happiness

Posts Tagged ‘happiness’

Repost: The Best Definition of Success Is the One You Never Use

April 19, 2013 Tags: behaviour, happiness, life's like that
Category: Just Thinking No Comments

Happiness seems so elusive to some people. Have you ever met that person who never seems to be happy about anything they have, they always want more and seem to think more will make them happy? More money, more belongings, more time, more experiences…. They always seem to be looking outward rather than inwards. The following is an article that showed up in my LinkedIn newsfeed a while back and struck a note. Even though things could be a bit more balanced in my life, even though some things could be a bit more stable to be more comfortable, even …

42 lessons for life…

January 6, 2013 Tags: balance, critical thinking, happiness
Category: Just Thinking No Comments

Just a little something a friend posted on Facebook and which I thought was worth keeping. It’s a good list of things to remember….

1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short – enjoy it..

4. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and family will.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don’t have to win every argument. Stay true to yourself.

7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.

8. Save for …

Priorities

November 16, 2012 Tags: behaviour, critical thinking, happiness, values
Category: Just Thinking No Comments

Something that I’ve seen floating around on Facebook lately and is worth hanging onto.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He …

8 Secrets of Success

November 3, 2012 Tags: critical thinking, happiness, video
Category: Just Thinking, Worth Watching No Comments

No shocking surprises here, but maybe it’s something most of us would do well to stop and consider. I think humans get lost sometimes and we don’t know what the simple steps to getting back on track are. Then, instead of taking a breath and considering such simple steps, they look for guidance in all the wrong places – books, expensive counselling, and other silly places. When all they really have to do is look inward and find that inner strength that has just hidden itself temporarily.

Success means different things to different people. It’s worth remembering that your success …

(154/366) Three of My Favourite Things

June 2, 2012 Tags: 366, balance, boating, happiness, photography, postaday
Category: Photo a Day - 2012 9 Comments

June 2, 2012 – Strongbow, on a sunny deck, overlooking boats at our yacht club. Makes for a perfect afternoon!

We spent most of the early part of the day down at “Eat Vancouver”, our favourite annual trade show that we have only ever missed two years that we were out of the country. Otherwise, it goes on the calendar the second the dates are announced. A food based trade show – it just doesn’t get better than that!

Afterwards, the sun was being fickle and we wanted to catch some to enjoy with Mom visiting, so we stopped at …

50 Lessons I Wish I Had Learned Earlier (ReBlog)

June 1, 2012 Tags: balance, critical thinking, happiness
Category: Just Thinking No Comments

A wonderful post I found on a friends Facebook Timeline and worth saving. This is all straightforward logic, nothing earth shattering, revolutionary, not information you need to pay someone to help you see for yourself, and shouldn’t really need pointing out. There are so many simple lessons that we overlook, and then later in life we think we need to look elsewhere or to others to help us come back and find out what we already knew, but forgot.

But it’s nice to see it compiled in one location.

___________________________________________________________________

50 Lessons I Wish I Had Learned Earlier

NANCY SATHRE-VOGEL…

Tali Sharot: The optimism bias

May 14, 2012 Tags: balance, behaviour, critical thinking, happiness, video
Category: Just Thinking, Worth Watching No Comments

Are we born to be optimistic, rather than realistic? Tali Sharot shares new research that suggests our brains are wired to look on the bright side — and how that can be both dangerous and beneficial.

…

The Worst Advice Ever

April 13, 2012 Tags: balance, behaviour, happiness, video
Category: Just Thinking, Worth Watching No Comments

Another wonderful blog post by Brené Brown, PhD. Brene is a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. She studies vulnerability, courage, worthiness, and shame.

___________

“You can rest when you’re done.”

This is the single worst piece of advice that I’ve ever received. I’m not even sure where or when I heard it or if it’s the result of marinating in the “Get ‘er done!” culture that we live in today.

Either way, I’m pretty sure “resting when we’re done” is lethal.

Why? Because we are NEVER done. There is always more to do, …

(93/366) Friendship Compass

April 2, 2012 Tags: 366, happiness, memories, photography, postaday, relationships, vancouver
Category: Photo a Day - 2012 10 Comments

April 2, 2012 – It’s a cliche, but I do love the saying “surround yourself with good people”. Not all people of a similar mindset, that’d be dull because then all you would do is agree with each other. Although to be honest, there is a lot to learn from the not-so-good people too. Someone once said to me that if you can look at the fingers on one hand, and count that many true friends in your entire life, then you have been Very fortunate in your life. So what does that have to do with a compass? Where …

79/366 You screwed up, ergo it must be my fault!

March 19, 2012 Tags: balance, behaviour, critical thinking, happiness, postaday, relationships
Category: Just Thinking, Photo a Day - 2012 7 Comments

March 19, 2012 – Why is it that when people screw up they are more than likely to attempt to shift the blame? But the blame game never really works. People who blame others for their mistakes lose status, learn less, and perform worse relative to mistake makers who take responsibility.

Do any of these sound familiar?

I missed the deadline, but it’s because you weren’t clear. (So it’s my fault that you forgot to look at the calendar or couldn’t keep two dates straight? Why don’t you just say that you were busy and forgot, that’s probably more likely.)

…

On Being Wrong

March 13, 2012 Tags: balance, behaviour, happiness
Category: Just Thinking 1 Comment

Who likes to be wrong? Most people don’t, of course. But if you are never wrong, well….how boring and dull. It’s how you deal with being wrong that’s important. Do you hide it? Or do you face it and use the experience to grow? Do you find a way to make yourself right by cherry picking information to suit your point of view, and ignore the opposition? Or do you weight everything equally and gracefully accept responsibility for being incorrect.

