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Change Your Mind and Change Your Life

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Change Your Mind and Change Your Life
By Dan Johnston, Phd

"Nothing is good or bad, but thinking makes it so." ~ William Shakespeare

How many of your problems could be solved by something as simple as changing your mind? All of the daily problems we face exist in our minds, because in order to have a problem we must be thinking about it, and what we think may make the problem worse than it actually is.

For many of us it comes natural to always imagine the worst and then to forget that we only imagined it. We take our imagination for the truth. While what we are worried about could happen, usually, it does not. We create unnecessary mental anguish through worry.

Suppose you are sick and visit your doctor to have some tests run. It takes a few days to get the results. In the meantime your busy mind can convince you that you must be seriously ill. You see yourself incapacitated, and even begin to plan your funeral, only to be given the good news that everything is normal. You created more misery than you needed.

If you can catch yourself in the midst of such exaggerated thinking and just change you mind by redirecting your thinking, then life can get better. Changing your mind, however, is hard work, because to do it you must think about how you think. You must pay attention to the inner chatter of the Voice of Conscience, and when you catch it exaggerating or talking nonsense, call a time-out and challenge the dialogue.

With regard to your doctor visit, when your mind wanders to the worst, stop and come back to the facts you have. Don't add to them. Remind yourself to be patient and wait to hear from your doctor.

Learn to change your mind by monitoring your thinking. When you catch your mind racing down the wrong path, put on the brakes, and turn around. You will create less misery. Practice thinking about how you think, and your problems may well decrease. Learn to catch your mind in action, and always make the more optimistic choice.

You can begin this process right now. Start thinking about how you think and just continue to do so all day long. When you find yourself thinking "nonsense" and adding to your trouble, just stop and come back to reality. Do this all day today. Now, continue to do it all day, every day for the rest of your life, and life will begin to improve.

Most people upon hearing this advice throw up their arms in despair and say, "It's too hard. Can't I just do it a few weeks and stop?" The answer is, "No!" That would be like successfully dieting two weeks and stopping. The weight soon returns.

The simple reality is that you have no choice about whether you will do it or not. Every day, you will think and create reality in your mind. You cannot avoid it. You are always thinking. The only choice you have is whether you will do it consciously or unconsciously. Will you do it and know that you are doing it, which means you are in control and can change it, or will you forget about your thinking, feel like a victim, and believe that others control your life?

Each day choose to think about how you think. Each day carefully listen to what you say to yourself, and choose your best attitude. Change your mind, and take control of your life.

Dr. Dan Johnston, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist affiliated with Mercer Health Systems in Macon, Georgia. For 20 years he was the Director of Psychological Services for a large metropolitan Medical Center and is currently serving as an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science for Mercer University School of Medicine in Macon, Georgia. Dr. Johnston's expertise is in stress management and resiliency training. He is the author of "Lessons for Living: Simple Solutions for Life's Problems" from Dagali Press and creator of the popular Lessons for Living Web Site (http://www.lessonsforliving.com).

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The Problem With Pleasure And The Secret Of Happiness

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The Problem With Pleasure And The Secret Of Happiness
By Michael Neill

If all the year were playing holidays, to sport would be as tedious as to work. But when they seldom come, they wished for come...

William Shakespeare, from Henry IV, part one

For years, I have wrestled with what at first may seem an abstract philosophical question - how do I "follow my bliss" and "prioritize happiness" without putting myself, my goals, and my life at the mercy of my moods?

While reading Authentic Happiness, Martin Seligman's new treatise on the nascent field of Positive Psychology, I came across a distinction that resolves my seeming dilemma - the distinction between pleasure and what I will call "satisfaction" - i.e. between those things that feel good in the moment and those things that we feel good about afterwards.

Here are some common pleasures my wife and I have been known to enjoy on the odd occasion:

· Eating chocolate cake

· Receiving a full body massage

· Shopping for clothes (one of us)

· Drinking beer while watching Football on a large screen TV

(The other one of us) :-)

Here are their "equivalent" satisfactions:

· Making a chocolate cake

· Giving a full body massage

· Making or designing clothes

· Playing football (probably without the beer!)

Pleasures give our bodies, well, pleasure; satisfactions gratify our souls.

Does this mean pleasure is bad?

