Category: My Happiness Project

friday’s “secret” – “surround yourself with precisely those things”

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How many, many times have I said to myself, “Self, I wish I had…” And I am not talking about a thing, necessarily; like a new car, a nicer house, etc. I am talking about wishing for things that I COULD have.

The quote above (and its author is unknown to me) speaks of leading  “fascinating life – one brimming with art, music, and intrigue, and romance.”  I do not necessarily want a life of “intrigue” but he or she does make an interesting point.  In order to have what we want, we have to be intentional about placing those things in our lives every day.

To use the quotes example,  if I want my life to be “brimming” with music, I need to turn on the radio, plug-in the iPod, do something to hear more music.  If I am wishing for a more peaceful existence,  I need to find an exercise that alleviates stress (yoga perhaps; there are routines on YouTube), and instead of watching that TV show which won’t matter in the morning at all, I should go to sleep.  If I wish for a more orderly home,  I should spend 15 minutes each evening, putting things back in their proper place.

It is a sad and pathetic thing, when I wish for things that I could have; especially things that cost little to no money at all and just require a little intention.

So what are you going to do, intentionally, this weekend…

enjoy life…

love yourself!

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Love yourself?  I grew up in a very conservative, Christian home.  A wonderful home.  I could not wish for a better up-bringing.  But the thought to “love yourself” was not really something that was a prominent philosophy.  To love God was the ultimate.  And indeed, it still is.  However, sometimes I wonder, if in the process of loving God and others, and just generally trying to be better people, do we forget about ourselves?

It’s true:  Luke 10:27-28 says, “And he answered, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.” (King James Version)

But I want to focus on the part where it says, “and thy neighbor as thyself.” I have read it another way in a paraphrased edition:  “…love your neighbor as you love yourself.” Which leads me to believe that you cannot begin to love your neighbor correctly, unless, you first love yourself.

The Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard put if this way,  “Above all, do not forget your duty to love yourself.”

If I truly love and value myself, I will take care of myself: spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically.  I will eat better, get some exercise,  think positively, and generally do things that will make me happy.  Then I can go out and be a better person for my neighbors, my family, my friends and society at large.

So what are you going to do to “love yourself” this week?  Remember, it is “your duty.”

enjoy life…

friday’s “secret” – “…you should go do them!”

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So, I have decided that on most Fridays, I will attempt to present my not-so-secret  “Secret” to happiness. These “secrets” are usually things that you and I have known for a long time.  It just takes a moment of “epiphany” to fully understand or “get” it and sometimes several more moments or a lot more moments to actually put them into practice.

I am very interested in what you think of each week’s secret and what you will or will not do about it in the upcoming week so please, leave your thoughts below.

You have all ready read our first “secret” of happiness.  I have found this to be one of the number one ways to be happy. Hence, I am starting my blog.:) When I was smaller, I always enjoyed writing, jotting down my thoughts, etc. but I have gotten away from it as I grew older and became more serious about life.:)

So, what have you always wanted to do?  Are you going to do it? This weekend?

enjoy life…