Mastering Happiness
Happiness held is the seed; Happiness shared is the flower. John Harrigan Each month, Succeed and Soar shares a little video, chosen to lift the heart and spirit, awareness and humanity. This post’s special short is about mastering happiness. Please enjoy. Click Here to View. 3 Minutes Here are a few more thoughts about happiness: The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves. Victor Hugo Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. Marcel Proust If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help someone else. Chinese Proverb Newest addition to Radiant Tree Books. The Best Journey presents wisdom for a well-lived life. The book contains vibrant photographs taken at Latrobe, Pennsylvania’s Amtrak station. The book is also a journal with space for personal notes. This beautiful, 5×8″, 32-page book vividly illustrates precious wisdoms for life well lived. Also available for immediate, PDF download. A lovely gift. Preview and purchase here.See All Books Thanks for your support! CONTACT SANDRA TO ARRANGE COACHING AND CREATIVITY CLASSES.
3 High Spirits Ingredients
Someone once asked me what I regarded as the three most important requirements for happiness. My answer was: A feeling that you have been honest with yourself and those around you; a feeling that you have done the best you could both in your personal life and in your work; and the ability to love others. – Eleanor Roosevelt Blessings and best wishes during this season of holy-days that celebrate the return of the sun’s light. While enjoying heart-warming fellowship and spirit-lifting festivities, allow a few moments to consider: What will bring deep down-sky high happiness in 2022? According to Eleanor Roosevelt: Be Honest with Yourself During Kwanzaa [December 26 through January 1], participants can prepare for a more satisfying year by answering these questions, truthfully: Who am I? Am I really who I am? Am I all I ought to be? Because accuracy in answering is essential, Tony Robbin’s team offers these “Signs That You Need to be Honest with Yourself.” If something feels “off” in your life, if passion is fading in important relationships, if you’re not excited about your career or feel busy but not productive, you may need to be straighter and more straightforward with yourself. See five ways. If you find you work a job you dislike, hate, or tolerate, you lack control over your time and/or your mental, physical, and spiritual health and could use a tune-up here are guides for facing facts:: Mind Café’s “Liberate yourself by telling yourself the truth.” GoodTherapy‘s “Live Your Truth” And PsychCentral suggests: Step into other people’s shoes, Accent the positive, Forgive yourself. Do Your Best Don Miguel Ruiz’s The Four Agreements For A Better Life explains: Under any circumstance, always do your best, no more and no less. But keep in mind that your best is never going to be the same from one moment to the next. Everything is alive and changing all the time, so your best will sometimes be high quality, and other times it will not be as good … If you have done your best and your inner Judge tries to judge you, you’ve got the answer: “I did my best.” Read More Here, remember, If you try to do your best, there is no failure. – Mike Farrell Loving Life is the flower for which love is the honey. – Victor Hugo Last year, Succeed and Soar published a Love Is series which listed five types: The ability to love oneself and be concerned with ones happiness An empathetic love that exists in families The fondness found in friendships Romantic passion, and Open-hearted, unconditional and world-embracing spiritual love To be more loving, WikiHow says, Share Your Love by serving others, reflecting on personal mistakes, surrounding yourself with people who are loving, practicing forgiveness and writing down positive experiences [buy a few of Sandra’s Gifts journals]. Understand Love by letting go of fantasy love, evaluating your behavior and not expecting anything in return. Work on You by being more hopeful and growing. Read More. If I could choose one super power, I would want to be able to make everyone love everyone! Betsey Johnson With Eleanor Roosevelt’s three ingredients for happiness, our individual and collective worlds could become quite bright and delicious. These special days could also help: January 26: Day of Goodwill and National Thank You Note Day. Here are sample Thank You notes, including for the worst gifts ever. December 27 Fruitcake Day [Okay, so why are the ones I like missing at Costco again this year? Must I do a version of the song-dance “Fancy Like” that got Oreo shakes back at Applebee’s? ] December 30 National Resolution Planning Day. Here are guides from Psychology Today December 31 National Champagne Day Succeed and Soar! Join Succeed & Soar’s Monthly ZOOM Chat Thursday, January 6, 2022 7pm Along with thoughts on Eleanor Roosevelt’s statements and a range of topics as vast as the universe, here are books I’ve been reading this month. Nothing to See Here. See Review: Captivated Reading Review. Toms River. See Review: New York Times Review. Born A Crime. See Review: Caprichos Books Review Subscribe to receive Zoom link, and see you January 6th! Succeed & Soar Wisdoms Beautifully illustrated inspirations and encouragements available as prints, framed and on canvas as well as on journals, greeting cards, weekender bags, shower curtains, puzzles and much more. Shop Here
Enjoy Every Minute