Not at all. But the problem with pleasure is that it feels so darn good, we can be easily tempted to put it at the top of our priority list as we pursue "the good life" at all costs. But the "good life" is largely devoid of the satisfactions which come when we pit ourselves against a worthy challenge. Perhaps this is why Sir Richard Branson continues to risk life and limb in a helium balloon - because he recognizes that the so called "good life" is bad for you.

In fact, pleasure pursued for its own sake actually seems to get in the way of our happiness. A lizard will starve to death if you try to hand feed it, yet it will thrive when allowed to hunt its own food; an ear of corn will rot on the stalk if not challenged by wind and rain. And if you want to be happy, you need to take on a worthy challenge - even if that's the last thing you feel you want!

So how do we create a happier, more satisfying life?

1. Allow more pleasure into your life

This may seem to go against everything I have been saying, but for most of us, our lust for pleasure is tied in to the appeal of any forbidden fruit. In fact, the word in our society most commonly paired with pleasure is "guilty". By making it OK to take time out to listen to the rain while taking a warm, candlelit bath (and watching the football while drinking a beer :-), we can stop spending so much time policing ourselves and begin taking more time to challenge ourselves.

2. Discover your strengths and begin to put them to work

There have been two major studies into identifying and developing your individual strengths. Both feature an online diagnostic tool which can be used to identify your own personal strengths. The VIA Strengths survey, developed by Martin Seligman and Chris Peterson. It takes between 20 and 30 minutes to fill out. You can read more about it in Seligman's new book, Authentic Happiness.

Donald O. Clifton and Marcus Buckingham of the Gallup polling organization have developed a similar but different survey called the "StrengthsFinder" in conjunction with their book, Now...Discover Your Strengths!. You can get more information on the 34 strength "themes" they have identified on their website.

Both books and surveys include numerous tips and techniques for putting these strengths into action in a variety of contexts, including applications at work and at home.

3. Do at least one difficult thing each day

When Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi completed his in initial studies into "Flow and the Psychology of Optimal Experience", he was asked by a reporter to summarize the findings of what was a 2000+ page document. After thinking for a moment, Csikszentmihalyi said "Every day, the happy person does at least one difficult thing."

When seeking out worthy challenge in your own life, bear in mind that optimal experience tends to live at the balancing point at the outer edge of your abilities - when you're fully engaged but not overwhelmed by the challenge.

If challenging our abilities is such an important part of a satisfying life, why is it that those people facing the most difficult circumstances don't lead the most fulfilling lives?

The answer would appear to be in one of Csikszentmihalyi's eight keys to optimal experience - a sense of control. When people do not feel in control of their challenges, they generally try and deny them, run from them, or otherwise distract themselves. When they set their own challenges, they feel more in control and tend to embrace them.

The trick, then, to turning a difficult life into a meaningful one is in choosing your challenges - that is, actively deciding to embrace your problems and take them on in positively challenging chunks. By choosing our problems (and taking ownership of them), we give ourselves the sense of control which allows the most difficult circumstance to become a self-defined challenge.

In the end, this is possibly the most positive choice we can make in any circumstance - to love what is while doing the best we can to make it the way we want it.

Here are some ideas to try:

1. Make a list of those things you enjoy doing in your life. Divide them into 2 columns - those things that bring you pleasure, and those things that bring you a sense of satisfaction. Look to add at least one thing from the satisfaction column into your day each day this week.

2. Visit the "Strengths" websites (and/or read the books!) mentioned in today's tip and generate a list of your top 3 - 5 strengths. Look for ways to use them more in your work and at home.

3. Do something difficult! Taking on even one difficult task or challenge each day will boost your self-esteem, lift your depression, and increase your energy. If you are facing a difficult problem today, choose it - practice commanding the world to be exactly as it is until you feel a sense of control emerging.

4. Use the pursuit of satisfaction to plan your day today. Ask yourself "What do I need to do today to be able to look back and feel great about what I've done?" If you find yourself with some free time, ask yourself "What would be the most satisfying thing I could do between now and ___?"

Have fun, learn heaps, discover your strengths, seek out worthy challenges, and watch your happiness soar!

