Posts Tagged ‘happiness’

The Pope’s Happiness & Fat?!!!

happyangel12.jpgAre God and Jesus Christ are the only true sources of happiness?

“Sometimes, the person who has everything he could desire is still not happy; meanwhile someone deprived of everything, even freedom or health, can be joyful and peaceful, if God is within his heart. ”
~ Pope Benedict XVI

We both agree and disagree!

Certainly many church teachings are central and crucial to living a happy, spiritually successful life. Compassion, goodness, honesty, virtue and truth are the basis of a happy life.

We also know many very religious people who are not especially happy. Some of the most horrendous crimes in history were committed with a false sense of religious righteousness.

Some of the happiness people in the world are Buddhists who do not have a concept of God that is central to our Judaeo Christian creed. Buddhists do have compelling teachings about compassion, care and concern for others that are central to their beliefs.

It is these values, we believe, that bring Buddhists happiness. The ancient Greeks agreed, “A man who is not virtuous will never be happy.” ~ Epicurus

Herb Benham jokes about a recent study in the Archives of Internal Medicine reporting that fat men are less likely to commit suicide than thin men!? One wonders if worry is keeping people thin and unhappy.

Taking pride in feeling good and looking good is important source of happiness! We don’t believe habitually over eating is a healthy, enduring source of joy.

What do you think? Post your comments below!

See HappinessHabit.com for more resources.

Copyright 1999-     , Michele Moore. All Rights Reserved.  Reprints.

Happiness Without Pursuit

happystpetersburg1.jpgShould Happiness Be Pursued? Or does happiness flow best and naturally just from a life well lived?

See Happiness Without Pursuit
Mark Teeter 3/17/07 St. Petersburg Times


One of my grandfathers pursued happiness and the other did not. The first tried a dozen disparate jobs but found only modest success and fleeting satisfaction.

The non-pursuer — a rare combination of journalist, historian and Methodist minister — did all three for their own sake and that of others, and did them very well. When he died, Time magazine titled his obituary “A Happy Man.”

It’s a wonderful article and analysis of happiness in Russia!

See HappinessHabit.com for more insights about how to live a happy life.

Copyright 1999-     , Michele Moore. All Rights Reserved. Reprints.

Happiness Blog Expanding!

happyspread.jpgHappiness Blog is moving, expanding and will include current happiness articles of interest.
See
HappinessHabit.com for a listing of Happiness Habits.

We’ll continue to respond to reader’s comments and what we read, like this for example:

Every day may not be good, but there’s something good in every day.” was posted by the Happiness Institute today…
“A negative judgment is the force behind all fears, anxieties and worries!”

Why say any day “May not be good?” When you start off that way, your negative projections can become a self fulfilling prophecy! Why not say, “How can I make the best of this day and every day?”

The International Herald Tribune writes Darrin McMahon author of “Happiness: A History” still has problems defining Happiness, so does Hootiepalooza who writes.. Wikipedia defines happiness As an effective state?!!!

Why not try our Happiness Habit definition…
A happy life is generally…

Pleasant & Pleasing,
Purposeful & Productive,
Prosperous & Spiritually Successful!”

“Happiness is the energized, elevated emotion we experience when we enjoy, appreciate or achieve a worthwhile goal.”

Deciding what happiness means to us helps us decide what steps we can take to attain it. For more insights see our Happiness Habit resources.

Tell us if you like our new approach. It may be a bit redundant at times, but repeating key concepts helps them to be reinforced and retained. That’s the way to build happiness!

See HappinessHabit.com for more happiness resources.

Copyright 2007,  Michele Moore. All Rights Reserved. Reprints.

Happiness Numerator & Demoninator

denominator.jpgDoug Manning shares a wonderful insight into happiness in his posting today titled Denominator of Happiness at ProactiveLiving.BlogSpot.com

He says developing your Denominator is the key to happiness…

“The denominator is the real secret to developing an enduring sense of happiness and fulfillment. You focus on defining and developing your whole self. What are your interests? What do you value? What are your passions? What is your unique style? Where in the world can you be who you are?”

“These are the questions that give shape to defining a quality life. In the denominator world, quality is better than quantity, every denominator is unique, and the quickest way to get everything you want is to want exactly what you have.”

What a great approach! So much depends upon perceptions. People with much materially can still feel poor, especially if they are over extended financially. Other people who seem to have comparatively little can feel very rich and appreciative of all they do have.

We found the biggest barrier to happiness is the Fault Finding Feel Goods, all those terribly temping tendencies to judge, criticize and blame. A great happiness habit is to avoid all unnecessary, non-productive negativity. If the negativity doesn’t help you or protect you in some way, reject it.

If the negativity does actually help you, turn it into a series of positive action items to help you build your happiness and success. Hope this helps!

See HappinessHabit.com for more happiness insights.

Copyright 1999-    ,  Michele Moore. All Rights Reserved. Reprints.

Happiness Choices Show Who We Are

happysunflwr.jpg“It is our choices…that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.
~
J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series

How true this is with happiness and all other facets of our lives!

Our choices reveal our beliefs, ideals and our values.

The world evaluates us by what we value.

Truly happy people are guided by goodness, love, caring and compassion. They continually focus on doing their best and being their best. Love propels their work, their lives and their happiness.

They live by the highest and best values and beliefs. Their minds and lives are founded and grounded in honesty, virtue, goodness and truth. The universe respects, admires and rewards people who try to do good things well.

