Into 2021 We Go

Gregorian calendar says we are ending the year of 2020 tonight,
And overnight we enter 2021,
All with the same hope and excitement that a new year brings. 

The past year of 2020 challenged everyone in many different ways,

And it would be easy to dismiss,

A year deemed bad or maybe even a year to forget. 

We should not so easily turn our backs on this most challenging year,

Even as many endured so much,

Health, family or simply the impact of our isolation.

Each of us would have good reasons to curse the year,

One that was meant,

A year we thought, would be a turning point of greatness.

It was a year the futurists and prophets of positivity had said,

This year would bring,

But life determines how life itself is going to unfold.

I would rather look back on 2020 and view the challenges,

As growth, of changing perspective,

To view 2020 for the good things happened as well.

The year brought me off the road to spend more time with family,

To find new ways to connect,

To listen to people and to cherish more important things in life.

The year gave all of us celebrations, births, birthdays, accomplishment.

There was more of people talking, 

Sometimes angrily but talking is a way to start resolving differences.

We adapted and created ways to accomplish in spite of,

COVID isolation, social injustice, and pain,

Even as all of this occurred we moved forward, we did it together.

We did all of this working with each other, leaning on each other,

Trusting each other.

By sharing our human experience with each other to push through.

Now 2021, new year, new hopes, goals, dreams and opportunity,

Yet the year is but a number.

And we make of that number, the year, what we want of it.

Life will create what it does for us in the coming days and months.

There will be challenges just like in 2020,

But there will be opportunity, there will be joy, there will be success. 

As is customary, I wish the best for each of you in the new year.

I wish so much,

Health, happiness, love and peace to you, your families, your friends.

Most of all I wish for each of you to find greatness in yourself.  

To know you are great,

And to be happy in yourself with what you have and in what you do.

If you can find that, you can overcome anything.

Life really is great.

Let that be your wish, your goal, your success in 2021.

Stay inspired my friends! 

Adjusting Your Happiness

Despair.com

Groucho Marx once said, "I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it."

Simply put, people do not like to hang out with unhappy people.

Sometimes it requires a bit of hard truth in order to get people to see the reality of a situation. Your productivity at work is impacted by being unhappy and it impacts those around you. If you are unhappy with your job and the daily grind of it, move on to something else.

Make a change in your life.

I am not here to say you should simply quit and walk out the door with a smile on your face. No, the smart thing to do is continue to do your job the best you can, but start looking for a new job.

Life's steps should be planned as best you can.

Take time to understand and recognize how your own attitude is impacting you and your relationships. Understand how being unhappy all of the time is impacting your job performance and then do something about it.

Maybe it requires an adjustment of your attitude.

Examine yourself, adjust yourself and reinvent yourself to rid the unhappiness from your life as you can. It starts from inside.

Stay inspired my friends!

A World Shared By Humans

"Blue Marble" image taken from NASA's Earth-observing satellite, Suomi NPP.

Credit: NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring

"Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier." - Mother Teresa

A few years back I attended a conference just outside of Lisbon, Portugal. The conference was broken into two 2-day sessions so the Wednesday in-between was a rest day. It allowed speakers to catch their breath before the next set of attendees arrived.

Another speaker and I had traveled here with our wives. So during this day off we drove through the countryside of Portugal taking in all of the sites and sounds. We had great moments meeting people along the way.

Doing so is good for one's soul.

We met many people from other countries who were on holiday. Engaging with these people, however brief of time it is can expand your appreciation for the world and the people we get to share it with.

One begins to realize that people around the world are very much like you and me. Each are living life, trying to get ahead at work, raising their kids, putting food on the table and simply enjoying life.

In one particular location called Cabo da Roca, the western most point of the European main continent, we met folks vacationing and even spoke with those working. And yes, they work, eat and sleep like we do. They pray, worship, have kids and worry about retirement all in the same manner as we do.

Cabo da Roca

We are all human and share a bond in that.

Why not try to bring a little bit of happiness to all you come near.
Why not allow for our differences and celebrate our shared world.

Explore and enjoy the lives of others along your journey through life. Bring happiness along with you. The earth is a great place to live our lives upon.

Enjoy it and celebrate it.

And stay inspired my friends.

Can We Choose Happiness

“Happiness is not a possession to be prized, it is a quality of thought, a state of mind.” - Daphne Du Maurier

Can we choose to be happy in life or does it just happen?

There are people who believe happiness is something which only gets bestowed upon the lucky people in life. If you were not given the gift of happiness you are simply one of the unlucky people.

Happiness is what you want it to be.

You can choose to be happy or not within the circumstances surrounding your life. Finding and understanding those things which are good in your life, a path to happiness begins.

There are lives of people we could never imagine them finding happiness. Children and adults finding the littlest of things to create their happiness from. Each day people from all different backgrounds, economics and health find their happiness. They build upon the happiness found, that glimmer of sunshine.

It is not simply making the choice to be happy, but is a group of action in total which add up to creating a happier life. You see, we can never change what happens to us in any given moment. But with awareness, we can choose how to respond to it. As we make different choices, positive choices, in response will begin to create a life lived with more content, opening the way for happiness to enter more often.

Choose to be happy.

Stop expending energy in complaint and unhappiness. Your stress will be lower. You will have the ability to direct your energy towards change if required or towards enjoying even more happiness.

And stay inspired my friends.

AUTHORS NOTE: Happy Birthday Mom. Miss you but I'm still laughing in life.

Which Key Is Yours

“Success is a journey not a destination. The doing is usually more important than the outcome. Not everyone can be Number 1.” - Arthur Ashe

Each of us has the ability to determine how successful we are. A man with very little can consider himself successful if he is happy and content. A man with much can feel himself a failure if he is unhappy in how he got there.

So much of what is considered success is dependent upon you.

Be successful in how you feel about yourself. Know that getting to a point of success is more important then the actual achievement. Be successful in the doing. And stay inspired my friends.

Surprise, Surprise

"Surprise is the greatest gift which life can grant us." ~ Boris Pasternak

Life can be full of surprises. A surprise visit from a brother to his sister's birthday party. A surprise from a son on Father's day. A surprise is what you get in return for gifting others. There is a reaction of happiness that will fill your heart with joy.

The act of giving or surprising others can really feed back great things into your life. You should give it a try sometime. Give without expectation. Surprise without expectation. As I said, it will fill you with wonder, excitement and happiness.

And as Gomer Pyle would always say on the Andy Griffith Show, "surprise, surprise, surprise."

Stay inspired my friends!

London Fog

"Derive happiness in oneself from a good day's work, from illuminating the fog that surrounds us." -Henri Matisse

There are days when all we do seems to be shrouded in a heavy blanket of fog. Our mind is trying to clear out the haze in order to get a better view on our lives. Yet the thickness of what troubles us gets in the way.

Sometimes those days are due to our own negative way of thinking. We get down on ourselves, on what is happening in our life and on those around us. These are the days when the fog is thickest in our lives.

Even when it sets in like this, you need to find small things to help guide you. Little bits of positive lights that will mark the path you are on. The level of happiness we decide to shower upon our life will determine the amount of illumination that will guide us through the fog.

Do not allow the fog to burden your travel or to dampen the spirit within. Use the heaviness of that fog to heighten and focus your attention on the happiness and goodness. Allow it to make you more of aware what is important in your life.

Soon enough the fog will lift and the rest of this great world will once again be revealed. Stay inspired both in and out of the fog.

A Day Filled With Happiness

"Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens." -Khalil Gibran

You have been given a wonderful opportunity. You have been given a life to live. You have been given the greatest gift and it is your life to live. I always wonder why people do not see the wonder in it and choose to live a negative and unhappy life.

Is not life a vanishing resource to us, from the moment we are born the years, days and minutes are numbered? I believe we should be happy in living those moments we call our life.

Reverse the unhappiness, let go of what burdens you and live your life to a full extent.

July 4, 1776

"...Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

This Monday a holiday of importance in the United States will be filled with families, picnics, parades and fireworks. People will gather together, talk, drink, and eat hotdogs, hamburgers, chips and potato salad. They will go to the pool or lake, swimming in their local pool or sail their boats on the open water.

My wife and I along with 55,000 of our closest friends will run in the Atlanta Peachtree 10K Roadrace. An annual event that is filled with great athletes down to the casual walker. I try to enjoy the people watching, the people running and avoid the misery of the heat and humidity. I even take moments half way through to stop and shake hands with the Sheppard Center patients. Each year they line the sidewalks of Peachtree Street. I feel honored to shake their hands, to offer some encouragement and provide a smile.