Michael Neill is a licensed Master Trainer of NLP and has written over 550 articles in the areas of business success, money, relationships, health, happiness, well-being, and spirituality. His weekly coaching column is reprinted in newspapers and magazines throughout the world, and can be found online at http://www.geniuscatalyst.com

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How to Become Happy

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How to Become Happy
By Christopher L Crawford

Psychologists have spent decades trying to understand what makes us happy. Anxiety, tension, and depression infiltrate our lives like termites on wood. As soon as we satisfy the biological urge to procreate our species, what's left? Are we sacrificing our lives away only to be rewarded by a firm handshake from the Grim Reaper when the time comes? Is the goal to pass the finish line of life as fast as we can, swing open the pearly gates, and anxiously ask St. Peter, "what for?"

"Man, unlike the animals, has never learned that the sole purpose of life is to enjoy it." -Samuel Butler

So busy living our lives, we lose sight of what's truly important--to enjoy it! The purpose of life becomes blurred with everyday inconveniences. So consumed and wrapped up in living our lives, we focus on what we want next and then decide who's to blame when we don't get it. Frantically climbing over one another to get to the next rung on a ladder that's suspended against nothing, and leading to nowhere, we fall prey to rising expectations that don't ever have a chance of matching reality.

Frustration levels rise like a thermometer in an open fire. The battle scars of stress slowly etch a serious expression onto our faces. The obligatory facial wrinkles are reminders of the hard time we've served from a continual bombardment of life's trials and tribulations.

Sadly, we lose the ability to laugh at ourselves and others. Life's offerings go unappreciated and we lose the ability to find joy. We live like a clam sealed shut, as we become numb and tune out life. Finding joy is like searching for your best friend in a thick London fog. You call out for happiness, and all you hear is a melancholy echo of silence.

Happiness is not only evasive, it's illusive. In our quest, we must first ask ourselves the basic question, "What is happiness?" Is it winning a million dollars in the lottery or a big hit at the slot machines of your favorite casino? Can wealth buy it or maybe even rent it? Is happiness contingent on having a successful job or career? Is personal joy related to having a family to come home to? Can it be as simple as enjoying the simple things that life has to offer? Can watching a sunset, enjoying a home cooked meal, or reading a thought-provoking book make us happy? Can an afternoon stroll in the park or a trip to the beauty salon provide bliss? What about a nice seven course meal--a six-pack of beer and a hamburger?

Jefferson said it well in the Declaration of Independence when he wrote, "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." How many folks follow the last part of his advice? Years ago a roof overhead and a nice hot meal on the table were enough to make anyone happy. Today, jumping out of a perfectly good airplane is countered by someone else saying, "Big deal!", or "So what's next?" The rewards of success have given rise to a society where more is less, and much more can never be enough. We keep reaching for that which is always out of reach.

Amazingly, our education forgets to teach us the most important thing in life--how to be happy!

Maybe Grandpa did walk twenty miles in the snow to get to school. Yet junior climbs into the back seat of your Porsche and scolds you for not driving aggressively enough. "Come on Dad, we're going to be late for baseball practice. Step on it!" The fact that the bar continues to rise is proof that we live in a society where our insatiable urge for more and more, decays into a frustrating feeling of having less and less.

Can happiness truly exist over the long term? Or is it short-lived? Does it need continual refreshment to keep it stimulating and alive? Those who pursue the fast track to happiness find the short cut all right. The only problem is that they run off the road with their reliance on drugs and alcohol. Their reward is blowing a mental tire at high speed.

Society places guilt among those who pursue hedonistic pleasures. How can we possibly enjoy our well-deserved rewards without receiving the punishing feelings of guilt along with it?

"If you can't have happiness, then what else is there?"

What is happiness anyway? Some psychologists say it's momentary joy as well as a feeling of lasting contentment. Can it magically materialize when you melt into the couch and begin your channel surfing love dance with the TV?

The experts say that inactivity will destroy the best of us. You've heard of the story where a person works their entire life in anticipation of retirement. Two years in the rocking chair watching grass grow in the backyard, and this person suddenly turns into good fertilizer for that same grass. A decaying corpse of human mulch, you sacrificed your life away until it was too late to reap the harvest you worked so hard to accumulate. Worse, Junior takes your 401K earnings and blows it on a cruise around the world with his body pierced, tattoo painted, trophy of a girlfriend.

