The Relativity of "Happiness"

Who doesn't want to "BE HAPPY"?

I mean really - isn't that the ultimate goal we all seek in this life?

Every book we see on Amazon.com has some "secret" to happiness, the "125 ways to GET HAPPY", "Get Happy Now", "Your Way to Happiness", etc...or some variation.

With such an overwhelming emphasis on this seemingly elusive state of being and emotion, and with so many people, experts, pundits and ordinary folk (yours truly) spouting off about "Happiness" and ways to achieve it, wouldn't you think that EVERYONE - or at least the majority of people with access to all this genius, secrets, tips and know how would actually... Be.... Happy!

No?

Think about it - how many people can you name and count who are truly HAPPY? I mean 100%, unadulterated, genuine and all-encompassingly HAPPY?

Not many - if any at all... That I can cite off the top of my head!

Now, I understand there are many, many people that are NOT UNHAPPY - but that is an entirely different thing altogether is it not?

Why is that? Even if you named 2 people that you feel are really, truly happy in their current state, that does not really amount to that many people on this grand world on a strict percentage basis does it?

Again - why is that? Why is happiness so darn elusive and rare in these lives we are leading??

I think I have a theory!

I believe, in my Faith, that we are all Souls. Beautiful, amazing, loving, caring Souls.

Hear me out for a second!

Have you ever been somewhere amazing and beautiful and fun and peaceful in your life? Have you ever spent time somewhere special and spectacular and had to return to wherever it was you came from before you were in that amazing place. Or even more so, had to leave that amazing place for a lesser place?

How did that feel? Crummy, no doubt.

It gets so that you can only really remember that beautiful and amazing place while you are in the lesser venue and dream of how happy you were back in the beautiful place.

How difficult is it to duplicate that feeling of joy and happiness you experienced in the great place in the new place? How happy can you be in the new place having experienced the splendor of the beautiful spot??

It is challenging indeed.

Well, I believe that part of our struggle and difficulty in being happy in this current life is due to the fact that we had once experienced something so peaceful and beautiful and joyous, prior to our existence here on Earth, that although we cannot consciously remember it - we can sense it and feel it and just know that it was an amazingly special place compared to where we are now!

Subconsciously we long to be back in that place of Joy and Happiness and nothing material, earth-made, ego driven or in existence physically can bring us that total and complete sense of peace and love and joy that we have already tasted once before.

How does someone like Elvis Presley kill himself with drugs - when he seemingly has everything we all strive to achieve--- fame, fortune, adoration, wealth and celebrity? The obituaries are filled with unhappy, miserable people who have passed unhappy and incomplete.

Why???

I truly believe that our purpose on the earth is to serve each other - assist and help each other - to learn and grow and develop as beautiful Souls!

And I also believe we will end up back in that beautiful spot we know deep in our subconscious, surrounded by loved ones, experiencing only Joy and peace and love - and finally the true happiness that we seek will be ours!

But not so fast!!

We have work to do here first, people! There is a purpose and reason we are here and we must do our best to grow and develop and love one another until we can get to the greatest Happiness we could ever imagine!

Forget the material trappings and the measures of success we use on this earth!!

The measure of true success is the kindness and love we bring to others, the support and help we offer those who are struggling more than we may be - the growth we seek and achieve in service to one abother and to our God!

That is what we should use as a tape measure!! Because that is all that truly matters after this life is over here on this planet!!

Think about it - when are you closest to true joy??? True happiness?? What brings you closest to that feeling we so desire??

You know the answer!! ;)

Stay Strong and keep your eye on the Goal!!!

Happiness will be ours without doubt!!
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Free Play!!

For those of you who are familiar with American Football, the term "free play" means something to you.

For those who are not, a "free play" occurs when a penalty flag is thrown during a play and an impending penalty is signaled on the defense. The play, however, does not come to a stop as the rules allow the play to go on to completion before the penalty is assessed to the offender.

This creates a "free play" for the offense. They know there is a penalty on the defense and that NO MATTER WHAT they will either score, gain yardage, or if they fail to do so, will get the ball back due to the penalty! No worse for the wear!

It is a great feeling that allows you to take a risk you may not take normally - to really go for a big play - throw the ball deep toward the endzone in hopes of a big catch - all the while knowing that if the other team intercepts the ball - it will not hurt your team.