Its a part of a great life we live, the ability to share a smile, to share a moment, or to give something of yourself. There were people back in 1776, people well before that and to this day that have given something for others. Each of us will have given large and small, life and limb, or words and hugs. In the end, we will have made life better for those around us.

As you celebrate this day, as you approach any day, know that you have the ability to impact the lives of other people. All it takes is a smile, a kind word or a thoughtful hug.

Happiness

"Realize that true happiness lies within you. Waste no time and effort searching for peace and contentment and joy in the world outside. Remember that there is no happiness in having or in getting, but only in giving. Reach out. Share. Smile. Hug. Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself." -Og Mandino
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Growing Happiness

"The positive effect of kindness on the immune system and on the increased production of serotonin in the brain has been proven in research studies. Serotonin is a naturally occurring substance in the body that makes us feel more comfortable, peaceful, and even blissful. In fact, the role of most anti-depressants is to stimulate the production of serotonin chemically, helping to ease depression.

Research has shown that a simple act of kindness directed toward another improves the functioning of the immune system and stimulates the production of serotonin in both the recipient of the kindness and the person extending the kindness. Even more amazing is that persons observing the act of kindness have similar beneficial results.

Imagine this! Kindness extended, received, or observed beneficially impacts the physical health and feelings of everyone involved! " ~ Wayne Dyer

So one may ask, 'where do I get this serotonin stuff?" Well, serotonin is naturally produced within the Pineal gland deep in the center brain. As adults, we possess only 5 to 10 mg of serotonin, 90 % of which is in the intestine and the rest in blood platelets and the brain.

One of its roles is to be a neurotransmitter, a sort of relay station that allows the many functions in our bodies (control of appetite, sleep, memory and learning, temperature regulation, mood, behaviour, cardiovascular function, muscle contraction, endocrine regulation and depression) all to function properly.

But how do you get more? Well, it is found that the most effective way of raising levels of serotonin is with vigorous exercise. Studies conducted show levels increase when we increase our level of physical activity. This is the safest way of increasing serotonin levels as well as the many other benefits result from regular exercise.

Your serotonin levels can also be controlled through the diet. A diet deficient in omega-3 fatty acids may lower brain levels of serotonin and cause depression. Complex carbohydrates raise the level of tryptophan in the brain resulting in a calming effect. Vitamin C is also required for the conversion of tryptophan into serotonin.

There is a connection to happiness that has been found as well. Serotonin is key to our feelings of happiness and very important for our emotions because it helps defend against both anxiety and depression.

Happiness itself does not produce or increase the production of serotonin, but it can trigger increased levels of serotonin. Without serotonin, there would be no happiness. But understanding how your happiness can improve your attitude, which in turn changes much of your outlook on life in general.

As I wouldn't pretend to be a doctor, I encourage you to read more. Find out about your health and body. What makes it function, what things cause your physical and mental well being to be in a better state. It is part of tending to all six spokes of life. Find a way to chart your life and all of the parts within it.

And to start, be happy!

Finding Happiness

Happiness depends upon ourselves. -Aristotle

The trailer for the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness" was on the other night and it was a great reminder to me. It is only yourself that can determine your happiness in life. There are great obstacles and circumstances in life that can make it very difficult. Yet it is up to the individual.

Happiness as defined by Harvard social psychologist William McDougall is that "people can be happy while in pain and unhappy while experiencing pleasure; To understand this, two kinds of happiness must be distinguished: feel-good and value-based. Feel-good happiness is sensation-based pleasure. When we joke around or have sex, we experience feel-good happiness. Since feel-good happiness is ruled by the law of diminishing returns, the kicks get harder to come by. This type of happiness rarely lasts longer than a few hours at a time."

Value-based happiness is a sense that our lives have meaning and fulfill some larger purpose. It represents a spiritual source of satisfaction, stemming from our deeper purpose and values. We experience value-based happiness when we satisfy any of the 16 basic desires--the more desires we satisfy, the more value-based happiness we experience. Since this form of happiness is not ruled by the law of diminishing returns, there is no limit to how meaningful our lives can be.

So the clinical view of happiness can be examined and debated, but the one thing every study shows is that happiness is individualistic. Those that were experiencing this 'value-based' happiness were much happier for a much longer time. The 'feel good' happiness was short lived; much like the sugar rush from a candy bar.

So find something longer lasting for your life that makes you happy. Choose to find 'Happyness' in your life.

Happiness

"Happiness depends upon ourselves." -Aristotle

So much depends upon our own attitude about life. We choose to be happy or not. Your circumstance may weigh heavily upon your ability to be happy, but you get to choose your own attitude.