The good news is that happiness can be learned. You aren't locked into your genetics. The best way to learn how to become happy is by reading the self-help book entitled, "Happiness is Everything!". You will learn how to to attain extreme happiness and personal joy. Not only will you discover inner peace, and tremendous satisfaction, you will be able to put excitement back into your life!

If you're not happy in your life or you have a friend or loved one who needs help, you need to read "Happiness is Everything!". It makes a wonderful gift too! This incredible self-help book can be found here:

http://www.buybooksontheweb.com/product.aspx?ISBN=0-7414-0420-6

About the Author: Chris Crawford has dedicated his life to the art of self-improvement. With an engineering degree from Hofstra University, New York, and a MBA degree from Penn State, he lives with his family in Southern New Jersey.

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http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Become-Happy&id=1042569

The Values Of Being Happy And Grateful For What You Have

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The Values Of Being Happy And Grateful For What You Have
By Richard Rizza

We are surrounded by lack. The lack of money to buy gas for our cars, the lack of time to make more money and a lack of gratitude for what we have. Fortunate or not we can always be worst off than we are now and somebody always has it worst than we do.

The best way for us to value our present day happiness and gratitude for what we have is to live up to our potential. I don't know any happy people who can't pay their mortgage yet they are happy. If you can't pay your mortgage you can't be happy but you can be grateful if you can afford to rent another house or an apartment.

Happiness is earned and it will never come to you no matter how much money you have. Being grateful for what you have is mandatory if you are ever to be happy. If you can't pay your mortgage it's a good time to change your life and change is always energizing. Energy is what you need in the face of a challenge that is detrimental to your values and threatens your lifestyle.

If you can't pay your mortgage, not living in your dream home, or if you are currently renting, be grateful that you can start to improve your plight today. Possessing the values of being happy and grateful for what you have are character traits you fall back on when times are hard. If you don't value being happy even in the darkest times you will never be grateful for long.

Happiness is what you have before during and after you don't have money or had your home foreclosed on. It is not possible to be happy 100% of the time but we must try at least 98% to come out of our funk, shake it off, buck up and regroup. Gratitude and the practice of being grateful allows you to focus on only positive issues that can help you get through a bad time.

So many people are living from paycheck to pay check, in danger of living in their cars or having their cars repossessed. Survival for many of us has replaced the hope of the possibility of being happy one day. Even as you are only surviving you have the abilities, tools and possibly the time to earn happiness.

Some people are just getting by, struggling and surviving. Other people are making the necessary sacrifices that will lead to the achievement of their ultimate goal. They may be neighbors. One neighbor may be living within their means and the other neighbor may be stress out over money because they are financially over extended. Happiness is earned by making good decisions that contribute to what you identify as happiness.

The values of being happy and grateful for what you have are values to possess no matter how much money you have and no matter where you live. Our values have a lot to do with how we live. If we only value money to make us happy we can never be happy for long. Being grateful for having money only leaves you nothing to be grateful if you somehow loose your money.

The things you like have value and being happy means loving and respecting yourself. Doing the things you enjoy doing have value. If you don't like baseball, it's value to you is not as great as the person who loves baseball. Likewise the values of being happy and grateful for what you have.

Many of us in the course of our lives find ourselves in a position where we don't feel we that we are happy. We are not happy because we weigh too much, we are not happy because we don't have children, we are not happy because we are struggling financially. Some of us have no control over matters of health and we still must find value in being happy and grateful for what you have.

For some of us our bad habits keep us from realizing the fullest extent of our potential and our greatest capacity for happiness. The values of being happy and grateful for what we have are innate.

Richard Rizza is a Home Business Development Expert and Professional Marketing Consultant. He is a top income earner in the Home Business industry. To learn insider secrets and powerful marketing strategies from the pros to help you explode your home business empire, sign up for Richard's FREE cutting edge Ezine go to http://thedirectsalesinsider.com, to learn more.

To contact Richard directly go to his personal website http://www.richardrizza.com, there you will also have access to his Blog, subscribe to his blogs RSS feeds today.

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Happy Life - Four Tips That Can Help You Make This Possible

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Happy Life - Four Tips That Can Help You Make This Possible
By Kanaga Siva

What is it that we want in life? A vast majority will no doubt say that they want a successful and a Happy Life. Our sojourn in this world is only for a limited time.