People who prefer greed and malicious manipulation over integrity, compassion and goodness are only happy when they beat somebody. When they don’t win they are miserable. They must feel superior to feel good about themselves. This is the path to emptiness, material gains on occasion, but still an unhappy, meaningless life.

Love propels happiness. Wherever love and goodness are limited or lacking there is no happiness. Look around and see if the wicked appear truly happy to you. Most are very shallow, weak, empty and insecure.

See HappinessHabit.com for more happiness wisdom.

Copyright©1999-    ,  Michele Moore. All Rights Reserved.   Reprints.

Scientists Can’t Define Happiness!

happybeaker.jpgDo you feel frustrated by reading about recent Happiness Research at major universities?

Are you looking for ways to be happier and find this research offers no clues as to what to do? You are not alone, we all face the same quandary. Here’s why…

Academic / scientific research usually involves qualities that are measurable and verifiable so the studies can be repeated with the same results. That’s why we have all the emphasis on measuring subjective happiness, relative indexes and comparative results.

Researchers must rely on qualities that can be measured so their studies can be repeated and yield similar results so they can be considered valid.

Measuring happiness does not describe how to attain it! They are two very different goals, processes and functions.

Many philosophers, psychiatrists and great thinkers throughout time have written that comparisons and analysis of Happiness actually defeats happiness. We agree. Why stop being happy to try to measure our happiness? What difference do these measurements make? Do they help you to be happier?

Once you measure relative happiness, what good does it do you?

If we want to be happy or happier, we need to focus on developing the skills, habits and strategies that lead to happy lives. There are simple, universal, eternal truths to living a happy, spiritually successful life. If we practice them we will be happier.

See HappinessHabit.com for more Happiness Habits!

Copyright 1999-    , Michele Moore All Rights Reserved.  Reprints.

NBC’s Happiness, Health & Prozac

happypill.jpgYes, happy people are healthier too! Tonight NBC featured studies showing that happy people are more resistant to cold and flu viruses and lead longer lives than their less happy counterparts.

Ten Years Longer Life..

A well known study of Catholic nuns revealed that nuns who consistently wrote positive journals lived up to 10 years longer than those whose journals tended toward negative.

“If we hope, we cope. If we don’t, we mope,” one charmingly energetic 96 year old nun commented on screen. What’s the reason?

Happiness is a protector against stress.

Stress stimulates the release of cortisol, a hormone correlated with higher risks of heart disease.

Happiness counters stress, when we’re happy, we’re less stressed.

A related feature reported that more than 11 million prescriptions are written annually for anti depressant medications like Prozac and Zolof in the United States. If we chemically treat erectile dysfunction and baldness, why not bad moods?

See HappinessHabit.com for more happiness insights.

Copyright 1999 –    , Michele Moore. All Rights Reserved. Reprints.

Happiness And Care At Work

Happiness And Work

Happiness comes from a job well done, from knowing we’ve accomplished something of value in a positive and joyous way. Even repetitive, mundane tasks can be made beautiful by the spirit in which we address them. Joy in all we do is something we can choose to cultivate.

The best way to do anything well is to cultivate a love for it.

It makes no sense to place our attitudes in conflict with actions we must take to achieve our goals. That’s a sign we need to change what we’re doing, change how we feel about it, or both.

Excellence is a function of the attention, care and concern we give to what we do. Mediocre results from mediocre efforts bring little joy or satisfaction. We can choose to excel and do well through the attention, care and concern we extend to our work.

Happiness can come from doing an ordinary job extraordinarily well and taking pride in our achievements. Happiness comes from achieving something we value and celebrating our success.

Happiness comes from the joyous spirit of attention, care and concern we can choose to address our work.

Happiness Habit: Skills & Strategies of Habitually Happy People
Copyright 1999 – Michele Moore. All Rights Reserved. Reprints

Be Your Best Self

Practice Being Your Best Self

We all experience those magical days when we are thinking, acting and feeling our very best. Our minds are alert, sharp, focused, we are able to concentrate well. An easy, relaxed powerful energy flows through our bodies. Our spirits seem to soar with joy.

Remember those days, recall those thoughts and feelings. Feel the rhythm and beat of that marvelous, positive energy flowing through your body. Connect with those and feelings and take them on for yourself. Project them and they will be yours.

You can’t step into that magic zone by concentrating on how badly you feel!

For more happiness habits and insights explore HappinessHabit.com

Happiness Habit: Skills & Strategies of Habitually Happy People
Copyright 1999 – Michele Moore. All Rights Reserved. Reprints.

Money Is No Measure of Happiness

Money Is Not Happiness

Here’s further proof that “Money Does NOT Buy Happiness” from a new study in Australia. ABC-Australia Higher income people showed less satisfaction with their lives than people in lower income brackets.

Money buys beautiful things that bring Situational Happiness. It shows superficial status and financial success. Money buys interesting, enlightening experiences, education and travel. Money buys freedom from some worries, it provides food, shelter and health insurance. It buys delightful distractions and diversions.

These are external experiences that temporarily elevate our feelings.

Habitually Happy People focus on Spiritual Success which brings Sustained Happiness. It’s fairly independent of their external environment or circumstances.

It’s easy to confuse things that make us happy temporarily with the true source of happiness, which ultimately lies within ourselves. Unhappy people will be unhappy irrespective of their wealth and resources. Habitually Happy People have decided to be happy no matter what happens around them.

Happiness Habit: Skills & Strategies of Habitually Happy People
Copyright 1999 – Michele Moore. All Rights Reserved. Reprints.