Posts tagged Happiness

A.R. (codename) thinks I’m an optimist and claims he is a pessimist. And we would often talk about what made as who we are and what are the fringe benefits (or the lack of them) with us having these opposite mindsets. It’s true that what happens inside of us matters more than what happens outside. It defines the level of love and hatred, hope and despair, happiness and unhappiness.

I and AR have an ocean of difference because of how we see the world. He says, oftentimes, he sees the glass half-empty and I see it half-full. Most people would ask, “Why not see it half full” and he might answer, “I am not built that way”.

To know that and to accept that, to understand that people differ in perception, thus, truth differs for everyone, is one of the most beautiful things I discovered in life.

It opens me to the possibilities of understanding and acceptance and well, unconditional love.  

You lose dignity by offering more and accepting less.

You lose respect by offering less and accepting more.

In life and love, it is better to give AND receive. ♥

I don’t want to judge myself (further more, act) based one parcel of of my whole being, thus, these past days I uttered two phrases to show how deliberately stuck-up I am on keeping things separate:

After eating a yummy meal cooked by my cousin, I said, “My stomach is happier than I am.” 

After being  unintentionally cold to someone, I proclaimed, “My heart is more snobbish than I am right now.”

I think this is part of growing up, when one’s state of mind is no longer dependent with the outside forces you put in (your stomach or heart or brain) and not too reliant on emotions. 

I can feel myself growing-up in substance (and in age). And if I really am growing-up, may I find myself more principled as I do. 

And yes, even if I keep them separate from the “self”, I’ll always be accountable for both my heart and my stomach.

Dear self, be kind to your heart and to others… and don’t eat excessively. 

I think today (and yesterday) has been beautiful.

It reminded me that the conscious and constant effort to be kind and thoughtful sprinkled with that willingness to let go of the past hurts, whipped with that acceptance that some things are beyond my (our) control could create so much joy in the present.

I wish to remember this until I cannot anymore. 

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/pressure-proof/201210/10-things-happy-people-do-differently

Summary

1)  They build a strong social fabric.

2)  They engage in activities that fit their strengths, values and lifestyle. 

3)  They practice gratitude. 

4)  They have an optimistic thinking style. 

5)  They know it’s good to do good. 

6)  They know that material wealth is only a very small part of the equation. 

7)  They develop healthy coping strategies. 

8)  They focus on health. 

9)  They cultivate spiritual emotions. 

10)  They have direction. 

Sometime ago, someone wise told me that everyone has a certain charm (or using its business term, competitive advantage) in them. Everyone. And we should be aware of it, accept it and be comfortable with it. Some people would love it and some would hate it. But it is your gift. It’s yours. So you seize it.

He also told me that he thinks my unique charm is my happiness, my ability to draw people toward my happy spirit.

I thought that was an interesting observation. Of course, I am not always happy. But my emotional cycle tends to slowdown in sunshine and fast forward from the rain.

Realized he might be right. I became aware, I accepted it and tried to be comfortable with it.

And so, when situations are tough and people are difficult, I think to myself, All I can do is wake-up everyday, eat breakfast, do my job well, be grateful in between, and be happy. I have to choose to be happy. It is my right, my responsibility and most specially, it is my gift.

 She was once a girl of life and sunshine

 Once had life pure and white

 The girl lived a world of smiles and laughter

 Though at times lived in doubts and fright

 But the smiles are what colored her world

 Raindrops bathe her clean flesh

 Dreamt to climb a tree and run the highest hills

 Believed everything could someday be

 Her heart was filled with love

 But her mind was also filled with dreams

 The night when the star fell to the horizon

  She realized she couldn’t stay in this world forever

 Her heart was full of love

 But her mind was full of dreams

 She ran and ran until finally

 She was out of the world she once lived in

 She smiled, thinking it’s the first step

 She wanted her dream in her determined hand

 She knew where she was going

 She knew what to do

 Though at times… Her body didn’t follow

 Her heart didn’t approve

 She went into places

 And knew words, lives, and faces

 She pretended she was glad

 Yet she always cried

 She assumed that she was satisfied

 Yet she felt empty

 She tried to make her soul white

 But the real world polluted it black

 Until one night when a star fell to the horizon

 She wept and decided she want to return in

 The world she once lived in…

 She ran and ran…

 But she never found that world again…

 She never found that world of laughter,

 Of smiles and sunshine

 She wept coz she knew, that world was gone

 It was gone,

 like a leaf that was blown by the wind

 She wept

 Until she cried her heart out

 How could this happen to me?

 She asked the sky with grief

 Nothing answered…

 Who could answer?

 She was alone…

 She tried to walk away

 Without receiving an answer.

 Without accepting the answer.

 She knew in her heart…

 She was no longer that little girl

 She doesn’t deserve the world she once lived in

 Yes, she had dreams

 but she still got the love…

Time passed

She realized…

  “we have to utter somethings goodbye…

  but i wish i made good choices

  so i never left happiness behind…”

 {Wrote this before I started wearing clear contact lenses. I used to claim that it’s about a a character I read in a book written by F. Sionil Jose but the truth is I wrote it because I was afraid I was changing, I was afraid I was committing wrong choices, I was afraid I left my happiness in high school. The most meaningful poem I wrote so far beside the one I wrote for Papa.}