Ray’s Daily
March 7, 2018
“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.”
Marcus Aurelius
Yesterday I had coffee with a few special people, they are 90 years old or will be soon. They, like all who have lived long lives have weathered illnesses and disappointments. The great thing about these three is their optimism and good humor. They are younger in spirit than most young people I know.
After I got home I read an article by Henrik Edberg that I think could help us all to be more like my friends. Here in part is what he wrote.
How to Live a Happy Life: 10 Things to Say Yes to Starting Today
Today I would like to share 10 things that I have said yes to and that have helped me to become happier in my life.
- Being imperfect. – Trying to be perfect is setting the bar too high. It will be impossible to reach. And so you’ll lower your self-esteem. You may not feel very happy about how things are going in your life. Even though they might be going very well indeed.
Perfectionism is mindset that eats at you and your happiness. Saying yes to being imperfect can turn that around.
- Being you. Not being able to be yourself, always trying to change for others or censoring yourself don’t feel good at all. It makes life feel so small and limited.
- The things that make you come alive. It is important to find some time and energy for the things that you feel makes you come alive.
- Optimism. Pessimism can really limit your life and bring it to a standstill. It can make it feel like there’s no point in trying because it won’t make a difference or you’ll just fail. It can create ceilings and walls made out of glass where there really are none. Saying yes a more optimistic way of thinking can on the other hand open your life up.
- Turning negative self-talk around. It is very important to keep your motivation and your self-esteem up to live a happier life. Your inner critic may be one of biggest obstacles standing in your way of that. If you make a mistake or fail, if someone criticizes you or if you are just getting tired then that small inner voice can become louder and louder and drag and keep you down.
It can tell you that you are stupid or lazy. That you will not succeed. That you are worse or uglier than someone else. Being able to turn the inner critic around or to shut it up as soon as it pops up is a very helpful skill.
- Saying no when you feel it is the right thing for you to do. To have the time and energy to say yes to the most important things you have to say no to some things too.
- Forgiveness. Not clinging to the past and to the hurt that is there but to let it go and look to the now and the future is an essential thing to find more happiness in your life. Forgiving is not always easy and can take time but there are some things that can make it a little easier.
- Making someone else happy. Making someone else happier has many benefits. The happiness spreads back to you as you see his or her face light up and as you know you did the right thing. It spreads back to you as people have a strong tendency to want to give back when you have done something good for them. And it spreads out into the world as that now happier person may spread his or her happiness to other people.
- Openness and growth. Saying yes to being open to the good things in life and growing as a person plays a big role when it comes to happiness.
- To living your life fully despite setbacks. When things have been standing still for while or you hit a bump in the road then it’s easy to back down. To shrink. To give in or give up. But a better way to say yes to happiness in those situations is to say yes to living your life fully.
~~~
Now and then it’s good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.
Guillaume Apollinaire
~~~
She said: While I was dining out with my children, a man came over to our table, and we started talking. He asked where my kids go to school. I told him we home-schooled them.
With a raised eyebrow, he asked if my husband is the sole breadwinner for our family.
I said, “No, I also work out of our home.”
Then, noticing our two-month-old son, he mentioned that his daughter had just had a baby, and he wondered what hospital our son was born in. “He was born at home,” I answered.
The man looked at me, then said, “Wow, you don’t get out much, do you?”
~~~
I asked my psychiatrist if she thought I was crazy, she said “no”, so I let her up.
~~~
All About Adam
Wandering dejectedly in The Garden of Eden, Eve told God, “I’m lonely I’m tired of eating apples by myself.”
“Okay,” God said, “I’ll create a man for you.”
Eve said, “A man! What’s that?”
“He’s a creature with aggressive tendencies and an enormous ego. He won’t listen very well, he’ll get lost easily, but never stop to ask for directions. However, he is big and strong, he can open jars and hunt animals. And he’ll be fun in bed.”
“Sounds great!” said Eve.
“Oh, and one more thing,” God said. “He will want to believe that I made HIM first.”
~~~
“Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope and that enables you to laugh at life’s realities.”
Dr. Seuss
~~~
A little girl in Minnesota came home from Sunday School with a frown on her face. “I’m not going back there anymore,” she announced with finality. “I don’t like the Bible they keep teaching us.”
“Why not?” asked her astonished mother.
“Because,” said the little girl, “that Bible is always talking about St. Paul, and it never once mentions Minneapolis.”
~~~
In our lives, change is unavoidable, loss is unavoidable. In the adaptability and ease with which we experience change, lies our happiness and freedom.
Buddha
~~~
Ray Mitchell
Indianapolis, Indiana
Management is not responsible for duplicates from previous dailies. The editor is somewhat senile.
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