14 Tuesday Apr 2020
Posted in Ted Talk
I’m mixing it up this week and providing a TED talk from Robert Waldinger, who talks about insights he learned from the longest study on happiness ever conducted. The results are both simple and surprising simultaneously. I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did. I hope all of you are having a great Tuesday!
Until next time…
Dave
26 Thursday Sep 2019
Posted in Happiness, Thankful Thursdays
Tags
God's Love, Grateful, Happiness, Happy, Inner Calm, Inner Peace, Thankful
Image by Ruslan Gilmanshin from Pixabay
“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.” – Denis Waitley
Have you ever taken the time to listen to one of your friends who likes to complain? Their relationships suck. Their jobs suck. Their lives suck. Every time you talk with them they complain about this or that. Have you ever wondered why people seem to enjoy wallowing in their own pity party?
Life is short. Why do people complain about everything and continue to do so? It’s like they are on a revolving record that never ends. Woe is me. Why can’t I get a break? Perhaps they fail to realize that happiness is cultivated within.
Life is a blessing. Life is an adventure. You are alive. You are gaining experience. God loves you. What else do you need?
I used to be on the “woe is me” roller coaster. I didn’t like my job, my marriage was falling apart, and everything I tried to do, failed. One morning I woke up and asked why do I lose when others win? I began looking inward.
What I began to realize is what today’s quote states. The answer that came through to me was this: Be happy with what you have.
I’m not advocating that you should settle. If you want something better, strive for that. While you are striving to improve your current conditions, you can still be grateful for what you have.
When gratitude took hold, I naturally became happier. I began to realize that I had enough. I had all I needed. I had a great life.
I didn’t need a new toy to be happy. I didn’t require my wife to be something she wasn’t. My happiness was no longer cultivated by things outside of me. My happiness blossomed because I made a choice—to be happy. When you realize that nothing outside of you should impact your happiness, your life will transform.
Being happy is a great way to live. Everything is brighter. Everything is joyful. Everything takes on a new light. Sure there is still room for disappointment. Sure, life will still hand you a few surprises. Be happy regardless.
If you are having difficulty with cultivating happiness, there are many books you can read on the topic. You can also take courses on happiness. They are available everywhere. I have taken a few. These courses didn’t teach me anything new, but confirmed that I was doing the right things.
Happiness is a mindset. You either choose to be happy or you choose to be something else. I choose to be happy, because it is so much better than being pissed off all the time. Your life changes when your attitude changes.
It starts with brutal honesty. There are a lot of folks out there that “pose” happiness. They walk around with smiles on their faces in public, they whistle or sing beyond what is normal. They carry around a facade of happiness, but anyone who pays attention can “feel” the anger, resentment, and sorrow. You can lie to yourself all you want, but you cheat yourself out of a fulfilling and happy life when you fake happiness. Be honest with yourself. Are you happy? If not, learn what happiness is. Learn how to cultivate it. Take little steps to make changes in your attitude and outlook.
When you arrive at that place where nothing can affect your happy outlook, you’ll know the feeling I am advocating. Happiness cultivated within, cannot be thwarted by other people, outside circumstances, or the weather. You carry your happiness with you.
I wish all of you a terrific Thursday!
Until next time…
Dave
03 Saturday Aug 2019
Posted in Spiritual Saturday
Tags
God's gift, Gratitude, Happiness, Life, Needs, Unhappiness, Wants
Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay
“Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don’t wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Think how really precious is the time you have to spend, whether it’s at work or with your family. Every minute should be enjoyed and savored.” – Earl Nightingale
I use quotes to spur my writing. They are terrific writing prompts because they require us to think about what they are saying. I like writing about happiness because so many people are unhappy. Why? Part of the reason is people associate happiness with something outside themselves.
Their whole life is based on things, people, and events outside of themselves. Why let anything outside of you drive your happiness, when all you have to do is decide to be happy. Yeah, life happens. We get sick. We lose our job. We lose a loved one. We lose a pet. Anyone would be bummed out if these things happen, but you can still maintain your happiness in and around these events. All of these events are normal and inevitable.
How do I maintain my happiness? I cultivate it within. I maintain a sincere gratitude for life. I no longer focus on what I want, but what I need. We all need food, water, air, a place to sleep and have shelter. We need something to wear, to keep our bodies covered. Besides these things what else do we really need?
Some of the happiest people live in absolute poverty. Some of the richest people in the world are unhappy. Think about that for a moment. How does this even make sense? It makes sense because a person’s happiness has nothing to do with wealth. It is internal. Happiness is a choice.
I thank God every day for this life. It is a blessing to be alive. I am grateful for a great many things, but my gratitude for life is my source of happiness. Think about the grand adventure you’ve been on since you were born. Think about the richness of your experiences.
Life is God’s greatest gift.
