Don't settle for happiness?

[Geoff-Allen]

Everyone messes up. Me, you, the neighbors, everybody. It's important to acknowledge mistakes, learn from them so they don't happen again, and feel appropriate remorse. But most people keep beating themselves up way past the point of usefulness: they're unfairly self-critical.

Inside the mind are many sub-personalities. For example, one part of me sets the alarm clock for 6 am to get up and exercise... and then when it goes off, another part of me grumbles: Who set the darn clock? More broadly, there are an inner critic and an inner protector inside each of us. For most people, that inner critic is continually yammering away, looking for something, anything, to find fault with. It magnifies small failings into big ones, punishes you over and over for things long past, ignores the larger context, and doesn't credit you for your efforts to make amends.

That's why you need your inner protector to stick up for you: to put your weaknesses and misdeeds in perspective, to highlight your many good qualities surrounding your lapses, to encourage you to return to the high road even if you've gone down the low one, and - frankly - to tell that inner critic to Hush Up Now.

~ Rick Hanson

Counterpoint Article Library - Happiness & Wellbeing

 

[Geoff-Allen]

I’ve always believed in the adage “actions speak louder than words.” I’ve never been one to seek guidance from commercial catch phrases, trending tweets, or song lyrics. But Guest’s poem did make me smile. Whether it was the playfulness of the verse or just the simplicity of the message, it spoke volumes to me.

Easy, right? Well, maybe for Edgar, but not so much for myself. Laden with insecurities, fear, and self-doubt, I’ve often felt paralyzed to confront obstacles, the largest being happiness and self-worth.

In the past, when my mom saw me down or struggling, she’d often ask, “Are you happy?” or “What would make you happy?” These were scary questions for me, because I had no answer. I would always just say, “I’m fine” and quickly change the subject.

More here -

Maybe This Is What Happiness Is - Tiny Buddha

 

[Geoff-Allen]

From the Happier Human site -

Most people die a few percentage points happier than they were as children. Marriage, employment, friendship, growth… all it results in is a few percentage points of change.

No surprise. Happiness is counter-intuitive.

One study tracked the same individuals over the span of 20 years. At the end, most were just a small bit happier than they were at the start.

But there were exceptions! Their baseline level of happiness increase by 20, 30, even 50% over the course of those 20 years.

https://www.happierhuman.com/how-to-be-happy/

All the best

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Actually, pleasure and pain, and happiness and unhappiness, are things that we need to examine in more depth. For example, every sentient being has the right to survive and, for survival, this means having a desire for happiness or comfort: that’s why sentient beings strive to survive. Therefore, our survival is based on hope – hope for something good: happiness. Because of that, I always conclude that the purpose of life is happiness. With hope and a happy feeling, our body feels well. Therefore, hope and happiness are positive factors for our health. Health depends on a happy state of mind.

Anger, on the other hand, is based on a sense of insecurity and brings us fear. When we encounter something good, we feel safe. When something threatens us, we feel insecure and then we become angry. Anger is a part of the mind that defends itself from what harms our survival. But anger itself makes us feel bad and so, ultimately, it is bad for our health.

Compassion as the Source of Happiness | The 14th Dalai Lama

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

Enjoy this video too -

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Are you lousy at being grateful?

Do you wish for a few pointers on expressing gratitude ...

Then try this article at the greater good site -

Six Habits of Highly Grateful People

Enjoy!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Makes a great google search ...

 

[Geoff-Allen]

There have been extensive studies on how the stress caused by drama has negative effects on our lives and our bodies. Love yourself enough to break this cycle. Love yourself enough to take the actions required for your happiness… Love yourself enough to cut yourself loose from the ties of the drama-filled past. Love yourself enough to move on!

Happiness is found in the simplest of things. Happiness is found in gratitude, in a kept promise, in a good conversation, in love, in friendship, in an achieved goal, in a fond memory; in all the simple magnificence of life.

~ Steve Maraboli

Happiness in Simplicity

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Radical self-love ...