Did I hear someone whisper "Three score and ten?" Yes, it was so then but it is more now. However, how we make the best use of our sojourn here is left to us and us alone. We know only too well that life is not a bed of roses. There are problems to be faced, challenges to be encountered and solutions found in our day to day activities.

How then should we live our life and adapt a life style for an enjoyable and a happy life?

Think of the Present:

There are certain things in life that cannot be changed or corrected. There is no point thinking and worrying about them. Past is past. It is now history. It can no longer be rectified. The future is uncertain. No one can foretell what the future beholds. The present is certain. Success and happiness is what you do and achieve now. So act well and play your part with confidence, dedication, and determination. The future is dependant on what you do in the present. No one can go back to make a fresh new start. You can start right now to make your life happy and end happily.

Do not Destroy but OutSmart Your Competitors:

Life is full of challenges and often a crucial situation arises as to how we should deal with our competitors, rivals and adversaries. Have you not come across many people who work with the sole objective of crushing and destroying their rivals, competitors or the opposition, to succeed in life? For such people a happy life could mean just that. Have you got to crush them, destroy them and annihilate them? Certainly there are ways of outsmarting or out-maneuvering your rivals and competitors. Going all out to extremes can result in loosing friends, money and health too. In fact scheming and plotting to destroy your rivals and competitors can result in loss of money and adverse heath conditions.

Avoid being Adamant:

Quite often we come across people who are adamant and keep on insisting that a task cannot be done simply because they are unable to do it themselves. If you happen to fall into this category be prepared to change. This attitude is not going to be helpful to you in anyway. You should be prepared to listen to the advice and views of others even if it comes from your subordinates in your work place. Accept the advice, change your views and accomplish the task. You will end up happy and successful.

Sacrifice your Trivial Preferences:

Trivial preferences should not stand in the way of achieving unity, progress and success. Unfortunately we see this happening all around us. This can only lead to tension and unhappiness among members of the family, friends and fellow workers. A happy life will only be a distant dream. If you have a tendency to act in this manner, you should try and develop positive thoughts because these thoughts thrive only in minds that are free from petty prejudices and preferences.

Conclusion:

Life filled with hatred, jealousy and envy, can never be happy. Banish these from your thoughts. Think positively. Be kind, helpful and compassionate. The reward will be a happy life and great things can be accomplished when you are happy. "Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success" -Albert Schweitzer.

Copyright © 2008 Kanaga Siva

Kanaga Siva is an Expert Author, Marketer and Social Worker. He believes in helping others Succeed in Life especially in Business. For success tips and advice you are welcome to his Free Home Based Business Website and Business From Home Ideas Blog.

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The Key to Understanding Feelings

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The Key to Understanding Feelings
By Lynne Hoft

When you feel hurt disappointed, burned-out or used, would it help you to know that your thoughts created those feelings. The simplest way to change your feelings is to change your thoughts. This article provides a little known key to understanding feelings.

To become aware of our feelings, we need to know that they always follow thought. Once we truly understand this, we can develop a new relationship with them. When we think of a lemon, we automatically salivate, and maybe even pucker; this is a physiological response. In the same way, every time we have a thought we have an emotional response. Our responses often are conditioned through our experiences and training. These emotional patterns are easily triggered.

When we believe that feelings come first, that they happen to us, then we are powerless and at their mercy. Road rage, domestic violence, people exploding at a salesclerk over having to wait a turn, and parents yelling at their kids in public exemplify out-of-control emotions. Had the people involved understood that they could choose which thoughts to focus on and thereby the feelings they experience, none of these events would have happened.

The thinking that promotes hurt feelings comes from our patterns and programming; it comes out of stored past experience or fear. It's the ingrained expectation of how things should be, the fear of being seen as a bad parent, the belief that we have to do all things and be all things beyond what's humanly possible. This is computer-mode thinking, in which we frantically search our files of experience for answers to current situations, hoping for new outcomes. The computer mind holds no new answers; it can only offer a repeat performance.

When we're seeking a new level of experience, we need to move to a new level of thinking. We need to shift to the transmitter mind, our natural brilliance. Everything we need to know to create more harmonious lives is available to us there. Our brilliance gives us understanding that leads to patience with other drivers on the road. It gives us insight that leads to seeing ourselves and others with acceptance. We can be at peace while waiting in long lines. We can be kindhearted and loving with our children even when we're tired and stretched.

In any situation, we have access to a new understanding. We can stop for a moment, refocus our thinking, and relax into a new level of peace and well-being. By rethinking from our natural brilliance, we create harmonious feelings. By choosing a higher order of thinking, we choose happier lives.

Lynne Hoft, EdD and Vivian Hildebrandt, MA are veteran educators and partners in Back to Brilliance, a company dedicated to providing learning experiences focused on the key principles for creating brilliant lives. They have a new book: Activate Your Brilliance, and have co-created teleclasses, seminars and home study programs which "stop stress", develop a "mindset for success", and assist clients to create happy, fulfilling lives. They continue to collaborate on articles, e-books, reports and a free weekly E-zine: The Ultimate Treasure.

Lynne and Vivian are experts in stress management. For a broader understanding of feelings go to http://www.backtobrilliance.com/feelings.htm For more information about creating a stress free life check out our blog http://stopstressinitstracks.com/blog/

Excerpted from Activate Your Brilliance, ©2007 Back to Brilliance

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Telling Vs Sharing

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Telling Vs Sharing
By Jeffrey Brownstein

There is a HUGE difference between telling and sharing. Both have their place, but...

When you 'tell' something to somebody, it tends to come across like a one-sided documentary - a rehearsed story, with regurgitated facts and plenty of opinions. At its best, it provides information and sheds light. At its worst, it takes the form of gossiping, complaining, and commiserating.

When you 'share' something with someone, you invite that person into your world. There is openness and warmth. Possibility is present, and can be felt almost viscerally. You create something brand new, even if the topic is familiar. And even if we don't set out to do so intentionally, there's a good chance the other person will be inspired to create something in their life too!

So what's present in sharing that's not present in telling? Real feelings! (Law of Attraction alert)

There's a connection piece that's missing when we tell in lieu of share. As you just read, you tell 'to' someone, and you share 'with' someone. Telling (as the word implies) can effectively close off a good deal of genuine relatedness. Sharing (by its very nature) opens a flow of give-and-take where speaker and listener become both - speaker and listener. And often, it's in your listening where the richest seeds of growth stand to germinate fastest. (there's a Spring reference in there somewhere!)

The best way to get into the practice of living a life of sharing is to become a conscious observer each time you speak. Do words rush out of your mouth on autopilot? Do you find yourself more concerned with how you appear than what is actually being said? Can you sense a detachment from any real feelings as you're talking?

If you find many of your conversations unfolding (for lack of a better word) unconsciously, grounding yourself back in the present moment is a good place to start. Then, if you focus on putting your most genuine self forward - in other words, letting the real you shine through - you'll likely feel yourself relaxing into what is effectively 'the essence of your being'. Finally, when you allow your true feelings into the game (and no - your beliefs, opinions, and judgments are NOT your feelings), that's when the real magic happens.

Though you may not choose to share with everyone (of course you certainly can!), understand this: What you attract into your life is in direct correlation with how you feel about something. When you share yourself unselfishly, you open perhaps the widest gateway to the most sparkling gems inside you. Even better, you're likely to unlock that for someone else in the process! And once this happens, Law of Attraction immediately begins to work in ways you never before imagined.

So what is it that really inspires you? There are so many people just waiting to share in your dreams.

Until next time...

With love,

Jeffrey T. Brownstein is a Certified Empowerment Coach (CEC), specializing in Law of Attraction, and founder of Lifescaper Coaching LLC. He has Bachelor's degrees in English and Metaphysics, and is also a professional speaker, Certified Energy Healer, Holistic Health Consultant, Landmark Education graduate, and has been a Group Exercise Instructor for 13 years. Jeff resides with his wife Allison in North Carolina, and is working on a book currently titled 'Claiming Happiness: Your Guide to Creating the Best Life Imaginable!'

Contact information: Lifescaper Coaching LLC, 888-262-6999, jeff@lifescaper.com

Want to receive more Law of Attraction news and articles? Get LOA to work for YOU. Sign up FREE for 'Lifescapers' now! lifescaper.com

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Happiness - How Find The Spring Of Joy Using Music!

