Thursday 24 November 2011

Is It Possible To Find True Happiness?

How do we find happiness and fulfilment?  What is the purpose of life?  Mmmm quite BIG questions, but according to Stephen he believes the ultimate questions of my blog.  He even sent me a list of quotes relating to these questions.  Many of the quotes talk about finding the happiness within and it’s not a matter of events or circumstances. 

I’ve been thinking quite a lot about happiness and how it links in with exploring my other path.  I would say that they probably go hand in hand.  In the last couple of months I have actually been feeling really happy and well within myself.  I think this change came about from a course I attended at work.  One of the modules talked about Emotional Intelligence and Positive Self Talk.  I realised that I don’t have very positive self-talk.  Since then, I’ve really made a conscious effort to be more positive with my self-talk and in turn I feel happy J. 

I talked with Stephen about this change in thinking and explained that because I feel happier I am thinking more about where I’m at in my life and thus why I want to explore my other path.  Stephen thinks it’s a bit weird that I’ve started this blog, but I’m finding it quite therapeutic.

Now for those of you out there who may also be in search of happiness, fulfilment or whatever it is you want to call it, I’ve found a couple of resources that may help you.

Gretchen Rubin spent time sifting through different studies and theories on happiness.  As a result of this she produced a book titled ‘The Happiness Project’.  To extend this concept further she has also started the 2011 Happiness Challenge.  Each month this year she has picked a theme and then each week she sets a resolution to do with happiness and the theme to try and achieve.  It’s not too late to have a go!

This is a list of 101 ways to help you feel happy.  There are things on the list as simple as “smile”.  Maybe I’ll give some of the things on the list a go….

WHAT’S 1 THING THAT MAKES YOU HAPPY?

4 comments:

  1. Emily............

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  2. Nice blog Melinda! I enjoy reading it.. you have got me intrigued about the positive self talk. What exactly do you mean by this, and what are your tips for making sure you use positive self talk??
    Claire :)

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  3. Hi Claire, thanks I’m glad you’re enjoying my blog!!

    As part of the course I went to on positive self-talk there was a quote by Mark Twain; “I have had a great many troubles in my life, and most never happened.” I think this really sums up how our thinking can really be our worst enemy. Self-talk are those thoughts that run through your head, they can be both positive and negative. You may realise you’re doing it, such as saying something like, “I’m a great cook” or it may be more subconscious. I think the negative self-talk emerges because of preconceived ideas and thoughts that we may have. Then it’s quite easy to distort reality….

    There was a part in the course notes that really stuck with me…”Events by themselves are just events (think about this statement for a while!). How we evaluate and interpret these events, however, determines our response.” The key is trying to intervene before the emotion and feelings come into play. I have spoken at length with my Mum about this and I think she puts it quite simply, “if you wouldn’t say those things to another person, then don’t say them to yourself.”

    I actually read a blog post about this today; it may provide you with some further info. http://www.upgradereality.com/are-you-your-own-worst-enemy

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  4. We are our own worst enemy and usually much tougher on ourselves than anybody else. I had a great fear of failure which kept me from moving forward and then one year I decided to just take a leap and see what happens...that was art school which taught me that some risk taking and failure are very important parts of success and you really can't have one without the other. Other people often can see capabilities in me that I can not see in myself, I also decided to believe them and accept the challenges that crossed my path...and I haven't looked back...actually I never look back...I just always try to move forward no matter how small the step.

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