If someone would have told me that I would not only be teaching about self-love and acceptance, but also living a life today filled with healthy relationships, an incredible marriage, unconditional self-love, freedom, peace, joy, abundance, trust, and pure appreciation, I would never have believed it. In fact, where I started is so far removed from where am I now that when I look at pictures of me from that time—while I have so much love for that girl—she seems like a shadow of the me I know so intimately today.

~ Danielle Dailey

How I Achieved Authentic & Radical Self-Love ~ By Danielle Dailey

Enjoy your day!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

What dogs can teach yus about happiness -

8 Lessons Dogs Can Teach Us About Happiness

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Continiuing the canine theme ...

Don’t Judge Others. It doesn’t matter who you are, what your skin colour is, your religion or what job you have (unless maybe you’re a vet!) a dog doesn’t care or judge. They see everyone as the same. Dogs feed off peoples’ energy just like us but humans sometimes let preconceived ideas get in the way too. We all need to be more like a dog and be more accepting.

10 Things Dogs Can Teach Us About Happiness

Cheers!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

As miserable and demoralizing as it may be, our unhappiness does serve one useful purpose: it motivates us to change ourselves, ideally, hopefully, in a positive and evolutionary direction.

How recently have you felt unhappy, deeply unhappy? Do you find that when you feel unhappy, you want nothing more than to wrestle yourself from its grip and experience happiness again? Unhappiness can feel like an imprisonment, and interestingly, there are many people who feel or believe that unhappiness is a punishment of some kind. This is very far from the truth.

Unhappiness can be traced to one of a number of causes, but none of them have to do with punishment, and no one deserves to be happy. Here are the basic causes for our unhappiness:

Read the rest on this page -

Eckhart Tolle Teachings | Why We Are Unhappy

 

[Geoff-Allen]

The human pursuit of happiness is one of the most common human searches, but it tends to be an elusive goal as well. Luckily for us, the experience of "happiness" can actually take many forms and result from a variety of behaviors and life circumstances. Research can now point us to concrete ways that we can find or develop these various forms of happiness in our lives.

To continue reading - click around about here -

The Best Types of Happiness and How to Find Them

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Saw a book in the post office recently - simply called "Changing Minds"

So when I got the chance I googled it just-out-of-idle-curiosity ...

Here is the main page - I have yet to explore it much so just see what you think for yourself -

Ways to Happiness

All the best!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Kindness is one of the keys 2 being happy - this comes from the Tiny Buddha site - which in fact is the opposite of tiny - they have countless articles .....

There Are a Gazillion Little Ways to Be Kind (and It Benefits You Too)

Cheers!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

That led me 2 a site called being better humans - and they have quite a list of organisations dedicated to fighting social injustice -

Social Justice Organizations

 

[Geoff-Allen]

 

[Geoff-Allen]

 

[Geoff-Allen]

The following program of daily exercises and meditations, compiled by Peter Shepherd, has been proven to have wondrous benefits. We recommend you introduce these methods into your life.

Start with one or two of the exercises and gradually increase to do the whole program. Carry the state of being you achieve, and the insights you gain, into your everyday life - that is crucial for the changes to become permanent. Ideally, have one or more partners in this work, so you can share your wins and be mutually supportive.

Unconditional love is your true inner nature and essential being. This is the deepest and truest form of love and is the key to lasting joy and fulfillment in life. Let your love shine!

While you are doing these exercises and meditations, if feelings come up that are hard for you to experience comfortably, just be with the feelings for a while. Don't resist the feeling. And when you are ready, when you can fully experience and accept the feeling, simply let it go.

Comes from this site -

Love is All You Need ~ Free Meditation Program to Help Raise Your Vibration

All the best ...

 

[dfnj]

In craving happiness, if we reject and devalue sadness, and a host of other valuable emotions as “in the way of happiness,” paradoxically we lose great data that would actually help us find a more profound and lasting happiness.

The way to get what you want is to want what you have.

 

[Geoff-Allen]

The way to get what you want is to want what you have.

Thanks for your contribution

Yes - gratitude is a key to being content -

Four Great Gratitude Strategies

All the best!