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Happiness - How Find The Spring Of Joy Using Music!
By Abhishek Agarwal

It is very often observed that the wonderful feeling of happiness is given expression in the forms of songs, literature and life. Every one who is seemingly happy in this world is so immersed in that whole experience that rest all becomes irrelevant.

Wise Men have often commented that happiness is what all humanity seeks and works for. It is a very spontaneous for human beings to look for all the materialistic and other types of pleasure that are sources of happiness. The absence of this emotion renders us lifeless and full of melancholy. It leaves us with an empty feeling where the individual has nothing to look forward to and impatiently waits for some relief in the form of eventual death.

People from creative fraternity like novelists, songwriters, lyricists and all those capable of expressing their happiness in the form of written word have explored this avenue extensively. It is their own unique way of communicating or may be passing on this wonderful feeling to the readers.

The world is full of such people who are ever ready to remind the common man running helter-skelter for livelihood, the importance of happiness. These individuals give expression to happiness through various forms of arts and songs to drive the point home that amidst the realities of daily life, the essential factor that drives every human being is happiness. Sadly though, not everyone is able to comprehend the significance of their effort and thus a great number of people continue to live lonely lives.

Happiness is available everywhere around us. We just need to stand up and put little effort to lap it up. Unless we do that, it will continue to remain a long distant dream.

The lyrics of many songs written on happiness brim with the importance of this feeling and evoke it naturally in our life.

The fact that songs are capable of moving individuals in a positive direction is undeniable. If the song is full of melancholic feelings associated to lost love, it will undoubtedly evoke the same feeling within us and take our mood in the same direction. On the other hand if the song is more to do with friendship and camaraderie, it evokes the feeling of bonding that we share with our friends and reminds us of the sweet memories of childhood.

In the similar manner, the songs that are all about happiness, target to evoke the same feeling from within our lives. Our life is essentially like a mirror in which all these external stimuli find an expression.

Just like the songs of love and melancholy, the songs of happiness also have various facets to them. They can either be implied or explicitly described. Whatever way the song may have been put, it invariably ends up extracting the feelings of joy, gladness and pleasure from our life. The lyrics of such songs about happiness play a significant role in this entire process.

The focal point of any song that is written on happiness is to bring out and communicate the feeling of happiness in the songwriters' life. The difference in such songs mainly lies in the combination and delivery of the final words. Such songs may also be full of personal experiences that the writer has gone through.

Just like when one cries, the lyrics of the songs on happiness are also capable of lightening the heart.

Abhishek is a self-proclaimed Personality Development Guru and has written several books on this topic! Visit his website www.Positive-You.com and Download his FREE Personality Development Report and discover some amazing self-improvement tips for FREE. Become the best you can become and reclaim your life! But hurry, only limited Free copies available! www.Positive-You.com

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Happy Hour

AchievementRadio.com's

Happy Hour
By Shveita Sethi

The other day, I went to my daughter's school and was watching the young children running around and laughing. They were so full of Joie de vie' (jest for life) that it was uplifting just looking at them. I sat around for about 45 minutes just looking at them laughing, playing, running, falling, pushing and helping each other. Time just seemed to have flown.

The same afternoon , I had a meeting with the Vice Principals of school as I was to share with them my research on happiness. As I sat there, I thought of having something like a "happy hour" in the school.

Happy hour is traditionally associated with alcohol induced happiness, where you can have two drinks for the price of one. The ultimate aim being that of forgetting your sorrows by dowsing them in cheap alcohol!!

How about starting a happiness movement in schools, corporate offices, shops, factories and other work places where everyone takes a few minutes to really seek happiness. Happiness need not be something on the outside; each person may have to dig within to find a place of happiness/contentment.

When we are born we have no idea about our future, we smile when someone smiles, we laugh when we feel like laughing and we cry when we feel uncomfortable. As we grow, our environment starts to shape us. We are after all products of our environment. We are bombarded with duties and expectations. We start living our parents/caregivers dreams and somewhere down the line forget our own dreams. We forget that life is meant to be simple and that happiness is our birthright. We start looking for outside pleasures and waiting for things and people to make us happy. We relegate responsibility of our happiness to forces and people outside of us.

