Love Every Day

Once we've learned how to see the good in our lives and make a protective fence around that good, the next step is to foster and grow our inner-self so that a deep self love will flourish.  Cultivating happiness is like making a beautiful garden, the first step is to see that our garden plot is beautiful, has good soil and lots of potential, the second step is to erect a protective fence around our garden so wild animals don't come and trample it.  The third step is to maintain our garden by planting beautiful plants that will grow and flourish with time making our garden into the most exquisite island of paradise.  When we've successfully done all three steps then we have cultivated a glorious amount of happiness and inner bliss.

Lets continue the journey towards a blissful life by getting to know ourselves, finding out what really makes us happy, what drains us and to learn to LOVE the absolute beauty of being "me"  Once we have learned to recognize our greatness, to act in ways that make us feel good and to value ourselves as the great and wonderful person that we really are, then we will have opened up the gates of inner serenity, which is a very high level of happiness!

Getting to know ourselves is a lifelong process.  We are always changing and growing based on our experiences.  The more we learn about ourselves, the more we will come to truly love ourselves.  Self love is a necessity.   We know what is wrong with us, so we can't hide from ourselves.  It is a balance of accepting who we are despite our faults and loving "me" anyway.  Once we learn to look in the mirror and see "the real me" we will fall madly in love with ourselves.

Fifty nine ~ Lost Cause

There are givers and there are takers.  Takers will take just as much as you let them take and they won't understand when you stop, because what was wrong with them taking what you were giving them?  They aren't even grateful for the things that you give them.  They just expect it, and somehow rationalize that you have always given to them, so now you kind of owe them.

I'm sure you know where I'm going with this.  Those people aren't good for you.  We need to see clearly enough to see that they are bottomless pits of demands on us.  They won't ever appreciate us and what we give them.   And we're really not doing them a favor by giving.   It's time to say no.  And mean it. 

The same rules apply to our problems.  We need to know with 100% clarity that WE are the only ones who can be responsible for the problems we have, its no use blaming others.  We are the only one responsible for our mental well being.  We can't solve other people's problems, but we can solve our own.

1. Do you have a relationship where the other person refuses to take responsibility for his/her behavior?  If so, then what steps should you take to start freeing yourself from this burden (including how will you maintain your resolve in this matter?)
2. Ask yourself:  "Do I blame anybody for a lack of anything (money, success, good character traits, etc) in my life?"  If your quiet voice answers "yes", ask: "How can I start to take control of my own well being today?"

Taking responsibility of your own life, actions and consequences of our actions will empower us to change ourselves for the good.  Trying to take responsibility for the life, actions and consequences of the actions in someone else's life will drain us and will never cause the other person to change.

This exercise helps us to change what we can change and leave what we can't.  We can focus all our energy on what we can do and not waste it on thing we can't change.  (something I work on everyday!)

Go figure out where your vitality is being drained, plug up the holes and use that vitality to change your life into an unbelievably pleasurable existence!

Warren, S. 2010, 7 Ancient Keys To Happiness, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Fifty eight ~ (Not so) good friends

We all have that one friend... the one we love to hang out with... but we always seem to have trouble when we're with them..

Good friends care about your feelings and don't purposely do anything to hurt or embarrass us. 

Good friends like who we are, not what we can give them. 

Good friends will still be our friend regardless of who else is around.

Good friends care about us and will go out of their way to help or protect us.

Good friends know their own self-worth and will not tolerate us abusing them.

The better we treat our friends, the better friends we will attract.  First things first, stay away from the the not so good friends.  Second, lets consciously CHOOSE a good friend.  Finally, build the good relationships and abandon the bad ones. 

• Reflect and ask yourself... Are there any friends I have in my life that drag me down?
• Are there any people in my life that I feel positive and uplifted after talking to?
• How can I start to fill my life with people who have a positive effect on me?

This exercise is a must for those who want to build up a life of bliss.  We can construct a new, happier life by working step by step to an idealistic reality.  We can choose our friends to be people that make us feel good.  We don't have to be stuck with the same drag-me-down crowd that we've always had.  Life can be different.

It's up to you... look at what you've got and make changes where needed... sounds simple enough to me!

Warren, S. 2010, 7 Ancient Keys To Happiness, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Fifty seven ~ Occupational Health & Safety (OHS)

Watch out!  If you need to be here, put on your hard hat, if you don't need to be here, get out!

When businesses are involved with potentially dangerous situations, they have Occupational Health and Safety Officers to help assess how to minimise the risk of injury.  The OHS team comes up with a set of guidelines designed to protect the well being of all employees.  There are places in this world that should have a sign like "enter at your own risk."

When passing judgement on places we go to, we need to determine if these places are good for us or potentially dangerous.  We need to be in touch with ourselves enough to know what is dangerous and what isn't.  Look at your situation and weigh out each choice.  When we see that we are precious, we will protect ourselves from harmful situations. 

OK, let's get quiet again... do you remember how?  Or are you finding quiet time every day? 

Ask yourself   "What places/things should I really avoid because they drag me down?"

We all do self destructive things.  We have triggers to that self destructive mode.  If we want to be happy, we have to stop doing those things.  Avoid the triggers and steer clear of the negative.  This exercise helps us start to fight our wars with strategy.  It will help us identify things that WE KNOW are not good for us, and then plan how to AVOID THEM.  It's not courageous to pick a fight with the areas of our character that give us the most trouble.  It's much more courageous to admit we have a weakness and plan ways of working around it and avoid having to do battle with it all together.

 Be brave, look closely and carefully at yourself and see what it is that triggers the worst in you or drags you down - then with a great dose of self love and self acceptance - plan ways to avoid your triggers.

 

Warren, S. 2010, 7 Ancient Keys To Happiness, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform