"Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude."
No man is an Island. The choices we make every day, often without realizing it affect someone else. The doing, or nor doing has consequences. We cannot be so naive to think that we are immune to the world around us. That our doing has no affect on the surrounding world and that if we choose, the world can have no affect on us.
This connectivity can be of the utmost comfort, or at times it can be daunting.
Sometimes its hard enough to sort through yourself; your emotions, wants, goals, seeking a balance is, for most of us a constant effort.
And so sometimes we make, what seems the wrong choice. A choice that disappoints or does not take another into consideration. Sometimes it is obvious, even as we are making the choice that it might leave someone behind or hurt. But sometimes we are surprised by the consequences of our actions. In these moments we can become exhausted and frustrated, thinking we let one down, and of the overwhelming task of keeping others in mind in every decision we make.
It is hard work being a peacekeeper. Being selfless all the time can be debilitating. But acting like nothing you do matters in any great way is crippling. And so we come back to that word balance. That elusive state where all is well and even. The more of life I live, the more i realize how important it is. In fact, I strongly urge that it be a daily mantra for all aspects of life. It is a key, i believe, to happiness. Happiness, which is not a destination, or a right. "Happiness is a spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude." Happiness also has to do with choices. I do believe, to a certain extent, you can choose to be happy. It is a matter of mindset and a way of looking at things. And happiness is a balance of actions. Thinking of the consequences of our actions, the way it might affect others, but not forgetting ourselves all together for the sake of others. Because we cannot be happy hurting others and forgetting their integrity, but we also, i am convinced, cannot be happy by living solely for others.
So what is a way we can live this balance? "Live every minute with love, grace and gratitude." If love is the motivation for our actions, grace is how we carry out those actions and gratitude is our response to other's actions, then we have a good shot at happiness; experiencing our own and making others happy too.
-Denis Waitley
This connectivity can be of the utmost comfort, or at times it can be daunting.
Sometimes its hard enough to sort through yourself; your emotions, wants, goals, seeking a balance is, for most of us a constant effort.
And so sometimes we make, what seems the wrong choice. A choice that disappoints or does not take another into consideration. Sometimes it is obvious, even as we are making the choice that it might leave someone behind or hurt. But sometimes we are surprised by the consequences of our actions. In these moments we can become exhausted and frustrated, thinking we let one down, and of the overwhelming task of keeping others in mind in every decision we make.
It is hard work being a peacekeeper. Being selfless all the time can be debilitating. But acting like nothing you do matters in any great way is crippling. And so we come back to that word balance. That elusive state where all is well and even. The more of life I live, the more i realize how important it is. In fact, I strongly urge that it be a daily mantra for all aspects of life. It is a key, i believe, to happiness. Happiness, which is not a destination, or a right. "Happiness is a spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude." Happiness also has to do with choices. I do believe, to a certain extent, you can choose to be happy. It is a matter of mindset and a way of looking at things. And happiness is a balance of actions. Thinking of the consequences of our actions, the way it might affect others, but not forgetting ourselves all together for the sake of others. Because we cannot be happy hurting others and forgetting their integrity, but we also, i am convinced, cannot be happy by living solely for others.
So what is a way we can live this balance? "Live every minute with love, grace and gratitude." If love is the motivation for our actions, grace is how we carry out those actions and gratitude is our response to other's actions, then we have a good shot at happiness; experiencing our own and making others happy too.
