Self Improvement Information

We live in a post “Secret” world.  Many people feel, to manifest what they want, they must live in a perpetual state of happiness or positive feelings.  Sorry, folks, I think that is just a load of poo.  I know many people in the “self help” arena would be very disgusted with me for what I just wrote.  But, seriously, do you believe that it is possible to be happy all the time?

Let’s look back, historically, at a couple of famous individuals.  First, let’s look at the life and times of Jesus Christ.  Do you believe that he was happy 100% of the time?  Probably not.  There were many things that happened to him that couldn’t possible make a guy happy.  Necessary to go through, but not a happiness inducer.  How about Mother Teresa?  Do you think that working with sick and dying people every single day plastered a grin on her face every morning?  Maybe, maybe not.

Feeling sad or depressed doesn’t automatically label you a failure.  Negative feelings can be healthy.  It helps us better understand the opposite of those feelings.  Do you think we would know happiness for the joy that it is if we had never experienced being sad?  Every one of us will endure something that makes us unhappy; losing someone you love, have a job loss, etc.  Those things are out of our control.  If we push those feelings away, without acknowledging them, they will return with a vengeance.

What we choose to focus on is in our control.  Here are 5 tips to increasing happiness.

1.  If you like something, enjoy it. No guilt, just enjoy it!  I enjoy boating.  I love being on a lake.  I enjoy feeling the sun on my face and the wind in my hair.  I enjoy smelling coconut suntan lotion.  It brings pictures to my mind of many fun and happy times on the lake.  Every chance I get I head for the lake.  Some day, I will live on a lake.  I dream about that day.

2.  If you don’t like something, avoid it. It is perfectly okay to avoid things you don’t like.  I don’t like crowds.  I don’t like standing in line for things.  Perfect example:  women’s restrooms.  Large meeting places must have been designed by clueless men.  There are always lines for the women’s restroom.  Men don’t understand that concept until they have had to wait for their women to stand in a bathroom line (perhaps holding her purse?)  Is it a tough concept to have 2 women’s restrooms for every men’s? Food for thought for the architects out there.

3.  If you can’t avoid it, change it. If I have to get into a crowd situation I try to do things differently.  I avoid drinking a lot of beverages so I can stay out of the bathroom line.  I eat something before I go, thus avoiding the food lines.  I stay in my seat and keep the milling around to a minimum.  Changing what I can to do to avoid what I don’t like increases my happiness.

4.  If you can’t change it, accept it. If I am in a big crowd I don’t focus on what I don’t like.  I look at the advantages of being there.  Some of my best times have been in big crowds; such as conventions, concerts, and parties.  If I spend my time complaining I make everyone around me, and myself, less happy.  I accept it.

5.  Change your attitude. Changing my viewpoint is very important.  All things are seen through the eyes of perspective.  If I go through my life saying and thinking that I hate crowds I would have missed out on those happy times I mentioned in the previous paragraph.  Simply changing how I look at those things, and looking for what I like in those situations increases my happiness.

While we can’t be happy 24/7/365, we can increase our happy moments by choosing how we look at situations.  The times that I have been unable to do so, I have learned to let it go.  The best method, I have found,  for releasing unhappy thoughts is the Sedona Method.  If you are interested in finding out more, check out the website and get a free DVD explaining the method.  It is amazing.

If you found something of value in this post, feel free to pass it on to your peeps!  A re-tweet for the peeps is appreciated.

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When I was in school, I loved the classes and the teachers that made learning fun.  I, to this day, enjoy learning because of the examples those teachers set.  Why should learning be regimented and boring?  Our mind is our thinking tool.  If we use our mind in a creative way and implement that creativity in learn, doesn’t it makes sense that we might learn easier and retain it longer?

I have stumbled across mind mapping.  I heard about it from Stephen Pierce.  Here is a link to Stephen’s mind mapping youtube.  I started to research this and will be implementing it in my own learning process.  It makes sense to me.

I wish I had known about this technique when my daughter was going through school.  She had trouble in school due to, what was diagnosed as, Attention Deficit Disorder.  She has grown up to be a creative artist.  She relaxes and unwinds when she is involved in her art.  Would mind mapping provided that link from her creative side to learning and retention? I have included a 5 minute video from Tony Buzan, the founder and author of several books on  mind mapping, explaining this process.  I found it very interesting.  Leave me a comment if you have used this method and let me know how it worked for you.

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• Mind Mapping: What is it? by MindProject (slideshare.net)

We, humans, are amazing creatures.  We can choose how to experience our lives.  Life will happen to us.  Every life has joy and pain.  There are no exceptions to that rule.  It is our belief system, who like the Great Wizard of Oz, sits behind the black curtain  running our individual programs of what choose to see on our life screen.

Every day, we have decisions to make about how we choose to live our lives.  What we decide is driven by our  own individual vision for our lives.  We have opportunities to live our lives small and stay in our own little fiefdoms of influence.  Or, we can choose to live large, beyond the scope of our individual lives and to be a benefit to all man kind.  No one will fault you for your choice.

We don’t get a choice on whether we will experience pain in our lives.  That comes in the package called living.  What we do have a choice of is how we will see that pain.  Will it be something that is a burden to be endured?  Is it possible to see it as a gift?  I know in my own life, the times of greatest pain have become my biggest blessings.  As Sean Stephenson says, “find the purpose to your pain and you will find the drive to go through it to the other side.”

Many of you know Sean Stephenson.  He is an amazing, insightful man.  Many people introduce him as the “3 foot giant”.  He is not only unique in the size of his human body, but in the size of the experiences his vision has chosen for his life.  Because of the vision for his life, he has had the opportunity to mentor with people like Tony Robbins and President Clinton.  He is an author and motivational speaker.  He has written a book called, Get Off Your “But”, which has earned a 5 star rating on Amazon.  He writes an insightful blog called Living at Cause.  He has participated and been voted one of the best speakers at the Engage Today 2009 Event where he shared the stage with the Dalai Lama, Sir Richard Branson, Dr. Stephen Covey to name a few.

I have a 7 minute video from a speech he gave at Purdue University.  He has some great insights into living a life with vision.