Happiness

Favorite Quotes – Attitude

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“I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.” Martha Washington

“To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you’re not, pretend you are.” Muhammad Ali

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Please share your favorites through comments.

Problems vs. Situations

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The idea that I am about to share seems too simple, but it has changed hundreds of lives, including mine: There are things you can change (problems) and there are things you can’t change (situations).

Most people seem to go through life fighting with, and agonizing over, things they can’t change e.g. weather, traffic, economy, their appearance, sickness, death, accidents. The result is frustration, depression, anger, anxiety, lot of stress and general unhappiness in life!

On the other hand, focusing on things we can change, improves the quality of our lives. We can change our attitudes, health, fitness, quality of our relationships, spending habits, level of our knowledge and skills, and many other things in life. Life is too short to try and change others.

A favorite prayer of mine: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference!

Just what you need!

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There are two ways of going through life: Gather everything in sight, just in case you need it. Or trust that you’ll find exactly what you need, just in time. Guess which one lets you enjoy life more, lets you really stop and smell the roses?

Lance Armstrong – an inspiration for all

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lanceThere’s no one else quite like him. And there probably never will be. The best cyclist ever, Lance won the Tour de France, an almost incomprehensible seven times from 1999 to 2005. But before he could do that, in 1996 he had to beat back a cancer that was supposed to take his life. Testicular cancer had spread to his abdomen, lungs and brain. Doctors told him he had no chance. But no chance were not words that had meaning for Lance.

He spearheaded the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which made a yellow plastic loop a statement of resistance and strength across the entire planet. It advocates for those living with cancer, funds research, inspires the cancer community to support each other.

Lance took a minor sports in America and turned it into a great national passion and pride. And he did it by struggling for years, alone on his bike, often in unforgiving weather, over terrain that most of us would view as hostile, when no one was watching, no one was cheering.

He inspired all of us who face a cancer diagnosis to search out the doctors who believe that we can live, to hold on to friends and family that stand beside us – and then to fight to prove the faith of those. After Lance, no one could ever again say it was too hard, the odds were too high, the fight already lost. Watch one of his recent interviews here.

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

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tuesdaysA true story of a dying professor who shares his wisdom with the author. Very inspiring and thought-provoking stuff on life, death, family, money, emotions, love and more. Here’s an excerpt from the Tuesday they talk about money:

“We’ve got a form of brainwashing going on in our country. Do you know how they brainwash people? They repeat something over and over. Owning things is good. More money is good. More property is good. More is good. More is good. We repeat it – and have it repeated to us – over and over until nobody bothers to even think otherwise. The average person is so fogged up by all this, he has no perspective on what’s really important anymore.

“Wherever I went in my life, I met people wanting to gobble up something new. Gobble up a new car. Gobble up a new piece of property. Gobble up the latest toy. And they wanted to tell you about it. ‘Guess what I got? Guess what I got?’ These were people so hungry for love that they were accepting substitutes. But it never works. You can’t substitute material things for love or for gentleness or for tenderness. I can tell you, as I am sitting here dying, when you most need it, neither money nor power will give you the feeling you’re looking for, no matter how much of them you have.”

J.K. Rowling talks about the Benefits of Failure

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JK Rowling, the author of Harry Potter, gave an inspiring speech at the Harvard University Commencement Address. She talked about the fringe benefits of failure and the importance of imagination. Here’s a part of it:

“You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.

“Failure gave me an inner security that I had never attained by passing examinations. Failure taught me things about myself that I could have learned no other way. I discovered that I had a strong will, and more discipline than I had suspected; I also found out that I had friends whose value was truly above rubies.

“The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more to me than any qualification I ever earned.

“Given a time machine or a Time Turner, I would tell my 21-year-old self that personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a check-list of acquisition or achievement. Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meet many people of my age and older who confuse the two. Life is difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone’s total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes.”

Read the full speech here.

The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

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secret.jpgA great motivational book about the power of our thoughts and how to apply it in our lives. A superb team of authors, teachers and speakers bring you The Secret to health, wealth, relationships and happiness.

What a Wonderful World

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If you are feeling gloomy and the worlds seems dreary, let Rod Stewart remind us of the beauty of the world and the blessings in our lives:

Want to tell us about the good things in your life? Go ahead, spread some cheer!