How To Access Happiness NOW September 1, 2010
Posted by nrhatch in Happiness, Life Balance, Mindfulness, People.comments closed
I read an illuminating post on Raptitude (Getting Better At Being Human) this morning:
Good News: Happiness Doesn’t Exist
Using Buddhist teachings, the author (David) explains why we have evolved as we have . . . existing in a state of perpetual dis-ease or dukkha.
Dukkha, self-created suffering or disquietude, is designed to keep us wanting more ~ more safety, more security, and more status.
Unfulfilled desires cause suffering and unhappiness because we are convinced that we cannot be happy until we have attained the object of our desire.
Once we attain IT (whatever IT is), a new desire appears to take IT‘s place, and the cycle begins anew.
The more we look “out there” to find happiness, the more elusive it becomes, because happiness for a reason, any reason, can always be taken away.
If we want lasting happiness, we must look for it in the NOW, by training our minds to let go of disquietude and self-created suffering. When we exist in the NOW, we allow our unfulfilled desires to drift away. In the resulting vacuum, inner peace and happiness surface.
Think of a moment that took your breath away, a moment when you laughed until you cried, or a moment when the world fell away of its own accord.
In those moments, you existed ONLY in the NOW.
The past faded from view. No worries clouded your thoughts or troubled your mind. You floated in the eternal sea of bliss and joy which lies within.
That’s happiness . . . the absence of suffering in the eternal NOW.
Related posts: Where Happiness Resides * Tigger or Eeyore . . . It’s Your Call * How To Be Happy NOW * 5 Steps To A Happier You * 10 Ways to Attract Positive Energy * ABC’s of Happiness * More ABC’s of Happiness
Fun with Math: Laugh Calculator September 1, 2010
Posted by nrhatch in Happiness, Humor, People.comments closed
We can all use a bit more laughter in our life, right?
Here’s a Laugh Calculator to help get you started.
1. Pick the number of times (1-9) you would like to laugh out loud today.
E.g., 9
2. We don’t want to be stingy with laughter. Multiply your number by 2.
9 x 2=18
3. Hmm . . . still not enough laughter. Add 7 more to the mix.
9 x 2 = 18 + 7 = 25
4. Now, multiply your laugh quota by 50! Yes, 50!
9 x 2 = 18 + 7 = 25 x 50 = 1250
No calculator? Multiply by 100, and divide by 2.
5. If your birthday already passed this year, add 1660. If not, add 1659.
9 x 2 = 18 + 7 = 25 x 50 = 1250 + 1660 = 2910
6. Now, subtract the 4-digit year you were born.
9 x 2 = 18 + 7 = 25 x 50 = 1250 + 1660 = 2910 – 1989 = 921
Laugh all you want . . . that’s the goal! Besides, 1989 was a very good year.
7. If your math skills are up to snuff, and you are 99 years of age or less, you should have a 3 digit number: e.g., 921
* The first digit is how many times you wanted to laugh out loud ~ 9
* The last two digits are your current age ~ 21
If you are over 99 years of age, this won’t work.
Sorry.
But given your obvious longevity, you already know how to laugh, right?
Calvin figured out how it works . . . can you?
Inspiration: OH! The E-mails I Receive! (Reflections from A Cloudy Mirror)
* * * * *
Laugh Calculator: Solution posted!
A Few More Speed Bumps September 1, 2010
Posted by nrhatch in Humor, Word Play.comments closed
As we observed (or heard) in Pronunciation Variations, learning to speak English is not intuitive.
In fact, sometimes, it’s downright counter-intuitive.
Words spelled the same often are pronounced differently, and words spelled differently often share a common pronunciation.
Here are a few more speed bumps to master while learning the English language:
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) A buck does funny things when does are present.
15) A seamstress, a tailor, and a sewer fell into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) You may find that the wind is too strong to wind the sail.
18) After a number of Novocaine injections, my jaw got number.
19) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
20) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
21) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
22) I spent last evening evening out a pile of dirt.
23) Even without a rough cough, climbing the bough on a tree is tough!
24) I live under a live Oak tree.
No matter how long we wonder and ponder, the pronunciation variations of the English language are apt to remain a mystery.
It’s one/won of the reasons I love to write/right!
Want to join the fun? Share a few of your favorite English language idiosyncracies below!
Related Post: Foxes With Sockses
Cold Feet September 1, 2010
Posted by nrhatch in Happiness, Magick & Mystery, People.comments closed
On a cold day, a young boy, about 10-years-old, stood staring through the window of a shoe store, barefoot and shivering with cold.
A woman approached him and said, “My, but you’re in deep thought!”
“I was asking God for a pair of shoes,” the boy replied.
Looking down and seeing his bare feet, the woman took him by the hand, went into the store, and asked the clerk to get half a dozen pairs of socks for the boy. She took the boy to the back of the store to wash and dry his feet.
When the clerk returned with the socks, she put a pair on the boy’s feet, then purchased him a pair of warm shoes.
Handing him the bag of socks, she smiled and said, “No doubt, you’ll be more comfortable now.”
The astonished child looked up and asked, “Are you God’s wife?”
Inspiration: e-mail from unknown author
Spirit Lights The Way 