Until next time…
Dave
13 Saturday Jul 2019
Posted in Spiritual Saturday
So many people seek happiness. They seek it in the shopping malls. They seek it on trips. They seek it in the mirror. They seek it in a bottle. They look for happiness everywhere but where it is–inside. Happiness is not something you find or gain or win. Happiness is an attitude.
Happiness, like gratitude is cultivated within. You are happy or you are not. Happiness is not a consistent thing, we must cultivate it daily. We all wake up on the wrong side of the bed sometimes. It is these days that we have to work a little harder on our happiness.
I have found that being happy is pretty easy, once you learn that it isn’t out there. It is always inside of you. It is a feeling of satisfaction and security. It is a knowingness that everything is alright with the world. Happiness doesn’t depend on other people or things–it is the way you approach the world.
Gratitude is the primary contributor to happiness. If you are satisfied with what you have, what else is there? Gratitude doesn’t grasp. It doesn’t need to. It has all it needs. It is a wonderful place to wake up and be satisfied. No striving. No pushing. No reaching. Why? Being grateful is happiness right now.
Are you unhappy? Why? Is it because someone made you unhappy? Is it because you don’t have a nice car? Is it because you haven’t been on a trip in a while? Is it because you are stressed out at work? Is it because you haven’t had a drink yet? Is it because you are not happy with what you see in the mirror? Take a moment today and think about what makes you happy. Then rethink happiness. Nothing makes you unhappy or happy. You make that decision. You react. You create it.
Choose happiness.
I hope all of you have a terrific Saturday!
Until next time…
Dave
04 Thursday Jul 2019
Posted in Independence Day
Image by Maklay62 from Pixabay
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” – Excerpt from the Declaration of Independence
Today, I am grateful for my country. Today is the 4th of July and it is the day designated to celebrate our independence. The day will be filled with parades, fireworks, and the barbeque grills will be fired up to cook the burgers, hotdogs, sausages, and steaks. Today is a special day for me because I played a part in maintaining our independence by defending this country for 20 of these 4th of July holidays. It was a privilege to serve and an experience I will never forget.
Happy 4th of July!
Until next time…
Dave
27 Saturday Apr 2019
Posted in Spiritual Saturday
Tags
24-hour news, Choice, External, Grateful, Gratitude, Happiness, Internal, Needs, social media, Wants
“Happiness comes from within. It is not dependent on external things or on other people. You become vulnerable and can be easily hurt when your feelings of security and happiness depend on the behavior and actions of other people. Never give your power to anyone else.” ― Brian Weiss
Have you ever heard a friend or relative cry out, ‘I just want to be happy!’? People seek happiness in money, travel, relationships, a good job, security, or some other place. The problem with this idea is simply this: Happiness is a choice.
You choose to be happy. If you constantly depend on material things, people, places, or your job to make you happy, you will find out very quickly that this is an untenable position. Why you ask? Because nothing is permanent in this world. Money changes, places change, people change, jobs change, and your health changes. If you depend on outside things to make you happy, you’ll be chasing happiness for the rest of your life.
Happiness is a mindset. It literally is a way of living. You either choose to be happy or you choose to be unhappy. Frankly, I choose to be happy. Being happy is so much easier than being pissed off and afraid. Happiness is calming, peaceful, comfortable. Why would anyone want to be anything but happy?
I find the people that are chasing after happiness are never happy. There’s always one more thing to get, one more friend to have, one more experience to try, one more place to travel to. A common phrase unhappy people use is “if only”. If only I had a wife that loved me. If only I had a nicer home. If only I had a better job, a faster car, a puppy, ad infinitum.
Unfortunately, in the United States, we have a society driven by marketing, sales, and advertising. We’re shown unrealistic pictures of happy people driving around in Ferraris, eating whatever they want, drinking whatever they want, and living the supposed “good life”. We have a 24-hour news cycle constantly berating us with disasters, crime, and tales of doom and gloom. It is never ending and inescapable.
Be informed but remain happy. Buy the things you want and need but be happy. Be grateful for what you have. It is so interesting to hear people talk about what they need and confusing need with want. Most of us have what we need to survive. We have a place to sleep, we have enough food to eat, we have a place protected from the elements. Yet, so many of us are unhappy. We take for granted what we have already and that what we have is enough. I think part of our unhappiness as a society is spurred by social media, advertisers, and the 24-hour new cycle, which focuses on negative, rather than positive stories.
How can you turn all of this around? Avoid it. Stop watching the news. Stop spending hours on social media. You can still be informed by scanning the news for a few minutes in the morning. You can stay in touch with friends by making some postings in the morning and reacting to your feed. Once you’ve done these things–GET OFF OF IT!! Then, focus on the things you want to do for yourself. Work on your goals, work on yourself, do your chores. Read, write, experience. Most importantly, take stock each day of what you are grateful for. Really focus on the things that you have right now. The more you focus on what you have, the less you’ll want something externally.
I hope all of you have a terrific Saturday!
Until next time…
Dave
09 Saturday Feb 2019
Posted in Uncategorized
“This is how we work with Divine Spirit. We try to look at life and find the laughter wherever we can, whenever we can, because laughter is the healer.”