What a great concept huh?

A free play.

Well, I believe life is like a free play in American Football in that we have our spiritual strength and faith to fall back on - NO MATTER what happens to us, NO MATTER what is thrown our way, or what obstacles we must endure, etc!

We have a multitude of free plays because of the fact - that when all is said and done - and that final whistle blows - we will all be OK!

I truly believe that we cannot do wrong when we live rightly in our hearts - when we allow ourselves to be guided by FAITH, HOPE, LOVE and seek PEACE!

We have a plethora of FREE PLAYS at our disposal when we realize that after all of our battles, hard trials, pain and suffering, hurdles, uncertainty, and FEAR here on earth are over - when we reach the Final Goal -- what George Anderson call the "Garden of Souls" - we will look back and realize we had nothing but Free Plays in our lives!

Take the risk - LIVE and LOVE without fear or anxiety or worry!!! Throw the proverbial football all the way downfield and see what happens!! By doing so you cannot be harmed!!!

Do not play your life conservatively in the aspects of love, kindness, Faith and HOPE!!

Let it Fly!!

No harm will come of it! There is nothing to FEAR when you know it is a FREE PLAY!!

And all of our lives are filled with FREE PLAYS!!

Stay Strong!!
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Ten Years today and Counting.... Thank you, Tiffy!

MY WIFE

Her Blonde hair, her emerald eye.

Her marble skin elicit sigh

Her lips, like pomegranate cleft,

open, smile at me bereft

Of sense or feeling save for pride,

That creature thus could be my bride.

Extrinsic beauty caught my eye,

My heart did stir, my spirit fly,

But beauty out bore beauty in,

Possessed a soul devoid of sin.

And truth did beat within her breast,

With warmth, compassion was she blest.

Whene'er I stumbled through the years,

My bride was there to quell my fears,

With radiant smile, with soft embrace.

She'd mollify my fall from grace.

And seeing faith so strong, so pure,

I'd know that I could strive, endure.

Infatuation at the start,

Metamorphosed in my heart.

Became a love so strong it did.

Supplant my ego rule my id.

I asked that God enrich my life,

He chose an Angel for my wife.

--R.T. Caldwell

Friendly Reminder: Do it Now

Do it Now.

I expect to pass through this world but once.

Any Good thing, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show to any fellow human being let me do it now.

Let me NOT defer nor neglect it; for I shall not pass this way again.

-- Stephen Grellet
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Great Article on the Power of Positive Emotion and Thinking!

The more you understand about any subject, the more interesting it becomes. As you read this article you'll find that the subject of Positive attitude is certainly no exception.

Success is in the blood. There are men whom fate can never keep down they march forward in a jaunty manner, and take by divine right the best of everything that the earth affords. But their success is not attained by means of the Samuel Smiles-Connecticut policy.

They do not lie in wait, nor scheme, nor fawn, nor seek to adapt their sails to catch the breeze of popular favor. Still, they are ever alert and alive to any good that may come their way, and when it comes they simply appropriate it, and tarrying not, move steadily on.

Good health! Whenever you go out of doors, draw the chin in, carry the crown of the head high, and fill the lungs to the utmost; drink in the sunshine; greet your friends with a smile, and put soul into every hand-clasp.

Do not fear being misunderstood; and never waste a moment thinking about your enemies. Try to fix firmly in your own mind what you would like to do, and then without violence of direction you will move straight to the goal.

Fear is the rock on which we split, and hate the shoal on which many a barque is stranded. When we become fearful, the judgment is as unreliable as the compass of a ship whose hold is full of iron ore; when we hate, we have unshipped the rudder; and if ever we stop to meditate on what the gossips say, we have allowed a hawser to foul the screw.

Keep your mind on the great and splendid thing you would like to do; and then, as the days go gliding by, you will find yourself unconsciously seizing the opportunities that are required for the fulfillment of your desire, just as the coral insect takes from the running tide the elements that it needs.

Picture in your mind the able, earnest, useful person you desire to be, and the thought that you hold is hourly transforming you into that particular individual you so admire.

Thought is supreme, and to think is often better than to do.

Preserve a right mental attitude the attitude of courage, frankness and good cheer.

See how much you can learn about Positive attitude when you take a little time to read a well-researched article? Don't miss out on the rest of this great information.