This was an interesting talk to watch and think about as I crawl into bed. Worth viewing if for nothing …

Want to be happy? Stop trying to be perfect.

March 1, 2012 Tags: balance, behaviour, happiness, postaday, relationships
Category: Just Thinking 3 Comments

I was in Staples on the weekend and, as I was looking for a laser printer toner cartridge, I stopped in front of an entire display of new items from Martha Stewart, a new line of office supplies for the discerning woman. I think Martha Stewart has done a better job than anyone else at marketing misery. What I mean is this: She has managed to convince masses of women that in order to achieve some strange degree of happiness, everything has to be just perfect, and perfect to Martha is usually over the top. And because she’s so over …

Weighing the words of our different inner voices

February 27, 2012 Tags: balance, critical thinking, happiness, postaday, random
Category: Just Thinking No Comments

A great article I came across in The Globe & Mail this morning. Cute and worth a read.

_____________________

Weighing the words of our different inner voices
by Sarah Hampson
Published in The Globe & Mail – Monday February 27th, 2012

Excuse me while I try to get a word in edgewise. I have someone in my head at the moment, and she’s talking very loudly. It’s Wobbly Wendy doing her thing in my left lobe. She natters away, worrying about Mayan prophecies and the cancer that’s surely the reason for the pain in my right knee. I imagine she …

The battle between your future and present self

February 23, 2012 Tags: balance, critical thinking, economy, happiness, life's like that, postaday
Category: Just Thinking, Worth Watching No Comments

Definitely more interesting than the last video I watched and posted. Similar topic, similar theories, but this one had a fascinating discussion on the drawbacks of using commitment devices and self-discipline (ex owing $5 for failing to stick to a commitment/goal).

“To abstain from the enjoyment which is in our power, or to seek distant rather than immediate results, are among the most painful exertions of the human will.” – N.W. Senior 1836

Worth watching if for no other reason than to think about future planning from a realistic point of view.

Can you tell that I’m in investment mode …

A ‘Happy’ Secret

February 18, 2012 Tags: balance, behaviour, critical thinking, happiness, humour, postaday, video
Category: Just Thinking, Worth Watching No Comments

I LOVE this video!!! I try to visit TED for some inspiration and mind expansion every so often, and today I stumbled on this talk. It was funny to have come across it now, since I had been doing some journaling on something akin to the subject and hadn’t had the time to post it. After reading this I went back and found that train of thought in its unfinished format and finally finished it below.

How do you handle the past? If it is to your liking, most people reminisce, talk about it. But if it didn’t go the …

Perfectly Imperfect!

February 16, 2012 Tags: balance, happiness, life's like that, postaday
Category: Just Thinking, Worth Watching No Comments

We all strive for some level of personal best, in at least something anyway. Are we trying to be perfect? If yes, it’s a lost cause because perfection is highly subjective and fluid. Imperfection is so much more interesting and fun. Rather than curse our faults, embrace them, find the wonder in them, and revel in them.

Just a happy little video link to brighten up a grey day.

I think my favourite in here is “Practice makes Imperfect!”

…

What’s ‘Your’ Personal Fudge Factor?

January 7, 2012 Tags: critical thinking, happiness, postaday, video
Category: Just Thinking No Comments

A fascinating look at human nature from a moral perspective. How much do you cheat? Social science studies indicate we all do at some level. We feel that if we cheat, just a little bit, we can still look in the mirror and feel good about ourselves. How does our cheating affect others? If cheating involves money, on average we cheat less. Where money is not identified, we tend to cheat more. How much do you feel you can get away with? What do you think is the norm? We weigh our cheating against that of models we define.

…

Slowing Down and Catching Up

October 22, 2011 Tags: balance, behaviour, happiness, relationships
Category: Just Thinking 1 Comment

Sometimes it’s nice to have a break, even if it’s unplanned. Normally it’s go-go-go on weekends, but today was a lazy day, mostly because Kirk’s back is causing him painful grief. So it became an opportunity to catch up on a backlog of photos going back as far as the trip to Mexico in June. But even without a backlog of photos, sometime’s it’s a good thing to just stop for a moment and think about where you are going and why. We rush along and do the things we think we need to do to reach some goal that …

Life Lessons from an Ad Man

October 13, 2011 Tags: behaviour, critical thinking, happiness, video
Category: Just Thinking, Worth Watching No Comments

A wonderful Ted talk that I stumbled across that has some very good messages intertwined in a hilarious look at consumerism and the misperceptions that we have with respect to what we think we want. It also has a hysterical Canadian example of marketers recreating value in something that is already well known, but perhaps has become perceived as less desirable because it is easily accessible, and therefore of less interest. Humans spend so much time thinking about what they want that they lose sight of the value and wonder in the things that are already available and have a …

Less stuff, more happiness

October 10, 2011 Tags: balance, happiness, video
Category: Just Thinking, Worth Watching Comments Off

Once upon a time we bought a small condo. The plan was to move up into a bigger condo in a few years, then a townhouse, then eventually a house. Then we bought a boat, and priorities changed a bit. Why did we want a bigger place for just two of us? I’m a clutter hater, so more room just meant more space to fill with more stuff. Sure, we might “want” a bigger place…but do we really “need” it? No. Many years later we have stayed in that small condo and it works well. Less space means that we …

Random views from a Canadian living & loving on the West Coast. Riding, boating, or just sitting still, always with a camera nearby. The lens focuses much more than just light.

The Philosophical Fish