—Harold Klemp The Language of Soul
Happy Saturday, folks! It’s 16 degrees in Michigan this morning and I am enjoying some soothing music and a cup of coffee.
In today’s crazy world, it is so easy to get riled up and upset with what’s going on in any country. Scandals, crime, disaster, are all the talk of the day. If you go to Twitter, it comes at you lightning fast, spreading, in some cases, rumors that have no basis in reality. Take it easy. Relax. Wait for a story to unfold before jumping on the first tweet or online article that hits the wire. So many people in journalism jump the gun to get the scoop without the necessary fact checking and due diligence, then have to walk it back when the truth comes out.
The same actions can be taken with our lives. So many of us are blind-sided by things. We get bad news and we lose our minds over-reacting. We make assumptions and run with them without knowing the facts. We are all moving at such a fast pace that we forget to take the time to really think about what has occurred.
Take your time, evaluate, look at all of the things you can do to fix the problem or make your situation better. When you take the time to think through things, instead of quick reaction, you’ll start to feel better. Yes, there are real tragedies that hit our lives, there is no way to argue against that. Even these tragedies have a silver lining in most cases. Think. Evaluate. Plan. Execute.
When the reality of your situation is out of your control, you have a choice. You can be pissed off or you can find humor in it. It’s going to be there regardless, so why not be happy with your situation and move on? Laughter makes us feel better. Humor is the antidote to hard times. There will always be challenges in our lives, tragedies, and just outright bad luck. Life is not about what happens to us. It is about how we react to the things that happen to us. You have a choice. I choose happiness.
Until next time…
Dave
17 Thursday Jan 2019
Posted in Thankful Thursdays
Tags
Bad times, experiences, Good times, Grateful, Happiness, Learning, Life, Sorrow, Thankful
“I believe that if you don’t derive a deep sense of purpose from what you do, if you don’t come radiantly alive several times a day, if you don’t feel deeply grateful at the tremendous good fortune that has been bestowed on you, then you are wasting your life. And life is too short to waste.” – Srikumar Rao
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/srikumar_rao_563863?src=t_thankful
This life is such a blessing. The ups and downs, the happy times and the sad, and the times of loneliness and joy of being with family. All our experiences combined comprise our life.
When the bad times come, we are in the thick of it. We are at the edge of the abyss and highly creative, solving the problem right in front of us. During these times we aren’t so happy. We are stressed out, we are overcome with emotions, and we are struggling to survive. Interestingly, when these times pass and we recollect the experience we view it as a source of triumph, sometimes even laughing to ourselves. We laugh because we see the comedy in some of the things that go wrong in our lives. These bad times are the areas in our lives where we really do learn and grow. I am thankful for all of the bad times. They taught me so much about myself.
When the good times come, we are ecstatic. We are so happy and joyful. Everything is bright and colorful. We enjoy these times so much that we hope they never end, knowing that something can go wrong at any minute without notice. These are the memories we store away for later. These experiences slip in and out of psyches over and over again. They remind us how precious life is.
Then there are the times that reside in the middle of these two extremes. They are the workdays. They are our habitual experiences. Getting up, going to the gym, getting our kids off to school, our morning commute. These are the days that we rarely notice. Nothing good or bad, exciting or boring, just time passing by.
Our lives are all of these things woven together into a quilt, with the myriad pictures we capture and remember. Pictures of friends, holidays, and graduations. Pictures of marriages, reunions, and anniversaries. Pictures of dinners, vacations, and birthdays. This is the life we lead. I am grateful for all of the pictures in my quilt. The good pictures, the bad pictures, and the opportunity to share my quilt with others.
New Followers
I also wanted to thank all of the new followers this week. We are getting really close to the goal of 500. Daily Ramblings is at 488 followers. I only need 12 more to hit the goal of 500. If you know of anyone that may be interested in my content, send them my way.
I hope each of you has a great week!
Until next time…
Dave
11 Tuesday Dec 2018
Posted in Travel
I’m writing this early because I’ll be busy cleaning up my brother’s house and getting packed up for my flight on Thursday the 13th. This trip was a terrific time. It started with my niece’s wedding. It was a wonderful ceremony and went off without a hitch.
Then it was a full week of reconnecting with friends, good food, and lots of laughs. It was also a great time to hang out with my brother, play some games, and binge watch some shows on Amazon and Netflix. I also got in some writing, reading, and some much-needed quite time to think about things and reflect.
I like my reflection time. I think about all kinds of things, like what my life would be like if I did this or that in my past or what I could change today and what effect that would have on my future. I like thinking about my family, my friends, books I have read. I even like to think about thinking sometimes.
I hope all of you enjoyed my Phoenix trip! I did. Friday, I’ll be back to my posting schedule. I really appreciate all of the new followers and the time you took to investigate and learn about my blog.
Until next time…
Dave
15 Monday Oct 2018
Posted in Birthday