Spreading Happiness

"Happiness always looks small while you hold it in your hands, but let it go, and you learn at once how big and precious it is." -Maxim Gorky

If you are able to capture and hold happiness in your life, holding it to yourself, eventually the flame that lights it will go out. But if you share your happiness with others, it will spread like the rising sun across the landscape.

Enjoy your weekend and spread your happiness with others.

What Secret

Recent articles have started to surface regarding the 'power of positive thinking' life style and beliefs of people. Most of these have come about due to a book and subsequent new movie called "The Secret". It is a movie that some have described as "a movie so powerful that it can change the course of your life." There are those with an opinion of differing belief about living a more positive life.

The book itself teaches that the "principle explains that we create our own circumstances by the choices we make in life. And the choices we make are fueled by our thoughts—which means our thoughts are the most powerful things we have here on earth." The argument against the book is that it is simply a form of 'new-age' hucksterism.

I have a tend to agree with some of the arguments regarding the material. There seems to be a bit of 'over-commercialism' and 'marketing hype' going on. Heck, I myself tend to become a bit 'flowery' in my own writings but I try not to let it overshadow the basic message. I also don't agree completely with all of the teachings but I would allow you the time to read and judge for yourself. I believe there is a place to find common ground in its message.

This means striking a balance between both ends of the opinion scale. To take advice on the merits of common sense and reality. There are many things that I say in my own writings that are wrapped into the ideas contained in Rhonda Byrne's book (The Secret). She has a much bigger stage to speak from at this point but my own stage is available to those seeking something more as well. It is up to you, the reader, to choose the source which best speaks to you.

When you are searching for a change in life, being positive about your life is not a bad thing. It comes in all different shapes and forms. The basic principle for me is if you are a more positive and happier person regardless of present circumstance; others will be more apt to come into your world. A simple human truth is that we much prefer to be around happy people as opposed to cranky ones.

And in the bigger world, cranky people come in many different levels of success. The same way happy people do...successful or not we can learn from those we chose to be around. Opportunity will seem to gravitate towards happier people. The only reason I can surmise is that a happy person is more apt to see the opportunity as possibility. While the cranky person will find reason not to involve themselves.

As for 'The Secret' itself, is it really a secret? Not really but it is a pretty good title to capture the attention of millions of people. It is a good book that I do think you can learn lessons from for a better life. It can help you bring balance to the six spokes of your life. Learn from many different sources, for it is in the search of betterment of your life that reveal to you that which truly makes you happy.

After The Job

Last night, I attended a gathering of people to help celebrate the retirement of a long-time co-worker. This man worked for nearly 25 years at the same company as me, having put in seventeen previous to this one at a different company.

He is a man that I had interactions with at various points in my own career with each of us at different positions along the way. He was always there with a smile, a bit of cheer in his voice and from what I could tell, goodness in his heart.

As it is with retirement and people moving on from the life of a career job, each of us will move on to new things in our life. The people you once worked with will slip into the past with our memories. We will remember each other and from time to time reconnect. Yet having known each other enrichens our lives. It helps shape who we've become and what we will continue to be.

As you go about your work day, know that one day you will retire or move on to other things. Create goodness in all that you do. It will impact those you work with for a life time. Thank you Ray for the daily smile and good word. Enjoy your life and the memories will live on.

“Life's truest happiness is found in friendships we make along the way.”

Now That's What I'm Talking About

Words of inspiration and eloquence and even laughter that flow from my blog seem inadequate at times. Those times are when I read a great book that is crafted with moving grace. Or when I hear a great speaker with wonderous motivation. And like tonight when I saw a movie that tells a story that can move another to greatness.

This movie is called, "The Pursuit of Happyness". Now that's what I'm talking about!

If you take all that I've written and formulated it into a single tale of overcoming and never giving up your dream, then this true story comes very close. It is filled with all of the "un"-happy things that can stand in your way of achieving a dream. It contains the moment that one makes the 'choice' to make change.

Once that happens and movement begins, the obstacles will surely come. But with a brave and believing heart, success can be yours. Watch it if you can at some point in life, see what can happen for you when you pursue 'happyness'. In a quote that I've read, it is said "some pursue happiness - others create it." You must pursue it for no one will simply give it to you. Create the ability to achieve happiness in your life.

Now that's what I'm talking about!