Enjoy every minute – Eleanor Roosevelt Sometimes, we must be sad or solemn, worried or wary, angry or aggravated. Inc reminds that fears can also keep us inside the comfort zones that lock out opportunities. Those limits could be dread of change, of loneliness, of failure. Or, worry about being judged, hurt feelings and rejection.Here are ways to fly free: Inspiring Tips offers eight tips, including socializing with trustworthy people, helping others and loving more. Life Hack lists twenty-five ways to enjoy life, like avoiding the news, keeping a wish list, speaking your mind and recording happy moments. All Worthington suggests “52 Ways to be Happier, Healthier and Enjoy Life More,” such as: 6. Give Your Dream A Chance and Go For it. 33. Allow Yourself Not To Be Cool 43. Focus on How You’re Making the World A Better Place 46. Set Yourself Up for Happy Surprises. [here’s how] Succeed and Soars “Paths to Joy” series suggests twelve avenues, including hobbies, living simply and kindness. By the way, Roosevelt’s full quote reads, Enjoy every minute you have with those you love, my dear, for no one can take joy that is past away from you. It will be there in your heart to live on when the dark days come. Remember: Love is a verb. Without action, it is merely a word. Succeed and Soar! In addition to New Year resolutions, here are books I’ve been reading that offer fascinating topics for Succeed and Soar’s next Zoom. Born A Crime. Trevor Noah recalls his life as “a lovable delinquent making his way through a damaged world in a dangerous time.” Caprichos Books Review Nothing to See Here. Kevin Wilson’s novel shows a young woman learning what family means while caring for children who sometimes burst into flames. Captivated Reading Review. Toms River. Dan Fagin shows how beautiful dyes caused high cancer rates in a Jersey Shore community. New York Times Review. Subscribe to Succeed and Soar to receive Zoom link See you January 6th! Eleanor’s Insights Collection Succeed and Soar’s “Eleanor’s Insights” series is illustrated with photographs of ‘wild places.’ This post’s featured image was taken during a camping trip with my daughters. The nest sat on a weathered picnic table. My art is available as prints, framed and on canvas as well as on journals, greeting cards, weekender bags, shower curtains, puzzles and much more. Shop Here
Life Well Lived #7: Change
To change is to be vulnerable. And to be vulnerable is to be alive. –Alexis De Veaux A phrase that makes me smile [sometimes grimace] are Seneca’s words about how those who go willingly are guided by The Fates while those who resist are dragged. I smile thinking of times I’ve resisted changes of habits, work and associations and had to be dragged in new directions. Change can be difficult. It means stepping away from the familiar and into the unknown. It can also be vital. In researching good reasons for change, I found a list of ten reasons, including new opportunities for happiness and the fresh starts that add excitement to life. Read more. Another list offers twelve benefits, such as the increased resilience, versatility and confidence that build strength. Read more. Change. Hmmm. Now I’m thinking: What must be modified before The Fates drag me again? What door must close so that new ones open? How can I feel more alive? The answers are challenging. How about you? When has a change helped? Why not share a few words? Comment on this post [Leave A Reply below]. * Fireballs & Star Showers Social distancing and quarantining has definitely limited entertainment options. Next week, the heavens offer two marvelous and free shows. With a waning, quarter moon, they will be easy to see. Here’s how to find the celestial star shows. [Fortunately, as Earth spins, Pittsburgh will turn toward those constellations at night, rather than during daytime,] For summer’s best and brightest, see the Perseids Also view The Delta –Aquariids and alpha Capricornids Comment. Leave A Reply [below] if and where you see the star shows. Enjoy. * This Week’s Special Offer Each week, my Featured Art is offered at 25% off [plus any discounts offered by my Galleries]. Shop here. Thank you for visiting my galleries and for your purchases. They support Succeed and Soar.
Path to Joy: 6th of 12 – Peace and Good Will
Peace is joy at rest. Joy is peace on its feet. – Anne Lamott Can vigilantes be part of a healthy, flourishing society? For me, the answer is in Ahmaud Arbery’s story. His death reminds that a cure is needed for another kind of COVID-19, the self-appointed judges and juries who then execute other human beings based on verdicts reached in their own minds. This Paths to Joy series has so far been built on values of simplicity, money, words, friendship and generosity. On the 6th Path, individuals can become cures for the Lynch Virus, the dis-ease killing the possibility of safe and harmonious communities. Wouldn’t you agree that when people choose peace, light expands [rather than darkness, distrust and destruction]? Couldn’t a brighter world then grow when individuals approach each other with good will, opportunity-by-opportunity, as best we can. How? Enjoy this beautiful video. Join the song. Sing along with Vince Gill. This Post’s Featured Art, “Peace and Good Will,” A Visual Meditation What do I like best about the picture? The stars in the darkness. Why do I like these things? To me, the stars in the darkness are the presence of light, hope, peace and guidance through turmoil, chaos, danger and [blindness] the inability to see. What does this picture teach me? I can sow light, hope and peace like seeds. How can these insights lead to joy? There is the parable of one who wanted to change the world. Failing that, they tried to change their country, their community then their family. Finally, they understood the only change possible was themselves, so that by individual [my] choices and actions, one [I] can bring peace and good will into the world. NOTE: These ‘Paths to Joy’ are adapted from The Treasure Chest, an old book I found years ago. Page 117 contained “The Twelve Rules of Happiness.” Of special delight is using paints markers and ink to illustrate meditations inspired by this wisdom. The technique is adapted from the book Visual Journaling, Going Deeper Than Words, by Barbara Ganim and Susan Fox. For information and to purchase the Paths to Joy art, visit Sandra’s Galleries.