Ray’s Daily
April 5, 2022
“There is no path to happiness; happiness is the path.”
Buddha
OK, I’ll admit it, I gravitate to happy people. They are the ones who offer kindness and support to the folks around them, their happiness is infectious. Many of us have not learned how we too can be happy. It does not take much work, it starts by appreciating what we have. We just need to let the latent joy within us to surface. Here are some tips if you have yet learned to be fully happy.
How to find happiness within yourself
1. STOP CHASING HAPPINESS – Many people connect happiness to the achievement of certain goals or aspirations. This practice makes happiness a reward, rather than an emotion that is deserved to be felt on a day-to-day basis. Instead of chasing goals, and as an extension, chasing happiness, allow yourself to feel happiness whenever it comes your way.
2. REMOVE YOUR OWN BARRIERS TO HAPPINESS – Following on from point 1, the second downside to pinning happiness on external goals is that you may fall into unhelpful thinking habits. By placing your happiness onto something external, you may forget that feeling happy is something that comes from inside, and can be found by looking inward, rather than waiting for an external action to trigger it.
3. PRACTICE LOOKING INWARDS – The third step is to practice looking inwards, with a view to discover happiness from within you. This is an activity that takes time and effort, but makes for a worthwhile habit.
Start to regularly check-in with yourself, and identify how you feel. If you’re stressed, try implementing a stress-management strategy, or if you’re feeling like you could take better care of yourself, try setting up a self-care plan.
4. BUILD YOUR SELF-ESTEEM – Once you’ve started checking-in with yourself, you can also begin to address any areas that may be troubling you. Often, internal problems can reduce self-esteem, so it may be worth spending some time looking after yourself.
The NHS notes that focusing on self-esteem can make you happy, saying “The best way to improve your self-esteem is to treat yourself as you’d treat a valued friend, in a positive but honest way.”
5. BE PRESENT – Similar to practicing looking inwards, taking time to be present across your day will enable you to truly take in your surroundings, and connect with your emotions on a deeper level. Practicing mindfulness at work is becoming a new strategy that businesses like Google and Facebook are encouraging their staff to do, so you may wish to try this in your role, or with your team. Being present may also enable you to experience happiness on a more regular basis, and on a deeper level.
6. TAKE TIME TO APPRECIATE YOURSELF – The final step on my six-step process is to take time in appreciating yourself. Appreciate your work, your life, and your accomplishments. You can find happiness by simply reflecting on past happenings, some of them achievements, and others simply pleasant experiences.
Copied from the Calmer Blog
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“They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world:
Someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.”
Tom Bodett
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He said: Tourists ask a lot of interesting questions as we travel among the Hawaiian Islands on my charter boat. Some people wanted to know, “Does the water go all the way around the island?”
Another asked, “How much farther until we’re in the ocean?”
The one that made me want to jump overboard was, “Can you please take the boat closer to the sunset?”
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The more you have, the more you’re occupied; the less you have, the more free you are.
Mother Teresa
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My Dad said to my Mother, “You should go bra-less.”
She says, “Do you think my breasts are still perky enough?”
He says, “No, but maybe it’d pull the wrinkles out of your face.”
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Many patients call the pathology group where I am office manager to discuss their medical bills. One irate woman demanded that I describe every laboratory test on her statement.
Reluctantly, I complied. Starting with the first test on her bill, I read, “No. 1, urinalysis.”
She interrupted me at once. “I’m a what?”
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She said, “I have a million dollar figure-but it’s all loose change!”
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Lost in the Translation
In the lobby of a Moscow hotel across from a Russian Orthodox monastery: “You are welcome to visit the cemetery where famous Russian and Soviet composers, artists, and writers are buried daily except Thursday.”
In a Rhodes tailor shop: “Order your summers suit. Because is big rush we will execute customers in strict rotation.”
Similarly, from the Soviet Weekly: “There will be a Moscow Exhibition of Arts by 15,000 Soviet Republic painters and sculptors. These were executed over the past two years.”
In a Copenhagen airline ticket office: “We take your bags and send them in all directions.”
On the door of a Moscow hotel room: “If this is your first visit to the USSR, you are welcome to it.”
In the office of a Roman doctor: “Specialist in women and other diseases.”
In an Acapulco hotel: “The manager has personally passed all the water served here.”
In a Tokyo shop: “Our nylons cost more than common, but you’ll find they are best in the long run.”
Two signs from a Majorcan shop entrance: “English well talking.” “Here speeching American.”
Sign in a hotel corridor in Istanbul: “Please to evacuate in hall especially which is accompanied by rude noises.”
In a Tokyo bar: “Special cocktails for the ladies with nuts.”
At a Budapest zoo: “Please do not feed the animals. If you have any suitable food, give it to the guard on duty.”
Detour sign in Kyushi, Japan: “Stop: Drive Sideways.”
On the faucet in a Finnish washroom: “To stop the drip, turn cock to right.”
In the window of a Swedish furrier: “Fur coats made for the ladies from their own skin.”
In a Czechoslovakian tourist agency: “Take on of our horse driven city tours — we guarantee no miscarriages.”
In a Vienna hotel: “In case of fire, do your utmost to alarm the hotel porter.”
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Can you imagine a world without men?
No crime and lots of happy fat women.
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I watched an ant climb a blade of grass this morning…
When he reached the top, his weight bent the blade down to the ground.
Then, twisting his thorax with insectile precision, he grabbed hold of the next blade.
In this manner, he traveled across the lawn, covering as much distance vertically as he did horizontally, which amused and delighted me.
And then, all at once, I had what is sometimes called an “epiphany”, a moment of heightened awareness in which everything becomes clear…
Yes, hunched over that ant on my hands and knees, I suddenly knew what I had to do…quit drinking before noon!
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Gross ignorance is 144 times worse than ordinary ignorance!
John S. Crosbie
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The newly wed wife said to her husband when he returned from work, “I have great news for you. Pretty soon we’re going to be three in this house instead of two.” The husband started glowing with happiness and kissing his wife said, “Oh darling, I’m the happiest man in the world.”
But then she said, “I’m glad that you feel this way because tomorrow morning my mother moves in with us.
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“Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”
Marcel Proust
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Management is not responsible for duplicates from previous dailies. The editor is somewhat senile.
Ray’s Daily has been sent for more than twenty years to people who want to start their day on an upbeat. If you have system overload because of our daily clutter, let me know and I will send you the information via mental telepathy. If you have not been getting our daily you can request to be added by e-mailing me at raykiwsp@comcast.net. Back issues are posted at http://rays-daily,com/ currently there are hundreds of readers from around the world.
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