In school it becomes achievements- sports, academic, musical, theatrical and so on that define our worth. In college, it could be achievements plus a beautiful partner that may define our happiness thresholds. In work it could be our status, our job, then it becomes the physical accoutrements like cars, houses, diamonds, watches, designers clothes, shoes, etc, a never ending list of possessions. But somehow we still remain disillusioned and dissatisfied.

I read somewhere that we are all beings of energy and that we all have the same energy flowing within us and the more positive energy we have, the more positivity we attract in our life. Positivity has a way of attracting abundance and abundance comes through gratitude.

How about having a thank you journal and writing in it three things everyday that you are thankful and grateful for? The universe/god apparently likes to hear us say thank you. The more we say thank you the more we are given reasons to say thank you. The more we complain the more reasons we will have to complain.

Our brain gets conditioned in the way we think, if we constantly have negative thoughts we will fail to see the positive in a situation even when it is staring at us in the face, similarly if we are conditioned to see the positive in a situation our brain gets conditioned towards optimism and positivity. Even in a perceived negative situation we can find something to be grateful about. It seems a rather difficult endeavour at that time , but if we were to really look at the situation in its entirety, there may be a hidden benefit.

We all have limited life spans. We all have a choice. We either see the glass half full or see it half empty. Go ahead, indulge yourself and enjoy the happy hour to the full. Make it a daily habit to spend at least a few minutes of that happy hour finding things that you are grateful and finding the little pleasures that make you happy.

Have a quick look at the following realities compiled by Christopher Westra

Light, Dark
Heat, Cold
Abundance, Poverty
Health, Sickness
Faith, Doubt
Love, Fear
Present, Past and Future
Good, Evil
Pleasure, Pain
God, Devil
Righteousness, Sin
Spirit, Ego
Joy, Misery
Hope, Despair
Wants, Don't Wants
Acceptance, Resistance
Flow, Blockage
Life, Death
Virtue, Vice
Forgiveness, Judgment

You can choose the right side or the left, if you have one you can't have the other. Our Brain for all its capacity, is still limited in its processing of data . What would you rather have?

Luv/luck/happiness

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Breaking Through Limiting Beliefs

AchievementRadio.com's

Breaking Through Limiting Beliefs
By Dr. Jeanine Austin

This morning my neighbor called me to ask me if I had seen her miniature three legged goat named S'mores. Because S'mores is so agile, she sometimes slips under the fence that separates our properties. By the time I received the message my neighbor had found S'mores and all was well.

There is no doubt that this little goat is the cutest thing I've ever seen on three legs. I see her every morning, noon and night running around her property. Many times I see her tearing around at lightening speed, seemingly having a great time. In fact, I've never seen a goat run so fast! S'mores will often race the length of the fence that divides our properties with my little dog. It is great exercise for my dog who seems to have the athletic inclination of an indoor cat.

It is highly probably that S'mores doesn't know she has three legs. She doesn't know she shouldn't really be faster and more agile than the other goats. She hasn't told herself a story about how limited she is. She just works happily with what she has.

Some of us may be tempted from time to time to compare ourselves unfavorably to others. We may feel some else is at an advantage in life because they possess something that we feel has eluded us. We may feel that because someone has a better resume, a loftier education, more attractive looks, better connections, more money, a more loving family of origin, is brighter or possesses anything else that we feel we don't have, we can't be happy or complete. S'mores doesn't have the capacity to compare herself to other goats or to think that what another goat has is germane to her experience. She is a living example of what President Theodore Roosevelt said, "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."

I was reading the Urtext for A Course in Miracles just yesterday and was moved by a passage I read. The passage said essentially that the Holy Spirit asks us to be happy learners. I was very struck by this idea. Once we have processed our story and made peace with it, we can drop the story and choose to be a present and happy learner. Because we are human beings and not goats, there may be a process involved for us. However, we can hold true that we really are much more than any limiting belief or idea we have about ourselves. On the deepest level we are whole. We can remember this inspiring truth when we are feeling as if we are not enough as we already are.

I help women from all over the world design a simplified, meaningful, purposeful and joyful life based on their own strengths, values and priorities. I also coach women towards their ultimate purpose, full of spiritual meaning, connection, humor, compassion and assist them in overcoming any existential suffering. I utilize a strategic and holistic approach in transforming challenges into transcendent integration of joy. I have nearly 25 years experience in working in people helping professions.

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