted at 360 Degree Success, saying, “For the Law of Attraction to create positive results, it is necessary to learn how to maintain a positive mindset. Learn how to overcome negative emotions in this article.”

rohit presents One liners – hidden meanings part 3 posted at darpan, saying, “this is really good.”

Alvaro Fernandez presents Yoga and stress management posted at SharpBrains, saying, “How yoga can help your brain”

Hilda Carroll presents Do you want to be happy? posted at Living Out Loud.

Elle Mgee presents True Happiness Is Knowing What You Want posted at Ever Hopeful, Ever Thankful, saying, “True Happiness Is Knowing What You Want”

Amanda Herrington presents DESSERT FIRST posted at healthsundae.com — your daily scoop of health, fitness, and nutrition, saying, “Don’t forget to take care of yourself.”

Laura Young presents Managing Stress: It’s not JUST how you look at it. posted at Dragon Slayer, saying, “Is coping with stress really just a matter of getting the right attitude? How do you do that?”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of happiness carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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Aristotle and Happiness Podcast

May 28th, 2007

Cick here for the ThinkHappyThoughts.com podcast entitled “Aristotle and Happiness”.

 

Discuss this post in the Happy Forum. Learn more about these ideas at the Happy Wiki.

Land Ho! – Metaphor for Complete Happiness

May 26th, 2007

I finished Mattheiu Ricard’s book about Happiness today. The book was very enjoyable and was of high quality. In one of the last chapters there was a great metaphor that I would like to share, below is an adaptation.

Imagine that you are a pirate on the sea looking for gold. In the distance you spot an island, “Land Ho!” When you arrive on the island, what you see amazes you. The island itself is made of nuggets of gold. You look and look, and you cannot find a single pebble of granite rock.

In the metaphor you are the pirate looking for happiness. Gold is your happiness, and when you stumble on the island, you see that your whole life is happy. You look and look for granite pebbles, or problems and negative feelings, but you cannot find them.

This metaphor makes sense when you realize that you have the power to look at any given fact from different perspectives. No matter what the situation, you can always see it’s different aspects.

Happiness is possible everyday because of your creative, agile mind and its ability to see things from different perspectives.

What is less true about the metaphor is that you can “look and look” and not find the negative aspects of a situation. Finding the negative aspects of any situation is very easy; we do it all the time. For many, looking at the negative aspects is automatic. 

Your agile mind can find the negative or positive aspects of any situation. Develop the mental habit of momentarily acknowledging negative aspects and then spending time dwelling on the positive aspects of your life.         

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Surpassing Others is Nothing, Surpassing Yourself is All

May 25th, 2007

Og Mandino once said, “To surpass the deeds of others is unimportant; to surpass your own deeds is
all”. 

It is very important to limit comparative thinking. While comparative thinking is good in moderation, in excess it is like a mental disease. Comparative thinking is the cause of great unhappiness in the world.

It is better to focus on yourself, and your own progress towards self-chosen goals. Notice you current abilities, both mental and physical, and attempt to improve those abilities every day. This will maximize your own happiness.

Admire the accomplishments of those who perform at high levels, and use that admiration as fuel for your own ambition.

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Think Negatively, On Purpose

May 23rd, 2007

What you resist persists, the old saying goes. This is true on many levels in the world of positive thinking too. Sometimes conscious negativity can help you get some momentum to stay on the positive thinking track.

Imagine that you are wearing imaginary thinking hats, one yellow (positive) and one black (negative). Put the black thinking hat on first, then look at your surroundings and life situation and tell yourself a negative story. Do this for about a minute, describing all the “horrible” things in your life. Recognize how you feel after this task.

Now put on the imaginary yellow thinking hat. Look at your surroundings and situation and tell yourself a positive story about your life. Recognize how difficult or easy this is, and notice how you feel after the session.

What I have found from my own experience of performing this exercise,

  1. I find this exercise refreshing, I get to freely say and accept all the “bad” things that are true in my life without reservation
  2. I more fully recognize the neutrality of my physical surroundings and my life situation
  3. I find that telling either a positive story or a negative story is equally easy
  4. When I perform this exercise for the one minute duration, my moods or feelings to not change much. I am too focused on the task at hand.  

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