Photo touch up

Originally uploaded by passi0n.

A quick snap I took with my BlackBerry 8900 the other day and that the wonderful Jen from sugas.net touched up! She fixed my red eye, smeary eyebrow, and enhanced the photo. I love it! Thanks girly

Happiness is a state of mind, not a way of life or a destination that you’ll reach one day. Bumps in the road of life are to be expected, and we cannot let them ruin our days. We often think that if a combination of factors would just fall into place THEN we would finally be happy. Satisfaction can only come from within, through truly accepting yourself, your life, and your circumstances. During this life you’ll have many hard days–long work days, sleepless nights, worrying about the future, etc. This week, think about the joys of your life. Find creative ways to enjoy the little bumps in the road.

I like to share these things with everyone, especially when I feel like others can relate to how I am feeling. I love inspirational/motivational messages and self-reflective readings. This particular subject brings me back to a class I took a few summers ago through the local community college. It was called “Coping Skills for Stress” and boy did it hit home. I remember the instructor telling us a story about the path to happiness and how most people can’t accept what they have and be happy NOW, and are always saying they will be happy when something else happens.

I’ve realized over the past few years that the way most people view life is really not a good way to live. You have to first be happy with what you have in order to succeed and grow happier with each passing day. If you constantly seek extraordinary happiness all the time, you will never reach that place. My life has improved mainly because of my ability to manage stress so much better than I ever could before. Exercise, diet, proper sleep, time to myself, a job I love, plans for the future, and being healthy are all things that have made an extreme difference in my feelings of happiness. By saying this, I don’t mean that I don’t have goals or plans that will ultimately improve my life and make me a happier person. I just want people to understand that attitude really is everything and so is finding the things that keep you feeling down and fixing them.

Does anyone else have anything to share? Stories? Self-Reflection? etc…  Where has “the path to happiness” come into play in your life?

Post a comment!

A great obstacle to happiness is expecting too much happiness. – Bernard de Fontanelle, French writer

There is no lesson for today. You have permission to stop thinking for a moment and just enjoy yourself. Stop looking at your computer right now and go look at the world. Rediscover the natural wonders that you walk past every day. How can there possibly be that many shades of green? Let your mind be grateful for a break. Don’t think, don’t strain. Let the memories of loved ones remind you of your favorite times. Close your eyes and try to smell the sunshine. Listen to your heart beat in your ears. If it’s raining, smile at the thought of the flowers that will soon follow. If you’re surrounded by buildings, celebrate the creative genius of human beings. See the hope, the alarm, the love, the grief in faces that stream by. Thank whomever you’d like to thank for the chance to even be here. For a moment today, don’t worry about being better. Just be.

We’re always getting ready to live, but never living. – Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer

I think I’m going to go for a late night stroll…

Living Within Today

Sometimes it seems like we’re always putting off our goals until some vague time in the future called “Once”. “Once the New Year rolls around…”, “Once I have my new job…”, “Once I retire…”, “Once the kids are in school…”, “Once the kids are OUT of school…” Sound familiar? By waiting for Once to get here, we waste time and frustrate our desire to do what we really want. It’s a fact of life that every time one potential distraction disappears, it’s quickly replaced with a new one. There will always be something that can stand in your way – if you let it. Ask yourself: are these distractions real reasons, or just good excuses for putting something off? Goals cannot be started in the future. The laws of time and nature dictate that you can only act in the present. You are here, today. So are your goals. The only good time to start is right now.

Today’s Healthy Reflection reminded me of a conversation I just had the other day and I completely believe it. If you keep saying you will be happy or will succeed WHEN something happens, you never will be happy or succeed. You have to roll with the punches, be happy with what you have, and get back up every time you fall.

Here is a good quote that was included in the e-mail.

If we wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything, is ready, we shall never begin.

- Ivan Turgenev, novelist, poet, playwright

This rings very true in my life right now. Things are not moving fast enough! I am not reaching my goals or moving ahead in a timely manner and I am working hard to change that.

It is nice to have a journal to be able to reflect in and I hope that posts like this help others to reflect and be inspired as well.