Good Morning and welcome to my thoughts ...
Grab yourself some coffee and sit with me as I talk about a recipe for happiness!
Start with a good recipe and a good cook ant you have the making for a good meal. It's similar with happiness. It doesn't depend on just one ingredient but that come together to reach happiness. These ingredients include things like: work, play, time with family and friends, and other activities. There are also more subtle ingredients like attitudes, desires, and goals in life.
Fortunately, we don't have to figure out the recipe to happiness alone. We've all heard our grand-parents love story and may even have been fortunate enough to witness a few years of it. As my grand-parents explained once, they had no idea what it was to love then because to them, 50 years later it was nothing but a notion. Also, after marriage, the story didn't end with "and they lived happily ever after". As a matter of fact it was more like " and their real life began".
Whether married or single, it is possible to be happy.
Love and Hope -- Essential For Happiness
This is no news flash that from cradle to grave, we all want and need love. Without love and hope people despair.
What exactly is love? Sometimes the word is used loosely nowadays. The old Book describes love beautifully. Love is enduring, kind, not jealous, doesn't brag, doesn't get high and mighty, behave indecently, self-centered and enraged. It doesn't hold grudges, doesn't enjoy doing wrong but rather finds joy in doing what is true. Love is forgiving, believes, hopes, and is patient.
Love is not selfish because it is not self-serving. Love actually places the happiness of others ahead of his/her self. I'm sure you've notice how that kind of love has become rare. As a matter of fact it is dwindling at record speed and the evening news and papers attest to it daily.
Every now and then we hear of an individual who grew up in a troubled home and against all odds grew up and became wealthy. You think that this person made the best of a bad situation right? The problem with this story is that they may not have turned out so well after all. They just became wealthy.
Happiness Results In Good Health
Having a good disposition is good medicine. A report in Time magazine says: “Happiness or related mental states like hopefulness, optimism and contentment appear to reduce the risk or limit the severity of cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, diabetes, hypertension, colds and upper-respiratory infections” . That is no small thing. It has also been noted that in elderly patients, being happy and having a positive disposition reduces the risk of death by 50 percent.
Nobody has ever figured out why our mental disposition plays such a key factor in our health but the fact still remain this: the positive, optimistic people have lower levels of stress hormones which is known to kill the immune system.
Regard Money Wisely
A person who loves money will rarely be satisfied with what he or she earns. There will always be a need for more. If we work hard and enjoy the result of our hard work we gain self respect which is another ingredient of happiness.
We do however have to be balanced. We can enjoy the good things money can buy without making the pursuit of riches the focus of our lives.
Pleasures Have Their Place
So many experimented with all kinds of entertainment to see if it held the secret to happiness and all came to the same conclusion. Empty and unfulfilled. When you compare the pursuit of fun with things like work and family activity, many found that the pursuit of fun was over-rated and inconsequential to finding happiness.
Be Generous and Thankful
Rather than being self-centered, happy people tend to be generous and genuinely interested in others. We've all heard the line: There is more happiness in giving than in receiving. I'm not talking about giving money here. There are things more important. What I mean is the giving of your time, your care, your attention, your appreciation to the people around you.
In a relationship, a couple will spend time together to keep their relationship strong and happy. In a family, parents will give time to their children, talking with them, showing them affection, teaching them. Put the two together, the couple and children, add up the time and care and affection and the whole thrives and the home becomes a haven of happiness.
Not being unrealistic here, things don't become miraculously perfect with no troubles and problems. But the fact is that regardless of all that may arise, you can still be happy.
Ok, we've shown the benefits of generosity. How about gratitude? When someone gives to you, whether it be time or gave of themselves in other ways, do you show yourself thankful? These three words can make a huge difference in our relationships and can bring happiness. When someone shows you genuine gratitude for something you have done for them, doesn't it make you happy?
Showing gratitude raises our awareness to all the good things that come to our lives. How many time have you thought "nothing good ever happens to me"? Had you said thank you to the person who held the door open for you or got up so you could sit, or while in traffic someone allowed you to change lane, or that wonder secretary who brought you coffee, would you be thinking that nothing good happens to you? They may be small deeds but think about it this way, many little deeds of kindness add up at the end of the day and give you a good reason to be happy.
What's The Lesson In All Of This?
No matter what your situation may be, learn to count your blessings. In order to do that, we have to make a conscious effort to seek out the good things we experience
Why not make that a personal goal at the end of everyday?
Joyride -- Roxette
Before you start your day, pump up the volume, and if you're like me, you know the song and will sing at the top of you voice!
Dance and sing and as they say "Come on join the joyride!"
Don't forget your mission, so take note and say "thank you" ...
Thank you for joining me this morning and I wish you all a happy day!
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