Darwin and Spencer have told us that this is the method of Creation. Each animal has evolved the parts it needed and desired. The horse is fleet because he wishes to be; the bird flies because it desires to; the duck has a web foot because it wants to swim. All things come through desire and every sincere prayer is answered.

We become like that on which our hearts are fixed.
Many people know this, but they do not know it thoroughly enough so that it shapes their lives. We want friends, so we scheme and chase 'cross lots after strong people, and lie in wait for good folks or alleged good folks hoping to be able to attach ourselves to them. The only way to secure friends is to be one. And before you are fit for friendship you must be able to do without it. That is to say, you must have sufficient self-reliance to take care of yourself, and then out of the surplus of your energy you can do for others.

The individual who craves friendship, and yet desires a self-centered spirit more, will never lack for friends.

If you would have friends, cultivate solitude instead of society. Drink in the ozone; bathe in the sunshine; and out in the silent night, under the stars, say to yourself again and yet again, "I am a part of all my eyes behold!" And the feeling then will come to you that you are no mere interloper between earth and heaven; but you are a necessary part of the whole. No harm can come to you that does not come to all, and if you shall go down it can only be amid a wreck of worlds.

Like old Job, that which we fear will surely come upon us.

By a wrong mental attitude we have set in motion a train of events that ends in disaster. People who die in middle life from disease, almost without exception, are those who have been preparing for death. The acute tragic condition is simply the result of a chronic state of mind a culmination of a series of events.

Character is the result of two things, mental attitude, and the way we spend our time. It is what we think and what we do that make us what we are.

By laying hold on the forces of the universe, you are strong with them. And when you realize this, all else is easy, for in your arteries will course red corpuscles, and in your heart the determined resolution is born to do and to be.

Carry your chin in and the crown of your head high. We are gods in the chrysalis.

That's how things stand right now. Keep in mind that any subject can change over time, so be sure you keep up with the latest news.

Bill McRea is the publisher of Living Inside Yourself and Living Life. Both sites are dedicate to providing useful information about life and self improvement.

Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Bill_McRea

STAY STRONG!!!!!

Stay Strong: Forgive Someone NOW!

Stay Strong: Forgive Someone NOW!

Walk a Mile...

We have probably heard this saying a couple thousand times in our lifetime.

"Walk a mile in a man's shoes before you judge".

We hear it and understand it - but it is important that we truly grasp the meaning of this wise and powerful proverb.

As we have discussed here many times, it is very simple to get lost in our daily struggles and issues. When we have challenges and problems, we as HUMANS tend to let those problems consume our every waking moment, overwhelm our thoughts and actions - We simply cannot seem to stop obsesssing on the current strife we battle on a daily basis.

We also tend to be quick to judge others who may not share our goals, outlooks, fashion style, lifestyles, etc. It is - unfortunately - human nature to succumb to these judgements.

It may be human nature but it DOES NOT mean that we cannot overcome these tendencies with a little mental effort.

Without getting too deep into the psychological basis or the "WHY" we tend to do this (insecurity, jealousy, competition, fear, ignorance, upbringing, etc) it is key that we UNDERSTAND and BELIEVE that we can change it if we so desire and choose!

Because we can.

Today try to embark on a new mission - a mission to see EVERYONE we meet today as a Brother and a Sister - not someone in need of a judging. Endeavor today to stop the normal (for most - not all) pattern of competition inherent in every interaction.

Try not to see others from a "how does that compare to me" perspective today and going forward - but instead look at them from a "how much are they hurting" or "what can I learn from them" or "is there anything I can do to assist them in THEIR daily battles and struggles?"

Walk a mile in their shoes and put yourself in their place before we jump to conclusions about why they are a certain way - or why they act in a certain manner.

Become a solution for them - and you will be pleased by how quickly whatever you are focusing on becomes secondary in nature!

It is a step toward fulfillment and joy and it is well within our control to make it a REALITY - starting............. NOW!

We never know what a person deals with daily - so provide the benefit of the doubt to those who appear surly, angry, mean, or rude. They are not this way because they WANT to be (in most cases - lol) - and perhaps, just perhaps your influence in their life can help them get past it and move closer to their God-given right to JOY, PEACE and HAPPINESS.

You may never know if it worked - but you can be assured that the effort alone will take you closer to those three places above we all strive to reach!

Stay Strong!!!